WASHINGTON, DC – The American Pharmacists Association (APhA) Academy of Pharmacy Practice & Management (APhA–APPM) and Academy of Pharmaceutical Research & Science (APhA–APRS) today announced the election slate for the 2020 APhA Elections.

Attendees of the APhA Annual Meeting & Exposition in National Harbor, MD, March 20–23, 2020 will have an opportunity to visit face-to-face with the candidates at a “Meet the Candidates” session at the Gaylord National Harbor. Members will be able to vote starting on March 22, and the elections will close at noon on May 14. The 2020 APhA election results will be announced in June, and successfully elected candidates will be installed at the APhA Annual Meeting & Exposition in March 2021. Additional election and candidate information will be available online.

APhA–APPM Executive Committee Member-at-Large:

Pair One:
Dr. Amy Kennedy, PharmD, BCACP, of Tucson, AZ, is an Assistant Professor in Pharmacy Practice and Science at the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy (UACOP). Dr. Kennedy earned her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and completed a community practice residency and community-based participatory research fellowship at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Pharmacy. She is Board Certified in Ambulatory Care. As a Clinical Pharmacist, Dr. Kennedy provides care to her patients at El Rio Health in a patient centered medical home model specializing in chronic disease care and pain treatment. She also serves as the Residency Program Director for the Post-Graduate Year 1 (PGY-1) Pharmacy Residency and PGY-1 Community Pharmacy Residency at El Rio Health. She was recently awarded Clinical Educator of the Year at UACOP and the Arizona Pharmacy Association (AzPA) Excellence in Innovative Practice Award. Dr. Kennedy is passionate about policy and has served as a member on the following APhA policy committees: APPM policy standing committee, House of Delegates Policy Reference and House Rules Review committees. She has also served on the APhA New Practitioner Advisory Council, the APhA Community Pharmacy Residency Advisory Council, as a New Practitioner mentor to her ASP chapter, and, most recently, on the Board of Directors for her state association. Her current teaching and research interests include preventive health, harm reduction, outpatient pain management, pharmacists’ professionalism and well-being, and the pharmacist’s role in caring for the underserved.

G. Blair Sarbacker, PharmD, BCACP, of Spartanburg, SC, is currently working as an Associate Professor of Pharmacy Practice and Director of Interprofessional Education 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. Dr. Sarbacker 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. Dr. Sarbacker obtained her Board Certification in Ambulatory Care and completed certificate training in the areas of immunizations and diabetes management as well as her certification to teach APhA’s Immunizations and Diabetes Certificate Programs. She has served as an advisor for APhA-ASP for 6 years.

Pair Two:
Chris Johnson, PharmD, MEd, BCACP, of Little Rock, AR, is an assistant professor of pharmacy practice at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Pharmacy. His practice site is the UAMS Family Medical Center where he provides chronic disease management under collaborative practice agreements for a variety of disease states and precepts pharmacy students, pharmacy residents, medical students, and medical residents. Dr. Johnson utilizes his rotations as an opportunity to prepare learners to work in interprofessional teams to provide high quality care to our most vulnerable patients. In addition, he serves a co-chapter advisor for the award-winning UAMS APhA-ASP chapter. Dr. Johnson graduated from Oregon State University and completed his Doctor of Pharmacy degree at Concordia University Wisconsin School of Pharmacy. After graduation, he completed the 24-month Practice and Academic Leadership residency at Concordia. As part of the residency, Dr. Johnson developed pharmacy services at a Federally-qualified Health Center in the Milwaukee, WI, area. This residency program also provided him with the opportunity to complete a Master of Science in Education. His thesis for the M.Ed program was entitled, "Identifying student learning competencies for urban underserved practice using a Delphi process." Dr. Johnson has been involved in several service opportunities within APhA and the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy since beginning his pharmacy career. He has been involved in multiple SIG and Academy committees within APhA, including the APhA-APPM Policy Standing Committee and CUP SIG Communications. Dr. Johnson currently chairs the AACP Junior Faculty Learning Community Committee.

Olivia Kinney, PharmD, of Cincinnati, Ohio, is a community-based pharmacist who is passionate about helping people live healthier lives. She graduated with her Doctor of Pharmacy degree and an area of emphasis in Gerontology from West Virginia University before continuing her education as a pharmacy resident with Virginia Commonwealth University and Kroger Pharmacy. After completing her residency, Dr. Kinney remained with Kroger as a pharmacist and Patient Care Coordinator where her focus was on coordination, pharmacist training, and implementation of clinical services in a district of 18 pharmacies. She now works on the Clinical Services Team at Kroger Health in Cincinnati. In this role, Dr. Kinney designs preventive health programs which close gaps in medication therapy, increases access to health screenings, and promotes safe opioid use. She is also completing a master’s degree in Health Outcomes Research through the University of Cincinnati James L. Winkle College of Pharmacy. Dr. Kinney is committed to simplifying healthcare by evolving pharmacy practice from product preparation to service provision that optimizes medication use.

Pair Three:
Hillary Blackburn, PharmD, MBA, of Nashville, TN, is a clinically trained pharmacist who's been practicing for almost a decade in a variety of healthcare settings. She has experience in healthcare strategy, business development, formulary development and management, consulting, and establishing successful medication access programs. Dr. Blackburn is a graduate of the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy and completed a PGY1 Pharmacy Practice Residency at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. She currently serves as the Director of Pharmaceutical Services at Dispensary of Hope, a national non-profit medication distributor hosted by Ascension where she oversees the formulary, leads research initiatives, and manages the network of strategic advisors on Dispensary of Hope’s Pharmacy Advisory Council. She also precepts Belmont University student pharmacists and serves on the Dean’s External Advisory Committee. In addition, Dr. Blackburn serves as Co-Chair for the Advocacy Committee for APhA’s Care of the Underserved Special Interest Group and as a member on the Membership Engagement and Legislative and Policy committees for the Tennessee Pharmacist Association. She is passionate about promoting the pharmacy profession and delivering expert patient care which led her to found the Pharmacy Advisory Group which provides pharmacy expertise in consulting and education. Dr. Kinney’s popular podcast, Talk to Your Pharmacist, has over 100 episodes highlighting successful pharmacy leaders and sharing about current healthcare trends. In 2012, she returned to her Tennessee roots and met her wonderful husband, Chad, in Nashville where she enjoys staying involved in her community through volunteering, living an active lifestyle, traveling, and spending time with friends and family.

Marci Strauss, PharmD, of Abingdon, MD, is a 2012 graduate of the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy and began serving as a staff pharmacist for Supervalu Pharmacies, providing Medication Therapy Management (MTM) and immunization services to patients in the Greater Baltimore area. In 2014, she began serving as MTM Coordinator with EPIC Pharmacies, through which she developed a pilot program to increase engagement and utilization of MTM programs among independent community pharmacies. The success of that pilot program, coupled with her passion to help independent pharmacists continue to demonstrate how they impact patients, led to the creation of EPIC Pharmacies' first Clinical Programs Department. As Manager of Clinical Programs, Dr. Strauss leads the department in the implementation and expansion of clinical services, while working to increase pharmacy network performance in quality measures. Her ongoing objective is to increase community pharmacy engagement with, and understanding of, the importance of services such as MTM, immunizations and medication synchronization and how those will advance the role of community pharmacists across the nation. Dr. Strauss is an active member of APhA, currently serving as Coordinator of the Medication Management SIG and as a member of the Pharmacy Today Editorial Advisory Board. She previously served as a mentor for APhA’s Mentor360, chair of the SIG’s business model committee and on multiple Association work groups. Dr. Strauss also currently serves as a trustee on Maryland Pharmacists Association Board of Trustees, co-chair of MPhA’s Membership Committee, is a preceptor for the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy and board member on OutcomesMTM’s National MTM Advisory Board.

APhA–APPM New Practitioner Officer
Zachary A. Pape, PharmD, BCACP, of Milwaukee, WI, is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Sciences at the Medical College of Wisconsin School of Pharmacy in Milwaukee. He received his Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa before going on to pursue two years of residency at West Virginia University/Waterfront Family Pharmacy in Morgantown, WV and Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, FL. During his residency years, Dr. Pape specialized in community-based pharmacy care as a PGY1 and ambulatory care as a PGY2. He now teaches at MCW with much of his time spent in the self-care and wellness and renal & cardiovascular integrated sequence courses. Dr. Pape currently holds a practice site at Froedtert Hospital's Center for Advanced Care in the outpatient Heart and Vascular Clinic as a pharmacist resource within the various specialty cardiology teams. He has been involved in APhA since his time as a student at Drake University and has continued to serve in committee roles as a new practitioner throughout his residency and early academic years. Dr. Pape continues to have a passion for promoting the profession of pharmacy among students and participates in mentoring pharmacy students within his role at a newly established school of pharmacy.

Jordan Rowe, PharmD, BCACP, of Kansas City, MO, is an assistant professor in the Division of Pharmacy Practice and Administration at the University of Missouri - Kansas City. She provides comprehensive chronic disease management within the endocrinology and internal medicine clinics at Truman Medical Centers (TMC) in Kansas City, Missouri, an urban safety-net health-system dedicated to providing interprofessional, patient-centered care for all. At her clinic sites, Dr. Rowe, precepts third- and fourth-year pharmacy students as well as PGY-1 TMC pharmacy residents. She also serves as a volunteer preceptor and faculty advisor to the board at Sojourner, a free, student-run, interprofessional clinic for the uninsured and homeless of Kansas City. Dr. Rowe was born and raised in Arkansas. She received her Bachelor of Science in chemistry degree from John Brown University and her doctor of pharmacy degree from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Pharmacy in Little Rock, Arkansas. Dr. Rowe completed a PGY-1 residency at the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, Tennessee, and a PGY-2 ambulatory care residency at CoxHealth in Springfield, Missouri. She has been an active member of APhA since her first year of pharmacy school in 2012. Dr. Rowe currently serves as a faculty advisor for the UMKC chapter of APhA-ASP. She held multiple leadership roles in her alma mater's APhA-ASP chapter while in pharmacy school and volunteered as a preceptor and mentor to the UMKC-Springfield's chapter of APhA-ASP during her PGY-2 year.

APhA–APRS President-elect:
Spencer Harpe, PharmD, PhD, MPH, FAPhA of Downers Grove, IL, is Professor of Pharmacy Administration at Midwestern University Chicago College of Pharmacy where he teaches courses in practice development and evaluation, epidemiology, and statistics. He holds a BS in Pharmaceutical Sciences and a PharmD from the University of Mississippi. Dr. Harpe earned his PhD in Pharmaceutical Administration with a focus on health outcomes research from the Ohio State University, as well as an MS in Pharmaceutical Administration and an MPH with a concentration in biostatistics. His scholarly interests include pharmacoepidemiology, outcomes research, health care quality, educational research, and meta-research. Dr. Harpe frequently collaborates with colleagues in various practice settings to evaluate the outcomes of pharmacy services. He has a keen interest in improving research and evaluation capacity among pharmacists. His research has resulted in numerous peer-reviewed publications and presentations at national and international meetings. Dr. Harpe has served on committees for several professional organizations. He has previously chaired the APhA-APRS ESAS Contributed Papers Review Committee, the APhA-APRS ESAS Awards and Nominations Committee, and the APhA-APRS Education Committee. He is currently finishing his term as APhA-APRS ESAS chair. Dr. Harpe was selected as a Fellow of APhA by APhA-APRS in 2017. In addition to serving as a peer-reviewer for a variety of healthcare journals, he has served on the editorial boards of several pharmacy-related journals, including the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association (JAPhA), the American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy, the Annals of Pharmacotherapy, and Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning. He is currently Deputy Editor for JAPhA.

Jenny Lamberts, PhD, of Grand Rapids, MI, is an Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Chair of the Pharmaceutical Sciences Department in the College of Pharmacy at Ferris State University. She joined Ferris State in 2014 and since that time, she has been extremely interested in how the basic sciences can integrate with and support the practice of pharmacy. Specifically, Lamberts recently led a year-long research project that examined perceptions of college/school of pharmacy faculty toward programs that orient non-practice faculty to the profession of pharmacy; the results of this work were presented at the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) Pharmacy Education 2019. In addition, she has been actively involved in several professional pharmacy organizations, including the Michigan Pharmacists Association (MPA), AACP, and APhA-APRS. Through her work with MPA and APhA-APRS, Lamberts works hard to advance the profession of pharmacy through the dissemination and application of scientific research. Specific areas of contribution include, but are not limited to, pharmacotherapy of opioid use disorder, gluten content in pharmaceutical preparations, and compounding pharmacy education.

APhA–APRS Basic Sciences Section Chair-elect:
Anthony J. Di Pasqua, PhD, of Binghamton, NY, received a doctorate in chemistry from Syracuse University. He was a Ruth L. Kirschstein Postdoctoral Fellow in the Oncology Department at the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University, and a postdoctoral research associate and then research assistant professor in the Department of Molecular Pharmaceutics and the Center for Nanotechnology in Drug Delivery in the Eshelman School of Pharmacy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Di Pasqua joined the University of North Texas System College of Pharmacy in November 2012, where he was involved with the development of the school, including all facets of the curriculum, admissions, procedures and policies, and faculty hiring. He then moved to Binghamton University in August 2016, to contribute to their new School of Pharmacy. Di Pasqua is also the CEO and President of the biomedical device startup company, DB Therapeutics. He has expertise in teaching and directing Pharmaceutics 1 and 2 and non-sterile extemporaneous compounding and is committed to teaching his students to think critically about science and how it applies to the practice of pharmacy. In 2015, Di Pasqua's Radiotherapeutic Bandage for the Treatment of Skin Cancer work was highlighted as a EurekAlert! and Di Pasqua was Chair of the Basic Sciences section of APhA in 2016 and 2017.

APhA–APRS Clinical Sciences Section Chair-elect:
Mark Decerbo, PharmD, BCPS, BCNSP, of Henderson NV, received his Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts and went on to complete a PGY-1 pharmacy practice residency at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, NC. He currently provides direct patient care with the internal medicine service at University Medical Center of Southern Nevada as an Associate Professor of Pharmacy Practice at Roseman University of Health Sciences and Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine with the University of Nevada School of Medicine. Dr. Decerbo is credentialed by the Board of Pharmacy Specialties (BPS) as both a Board Certified Pharmacotherapy Specialist (BCPS) and Board Certified Nutrition Support Pharmacist (BCNSP). He currently serves a member of both the NABP NAPLEX Review Committee and Advisory Committee on Examinations (ACE) and has been appointed to 2015-2020 United States Pharmacopeia Healthcare Quality & Safety Expert Committee. The current Chair of the State of Nevada Medicaid Pharmacy & Therapeutics Committee, Dr. Decerbo is active through this role with the National Governor's Association, assisting key Nevada stakeholders with access to prescription medications. An APhA-ASP Chapter Advisor since 2002, he was a past Non-Specialist Member on the BCNP Nuclear Specialty Council and was honored in 2015 as a Pharmacy Times NextGeneration Pharmacist™ finalist, and in 2017 as the recipient of APhA’s Bowl of Hygeia Award for the State of Nevada.

Behnaz Sarrami, PharmD, MS, of Chesterfield, MO, possesses an unmatched passion and eagerness to serve her community and is paving the way for pharmacists to take a more hands-on personal approach to patients. Dr. Sarrami is an unconventional thinker and within a few years of being a pharmacist she has already started a pharmacogenomics consulting business with the aim of building a team of compassionate pharmacy leaders dedicated to personalizing patient medication regimen. She is currently managing multiple projects that involve educating and bringing awareness to other healthcare providers about personalized therapy and chronic care coaching. Dr. Sarrami has excellent communication skills and has been successful in setting up many meetings and conference calls with physicians in her area to start collaboration agreements. She has unique leadership skills yet knows the value of teamwork and importance of delegating tasks. Dr. Sarrami is very active in her community, volunteering her time to set up health fairs, and staying involved in Washington University’s research projects that serve the older adults who are home-bound. She beautifully balances patient-care and corporate directives while embracing compassion and selflessness. Her mission is to help unprivileged older adults who have no voice for themselves and who lack health literacy to self-manage their chronic conditions. Dr. Sarrami also sympathizes with physician burnout and is actively finding ways to help close the gap between the community's need for better healthcare management and physician’s exhaustion and lack of time. She leads life by the premise, “know what sparks the light in you. Then use that light to illuminate the world.”

APhA–APRS Economic, Social and Administrative Sciences Section (ESAS) Chair-elect:
Benjamin D. Aronson, PharmD, PhD, of Ada, Ohio is Assistant Professor of Social and Administrative Pharmacy at Ohio Northern University's Raabe College of Pharmacy. Prior to joining the faculty at Ohio Northern, he earned his PharmD in 2011 and PhD in Social and Administrative Pharmacy in 2016 from the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy. Dr. Aronson is passionate about advancing the profession of pharmacy, moving towards health equity, serving those who are underserved, and engaging students in the profession to help them find their fit. His research centers on improving health in underserved communities by understanding the social and structural determinants of health care, healthcare quality and outcomes, and understanding factors that lead to success in both the pharmacy workforce and student pharmacists. Dr. Aronson teaches about a variety of topics including health equity, health behaviors, healthcare systems, the principles of pharmaceutical care, quality in healthcare, leadership, and professional development of student pharmacists. He has a long track record of active involvement in several state and national professional organizations including, the Ohio Pharmacists Association (OPA), APhA, American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP), and the Pharmacy Quality Alliance (PQA). Dr. Aronson also serves as the co-advisor for the ONU APhA-Academy of Student Pharmacists. In 2017, he was welcomed as an affiliate member of the Wulling Center for Innovation & Scholarship in Pharmacy Education.

Marc Fleming, PhD, MPH, RPh, of Fort Worth, Texas, is Associate Professor and Chair Department of Pharmacotherapy at the University of North Texas (UNT) System College of Pharmacy in Fort Worth, Texas. He has over 15 years of pharmacy practice experience, including working in both community chain and independent pharmacies as well as hospital pharmacy. Dr. Fleming is a licensed pharmacist in Texas and Virginia, where he completed a Master of Public Health degree in 2000. Currently, he is working with Texas Health and Human Services Commission and collaborators at the University of Houston College of Pharmacy on SAMHSA funded projects aimed at preventing prescription drug misuse and promoting safe disposal of unused controlled substance prescriptions. Throughout his academic career, Dr. Fleming has excelled at bringing together multidisciplinary groups of clinicians and researchers to address pharmacist and physician behavior related to pain management care and prescription opioid misuse prevention. His research has been presented internationally and he has numerous publications in addition to presentations regarding prescription drug monitoring programs at the local, state and national level. Dr. Fleming is currently working to develop a pharmacists’ education plan to enhance pharmacists’ controlled substance prescription counseling as part as the SPF-Rx grant. In addition to research, Dr. Fleming has been recognized for his service to the community and profession for his involvement in working with local substance abuse coalitions, presenting at community college career day and serving as student chapter advisor for multiple organizations, including the Industry Pharmacists Organization.

APhA–APRS Postgraduate Officer:
Logan T. Murry, PharmD, RPh, of Iowa City, Iowa, is a third-year 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 of 2017. Upon graduation, Dr. Murry transitioned into the APhA academy and began serving on the APhA-APRS Postgraduate Advisory Committee, which he has done for the past two years. This is his second time running for the Postgraduate Officer position, obtaining valuable experience while serving under the leadership of Dr. Tony Olson and Dr. Tessa Hastings. During this time, he has published papers on a variety of topics, most recently: pharmacy student mental health, advanced pharmacy services, and Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement in a community pharmacy setting. Additionally, Dr. Murry has begun exploring consumer and patient experience in the community pharmacy setting, with the intent of improving various components of service delivery and design. Through his research, he hopes to continue advocating for patients and pharmacists, ultimately working to improve the healthcare system. As an avid Dr. Brené Brown reader, Dr. Murry is a proponent of courage and vulnerability in scholarship and in the academic setting. He believes that uncharted territory is where we spend much of our time as researchers, and to succeed, we must be courageous in our pursuits of exploring the unexplored. One of Dr. Murry’s most enjoyable experiences during his time in the academy have been developing collaborations and hearing about the impactful work of his colleagues.

Meena Murugappan, PharmD, MPH, of Minneapolis, MD, is a pharmacist, public health professional, and an aspiring Health Policy and Outcomes researcher. She is passionate about promoting the rational and safe use of medications across populations worldwide and ensuring medication accessibility and affordability among underserved communities, through a policy-driven approach. Dr. Murugappan conducts research to inform the development, implementation, and evaluation of health policies that impact health care delivery, quality, and outcomes. During her PharmD, Dr. Murugappan was an active member of APhA-ASP, serving as her chapter’s Policy Vice President and later as the Regional Delegate for Region 5. Upon graduation, she worked as a clinical pharmacist at the University of Utah Hospital, gaining experience in critical care, HIV, and transitions of care. Dr. Murugappan also worked as a community pharmacist at Rite Aid Pharmacy in Salt Lake City, serving a community of low-income migrant workers. She later completed her MPH with a minor in Epidemiology and certificate in Global Health at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Murugappan currently serves as a Mixed-Methods Research Associate in Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders at University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy. Her most recent work focuses on the safety of psycho-stimulant use during pregnancy. She is also in her second year of the PhD program in Social and Administrative Pharmacy and is excited to further her research skills in the area of commercial claims database analysis. Dr. Murugappan is looking forward to continuing her work with APhA, to expand the role and impact of pharmacists in public health.

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–APPM 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.

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 (ESAS). Members receive access to continuing education, an online community for pharmacists, networking and leadership opportunities, premier research journals such as JAPhA and JPharmSci, and cutting-edge information on medication therapy management and regulatory issues facing the profession.

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 is dedicated to helping all pharmacists improve medication use and advance patient care and is the first-established and largest association of pharmacists in the United States. For more information, please visit the APhA website.