WASHINGTON, DC – The American Pharmacists Association (APhA) today announced the selection of the 2015 Awards and Honors Program recipients. Honorees will be officially recognized at the APhA Annual Meeting and Exposition in San Diego, March 27-30, 2015. The APhA awards and honors program is the most comprehensive recognition program in the profession of pharmacy.

American Pharmacists Association – Profession-Wide Awards:

• Remington Honor Medal - Highest Honor in Pharmacy – Calvin H. Knowlton, BSPharm, MDiv, PhD, of Moorestown, NJ. The award recognizes distinguished service on behalf of American pharmacy during the preceding years, culminating in the past year or during a long period of outstanding activity or fruitful achievement.
• Community Pharmacy Residency Excellence in Precepting Award – Joseph S. Moose, PharmD, of Mount Pleasant, NC. The award recognizes a community pharmacy residency director or preceptor who has demonstrated excellence in precepting, mentoring, leadership and community pharmacy residency program administration.
• Distinguished Federal Pharmacist Award – J. Michael Spilker, Colonel, USAF, BSC, of Falls Church, VA. The award recognizes pharmacists who distinguish themselves and the profession through outstanding contributions in federal pharmacy practice resulting in significant improvements in the health of the nation and the populations they serve.
• Distinguished New Practitioner Award – Gretchen K. Garofoli, PharmD, BCACP, of Morgantown, WV. The award recognizes a new practitioner, within his/her first five years of practice, who has demonstrated distinctive achievements in mentorship, service and commitment to the profession of pharmacy.
• Generation Rx Award of Excellence – Nathan A. Painter, PharmD, CDE, of LaJolla, CA. The award recognizes a pharmacist that has demonstrated a commitment to the mission of substance abuse education.
• Gloria Niemeyer Francke Leadership Mentor Award – Todd D. Sorensen, PharmD, FAPhA, of Minneapolis, MN. The award recognizes an individual who has promoted and encouraged pharmacists to attain leadership positions through example, acting as a role model and mentor.
• Good Government Pharmacist-of-the-Year Award – Sandra Leal, PharmD, MPH, FAPhA, CDE, of Tucson, AZ. The award recognizes an individual pharmacist who actively contributes to the community through his or her involvement in the political process.
• H.A.B. Dunning Award – CVS Health. This award recognizes an exemplary contribution to APhA and the practice of pharmacy by a pharmaceutical manufacturer, provider of support products or service, or other entities such as wholesalers, chain corporations, etc.
• Honorary Membership – Roger Lea Williams, MD, of Potomac, MD. Honorary membership in APhA is conferred by the Board of Trustees upon individuals, either within the profession of pharmacy or outside of it, whose activities and achievements have had a significant positive impact on public health, the pharmacy profession, and its practitioners.
• Honorary President – Metta Lou Henderson, BSPharm, MS, PhD, HonD, of Tucson, AZ. Honorary President of APhA is conferred by the Association upon a member who has made significant contributions to the Association.
• Hubert H. Humphrey Award – Brian J. Isetts, BSPharm, PhD, BCPS, FAPhA, of Red Wing, MN. The award recognizes APhA members who have made major contributions in government and legislative service at the local, state or national level
• Hugo H. Schaefer Award – Baeteena M. Black, DPh, of Franklin, TN. The award recognizes outstanding voluntary contributions to the organization, the profession, and society.

Fellows of the American Pharmacists Association:

Fellows are either members of the APhA Academy of Pharmacy Practice and Management (APhA-APPM) or the APhA Academy of Pharmaceutical Research and Science (APhA-APRS) with a minimum of ten years professional experience. To become a Fellow, members must have demonstrated exemplary professional achievements and service to the profession through activities with APhA and other national, state or local professional organizations.

Fellows selected by APhA-APPM are:

• Cheryl L. Clarke, BSPharm
• Robin L. Corelli, PharmD
• Betty J. Dong, PharmD, FCSHP, FASHP, FCCP, AAHIVP
• Wendy Galbraith, PharmD, BCNP
• Sharon S. Gatewood, PharmD
• Fred Gattas, PharmD, BCNP
• Jonathan G. Marquess, PharmD, CDE
• RADM (Ret) Thomas J. McGinnis, BSPharm
• Susan S. Vos, PharmD, BCPS
• Karen Whalen, PharmD, BCPS, CDE

Fellows selected by APhA-APRS are:

• Barry A. Bleidt, BSPharm, PharmD, PhD
• Alicia S. Bouldin, BSPharm, PhD
• Peter J. Rice, PharmD, PhD, BCPS
• William H. Riffee, BSPharm, PhD
• Terri Warholak, BSPharm, PhD 

American Pharmacists Association – Academy of Pharmacy Practice and Management (APhA-APPM) Awards:

• Daniel B. Smith Practice Excellence Award – Cynthia J. Boyle, PharmD, FAPhA, of Reisterstown, MD. The award recognizes a pharmacy practitioner, in any practice setting, who has distinguished himself/herself and the profession through outstanding performance and achievements.
• Distinguished Achievement Awards:
  • Pharmacy Practice – Allison M. Dering-Anderson, PharmD, RP, of Omaha, NE, and Dominic A. Solimando, Jr, MA, BCOP, FAPhA, FASHP, of Arlington, VA. The award recognizes an individual who has developed and/or implemented an innovative, original pharmacy program or service which is significant to their area of practice.
  • Service – Duann V. Thistlethwaite, BSPharm, BCNP, FAPhA, of Jefferson, PA. The award recognizes an individual who has made significant or sustained contributions in the area of service to their community, their state or at the national level.
  • William H. Briner Distinguished Achievement Award in Nuclear Pharmacy Practice – Richard A. Nickel, BSPharm, MS, FAPhA, of Lake St. Louis, MO. The award recognizes an APhA-APPM member who has made significant or sustained contributions to the practice of nuclear pharmacy.
• Pharmacy Management Excellence Award – Michael D. Hogue, PharmD, FAPhA, FNAP, of Gardendale, AL. The award recognizes an APhA member, in any practice setting, who has distinguished himself/herself and the profession through outstanding performance in the area of pharmacy management.

American Pharmacists Association – Academy of Pharmaceutical Research and Science (APhA-APRS) Awards:

• Clinical Research Paper Award – Lourdes G. Planas, BSPharm, PhD, of Edmond, OK. The award promotes and encourages high quality clinical research or practice based research in the clinical sciences by recognizing an original research article in this area which has been published in the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association (JAPhA).
• Ebert Prize – Vivian Bi, MD, MS, of Thousand Oaks, CA. The award recognizes the author(s) of the best report of original investigation of a medicinal substance published in the Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences in the past year.
• Research Achievement Award in the Pharmaceutical Sciences – Sean D. Sullivan, BSPharm, MSc, PhD, of Seattle, WA. The award recognizes and encourages outstanding, meritorious achievement in any of the pharmaceutical sciences.
• Takeru Higuchi Research Prize - Philip S. Portoghese, PhD, of Minneapolis, MN. The award recognizes the highest accomplishments in pharmaceutical sciences, and is international in scope and stature.
• Wiederholt Prize – David A. Holdford, BSPharm, MS, PhD, FAPhA, of Richmond, VA. The award recognizes the best paper published in the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association (JAPhA), within the past two calendar years, describing original investigation in the areas of economic, social or administrative sciences.

American Pharmacists Association – Academy of Student Pharmacists (APhA-ASP):

• Good Government Student Pharmacist-of-the-Year Award – Sarah Barden, 2015 PharmD Candidate at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Pharmacy. The award recognizes a student pharmacist who has successfully organized student pharmacist grassroots activity within their chapter and actively promoted the value of advocating for the profession.
• Linwood F. Tice Friend of APhA-ASP Award – Donald G. Floriddia, PhD, FAPhA, of Stockton, CA. The award recognizes an individual whose long-term services and contributions have benefited the APhA Academy of Student Pharmacists (APhA-ASP), and thereby student pharmacists in general.
• Outstanding Chapter Advisor Award – Macary Weck Marciniak, PharmD, BCACP, BCPS, FAPhA, of Chapel Hill, NC. The award recognizes advisors of APhA-ASP Chapters who have promoted, with distinction, the welfare of student pharmacists through various patient care project, community outreach, leadership development and professional opportunities.
• Outstanding Dean Award – Stephanie F. Gardner, PharmD, EdD, of Little Rock, AR. The award recognizes school or college of pharmacy Deans who have made significant contributions to APhA-ASP chapters and who have promoted, with distinction, the welfare of student pharmacists through various community service, leadership and professional activities.

American Pharmacists Association - Immunization Champion Awards

The Immunization Champion Awards recognize individuals and organizations within the profession of pharmacy that have made extraordinary contributions towards improved vaccination rates within their communities.

• Community Outreach – National Winner – Mayank Amin, PharmD – BAPS Charities
• Community Outreach – Honorable Mention –Safeway Pharmacy
• Corporate/Institution – National Winner – Walgreens
• Corporate/Institution – Honorable Mention – H-E-B
• Friend of Pharmacy – Paul Jarris, MD, MBA – ASTHO
• Individual Practitioner – National Winner – Kelechi Aguwa, PharmD – Kmart Pharmacy; Kenneth McCall, PharmD – University of New England
• Individual Practitioner – Honorable Mention – Mary Choy, PharmD, CGP – Touro College of Pharmacy; MAJ Brandi A. Schuyler, PharmD, BCNP – USAMMC-SWA; Maria Young, BSPharm – University Pharmacy at Wayne State
• Partnership – National Winner – Garth Reynolds, BSPharm – Illinois Pharmacists Association
• Pharmacy Team Member – Louis Jimenez – Walgreens

Further information on the award winners through the APhA Awards and Honors Program.

About the American Pharmacists Association
The American Pharmacists Association, founded in 1852 as the American Pharmaceutical Association, is a 501 (c)(6) organization, representing more than 62,000 practicing pharmacists, pharmaceutical scientists, student pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and others interested in advancing the profession. APhA, dedicated to helping all pharmacists improve medication use and advance patient care, is the first-established and largest association of pharmacists in the United States. www.pharmacist.com

About APhA-APPM
The APhA-Academy of Pharmacy Practice and Management (APhA-APPM) is dedicated to assisting members in enhancing the profession of pharmacy, improving medication use and advancing patient care. APhA serves pharmacists in all practice settings, including independent and chain community pharmacies, hospitals, long-term care facilities, clinics, health maintenance organizations, federal facilities, nuclear pharmacies and other specialized settings. Members receive access to continuing education, an online community of practitioners, networking and leadership opportunities, tools and resources for developing patient care services, cutting edge information on Medication Therapy Management and regulatory issues facing the profession. www.pharmacist.com/apha-appm

About APhA-APRS
The APhA-Academy of Pharmaceutical Research and Science (APhA-APRS) stimulates the discovery, dissemination and application of research to improve patient health and serves pharmacists and those members who are involved in the pharmaceutical sciences. Members of APhA may choose to belong to a primary section within APhA-APRS based on their area of research. APhA-APRS is governed by an Executive Council comprised of elected leaders from the three Sections of APhA-APRS: Basic Sciences, Clinical Sciences and Economic, Social and Administrative Sciences. Members receive access to continuing education, an online community for pharmacists, networking and leadership opportunities, premier research journals such as JAPhA and JPharmSci, cutting edge information on Medication Therapy Management and regulatory issues facing the profession. www.pharmacist.com/apha-aprs

About APhA-ASP
The APhA-Academy of Student Pharmacists (APhA-ASP) is the student pharmacist section of the American Pharmacists Association (APhA), representing student pharmacists at every school and college of pharmacy in the United States and Puerto Rico. It is the largest student pharmacy organization nationwide. The mission of APhA-ASP is to be the collective voice of student pharmacists, to provide opportunities for professional growth, to improve patient care, and to envision and advance the future of pharmacy. www.pharmacist.com/apha-asp