The American Pharmacists Association (APhA) Academy of Pharmacy Practice and Management (APhA-APPM) and Academy of Pharmaceutical Research and Science (APhA-APRS) announced the following election slate for the 2018 APhA Elections:

APhA-APPM Executive Committee Member-at-Large:

Pair One:

Patricia H. Fabel, PharmD, BCPS, of Columbia, SC was born and raised on the cost of Maine. She received her PharmD from the University of Rhode Island and completed a community pharmacy practice residency at the University of Georgia College of Pharmacy and Kroger Pharmacy. She is a Clinical Associate Professor and the Executive Director of the Kennedy Pharmacy Innovation Center at the University of South Carolina College of Pharmacy. She also serves as the Director for the USCCOP Community-Based Residency Programs. Patti has over 10 years of experience developing and implementing value-added services in the community pharmacy setting. She has published articles in the American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education on MTM, pharmacy advocacy, and the Birkman Assessment. She has also written book chapters on vaccines, GI disorders, and managing insect bites and stings. She has given several presentations on immunizations, MTM, and selfcare related topics. Patti is a former president of the South Carolina Pharmacy Association (SCPhA) and is also actively involved in the American Pharmacist Association, serving on committees and as a delegate in previous years. On a personal note, Patti lives on 100 acres with her husband, Josh, and numerous animals (goats, sheep, chickens, dogs, honey bees, and cats)!

G. Blair Sarbacker, PharmD, BCACP, of Clinton, SC is currently working as an Associate Professor of Pharmacy Practice at Presbyterian College School of Pharmacy. She is practicing as a clinical pharmacist at Advanced Family Medicine, a rural primary care clinic. Here she practices medication and disease state management. She received her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Wingate University School of Pharmacy in 2008. She completed an ASHP-accredited residency in Community Pharmacy Practice at the Community Healthcare Center by Kerr Drug in Lenoir, NC, in association with Wingate University School of Pharmacy. She obtained her Board Certification in Ambulatory Care in addition to completing certificate training in the areas of over-the-counter medication, immunizations, and diabetes. She is also trained to teach APhA’s Immunizations and Diabetes Certificate Program. She has served as an advisor for APhA-ASP for 3 years. She is the coordinator for the APhA-APPM Diabetes Management Special Interest Group and a director for the Texas Pharmacy Association.

Pair Two:

Michael Blaire, BSPharm, FIACP, of Scottsdale, AZ founded and served as supervising pharmacist for three pharmacies in New York before adopting Arizona as his home state. From 1993 to 1999, he spearheaded operations and profitability initiatives for several Walgreens pharmacy locations in the Phoenix area. In 2001, Michael moved on to co-found Diamondback Drugs, a veterinary compounding pharmacy that serves zoos, aquariums and veterinarians nationwide. Michael’s academic background spans a wide range of professional interests. He completed a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology and a Bachelor of Arts (with Distinction) in Literature at the University of Rochester. He holds a BS in Pharmacy from St. John’s University College of Pharmacy and has completed graduate studies in literature at Arizona State University.

Michael has been Chairman of the Arizona Pharmacy Alliance Political Action Committee, and Chairman of COMP-PAC, political action committee for the International Academy of Compounding Pharmacists. Likewise, Michael is a member of both, the APhA Political Action Committee and the NCPA PAC. Michael has acted as a preceptor for students from several colleges of pharmacy, offering rotations in compounding and veterinary medicine. In 2015, Michael received a governor’s appointment to the Arizona State Board of Pharmacy, where he is currently Vice-President. Most recently, Michael became a Fellow of the International Academy of Compounding Pharmacists.

At APhA, Michael has been involved in the APPM Compounding SIG and is currently the Coordinator. He is a member of both the APhA Political Action Committee and the Government Affairs Committee. Michael was also the recipient of the 2017 APhA Good Government Pharmacist-of-the-Year Award.

LTC(P) Jeffrey J. Neigh, PharmD, MBA, MHA, BCPS, of Annandale, VA was very active in pharmacy organizations as a student many years ago. After coming into the Army he became swept up in the day to day operations of the military healthcare system and became focused on advancing Army Pharmacy and military healthcare. In this capacity, he has had the opportunity to work in numerous practice settings: ambulatory, inpatient, oncology, clinical pharmacist rounding on burn units, MICUs, SICUs, and Emergency departments and privileged provider in Internal medicine, , as well as numerous years of administration experience. He also has a strong foundation in Pharmacy Management and Leadership from his experiences in the Army.

Last year he had the privilege to come to APhA as a Federal Fellow. His year there opened his eyes to what the profession of pharmacy is, and can be. He realized that the silo of military healthcare, while notable and innovative, is just one part of the bigger picture. His time at APhA made him want to share his experiences and energy to help the profession advance.  This desire led him to submitting this application in hopes of playing a larger role in shaping the future of our profession.

Pair Three:

Cortney M. Mospan, PharmD, BCACP, BCGP, of Indian Trail, NC is an Assistant Professor of Pharmacy at Wingate University School of Pharmacy. She earned a PharmD from Ohio Northern University Raabe College of Pharmacy and completed a PGY-1 Community Care Pharmacy Practice Residency at The Ohio State University College of Pharmacy with practice sites at Uptown Pharmacy and the Ohio Pharmacists Association. Throughout her career, Cortney has focused on providing care for underserved patient populations and working to establish innovative and sustainable clinical services in the community pharmacy setting. She established ETSU Charitable Pharmacy in 2014, and maintains active service in free clinics in the greater Charlotte area. Further, Cortney teaches management at Wingate University, pushing student pharmacists to challenge the status quo and strive to innovate and create new sustainable business models for all practice areas to expand the role of the pharmacist on the health care team. In 2017, she joined Dilworth Drug & Wellness Center as a clinical pharmacist. Cortney is an active member of the American Pharmacists Association (APhA), American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP),  National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA), and the North Carolina Association of Pharmacists (NCAP). She served as chair of the Policy and Advocacy committee in 2017 and as Chair of the Community Care Practice Forum in 2018 within NCAP. Cortney has served APhA in numerous capacities, including New Practitioner Advisory Committee Chair in 2017-2018, Strategic Directions Committee member, APhA-APPM Policy Committee member, and will serve as Coordinator of the Preceptor SIG in 2018-2019. She also serves as Co-Advisor of the Wingate University chapter of APhA-ASP, being recognized by the university as Student Organization Advisor of the Year in 2017.

Kimberly Shepherd Thompkins, PharmD, of Moseley, VA is a licensed professional Pharmacist at Wal-mart Stores, Inc. Her extensive knowledge and expertise in pharmacy practice includes pharmaceutics, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and pharmacotherapeutics. Dr. Thompkins earned a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of Alabama in 1994. After working as a Chemical Engineer, she pursued her Doctorate of Pharmacy at Samford University’s McWhorter School of Pharmacy in Homewood, Alabama. Dr. Thompkins served at Vice President of her pharmacy school class, as well as Vice President and President of the student chapter of APhA. Dr. Thompkins was also the founder and first President of the student chapter of SNPhA at Samford University. Upon her graduation in 2001, Dr. Thompkins was awarded the Eli Lilly & Company Achievement Award and SNPhA Founding Member Award. She also received award for New Practitioner of APhA Academy of Pharmacy Practice and Management Section.

Dr. Kimberly Thompkins began practicing Pharmacy at Rite Aid in 2001, where she excelled as both Pharmacist and Pharmacy Manager. In 2006, Dr. Thompkins begin her career at Wal-mart Pharmacy; throughout her tenure at Wal-mart, she has exceptionally served as Pharmacist, Pharmacy Manager, and Preceptor. Dr. Thompkins is responsible for analyzing real and potential drug-related medical problems and implementing corrective actions, to ensure that patients receive optimal drug therapies. She assures the safe and appropriate use of medications, and acts as an advocate of rational drug therapies. She achieves this objective through the evaluation of appropriateness of drug therapy based on patient-specific factors such as drug therapy individualization; evaluation, dispensing and providing medications, and drug information.

Dr. Kimberly Thompkins has over 16 years experience as pharmacist, with a focus in clinical pharmacy during the last 10 years of her professional career. She is the married mother of three who resides in Moseley, Virginia.

APhA-APPM New Practitioner Officer:

Tram M. Nguyen, PharmD, MBA, of San Diego, CA says passion has always been the invisible force behind her internal drive with 3 main ingredients: commitment, devotion, and motivation.

First, commitment to high standard of advanced training in pharmacy, business, and research is the reason why she obtained dual degrees in PharmD & MBA.

Second, devotion to continuous quality improvement is how she can contribute to the organization. She wants to be involved in making strides toward APhA’s goals and strategic planning. As a personal contribution, she definitely can devise an annual development or assessment plan for any existing or new program, in which will showcase her business skills. Moreover, she wishes to be present and help the profession to persevere through potential changes and future challenges in the field of pharmacy.

Third, motivation to become one of the leaders in the profession is exactly where her future plans are heading. Focusing on team accomplishments, she also hopes to collaborate with other well-seasoned professionals within the same field. As a long-term investment, she definitely wants to continue to optimize her business background and knowledge. Furthermore, she also has experience in the pharmaceutical industry in addition to business and research experiences.

Stephanie M. White, PharmD, of Little Rock, AR was born and raised in Jacksonville, Fl. From there, she earned her B.S. in Biochemistry at Elon University before continuing her education at Mercer University College of Pharmacy, where she earned her doctorate of pharmacy. After completing a PGY-1 in community pharmacy with the University of South Carolina, she moved to Little Rock, Arkansas where she is completing a PGY-2 in ambulatory care. The reason for these career choices are to further enhance her skills with the goal of working under collaborative practice agreements with physicians in an office setting.

While at both University of South Carolina and now University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, she has chosen to become heavily involved with the student pharmacists at the university through serving as their new practitioner mentor. Serving as a mentor and preceptor allows her more opportunities to volunteer within the community while also helping to shape the future pharmacists. Outside of pharmacy, she enjoys playing kickball and tennis, watching the Jacksonville Jaguars, baking, and exploring the area through hiking and attending community events. In addition, she enjoys running and plans to run her second half-marathon this spring. Overall, she enjoys staying very active and is always looking for ways to progress the pharmacy profession forward.

APhA-APRS President-elect:

Eric J. Jarvi, MFS, PhD, FAPhA, of Hampden, ME was Associate Dean of the Husson School of Pharmacy beginning in June, 2008 until his retirement in December, 2106. Eric holds a BS in Health Care Services from Southern Illinois University (1979), a MFS from George Washington University (1981), and a PhD in Pharmacology/Toxicology from Oregon State University (1985).

From 1985 to 1989, he was Assistant Professor and Manager of the Drug Research Laboratory in the College of Pharmacy at the University of Tennessee, Memphis. From 1990 to 2002 he was Associate Professor/Professor and Director of the Biopharmaceutical Analysis Laboratory in the College of Pharmacy at Idaho State University. From 2002 to 2008 he served as Assistant Dean and Department Head of Pharmaceutical Sciences in the College of Pharmacy at Ferris State University.

His research career has resulted in excess of $3 million in extramural funding and his (co)authoring 43 abstracts, seven invited presentations, and 25 publications.

He received Idaho State University's OAS Influential Professor Award (1994, 1996, 1999, 2001), was named College of Pharmacy Teacher of the Year (1997, 1999) and received the ISU Outstanding Public Service Award (1997, 1999). He was honored with the Sigma Xi Jerry Bigelow Award for Teaching and Research in 2000. In 2010 he received Husson’s William H. Beardsley Teaching Excellence Award and in 2016 he was recognized as an APhA-APRS Fellow.

Eric is active in soccer serving for many years as a coach, holding a National Youth License, and 15 years as a certified soccer official at both the high school and club level. He was recognized in 2001 as the Coach of the Year in Idaho and in 2005 received an award as Volunteer of the Year for the Michigan State Youth Soccer Association. Outside of soccer he enjoys playing racquetball, fly fishing, and backpacking.

David P. Nau, BSPharm, MS, PhD, FAPhA, of Pembroke Pines, FL is Assistant Dean for Assessment & Accreditation at Nova Southeastern University’s College of Pharmacy where he also holds an appointment as Professor within the Department of Sociobehavioral & Administrative Pharmacy. Prior to joining NSU, he was the founding President of Pharmacy Quality Solutions and also served as Senior Director at PQA where he was responsible for development of quality measures related to medication use. He has worked with health plans and pharmacies across the nation on innovative models for improving the quality of medication use and implementation of quality-based payment models for pharmacists.

APhA-APRS Basic Sciences Section Chair-elect:

Anna Ratka, PhD, PharmD, RPh, CPE, of Chicago, IL is a professor and interim associate dean of academic affairs at College of Pharmacy, Chicago State University. Dr. Ratka earned M.S. in pharmacy and Ph.D. in pharmaceutical sciences (pharmacology) from Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poland, and Pharm.D. from Idaho State University. She completed two post-doctoral fellowships. She was a pharmacy faculty at Idaho State University for 11 years. At University of North Texas Health Science Center, she was founding Director of Clinical Research at Institute for Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease Research. Dr. Ratka was founding chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Texas A&M College of Pharmacy. At Chicago State University, she chaired the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and now holds position of interim associate dean of academic affairs. Dr. Ratka is a graduate from the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Academic Leadership Fellows Program. She serves as team evaluator for Accreditation Council of Pharmacy Education.

Dr. Ratka has taught pharmacology, basic pharmacokinetics, pain pharmacotherapy and management, and sterile compounding. She is Certified Pain Educator. Her research is in neuropharmacology, neuroscience, and pain. Dr. Ratka authored over peer-reviewed 100 publications and presentations. She has served in leadership positions in professional organizations. As a leader, Dr. Ratka is productive, focused on tasks and results, good problem solver, and effective in developing partnerships and collaborations. As pharmacist, she practiced in community and hospital pharmacies. She is engaged in volunteer service to underserved communities.

APhA-APRS Clinical Sciences Section Chair-elect:

Ryan C. Costantino, PharmD, BCPS, BCGP, of Glen Burnie, MD is a Pharmacist with the United States Army. He most recently served as the Assistant Director of Pharmacy of Winn Army Community Hospital, Fort Stewart, GA where he maintained a practice site focused on primary care and Soldier readiness. His is focused on demonstrating the value of clinical pharmacy services and supporting the Army’s top priority of Soldier readiness. His leadership experience includes serving on a national level in the professional pharmacy fraternity Phi Delta Chi as the National Vice President for Student Affairs, and subsequently as Vice President of Communication. He received a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. He completed a pharmacy practice residency at the University of Maryland Medical Center and is a board-certified pharmacotherapy specialist.

Amanda Meeker, PharmD, of Portland, OR is a Clinical Coordinator with CareOregon, a managed care organization. There, she works with the Medicare and Medicaid population and collaborates with healthcare providers on various initiatives aimed at improving cost effectiveness and the quality of care. She earned her Doctorate of Pharmacy degree from the Oregon State University/Oregon Health & Science University (OSU/OHSU) College of Pharmacy.

After graduation, she completed a two-year Clinical Fellowship with the OSU/OHSU College of Pharmacy focused on Drug Policy. Her fellowship training was in literature evaluation, biostatistics and clinical research design to which she is currently applying these research principles to formulary development and cost savings initiatives in her current role.

Dr. Meeker enjoys serving as a mentor to both student pharmacists and residents. Throughout her career, she has continued to foster a learning environment to help others expand their knowledge of the aspects of managed care and evidence-based pharmacy practice. 

Dr. Meeker is passionate about professional organizations such as the American Pharmacists Association (APhA), as she sees the value they can add to your growth as a pharmacist as well as growing your professional network. As a student, Dr. Meeker was actively involved with APhA leadership at the chapter, state, and national levels. She continues to stay involved in the Oregon Pharmacy Coalition, APhA, and the Oregon State Pharmacy Association.

APhA-APRS Economic, Social and Administrative Sciences Section (ESAS) Chair-elect:

Mary K. Gurney, BSPharm, MS, PhD, of Peoria, AZ is an Associate Professor of Pharmacy Administration within the Department of Pharmacy Practice at Midwestern University College of Pharmacy – Glendale where she teaches two required courses, pharmacy law and public policy, and patient decision-making, and a book club elective. Dr. Gurney holds a BS in Pharmacy from Drake University. She earned her MS and PhD in Social and Administrative Sciences in Pharmacy from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Her research interests include pharmacy law, interprofessional education, and patient-centered care. Dr. Gurney frequently collaborates with colleagues in various practice settings to evaluate the impact of pharmacy services on pharmacy personnel and patients. Her research has resulted in peer-reviewed publications and presentations at national meetings. Dr. Gurney has served on committees for several professional organizations. From 1999 – 2000, she served as the APhA-APRS ESAS Post-Graduate Officer and served on the APRS Executive Committee from 2000-2001. From 2009 – 2011, she served on the APRS-ESAS Contributed Papers Review Committee and chaired the committee from 2010-2011. From 2011-2012, Dr. Gurney served as the Chair of the Wiederholt Prize Screening Committee. From 2012-2013 she served on the APhA Education Committee. In 2015-2016, she served on the APRS Awards Committee. In addition, Dr. Gurney served on the editorial board of Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy (RSAP) from 2006-2015. She continues to serve a peer-reviewer for RSAP, Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning (CPTL), the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association (JAPhA), and Innovations in Pharmacy. Also, Dr. Gurney currently serves on an AHRQ grant review panel.

Terri L. Warholak, PhD, RPh, CPHQ, FAPhA, of Tuscon, AZ is a Professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice and Science at the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy, Tucson and serves as the director of the Health Outcomes & PharmacoEconomics Center Research Team for the University of Arizona Medication Management Center and SinfoníaRx. She received her BS, MS, and PhD from Purdue University. From 1990 to 1997, Dr. Warholak served as a Commissioned Officer in the United States Public Health Service where her clinical pharmacy experience spanned from inpatient to community practice and included 5 years in the Indian Health Service and an assignment at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In 2003, Dr. Warholak was recognized as winner of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Council of Faculties Innovations in Teaching Competition for her work titled “Application of Quality Assurance Principles: Reducing Medication Errors in 30 Pharmacy Practice Settings.” Subsequently, the Pharmacy Quality Alliance (PQA) awarded Dr. Warholak and colleagues a grant to create the Educating Pharmacists in Quality (EPIQ) Program, which is available as open source educational materials on the PQA website. She serves on many national committees including: the FDA Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee (DSaRM) since 2016; the US Pharmacopeial Convention Healthcare Quality Expert Committee since 2015; and the PQA Research Coordinating Committee. Her teaching and research interests include medication error reduction, health information technology, and measure development. She has participated in studies evaluating the quality of patient care, techniques for reducing medication errors, and served as Lead Researcher on the AHRQ funded project concerning e-prescribing. Dr. Warholak is involved in health information technology projects on the state and national levels including the Arizona Medicaid Transformation Grant. She has edited a book, published over 80 papers and has been invited to present at the local, state, and national levels.

APhA-APRS Postgraduate Officer

Tessa J. Hastings, BSPS, MS, of Auburn, AL is a native of Dalton, Ohio. Prior to moving to Alabama, she received her BS in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Toledo in 2013 as well as her MS in Health Outcomes and Socioeconomic Sciences in 2015. She is currently a third-year PhD student in the Department of Health Outcomes Research and Policy at Auburn University. Her research interest as a graduate student has been focused on improving healthcare safety and effectiveness through the adoption of innovations in community pharmacies. Throughout her time at Auburn she has gained experience working with pharmacists and pharmacy technicians practicing in community pharmacies, as well as student pharmacists, to improve pharmacy care in Alabama. Hastings is currently working with the Alabama Department of Public Health’s Immunization Division to examine the adoption of immunization registries in independent community pharmacies. Upon graduation, she plans to pursue a career in academic pharmacy. Hastings has been an active member of APhA for the past five years, currently serving on the APhA Academy of Pharmaceutical Research and Science (APRS) Postgraduate Committee. She is also active in several other professional organizations. These include the American Association for Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP), Rho Chi, and the International Society of Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR), where she served as an ISPOR Student Chapter President for four consecutive years (2013-2015 University of Toledo and 2015-2017 Auburn University), as well as Student Network North American Meeting Planning Committee Co-chair for 2016-2017 and Chair for 2014-2015.

Logan Murry, PharmD, of Iowa City, IA is a current PhD student at the University of Iowa College of Pharmacy in the Department of Health Services Research. He received his PharmD from the University of Iowa College of Pharmacy in May 2017. Upon graduation, he accepted a Relief Pharmacist position at Mercy Hospital in Iowa City where he works part time. Prior to graduation, Murry was actively involved in the APhA-ASP Iowa chapter, serving as Policy Vice President for two terms. During his time as a student, he organized letter-writing campaigns to seek co-sponsors for legislation seeking Pharmacist recognition as providers under Medicare Part B. Additionally, Murry sought to increase donations to the APhA-PAC (Political Action Committee) in order to help the organization elect “pharmacy friendly” leadership on a national level. While serving as Policy Vice President, the University of Iowa consistently placed in the top five chapters for total PAC donations, a tradition that he is proud carries on today. While early in his PhD pursuit, Murry’s primary research interests pertain to patient access to and utilization of healthcare, specifically Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries and their interactions with Pharmacists. In addition to this research, Murry continues to work on research he began as a pharmacy student, looking at community pharmacy reimbursement and how the current landscape of reimbursement has been impacting pharmacy revenue and operations. Through his research interests, Murry hopes to continue to advocate for patients as well as pharmacists, ultimately working to improve the healthcare system.

Attendees of the 2018 APhA Annual Meeting and Exposition will have an opportunity to visit face-to-face with the candidates at a “Meet the Candidates” session in the Nashville, TN convention center.

Members will be able to vote starting on March 17 and the elections will close at noon on May 14. The 2018 APhA election results will be announced in June, and successfully elected candidates will be installed at the 2019 APhA Annual Meeting and Exposition in March 2019. Additional election and candidate information will be available online.