The American Pharmacists Association (APhA) today announced the election of Sandra Leal, PharmD, MPH, FAPhA, CDE of Tucson, AZ, as 2020–2021 APhA President-elect. Leal will succeed Michael D. Hogue, of Yucaipa, CA, to the office of APhA President on March 15, 2021, at the conclusion of the 2021 APhA Annual Meeting & Exposition in Los Angeles, CA.

Also elected to serve a three-year term on APhA’s Board of Trustees, beginning in March 2020, are Randy McDonough, BS, PharmD, MS, BCGP, BCPS, FAPhA, RPh, of Iowa City, IA, and Alex C. Varkey, PharmD, MS, FAPhA, of Sugar Land, TX. Tery Baskin, PharmD, FAPhA was elected posthumously as the 2020–2021 Honorary President. Baskin was slated by the Board of Trustees in September 2018 and passed in March 2019. All officers will be installed at the 167th APhA Annual Meeting & Exposition in Washington, DC March 20–23, 2020.

Sandra Leal, PharmD, MPH, FAPhA, CDE is the Chief Executive Officer for SinfoníaRx, a national provider of Medication Therapy Management services. Dr. Leal has been a tireless advocate for recognition of pharmacists as healthcare providers. She has chaired numerous non-pharmacy boards and has served on multiple committees to champion the significant role that pharmacists have in improving access, quality and care for patients. Dr. Leal received her PharmD from the University of Colorado and her MPH in Public Health Practice from the University of Massachusetts. Dr. Leal completed her residency at the Southern Arizona VA Health Care System and a Primary Health Care Policy Fellowship with the Department of Health and Human Services. Her work has been published in Diabetes Care, Advances in Chronic Kidney Disease, American Journal of Health- System Pharmacy, Journal of the American Pharmacists Association, Annals of Internal Medicines and a discussion paper published by the Institute of Medicine entitled, “Patients and Health Care Teams Forging Effective Partnerships.” Her programs are a two-time recipient of the APhA Foundation Pinnacle Award, ASHP Best Practice Award in Health-System Pharmacy and the National Association of Community Health Centers Innovative Research in Primary Care Award. Dr. Leal was recognized as APhA’s Good Government Pharmacist-of-the-Year for her advocacy work on pharmacist provider status and currently serves as a member of the APhA Board of Trustees.

Randy McDonough, BS, PharmD, MS, BCGP, BCPS, FAPhA, RPh, is co-owner of Towncrest, Solon Towncrest, and Towncrest Compounding Pharmacies. He is also co-owner of Innovative Pharmacy Solutions and Thrive Pharmacy Transformations. He oversees Towncrest's clinical services including MTM services, nursing home consulting, wellness screenings, immunizations, and adherence services. He is responsible for development, implementation, and quality assurance for all aspects of the clinic and services. He is board certified in geriatrics and pharmacotherapy. His areas of interest include community-based outcomes research, geriatrics, chronic disease, management, and the development of patient care initiatives in community pharmacy. Dr. McDonough has published and presented extensively on pharmaceutical care and MTM in the community pharmacy setting. He is recognized for his efforts in developing and implementing patient care services. He co-authored a book on pharmaceutical care and has written chapters for several other texts. He presents nationally and internationally on pharmaceutical care, MTM services and value-based reimbursement in the community pharmacy setting. More recently, two papers have been published that highlight his work in implementing a new workflow process that emphasizes the role of community pharmacists of ensuring that patients are achieving their therapeutic outcomes with safe and effective medications. This led to a pilot program with the largest payer in Iowa and resulted in Towncrest Pharmacy saving the payer $300.00 per member per month in total health care costs. Randy is a member of the American Pharmacists Association, National Community Pharmacists Association, American Society of Consultant Pharmacists, American College of Clinical Pharmacy, and the Iowa Pharmacy Association. He currently serves as a member of the APhA Board of Trustees.

Alex C. Varkey, PharmD, MS, FAPhA, is the Director of Pharmacy at Houston Methodist Hospital (HMH), a 924-bed nonprofit academic teaching hospital in Houston, TX. Alex received his Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) from the University of Houston in 2005. He then completed a two-year administrative residency at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, OH while completing his Master of Science in Health-System Pharmacy Administration at The Ohio State University in 2007. Alex has prioritized professional involvement since he was a student, serving as national president of the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) Academy of Student Pharmacists and voting member of the APhA Board of Trustees in 2004-05. Upon graduating, Varkey remained active with APhA, serving in elected positions in both APhA-APRS and APhA-APPM. Alex was recently appointed to serve again on APhA’s Board in January 2018, to fill a vacancy on the board. He has also served in organizations such as the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP), and the Texas Society of Health-System Pharmacists (TSHP) through various appointed positions. Varkey is an accomplished writer and public speaker, having authored and co-authored several articles in national publications and has served as a keynote speaker at local and national meetings. Varkey is passionate about educating pharmacy learners, having developed a two-year health-system pharmacy administration residency, and a longitudinal internship program throughout his tenure at HMH. For his efforts, he has won several awards, including the Gulf Coast Society of Health-System Pharmacists Outstanding Pharmacist in 2014 and the University of Houston College of Pharmacy Alumnus Pharmacist of the Year in 2018.

Tery Baskin, PharmD, FAPhA, was President and CEO of RxResults in Little Rock, Ark., a company he founded that provides an evidence-based medicine model for managing prescription benefits for large self-funded employers, health plans and trust funds. Prior to this position, he was with National Medical Health Card Systems (NMHC) where, through his positions first as COO and then as CMO, he managed and achieved an 800% growth increase in covered lives in seven years. Previously, he served as President of Pharmacy Associates, Director of the Arkansas Pharmacists Services Company, and owned several community pharmacies in the Little Rock area. Baskin is a Fellow of APhA and was honored with the APhA-ASP Linwood F. Tice Friend of APhA-ASP Award, Arkansas Pharmacist of the Year by the Arkansas Pharmacists Association and Preceptor of the Year by the University of Arkansas College of Pharmacy. He has served as President and on the Board of Directors for the APhA Foundation. He also served APhA as Treasurer, member of the Board of Trustees, and Delegate. Baskin served as Chairman and on the Board of Directors of the PACE Alliance. He also served as President, Treasurer and on the

Board of Directors of the Arkansas Pharmacists Association. Baskin earned a BS in Biology from Arkansas Tech University and his BSPharm and PharmD from the University of Arkansas.