The Pharmacist / Spring 2022 / Volume 44 / Issue 2

SPRING 2022 | VOLUME 45 | ISSUE 1
THE MAGAZINE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS CHICAGO COLLEGE OF PHARMACY
Sources of Inspiration and Motivation
12
The Class of 2020 24
A Model for Community Engagement 18
Investing in the Future 28

4
contents
02 Dean’s Letter
03 Events
04 College News
08 Student News
10 Catching Up with the Class of 2011
12 Sources of Inspiration and Motivation
24 Class of 2020
26 You’ve Got Mail
28 Investing in the Future
33 Alumni Profiles
36 Ask an Alumnus
38 Alumni News
In September of 1868, our college published the first issue of a trade journal simply named
The Pharmacist. The magazine you see before you is named in honor of that historic journal.

12
11
19
EDITORIAL CREDITS
PUBLISHER
Glen T. Schumock, PharmD, MBA, PhD
Professor and Dean
EDITORS
Robert Hoff
UIC Creative and Digital Services
Ben Stickan
Former Associate Dean of Advancement
PROOFREADERS
Lexi Betcher
Deb Fox
Chris Gummert
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Jessica Canlas
Jacqueline Carey
Sonya Collins
Michael Dhar
Andrew Faught
Sharon Parmet
Daniel Smith
2
PHOTOGRAPHY
Barry Donald
DESIGN
Godfrey Carmona
UIC Creative and Digital Services
The Pharmacist
833 S. Wood St. (MC 874)
Chicago, Illinois 60612
(312) 996-7240
pharmcommunications@uic.edu
©2022. All rights reserved.
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CONSUMER MATERIAL

FROM THE DEAN
Vision, Passion, Impact
BY DEAN GLEN SCHUMOCK
It seemed like “Groundhog Day” as students, faculty,
and staff of the UIC College of Pharmacy started the
2022 spring semester at the peak of the Omicron
surge, temporarily requiring reinstated safety measures.
Thankfully, that is behind us, and with the winter ending,
we are again energized by our collective vision, our passion
to serve, and an understanding of the impact we can have.
In this issue of The Pharmacist, you will find strong
evidence of the college’s impact in education, research,
and service—and the passion and sense of purpose
that drives that. Besides the regular articles, included
herein is our 2021 Impact Statement. The infographics,
numbers, and detailed stories all point to the same thing
—a community of students, faculty and preceptors, staff,
alumni, and other strategic partners working together to
be the global leader in innovative pharmacy education,
research, and practice to improve human health.
The lead article in this issue, titled “Sources of
Inspiration and Motivation,” focuses on more
than a dozen of our productive research
faculty and the passion and purpose that
drives their discovery and success. Whether
that passion comes from the desire to cure
a disease experienced by a family member,
innate curiosity, or an internal need to make
the world better, it is evident in the personal
stories of Drs. Jeremey Johnson,
Lisa Sharp, Greg Calip, Steve Lee,
Eric Wenzler, Tom Gao, Zach
Bulman, Shura Mankin, Nora
Vasquez-Laslop, Mike Federle,
Maria Barbolina, Karen Sweiss,
and Joanna Burdette and all
our researchers.
However, that passion and purpose are not isolated to
research. It runs through our entire pharmacy family.
It is what drives our clinical faculty in their care of
patients and in their service to others—like Dr. Jewel
Young who is an excellent example of how our faculty
and students engage with and serve the community.
That passion is also what drives our faculty in the
classroom and preceptors in experiential education.
Teachers like Dr. Kathy Sarna, the recipient of 2021
Frederick P. Siegel Innovative Teaching Award, or Drs.
Marianne Pop and Oksana Kucher as they train future
emergency pharmacy specialists. All of their stories are
included in this issue.
That passion is instilled in our students and trainees,
and they carry it with them in their careers. This is
exemplified by Soojin Jun, PharmD ’13. You will read
how her father’s death has led her on a crusade to
allow pharmacists to be better able to solve the
many problems with our healthcare system.
Similar passion has propelled Drs. Kersten
Weber Tatarelis, PharmD ’07, Deanna
Horner, PharmD, RES ’08, Denise Scarpelli,
PharmD ’96, Mashal Alshazi, PhD ’15, and
other alumni highlighted in this issue
That same passion motivates our alumni and
friends to support this college and
our students. That support—
whether in volunteered time
or financial contributions—
is incredible. In the
past few months, we
have received gifts for
endowed scholarships,
which you will read
Online
pharmacy.uic.edu
go.uic.edu/PharmFBChicago
go.uic.edu/PharmFBRockford
go.uic.edu/PharmTwitter
go.uic.edu/PharmLinkedIn
go.uic.edu/PharmInstagram
Got News?
Change jobs? Get a promotion? Publish a paper?
Publish a book? Get married? Have a baby? We want
to hear about it all! Send your news directly to the
associate director of development Lexi Betcher at
lbetcher@uic.edu.
We’ll do our best to fit it into our publications and/or
social media! If you don’t see it in The Pharmacist,
please go to go.uic.edu/PharmNews.
go.uic.edu/PharmYouTube
2 THE PHARMACIST PHARMACY.UIC.EDU

about, including the Jim and Phyllis White Scholarship,
The Bartels and Bauman Family Scholarship, the Dr.
Alice Romie Memorial Scholarship, the Bartels Family
Pharmaceutics Lab Scholarship, and the Maddux-
Veremis Scholarship. The UIC Pharmacy Emmett and
Ruth Mobley Memorial Leadership Fund, established by
Miriam Mobley Smith, PharmD ’95, is also described in
this issue. These gifts and the others noted in our 2021
Impact Report make this college’s work possible. These
gifts change lives. We are thankful for your contribution,
support, and engagement.
Continuing Education
Opportunities
EVENTS
FIVE-POINT VISION
Provide unparalleled pharmacy
education and training
Advance the profession through
leadership and advocacy
The University of Illinois Chicago College of Pharmacy Office
of Continuing Education and Meeting Services (OCEMS) has
released the following programs:
Lead the nation in pharmaceutical
research that impacts health
Foster a culture of excellence,
collaboration, and inclusiveness
PHARMACY TECHNICIAN CE PROGRAMS
Twenty-two ACPE-approved pharmacy technician continuing
education programs are available. For more information, please
visit go.uic.edu/PharmTechCE.
Be the epicenter of innovative
pharmacy services
PHARMACIST CE PROGRAMS
Twenty-nine ACPE-approved pharmacist continuing education
programs are available. For more information, please visit
go.uic.edu/PharmacistCE.
Our Digital Edition
issuu.com/uicpharmacy
SPRING 2022 THE PHARMACIST 3

COLLEGE NEWS
University Sets Research
Funding Record
The University of Illinois Chicago received $446
MILLION in sponsored funding during the 2021 fiscal
year, including $24.4M from UIC Pharmacy research
faculty, setting a record for research awards. The total
amount represents an 8.6% increase over fiscal year
2020, with funding supporting over 3,500 research
projects that move research to practical application.
UIC’s research impact spans the globe through
initiatives such as developing treatments and vaccines
for COVID-19, reshaping education equity and access,
and creating more sustainable environments worldwide.
Now, Dr. Polikanov’s new study shows the potential of
the drug iboxamycin, which could one day help humans
who are ill due to antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and
identifies how the drug overcomes the most widespread
mechanism of resistance to this class of antibacterials.
“Another record year for our research portfolio highlights
our culture of innovation and our commitment to
the creation and application of new knowledge. Our
researchers’ relentless devotion to discoveries that
improve lives solidifies UIC’s reputation as one of the
world’s top research universities,” said UIC chancellor
Michael Amiridis.
Glen Schumock, dean of the College of Pharmacy, said,
“I am proud of the role that the College of Pharmacy
plays in contributing to the overall research mission
of UIC. Beyond just funding, our faculty have had a
huge impact through the discovery of new drugs and
knowledge that changes lives.”
2021 OTM Inventor of the year
UIC’s Office of Technology Management recently
selected Dr. DON WALLER, professor emeritus,
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, as the 2021
Inventor of the Year. See the enclosed Impact Report
for the full story.
Drs. Mankin and Polikanov
Published in Nature
A new study by Drs. ALEXANDER MANKIN and YURY
POLIKANOV published in the journal Nature reports on
a new antibiotic that binds to the ribosome of bacterial
cells and stops drug-resistant pathogens from making
mice sick. In January, the UIC Pharmacy researchers
developed a unique approach for visualizing ribosomes
that are resistant to conventional antibiotics.
Pharmacists Receive Commendation
from the University of Illinois
System President
Drs. RODRIGO BURGOS, ROB DIDOMENICO,
ANDY DONNELLY, SARAH MICHIENZI, and
RENATA SMITH were recognized by Timothy Killeen,
president of the University of Illinois System, for their
contributions to the fight against COVID-19. Killeen’s
letter noted their role “in our fight against COVID-19
has helped save lives on our university campuses
and well beyond and has fueled the larger effort
across Illinois and the nation to foster social and
economic recovery as we navigate the pandemic.”
Congratulations to all our awardees and thank you for
your contributions to this monumental undertaking.
Does Cannibis Prevent COVID?
Dr. GUIDO PAULI and Pharmacognosy Institute
coworkers Drs. SHAO-NONG CHEN and BRENT
FRIESEN, as well as Dr. TAKASHI OHTSUKI,
published a paper in Science Advances. “Cannabidiol
Inhibits SARS-CoV-2 Replication through Induction of the
Host ER Stress and Innate Immune Responses” finds that
CBD inhibits infection of COVID-19 cells in mice.
Dr. Guido Pauli
4 THE PHARMACIST PHARMACY.UIC.EDU

Additional Faculty and Staff
News and Achievements
Dr. MELISSA BADOWSKI, clinical associate professor,
was recently appointed to the Standards and Practice
Guidelines Committee of the Infectious Diseases
Society of America.
Dr. ROB DIDOMENICO,
associate professor
and assistant head
for research, and
distinguished professor
emeritus Dr. JERRY
BAUMAN were
recently honored by
the American College
of Clinical Pharmacy’s
Cardiology Practice
and Research Network
(PRN). Dr. DiDomenico
was recognized with
the PRN Mentoring
Award and Dr. Bauman
was recognized with
the PRN’s Lifetime
Achievement Award.
Congratulations to
executive associate
dean and professor
Dr. STEPHANIE
CRAWFORD who was selected as a fellow for
the 2021–2022 President’s Executive Leadership
Program. This is a very selective group of faculty and
administrators from throughout the University of Illinois
System. Dr. Crawford was also
recognized as APhA-APRS fellow
earlier this year at the APhA 2021
Virtual Awards Ceremony.
Dr. RICK GEMEINHART, professor
and associate vice chancellor for
research, was recently appointed
to the American Association
of Pharmaceutical Scientists
Introductions in the Pharmaceutical
Sciences Book Series Editorial Board.
Dr. ANNETTE HAYS, clinical
assistant professor, recently received a grant, in
partnership with the College of Medicine, from the
Community Foundation of Northern Illinois as part
of their Community Grants Program. The grant will
support our Rockford campus and their Diabetes-
TEAM: Text-Messaging Education & Support Pilot
project at a federally qualified health center.
Dr. James Lee
Dr. Edith Nutescu
Drs. JAMES LEE, clinical associate professor, and
EDITH NUTESCU, professor and head, Department
of Pharmacy Practice, received funding from the
Association of University Centers on Disabilities,
CDC, and the National Blood Clot Alliance for their
project titled “Prevalence of Venous and Arterial
Thromboembolic Events in Adult and Pediatric
Hospitalized Patients with COVID-19.”
Dr. MARC MCDOWELL, clinical assistant professor,
was honored with the Emergency Medicine Practice and
Research Network (PRN) New Clinical Practitioner Award
by the American College of Clinical Pharmacy.
Dr. JEFFREY MUCKSAVAGE, clinical assistant
professor, received the Presidential Citation from the
Neurocritical Care Society.
Dr. KIRSTEN OHLER, clinical associate professor,
received the Pediatric PRN Achievement Award from
the American College of Clinical
Pharmacy.
Dr. MARIANNE POP, clinical
assistant professor, recently received
both the New Practitioner and
Shining Star Awards from the
Illinois Council of Health-System
Pharmacists. In addition, Dr. Pop
was appointed ICHP director-elect
of educational affairs for 2021–
2022.
DALE RUSH, associate dean,
received the 2021 Exceptional Service Award from
the Administrative and Financial Officers Special
Interest Group (SIG) of the AACP.
SPRING 2022 THE PHARMACIST 5

COLLEGE NEWS
Dr. CHRIS
SCHRIEVER, clinical
associate professor,
was recently appointed
chair of the Illinois
Medicaid Drug
Utilization Review
Committee.
Professor LISA
SHARP received the
UIC Pharmacy 2021
Inaugural Diversity,
Equity & Inclusion Impact Award. The award was
developed by the college to honor those who have
distinguished themselves in advancing diversity, equity,
and inclusion. Dr. Todd Lee, head of the Department
of Pharmacy, Systems, Outcomes, and Policy (PSOP),
noted Dr. Sharp’s active involvement in DEI activities and
“longstanding research focus on health disparities.”
Clinical associate professor emerita JOANN
STUBBINGS received the Section & Forums
Distinguished Service Award at the ASHP 2021 Midyear
Meeting.
Assistant dean Dr. ROSALYN VELLURATTIL was
appointed to the American Association of Colleges of
Pharmacy’s Council of Deans Resolutions Committee
2021–2022 for a second year in a row.
Dr. ERIC WENZLER, assistant professor, has been
appointed editor of the Journal of Antimicrobial
Chemotherapy-Antimicrobial Resistance.
Dr. Freitag’s research focuses
on understanding the molecular
mechanisms by which
pathogenic bacteria cause
disease and the host immune
responses that limit infection.
The NIH has continuously
funded her laboratory since
1997, and she is a fellow of
the American Academy of
Microbiology. Dr. Freitag’s
teaching has been recognized
by several awards, including
three Golden Apples. She has
published over eighty peerreviewed
publications and
holds two patents. In 2017, she
received the University Scholar
award. She obtained her PhD in
biological chemistry from UCLA
and served on the faculty at
Wayne State University and the
University of Washington before
joining UIC in 2006.
Q&A with Dr. Nancy Freitag, our
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
New Department Head
Dr. Freitag shares some thoughts about her plans for the future, how
the department is positioned for further success, and where she
sees it heading in the coming years.
What excites you most about moving into your
new position as head of the Department of
Pharmaceutical Sciences (PSCI)?
I’m excited and grateful to be the new
A :
department head of PSCI. This is a wonderful
chance to support a unique, dynamic, and growing
department that has a great culture of respect and
collaboration. I have learned an extensive amount
about this university and its goals and processes while
working in the faculty affairs office, and I hope to bring
this expertise to PSCI to support faculty, students, and
staff while also contributing to the exciting
science that is currently underway.
There is so much potential here.
The mix of basic science with
drug discovery, design, and
delivery perfectly positions the
department to take advantage
of many new initiatives
and program projects that
are in the making, both
locally and nationally.
PSCI is exceptionally well poised within the College
of Pharmacy to compete for NIH and DoD programs
and projects that focus on the identification of new
drug targets and new delivery systems. Its unique
position within the city of Chicago creates opportunity
in ongoing efforts to develop and grow the city into a
biotech hub. The department is in an exciting place at
a very opportune time.
What do you see as PSCI’s most substantial
assets?
I think I speak to some of this
A :
above. The department’s supportive,
collaborative culture is a huge asset. The
strong mix of basic science with drug
discovery, design, and delivery brings
critical expertise together in exciting
and productive ways. The strong
support and reputation of the College
of Pharmacy is a tremendous asset.
And all of the talented people within
the department who contribute
Dr. Nancy Freitag
6 THE PHARMACIST PHARMACY.UIC.EDU

to the science, teaching, service, and community
engagement—they are the heart and core of PSCI.
What are your priorities as department head?
One of my first priorities will be a listening
A :
tour—I want to meet with all department
members (faculty, staff, and students) and hear about
their ideas, needs, and concerns. I’d like to start plans
for a recurring department retreat that brings people
together for science and for fun. Once a new UICentre
for Drug Discovery director is in place, I’d like to start
work on a shared strategic plan to help the department
plan its way forward and guide recruitment efforts.
Keeping PSCI a place where people love to come to
work is a great goal.
How would you like to see the department grow
in the next decade?
It would be great to see PSCI use its unique
A :
talents to become part of the driving force to put
Chicago on the map as a biotech hub. Collaborations
and involvement with the Chicago Biomedical
Consortium and the Discovery Partners Institute would
be one way to make this happen. There are also a
number of programs and initiatives coming out of NIH,
NSF, and other funding agencies for which PSCI could
be very competitive. Building on strengths relevant to
the UI Cancer Center and anti-infective drug discovery
is of key importance. And PSCI’s continuing focus
on building and supporting diversity and inclusive
classrooms is another exciting area of growth.
Please tell us a little about your research
program and efforts.
My research program is focused on understanding
A :
how bacterial pathogens invade our bodies and
cause disease and on the characterization of host
responses that limit bacterial infection. My lab has
primarily focused on a food-borne pathogen known as
Listeria monocytogenes, but we’ve also had projects
focused on other medically important pathogens, including
Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, and recently Klebsiella
pneumoniae. I’ve been continuously funded by the NIH
and other organizations for more than 25 years, and I’ve
recently received fundable scores on NIH grants focused
on infection during pregnancy and on how anesthetics,
such a propofol, influence host immunity to lung infections.
I’ve collaborated and hope to continue to collaborate
with investigators in the department, as well as other
investigators at UIC and in the Chicago community, and
nationally and internationally. My research fits in nicely
with efforts in drug target discovery as well as the effect of
drugs (anesthetics) on immune function. I’m very excited
about the possibility of additional collaborations. I’m also
looking forward to discovering how I can best contribute
to teaching and mentoring within the department.
What do you enjoy doing when you’re not
at work fulfilling academic duties?
I enjoy exploring Chicago and also the nature
A :
preserves and parks outside of the city. Since I’m
rarely at the bench anymore, I like experimenting with
cooking at home (with mixed success!). I love getting
together with friends and family, and I look forward to
traveling again once that becomes more feasible.
A little-known fact about Dr. Nancy Freitag?
I used to play the baritone sax—the band
A :
director in grade school started me on it
because I was the tallest kid in the class. And
while I wish I were related to Amanda Freitag,
the New York chef and Food Network judge,
unfortunately, I’m not. But I can always pretend…
After nearly four years at the college, BEN STICKAN, associate dean and director
of advancement, concluded his service on February 24, 2022, to be nearer to his
family in New York. The Advancement & Alumni Affairs team, under his leadership,
has seen noteworthy success partnering with our alumni and friends in support
of our mission. These partnerships resulted in the creation of over 30 endowed
scholarships, support for a professorship, two significant contributions earmarked
for our Drug Discovery and Cancer Research Pavilion, as well as significant
programmatic and research support. And, fruitful and worthwhile engagement and
involvement with alumni far and wide. Ben will be missed.
In the interim, to get involved or support our mission, don’t hesitate to
contact Lexi Betcher, associate director of development, UIC Pharmacy,
at lbetcher@uic.edu or Steve George, assistant vice chancellor for
advancement, Health Sciences Colleges, at steveg@uic.edu.
Ben Stickan
SPRING 2022 THE PHARMACIST 7

STUDENT NEWS
UIC Pharmacy Students Provide
Services to Uninsured Patients
In 2021, UIC Pharmacy students continued to provide
services to uninsured patients at CommunityHealth, the
largest volunteer-based free clinic. This practice site for
UIC clinical pharmacists Drs. Nazia S. Babul and Jewel
Younge is an opportunity for many students, several of
whom created videos for patients.
VALLARI SHAH, president of the college’s Association
of Indian Pharmacists of America (AIPhA) student
chapter, took the lead in these efforts. Fellow students
who created videos, the videos they oversaw, and the
organizations they are a part of are noted to the right.
Diabetic Foot Health
Vallari Shah (P3, SNPhA/AIPhA)
Hyperglycemia and Hypoglycemi
Josh Posner (P3, SNPhA)
Lifestyle Modification: Diet
Sally Ndir (P3, SNPhA)
Lifestyle Modifications: Exercise
Ashley Choi (P2, SNPhA)
Lifestyle Modifications: Exercise Demos
Monaz Engineer and Alisha Desai (P4s, AIPhA)
Emen Salam (P3, AIPhA)
Spanish Translation
Marisol Wences (P3, HLPSA)
A number of the patient engagement
videos may be found at
go.uic.edu/HealthEdVideos.
Additionally, MARISOL WENCES and MONICA
CARRANZA CRUZ were recognized by
CommunityHealth for their efforts in patient outreach
in getting patients vaccinated for COVID-19 at
CommunityHealth.
IPhA & MPA Pharmacy
Conference Winners
UIC Pharmacy students competed in the Business Plan
Competition at a joint Illinois Pharmacists Association
(IPhA) and Missouri Pharmacy Association (MPA)
meeting. The IPhA & MPA Pharmacy Conference
2021 was held October 21–24 in St. Louis. UIC sent
two student groups, and we are proud to note that
they represented the school well. The winning group
was PharmFit, which included student pharmacists
CHERRI PHAN, ELNA SHIBU, MEGAN MURTAGH,
and GUNJAN PATEL. The team that came in second
included MARY TRAN, WILLIAM YE, EMEN SALAM,
and CHRISTIAN SAN ANDRES—all from UIC
Pharmacy.
8 THE PHARMACIST PHARMACY.UIC.EDU

Dr. Eva Vivian Does More than Talk the Talk
BY JESSICA CANLAS
diet change. I began to learn that there are so many
factors influencing a person’s health,” she explains. “I
decided to switch to community-based research, where I
could work with people within the community and learn
about [these] factors.”
Shortly after that, in 2006, she accepted her current
position at the University of Wisconsin, where she went
on to earn her MPH and a PhD in civil society and
community research.
Dr. Eva Vivian
EVA VIVIAN, PharmD ’95, believes her role as a
pharmacist is to be a “trusted messenger” in the
community she serves.
Pharmacists are in a position to help patients glean truth
from the information overload that the internet, family,
and friends offer, she says.
“Pharmacists should learn more about the communities
where their patients reside so they have a better
understanding of the challenges and barriers their
patients face when attempting to live a healthy lifestyle.”
When it comes to understanding her patients, Vivian,
who specializes in community-based diabetes research,
has been known to do more than talk the talk. As a
professor of pharmacy practice at the University of
Wisconsin–Madison and certified diabetes care and
education specialist, she occasionally spends time
wearing an insulin pump (filled with saline), using a
glucose monitor, and restricting her grocery shopping
to the city’s food deserts, areas with limited access to
fresh, whole foods.
Vivian’s interest in community-based disease-prevention
research developed during her first faculty position at
the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy. She established a
pharmacist-managed hypertension clinic that eventually
evolved into a cardiovascular risk-reduction clinic
treating hyperlipidemia and diabetes.
“On occasion, I’d work with a patient whose blood
pressure remained elevated in spite of medication and
In Madison, Vivian’s work focuses on identifying
disparities in the treatment of hypertension, diabetes,
and other chronic diseases among ethnic minorities,
particularly African American and Latin American
patients, and developing and implementing strategies to
reduce and eliminate them.
Her research has recently turned its attention to
children and adolescents at particular risk of diabetes
in a project called Healthy Outcomes through Peer
Education (HOPE), which educates African-American
grandmothers, who often become caregivers for their
grandchildren. Funded by a grant from the American
Diabetes Association, HOPE provides one year of
education, training, and peer support for grandmothers
enrolled in a diabetes prevention program. HOPE will
educate and equip participants with the necessary
support to work toward better health for themselves
and their grandchildren.
“We need to get in front of this train driving towards
the development of diabetes and slow down the
progression of the disease.”
A fellow of the Association of Diabetes Care and
Education Specialists, she maintains a practice at
Access Community Health Centers in Madison. She
has been honored multiple times for her work in
the city’s marginalized communities, including the
American Pharmacists Association’s Wiederholt Prize
and the Healthy Aging STAR Award for Health Equity
from the Wisconsin Institute for Healthy Aging.
Vivian, who admits she hadn’t envisioned her career
path as it has unfolded, advises students to chase their
dreams and be open-minded.
“Become a lifelong learner. We are all in a process of
ongoing development. Life is full of experiences that
will encourage us to expand our goals and strengthen
our skills.”
SPRING 2022 THE PHARMACIST 9

Catching Up with the Class of 2011
D R .
PHARMD
D H A R M E S H B A V D A
D R .
PHARMD
L A M A R Q U I N N
PHD
D R
. S U M
I T
S A H N
I
D R
PHARMD
. K A T H L E E N T S A I
Dr. Dharmesh Bavda
Finds His Passion in
Communicating Oncology
Pharmacy Gives Dr.
Lamar Quinn the Power
to Make a Difference
Search for Pancreatic
Cancer Answers Takes Dr.
Sumit Sahni to Sydney
Dr. Kathleen Tsai
Brings Clinical Skills to
Insurance Side
For Dharmesh Bavda, PharmD ’11,
getting to his ideal role meant
staying open to opportunities.
After growing in a variety
of clinical jobs, Bavda now
collaborates with healthcare
providers on cancer research
as a medical science liaison at
Deciphera Pharmaceuticals.
Working in that role since January
2021, Dr. Bavda serves as a scientific
expert on oncology treatments, such
as the company’s oral chemotherapy
agent for advanced gastrointestinal
stromal tumor (GIST).
Bavda’s liaison work follows a series
of clinical positions, including in
internal medicine at Amita Saint
Joseph Hospital. There, by continually
volunteering for new opportunities,
Bavda found his true calling, he said.
“When the opportunity opened up
to move down to the cancer clinic
. . . I really found my specialty,”
he said. “I’m so excited that I did
because oncology has become
my passion.”
Discovering that he loved
communicating with the oncology
team, Bavda realized that medical
science liaison should be his
next step.
Bavda credits UIC with providing
the clinical foundation he needed
for his current role—and with
giving him the opportunity to
mentor experiential students and
residents.
Growing up on the south side of
Chicago, Lamar Quinn, PharmD ’11
dreamed of making a difference
in people’s lives. Today, he does
just that, counseling patients as a
Walgreens pharmacy manager in
Dallas, Texas, and running a charity
he cofounded.
His job these days involves
addressing a lot of COVID-19
vaccine concerns, Dr. Quinn
said. Truly listening has worked
best. “What has worked in our
favor is just being a listener
first, empathizing with them,
understanding their concerns.”
That kind of direct community
contact made pharmacy a
dream job, Quinn said. “Retail
pharmacists are the first touch
point in most patients’ lives when
it comes to medical care. As a
pharmacist, it was a chance to
make the most change.”
To help his community even more,
Quinn cofounded Toast for Charity,
a group dedicated to “galvanizing
millennials to give their time,
talents and funds to community
issues.”
He achieved his dream of
improving lives, Quinn said. “UIC
is in the heart of Chicago . . . one
of the best pharmacy programs
in the world that’s making a
difference in the profession—
that blew my mind to have that
opportunity.”
Sumit Sahni’s, PhD ’11, dedication
to medical research first took
him from Delhi, India, to Chicago,
then across the world again to
Australia. Today, he searches for
much-needed biomarkers and
treatments for one of the world’s
deadliest cancers.
After an October 2021 promotion,
Dr. Sahni now serves as senior
research fellow at the University
of Sydney, investigating pancreatic
cancer. “One of the worstperforming
cancers around the
world,” with survival rates past five
years of just 6% in the United
States, pancreatic cancer comes
with dire research needs, Sahni
said. Most patients get diagnosed
too late for surgery, the only
curative treatment, so identifying
biomarkers is crucial.
Even surgery, however, has a
low success rate, so Sahni’s lab
additionally searches for targeted
treatments for pancreatic cancer,
of which there are currently none.
“A lot of research needs to be
done in that area,” he said.
First motivated to pursue medical
research after experiences
with illness in his family, Sahni
studied the role of nitric oxide
in metastasis in Dr. Douglas
Thomas’s lab at UIC. That
hypothesis originated in Sydney,
so after graduation, Sahni followed
the science to Australia. “All the
work I’ve done, whatever I’ve
learned, started from UIC,” he said.
After a stint in retail pharmacy,
Kathleen Tsai, PharmD ’11, found
a new area where the clinical skills
she gained at UIC have come in
handy—prior authorizations.
As a clinical prior authorization
pharmacist at Optum in California,
Dr. Tsai lends pharmacy expertise
to medication-coverage decisions.
The field attracted her because she
could bring a clinical pharmacy
perspective to insurance, she said.
“It’s more provider-facing and
on the insurance side, so it’s not
retail focused,” she said. “Also, the
work was interesting. I can use
my clinical skills. I like helping
medicines get covered for patients.”
Tsai’s work at Optum has shown
clear results. She created a
program reaching out to providers
and patients to review coverage
decisions, boosting star ratings
from independent qualityassurance
agencies and raising
Medicare appeals case compliance
to 100% for three months.
In addition to her clinical
background, Tsai brings a
pharmacy outcomes perspective
to Optum. She completed a
fellowship and has published
in the field, earning a master’s
degree in the discipline in 2013.
Crediting UIC with opening up
doors for her fellowship and
beyond, Tsai said the school’s
network has been beneficial.
Fellow alumni keep popping up,
too, as Tsai’s current boss is Parixit
Modi, PharmD ’07, MBA.
10 THE PHARMACIST PHARMACY.UIC.EDU

Mobley Memorial Leadership Fund
BY JESSICA CANLAS
MIRIAM MOBLEY SMITH, PharmD ’95, says she’s
been fortunate to be able to follow her passions.
Last fall, her journey led her to establish the UIC
Pharmacy Emmett and Ruth Mobley Memorial Leadership
Fund in honor of her late parents. This endowment will
advance a key part of the college’s mission—to create a
culture of excellence, collaboration, and inclusiveness—by
cultivating transformational change supporting diversity
and equity. The fund will support curricular, student and
faculty recruitment, retention, and outreach efforts, as well
as seminars and workshops that promote meaningful
dialogue among faculty, staff, and students.
To contribute to UIC
Pharmacy’s Emmett and
Ruth Mobley Memorial
Leadership Fund, please visit
giving.pharmacy.uic.edu
or contact Lexi Betcher,
associate director of
development, at
lbetcher@uic.edu.
Dr. Mobley Smith, who took on the post of interim dean
and visiting professor at the Daniel K. Inouye College of
Pharmacy at the University of Hawaii at Hilo in February,
attributes the success she’s had in her career—and in
life—to the initial guidance she received from her parents.
She recalls her hometown of Ecorse, Michigan, as a
challenging environment for youth, many of whom barely
finished high school.
“My parents had such a vested interest in our
success,” she says. “They knew education would be
the key, and it was.”
That inspiration and motivation paid off. Mobley Smith
and her siblings became their family’s first generation
of college graduates, each of them becoming leaders in
their chosen fields.
Mobley Smith discovered her calling to pharmacy as an
undergraduate at the University of Michigan, where she
went on to complete her BS in pharmacy. After earning
Emmett and Ruth Mobley
her PharmD at UIC, she went on to hold three
deanships at colleges of pharmacy, and her professional
leadership roles include serving as chair of the Centers
for Medicare & Medicaid Services Advisory Panel
on Outreach and Education and as vice chair of the
Illinois State Board of Pharmacy. On a list of many, her
recognition for service to the profession includes the
Illinois Pharmacists Association’s Pharmacist of the Year
Award and the University of Michigan Alumni Service
Award in Pharmacy.
Although education played a major role in Mobley
Smith’s career, she admits that it wasn’t enough to
prevent significant challenges along that journey, “facing
issues related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and racism.
I want this gift to play a role in helping to dismantle
the foundational construct behind those discriminatory
behaviors to help prevent others like me from having
to experience those unnecessary and harmful barriers
during their trajectory.”
She believes UIC’s urban location make it the right
place to honor her parents’ legacy.
“This is a broad [effort] to help change an environment
and support endeavors that will . . . recruit more diverse
faculty and bring in speakers and host symposia to peel
back layers and look deeper into why. We’re all scholars.
Let’s be scholarly and do something about it.
“UIC needs it.”
Through this initiative, Mobley Smith hopes to offer the kind
of guidance and support she received from her parents.
“My parents were my ultimate mentors,” she says. “I miss
them dearly, but this is a good way to honor them in a
way that benefits others.”
SPRING 2022 THE PHARMACIST 11

Sources of
Inspiration
and
Motivation
Blending purpose and passion with scientific acumen, UIC
Pharmacy researchers thrive in drug discovery and adjacent areas.
B Y D A N I E L P . S M I T H
Torsten Wiesel didn’t win the Nobel Prize by accident.
A self-described “lazy, mischievous student” in his early
years, Wiesel grew fascinated by the workings of the
nervous system as a university student in the 1940s.
That enthrallment, coupled with an inherent interest in
psychiatry cultivated at the dinner table—Wiesel’s father
directed a mental institution near the family’s Stockholm
home—fueled his prolific career as a neurophysiologist,
including a longstanding collaboration with David Hubel
on sensory processing that netted the pair their Nobel
honor in 1981.
Absent that deep and pressing wonder about the
nervous system and the mind, Wiesel once said, such
groundbreaking work would have been tough to
achieve no matter his IQ score.
“Science is not an intelligence test,” Wiesel charged.
“Intuition is important, knowing what kind of questions
to ask. The other thing is a passion for
getting to the core of the problem.”
As Wiesel’s words suggest, enterprising,
purpose-filled work fuels some of the
scientific world’s most enterprising
initiatives, and this reality rings especially
true at the UIC College of Pharmacy.
On UIC Pharmacy’s Chicago and Rockford campuses,
researchers pairing deep scientific knowledge with an
earnest mix of purpose and passion continue leading
ambitious drug discovery research efforts in fields
such as cancer, infectious diseases, and women’s
health—three particular areas, it’s worth noting, that
will be bolstered with the forthcoming debut of the
Drug Discovery and Cancer Research Pavilion at UIC.
Whether motivated by their personal connections to a
disease, deeply held philosophical underpinnings, or
an intense, unrelenting curiosity, College of Pharmacy
researchers’ ability to blend undeniable acumen
with a sincere desire to advance drug discovery and
adjacent areas, such as drug delivery, diagnostics, and
even adherence, continues sparking profound results
with the power to enhance patient care and improve
healthcare.
“This elevates their work and takes it to a different
level,” UIC College of Pharmacy dean Glen Schumock
says of UIC researchers’ mission-driven work. “We
have rich examples across the college of our
researchers’ inquiry impacting patient health in
positive ways, and that’s work we want to continue
doing for the benefit of our local communities
and our world.”
Dr. Jeremy Johnson
12 THE PHARMACIST PHARMACY.UIC.EDU

A SPIRITED QUEST TO DISCOVER THE
CANCER-FIGHTING POWER OF NATURAL
PRODUCTS
For much of the last 15 years, Dr. Jeremy Johnson,
has been exploring the mangosteen fruit’s potential to
address prostate cancer, a disease recording 1.3 million
new cases each year, according to the World Cancer
Research Fund.
In preclinical studies, Johnson’s lab has isolated nine
different compounds from the mangosteen, a popular
fruit from Southeast Asia that Johnson first discovered
as a young research fellow thumbing through a catalog
of novel compounds. Each of the nine mangosteen
compounds holds its own unique targets. Johnson
hopes his research inspires novel approaches to target
the androgen receptor known to play a pivotal role in
prostate cancer’s development and progression.
“I’m encouraged by the opportunity to move this
research to clinical trials and impact lives,” says Johnson,
whose work on the mangosteen earned him a MERIT
Award from the National Institutes of Health in 2019.
For Johnson, who proclaimed his intentions to become
a scientist as a six-year-old, the promise of researching
natural products and drug targets continues to excite.
“Discovery is so appealing to me, even more when you
consider its potential effect on real lives,” says Johnson,
who is also investigating rosemary’s therapeutic
potential in breast and prostate cancer cases.
A FOUNDATIONAL MOMENT, BIG DATA, AND
BATTLING CANCER
As a 10-year-old boy, Greg Calip, PharmD ’08, PhD,
MPH, watched his young cousins confront the death of
their father from colorectal cancer. It was a foundational
moment for Calip.
“I knew even then that if I was somehow capable of
helping cancer patients, I would,” Calip says.
Though Calip assumed his cancer-fighting efforts
would occur in clinical settings, the UIC-trained PharmD
discovered an aptitude for big data while pursuing his
PhD in epidemiology at the University of
Washington. Today, big data is the
weapon Calip wields against
cancer.
Last March in JAMA Oncology, Calip and his team
reported findings that the 21-gene recurrence score,
a tool frequently used to identify breast cancer
candidates for adjuvant chemotherapy, was less
predictive for racial and ethnic minority patients. As a
result, black women in the United States were more
likely to die of axillary node-negative breast cancer
than their white peers carrying comparable recurrence
scores. Those findings crystallize the need for model
calibration and more inclusive research designed
to narrow existing health disparities and improve
outcomes for all cancer patients.
“Real-world patient data has a role in pushing drug
discovery forward and improving treatment options for
cancer patients,” says Calip, an associate professor in the
Department of Pharmacy Systems, Outcomes, and Policy.
BRINGING PATIENT CONTEXT TO DRUG
DISCOVERY
A clinical psychologist who specializes in health,
Dr. Lisa Sharp is committed to making sure existing as
well as new therapeutics consider patient-side context.
“You can come up with all the wonderful drugs in the
world, but if patients are not able to follow through
and take the medications as necessary, then it’s futile,”
says Sharp, whose perspective has been shaped by a
childhood in Oklahoma in which she saw many around
her struggle to manage their health.
Since arriving at UIC in 2012, Sharp, an associate
professor in the Department of Pharmacy Systems,
Outcomes, and Policy, has devoted much of her
research to understanding the healthcare barriers
UI Health patients face and designing relevant
interventions to cultivate improved outcomes. Over the
last decade, for instance, Sharp has steered a UI Health
program focused on vulnerable patients struggling to
control their type 2 diabetes. The program includes
sending race, ethnicity, and language-concordant health
coaches directly into patients’ homes to facilitate care
and directly address patient struggles.
“We don’t do a great job in the healthcare system
of considering the challenges of people taking
medications,” Sharp says. “But if we can bring patient
context into drug discovery, then we’re in a much
better position to drive improved patient outcomes.”
Dr. Lisa Sharp
SPRING 2022 THE PHARMACIST 13

Dr. Steve Lee
DEVELOPING TOOLS TO IMPROVE CANCER
DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT
As a chemical engineering undergraduate student,
Dr. Steve Lee readily admits cancer research didn’t
register on his radar. When a beloved uncle passed
away in 2014 of lung cancer, however, the prospects of
improving cancer diagnosis and treatment options took
on added meaning.
Lee, an assistant professor in the Department of
Pharmaceutical Sciences, has spent recent years
leveraging his engineering background to develop new
tools and methods for drug delivery research, including
the creation of a microscopic tool that enables 3D tissue
image sampling at cellular resolution. The innovation
allows investigators to view both the cancer cell and the
cancer drug in the same tissue in 3D, which can provide
clinicians richer insights into how a specific drug is
attacking a cancerous cell.
“With this knowledge, we can then modify drugs
chemically or genetically so more of the drug goes
to the cancerous cells,” says Lee, who is also trying to
integrate his lab’s microscopic technique with other
tissue assay technologies.
While Lee says his mother’s recent brain cancer
diagnosis has brought an added layer of urgency and
motivation to his work, he also finds inspiration in UIC
colleagues like Dr. Debra Tonetti who have seen their
cancer drug candidates enter clinical trials and march
toward marketplace acceptance.
“This is personal for me,” Lee says. “I want to move
research from the bench to the clinic and impact lives.”
A RESEARCH SHIFT FUELED FROM THE
PAIN OF LOSS
For much of his professional scientific career, Dr. Tom
Gao worked on large-scale research of proteins and
peptides, including predictive work regarding the
potential side effects and toxicities of certain drug
interactions. Four years ago, though, Gao’s research
interests shifted after his grandmother passed from
metastatic melanoma—28 years after she faced her
initial diagnosis and treatment of the same disease.
“We all thought it was gone, but cancer’s a sneaky disease,”
Gao says. “She was already in stage IV metastatic cancer
when diagnosed this time, and it was too late.”
Noting the need for an accessible, easy-toperform
test for early diagnosis, Gao has
shifted part of his research focus to cancer diagnostics.
Specifically, Gao and colleagues have developed a novel
liquid biopsy method, a less invasive, better tolerated
procedure designed to improve detection and treatment.
In a current collaboration with UI Health and Pfizer,
Gao’s team is using machine learning to predict, via
exosomes separated from blood and with greater
than 90% accuracy, the breast cancer patients best
positioned to respond to specific treatments. Gao, an
assistant professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical
Sciences, anticipates publishing the findings of this
work in the first half of 2022.
“Think of the time we gain if we can perform better
diagnosis and treatment on everyone,” Gao says.
“If successful, we will bring something great to
this world.”
HAVING AN IMMEDIATE IMPACT
ON PATIENTS
After earning his PharmD degree in
2012, Dr. Eric Wenzler envisioned
a fruitful clinical career. After two
years of residency and three years
of fellowship, though, Wenzler
realized the best researchers are good
clinicians and vice versa.
“We identify unmet needs on the clinical
side and immediately utilize our research
skills and knowledge to solve those
problems,” Wenzler says.
Improved alignment between the bench
and the bedside has been Wenzler’s
dominant focus since joining UIC’s faculty
ranks in 2017 as an assistant professor
in the Department of Pharmacy Practice.
Specifically, Wenzler and his sevenmember
lab team investigate optimal use
of existing antibiotic combinations against
super resistant gram-negative pathogens
for which there are no currently viable
treatment options.
Dr. Zack
One notable example: Seeing no clear
Bulman
antibiotic recommendations for patients on continuous
renal replacement therapy (CRRT) facing bacterial
infections, Wenzler and his team began examining
the use of a niche antibiotic called cefiderocol.
Following in vitro studies in Wenzler’s lab
as well as patient modeling, the Wenzler-
Dr. Eric Wenzler
Dr. Tom Gao
14 THE PHARMACIST PHARMACY.UIC.EDU

led group earned the first-ever FDA-approved package
insert for an antibiotic with CRRT dosing.
“This work is about putting patients at the center of
care,” Wenzler says. “It’s that ability to have a tangible
impact on patient lives that drives our work.”
ON A MISSION TO PRESERVE ANTIBIOTICS
As a high school senior, Dr. Zack Bulman rushed
toward a microbiology research opportunity at the
Rochester Institute of Technology. While that experience
spurred a deeper attraction to scientific research,
Bulman felt a disconnect between this research and its
potential impact on patient care.
Intent on bridging that gap, Bulman gained a deeper
clinical perspective while earning a PharmD degree. A
subsequent two-year fellowship in infectious disease
pharmacology, meanwhile, heightened his research
pursuits.
Since arriving at UIC in 2017, Bulman’s investigative
work has included optimizing antibiotic dosing for drugresistant
bacteria and repurposing older antibiotics to
combat newer resistant mechanisms.
“Bacteria are fascinating to me, especially how they can
evolve and become resistant to antibiotics so quickly,”
says Bulman, an assistant professor in the Department
of Pharmacy Practice.
While long interested in preserving antibiotics for future
generations, that work has gained added importance
for Bulman since he became a father in January 2021.
He wants to avoid a postantibiotic future in which
bacteria resist the available antidotes.
“Those cases are few and far between now, but we
don’t want that to become commonplace,” he says.
“Becoming a father has helped me more fully consider
the impact of what we’re doing in our lab and what it
means to the future.”
UNRELENTING INQUIRY TO PROPEL
DISCOVERY
Whenever Dr. Nora Vazquez-Laslop fell ill as a
child growing up in Mexico City, her father, a
local surgeon, prescribed the commonly
accepted antidote. A naturally inquisitive
soul, Vazquez-Laslop often responded
with a litany of questions about how
the medication worked in her body to
restore health. And her father, wise as
he was, struggled to share answers.
“He knew a certain medication would help, but he didn’t
fully understand how it worked at the molecular level,”
Vazquez-Laslop says.
That innate curiosity led Vazquez-Laslop to study
biology. “The basis of medicine,” she calls it. And it has
spurred a spirited career researching protein synthesis.
Alongside UIC colleague Dr. Alexander Mankin,
Vazquez-Laslop, a research professor at UIC’s Center
for Biomolecular Sciences, studies the relationship
between antibiotics and ribosomes, including the
“tricks bacteria use to dodge antibiotics.” The tandem
has discovered, for instance, that some antibiotics
are not universal inhibitors, but rather modulators of
protein synthesis. That novel finding opens the door
to designing “super selective” antibiotics that only kill
pathogenic bacteria.
Such research, she says, unveils gaps in seemingly
well-understood concepts and creates opportunities
for new methodologies that enrich knowledge and fuel
compelling drug discovery.
“We see others using our research to pursue drug
development or to reinterpret their existing data,”
Vazquez-Laslop says. “We’re building knowledge that is
driving therapeutic science forward.”
CHASING THE THRILL OF DISCOVERY
As a university student in Moscow in 1975,
Dr. Alexander “Shura” Mankin and one of his scientific
peers flipped a coin to determine their immediate
research track. While the fates sent Mankin’s colleague
to work on viruses, Makin himself landed with a
research group investigating ribosomes.
While ribosomes were then a rather underexplored
field, interest in the scientific area exploded across the
final decades of the twentieth century and into the new
millennium. Mankin, meanwhile, retained that research
focus and became increasingly mesmerized himself.
“The more we learned, the more interesting and
mysterious it all became,” Mankin says.
Mankin carried his ambitious inquiry to
UIC in 1993, eager to bring knowledgedriven
drug discovery to a process
long governed by serendipity. Through
more than 100 published works,
Mankin’s pioneering work on protein
synthesis has propelled deeper
understanding of how antibiotics
interact with targets in the cell and
Dr. Alexander Mankin
We’re not
discovering
any drugs
tomorrow, but
we’re laying
a foundation
others can
build upon.
SPRING 2022 THE PHARMACIST 15

Dr. Michael Federle
This is a
personal
odyssey for
me, and I’ll
openly admit
there’s a
selfish need
to solve this
puzzle.
continues to inform ambitious drug discovery efforts at
UIC and around the world.
“We’re not discovering any drugs tomorrow, but we’re
laying a foundation others can build upon,” says Mankin,
a professor at the college’s Center for Biomolecular
Sciences. “When you find something no one before
you knew, it’s a thrill, and there’s a feeling we’re doing
something immortal in the building of human knowledge.”
UNPACKING THE MYSTERIOUS LIVES
OF BACTERIA
Dr. Michael Federle calls his ongoing study of bacteria
a “persistent obsession,” one fueled by the spellbinding
nature of bacteria’s active citizenship in our bodies.
“You can take one test tube of bacteria and find millions
of mutants worth studying,” says Federle, a professor of
pharmaceutical sciences.
After years of suspecting that bacteria were “colluding
and coordinating” in the human body, Federle and his
lab team continue to unearth promising findings about
the intricate worlds bacteria build inside our bodies.
They have, for instance, helped discover the language
bacteria use to communicate with one another and
recently found that bacteria also alter their surface
composition to manipulate the body’s immune system.
This pioneering work sets the stage for the development
of drug leads to intervene with this networking and
unlocks opportunities for new therapies that can diffuse
conspiring bacteria.
“As we identify new targets in bacteria, we can then create
more precise therapies to combat them,” Federle says.
He acknowledges it won’t be easy, though, as bacteria
remain an elusive adversary for scientific researchers
like himself.
“This is a personal odyssey for me, and I’ll openly admit
there’s a selfish need to solve this puzzle,” Federle says.
SEEKING SOLUTIONS FOR OVARIAN CANCER
While doing research review work for the U.S.
Department of Defense, Dr. Maria Barbolina has
listened to personal stories of women staring down their
mortality and battling ovarian cancer, one of the most
unforgiving, deadliest cancers. Some, like Barbolina,
are in their 40s and mothers of young children.
“It hits home,” says Barbolina, an associate professor
in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
In comparison to other cancers
impacting women, ovarian cancer
struggles to gain its share of attention.
While some 330,000 U.S. women
receive a breast cancer diagnosis
each year, far fewer–about 20,000–
hear they have ovarian cancer.
“But this is not such a rare, uncommon
disease when you meet the people
facing it,” Barbolina says. “I see the real
people behind these statistics and I’m
determined to do something about it.”
Since arriving at UIC in 2008, Barbolina
has devoted substantial research attention
to understanding ovarian cancer’s basic
biological activity, which continues to miff
scientific investigators. Her most promising
work includes repurposing a drug
originally developed for neurodegenerative
diseases. Early findings suggest this
therapeutic may improve prognoses
for ovarian cancer patients resistant to
traditional chemotherapy agents.
“It’s exciting because I know what that would
mean to women like those I’ve met and their families,”
Barbolina says.
EMBRACING RESEARCH AS
AN ANTIDOTE TO PATIENT NEEDS
Seeing vulnerable patients daily as a clinician at UIC,
Dr. Karen Sweiss understands better than most the
urgent need for pragmatic research to drive change.
“I see every day how our patients are counting on
us, and that pushes me to ask important research
questions,” says Sweiss, a clinical assistant professor in
the Department of Pharmacy Practice.
Consider Sweiss’s work around melphalan, a
chemotherapy drug commonly used in treating
multiple myeloma. When Sweiss’s group first began
investigating melphalan pharmacokinetic (PK)
variability through retrospective studies, they noted
high variability in drug exposure in patients with lower
hemoglobin and creatinine clearance.
The group then published its experience
with performing real-time melphalan
PK testing to allow for rapid-dose
modification based on PK estimations.
Dr. Karen Sweiss
16 THE PHARMACIST PHARMACY.UIC.EDU

That work has led to a promising phase 1 trial with
myeloma patients undergoing high-dose melphalan
therapy. Sweiss is hopeful the results of the current trial
will change the course of autologous transplants and
usher in a new standard of care for ailing patients.
“We believe we have the unique expertise to be able to
translate this into clinical practice and impact patient
care in a positive way,” Sweiss says. “And isn’t that the
foremost goal of healthcare?”
SPURRED BY THE CHALLENGE AND THE
POTENTIAL TO CHANGE LIVES
While prostate cancer has garnered more than $1.5
billion in federal funding over the last 25 years, ovarian
cancer, a disease that frequently proves fatal within
five years, has received about one-sixth that amount,
according to the Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance.
Though $276 million remains a mighty sum, the
comparatively lagging investment in ovarian cancer has
nevertheless hindered the pace of discovery regarding
early detection tools and therapeutics.
And yet, Dr. Joanna Burdette charges on, embracing
the underdog mentality and fighting to inject more
knowledge and hope into the study of one of the world’s
most lethal and mysterious cancers.
Burdette’s lab is using organ-on-a-chip technology to
understand how ovarian cancer forms, a necessary step
to powering more calculated drug discovery efforts.
Notably, Burdette is chasing that ambitious aim herself
as well, including ongoing collaborations with natural
product chemists to find new ovarian cancer drugs. One
compound from a Vietnamese bush has already shown
promising efficacy results in animal models.
“Ovarian cancer is a difficult scientific problem, but it’s that
difficulty, that challenge and how much more there is to go
to change the outlook for women and families impacted
by this disease, that keeps me motivated,” says Burdette,
a professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical
Sciences and associate dean for research.
Dr. Joanna Burdette
EXPANDING THE SCOPE OF
PRECISION ONCOLOGY FOR EQUITY
Scheduled for a groundbreaking in 2024
(pending state funding), the new Drug
Discovery and Cancer Research Pavilion
(DDCRP) will serve as an extension of the
existing College of Pharmacy building
adjacent to the University of Illinois Hospital.
This new facility will house researchers, many
highlighted in this piece, who will support
existing drug discovery work while expanding
our capacity to pursue emerging areas of
translational research. The building will also
serve the University of Illinois Cancer Center’s
research goals, including a focus on precision
oncology projects and cancer health equity.
Aiming to drive improved care for all cancer
patients and cement UIC’s spot as a national
leader in cancer health equity research, the
UI Cancer Center at UIC’s new DDCRP will
pursue scientific understanding on multiple
fronts to help ensure cancer patients of
diverse backgrounds receive the proper
treatment at the right time.
Inhabiting roughly one-third of the planned
190,000-square foot DDCRP facility,
the Cancer Center will bring together
investigators from colleges across UIC
to advance translational cancer-battling
technologies. According to UI Cancer Center
director Dr. Jan Kitajewski, the physical
proximity of researchers from areas such as
pharmacy, medicine, chemistry, nursing, and
applied health will create “focused groups of
collaboration” attuned to drug discovery and
clinical research.
“By placing labs in the same neighborhood,
we will cross-fertilize thought from
various research perspectives. The goal
is to promote opportunities for ambitious
research to develop and evolve,” Kitajewski
says, adding that the center will include
investigators conducting clinical oncology
trials and community outreach endeavors
designed to propel innovation. “This is
especially exciting in the cancer drug
discovery space where we have significant
opportunities working together,” said UIC
College of Pharmacy dean Glen Schumock.
The UI Cancer Center is unique in
embracing diversity with a focus on
incorporating community voices, while its
equity-focused mission further distinguishes
it from many others across the United States.
“We strive to ensure all patients have access
to precision oncology,” Kitajewski says. The
UI Cancer Center’s community-to-bench
model will devote substantial attention to
research on cancer issues found in Cook
County and Illinois as well as health equity
and drug discovery to meet the needs of its
immediate community, about two-thirds of
whom identify as Black or Latinx.
“There has been this 50-year march to
create better treatments and drugs for
cancer since the inception of the National
Cancer Institute, and while many successes
are improving outcomes, many persistent
gaps remain,” Kitajewski says. “We’re excited
to narrow those gaps and improve health
equity by providing all cancer patients
equitable access to advanced scientific
technologies and the care associated with
these advances.”
SPRING 2022 THE PHARMACIST 17

A Model for Community Engagement
With her eyes and ears open to community needs, Dr. Jewel Younge
serves local residents and inspires students to do the same.
BY DANIEL P. SMITH
When JEWEL YOUNGE, PharmD ’17, visits her local
grocery store, she opens her ears to others’ comments.
When she’s riding the CTA Green line train, her eyes are
up, thoughtfully observing her fellow passengers.
And for good reason.
“You can’t understand community needs if you detach
yourself from those around you,” says Younge, a clinical
assistant professor at the UIC College of Pharmacy.
Embedded in underserved Chicago communities as
both a clinical pharmacist and researcher, Younge
continues working to understand residents’ experiences
and perspectives—the trauma they feel, the healthcare
challenges they face, and the reservations they carry.
Such active listening and observation, after all, enable
Younge to craft creative interventions that build trust
and help residents better manage their own health.
For example, Younge worked with Red Clay Dance
Company on the city’s south side to provide blood
pressure and blood glucose testing during free
dance classes and launched a weekly popup
program in Chicago’s Bronzeville
neighborhood—Boxville Vitals—to
provide complimentary blood
pressure, blood sugar, and A1C
screenings to residents.
While such efforts uplift individual
lives in the community, they also
ignite Younge’s own sense of
purpose.
“I wouldn’t want to pursue a career
that didn’t allow me to engage with
the community and fulfill needs I see,”
Younge says.
Younge’s pragmatic spirit and commitment to
community engagement has rubbed off on many UIC
pharmacy students, including members of the Urban
Pharmacy Education (UPHARM) program.
“Dr. Younge is a source of inspiration and motivation
who has taught me how to be more caring and
understanding,” fourth-year pharmacy student Paul
Majercak says. “She has a way about listening to others,
being open to conversation, and pushing people to their
greatest potential.”
In early 2019, Majercak and a group of UPHARM peers
launched The Lab Matters, a mobile science lab for
urban youth. While Younge offers logistical support, the
students create the curriculum and direct programming,
which has included in-person and virtual activities
ranging from compounding soap to extracting DNA from
strawberries.
Last October, meanwhile, Younge transferred ownership
of Boxville Vitals to a group of UPHARM students who
continue executing the program.
“It’s important students lead these efforts because
it teaches them how to be more cognizant of and
responsive to the needs of those they’re serving,”
Younge says.
In fact, that’s a key lesson Majercak plans to carry into
his pharmacy career.
“Not every patient is going to be engaged in every
minute aspect of their health, so patience and empathy
are so important,” says Majercak, who presented The Lab
Matters’ latest work at the recent American Society of
Health-System Pharmacists’ Mid-Year Poster Convention.
“With that extra level of understanding and empathy, I
believe I can deliver the best patient care possible.”
Dr. Jewel Younge
18 THE PHARMACIST PHARMACY.UIC.EDU

UIC College of Pharmacy to Launch
Emergency Medicine PGY2 Residency
on Rockford Campus
The UIC College of Pharmacy is expanding its residency
program offerings for the third year in a row with the
new Emergency Medicine PGY2 Pharmacy Practice
Residency Program. This university- and hospital-based
program will allow the selected resident to focus on
direct care of emergency department patients within
Order of St. Francis (OSF) Saint Anthony Medical Center
(SAMC).
“The PGY2 residency offers specialty training in
emergency medicine, trauma, and critical care. An
academic appointment with the College of Pharmacy
will be provided, and the resident may participate in
didactic lectures. They will also have the opportunity to
function as a copreceptor for UIC College of Pharmacy
students and UIC/SAMC PGY1 residents,” explained
Dr. MARIANNE POP, clinical associate professor of
pharmacy practice. Dr. Pop will serve as the program
director alongside Dr. OKSANA KUCHER, who will serve
as the program coordinator. The PGY2 program provides
the advantages of preparation for establishing a new
pharmacy service and board certification by focusing on
developing clinical pharmacists who will be prepared to
offer medication-related care on multidisciplinary teams.
Under the mentorship of experienced clinical faculty
members, the pharmacy resident will transition from a
PGY2 to an advanced specialty independent practitioner
during the 12-month program.
OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center is a Magnet ®
recognized 254-bed level I trauma center, burn center,
and DNV-certified comprehensive stroke center. SAMC
is one of 15 hospitals within the OSF HealthCare
System and has been nationally recognized for its
management of strokes and coronary artery bypass
graft surgeries. It is currently the primary practice
site for the residency program, but there are other
opportunities and future partnerships that are being
explored and coordinated.
Dr. Kevin Rynn, vice dean and clinical professor, shared
his excitement about the upcoming PGY2 program.
“New residency programs are desperately needed to
meet the needs of our profession,” he remarked. “We’re
happy to partner with Order of St. Francis to bring great
training opportunities to pharmacy school graduates
and advance professional postgraduate training.”
The college will be participating in the American Society
of Health-Systems Pharmacists Personal Placement
Services interview sessions and the Pharmacy Online
Residency Centralized Application Service for candidate
application evaluation and plans to match using
National Matching Services. The emergency medicine
PGY2 resident will start the program on July 1, 2022.
Dr. Pop concluded her thoughts by expressing the
importance of these programs at the college. “As
emergency medicine pharmacy services continue to
grow worldwide, we hope to develop a resident who
will create and provide pharmacy services for patient
populations that need extra resources. In addition,
we strive to foster a passion for teaching in our
resident graduates.”
SPRING 2022 THE PHARMACIST 19

Dr. David Newman Brings Microbes to a
Plant Party (a.k.a. the Farnsworth Lecture)
BY JESSICA CANLAS
Professor Guido Pauli, director of the Pharmacognosy
Institute, believes Newman is a perfect speaker for the
event as his work reflects the late Norm Farnsworth’s
dedication to natural products, as well as a depth of
knowledge that speaks to more than 65 years in his field.
“You can’t get a better speaker for a natural products
seminar,” says Pauli, who also happens to hold the title
of Norman R. Farnsworth Professor of Pharmacognosy.
“David Newman has a vast and broad knowledge—and
is a very entertaining presenter.”
In his lecture, provisionally titled “Are Microbes the
‘True’ Sources of Bioactive Compounds Isolated from
Multicelled Organisms Such as Plants and Marine
Invertebrates?” Newman intends to speak about the
involvement of microbes in the production of what were
originally thought to be biologically active compounds
produced by the organism from which they were isolated.
Dr. David Newman
Hosted by the UIC Pharmacognosy Institute, the annual
Norman Farnsworth Lecture honors the legacy of one
of the college’s most distinguished educators and
pharmacognosy researchers, globally renowned as
an iconic figure in the study of medicinal plants and
natural products.
This year, the college is honored to host Dr. David
Newman, former chief of the Natural Products Branch
(NPB) in the Developmental Therapeutics Program of
the National Cancer Institute (NCI), where he worked
for nearly 24 years. Retired from this post, Newman
is anything but retired from science and works as
a consultant and publishes actively in the area of
discovery and development of drugs sourced from
natural products.
A renowned expert in microbial and marine chemistry,
Newman is a natural products chemist who played a
key role in developing the NCI’s prolific collection of
extracted natural products specimens that includes
many plants and was established in the effort to
discover new anticancer drugs.
“I was extremely surprised and honored as my
background is in microbial and marine chemistry, not
plant-based, so as I said to Guido [Pauli], I was very
surprised and honored by that request,” Newman says of
his invitation to the college.
“What we hope people take away from the Farnsworth
Lecture,” says Pauli, “is that pharmacognosy is really
at the heart of drug research and the source of a
lot of the medicines that we use to treat people
successfully today.”
“[We want everybody] to know how exciting it is to be a
part of that.”
The 9th annual Farnsworth Lecture can be viewed
online at pharmacognosy.pharmacy.uic.edu/events/2022
-farnsworth-lecture/.
Dr. Norman R. Farnsworth
20 THE PHARMACIST PHARMACY.UIC.EDU

Professor Frederick Siegel Innovative Teaching
Award 2021
BY JESSICA CANLAS
Taught asynchronously in what Sarna intentionally
designed as “a low-stakes environment,” students are
able to view lectures at their own pace and design
their own schedules around writing and contributing to
online discussions. At the start of the semester, students
are assigned to one of several drug/disease-pair groups,
around which they are given writing assignments for two
distinct audiences: patients and healthcare providers.
“[For patients], they create a medication guide using
patient-friendly, inclusive language,” Sarna explains.
“The second assignment is more formal, using scientific
language to answer a [clinical] question using trial data,
standards of care, and other important drug and disease
state information.”
Dr. Kathy Sarna
KATHY SARNA, PharmD, RES ’16, clinical assistant
professor and drug information pharmacist, never
thought she’d end up teaching.
Despite that, she’s just been given an award for it. For
her efforts designing and instructing her PMPR 450
medical writing class, Dr. Sarna has been recognized as
the recipient of the 2021 Frederick P. Siegel Innovative
Teaching Award.
“I’m just very honored,” says Sarna. “It’s awesome to be
recognized for something you’re so passionate about.
“I also share this award with all the drug information
faculty, as this course would not be possible without
their collaboration and commitment to delivering high
quality instruction.”
The award was established in 2012 to honor novel
teaching and learning methods in the classroom at
the College of Pharmacy and is named after the late
professor Frederick P. Siegel, an esteemed faculty
member who was known for his unique, yet effective,
teaching style. Dr. Siegel taught at UIC for more than
35 years and was himself lauded multiple times with
honors, including the UIC Excellence in Teaching Award
and the college’s Legacy Achievement Award.
Sarna’s version of PMPR 450 was borne out of a
curricular revision five years ago when the previous
course in medical writing was restructured, leaving
an opportunity for a more focused class that allows
students greater freedom to explore their own voices
and build skills.
Students are also assigned editing partners and are
evaluated on their peer review skills, which are based on an
established rubric, as well as revisions of their own work.
“One of the biggest concepts I wanted to demonstrate
with the setup of the course is . . . that writing is not a
linear process,” Sarna says. “AMA rules will change, styles
will change, and employers will also have their own
requirements—so you have to learn to adapt. Writing is
recursive, so you go through different steps of the writing
process numerous times with each piece until you get it
to a state you’re satisfied with.”
Sarna, who admits to a lifelong
love of writing, didn’t have much
occasion for it in pharmacy school
but discovered her opportunity
while on rotation at a PBM
company, writing monographs and
drug-class reviews.
“I fell in love with [that] kind of
work, so I looked into career paths
where I could use my PharmD to
do medical writing.”
Sarna’s journey led her to the Drug
Information Group at UIC and,
eventually, the classroom.
“If someone had told me [during
pharmacy school] that I was going to be a drug
information pharmacist and professor,
I wouldn’t have believed them,” she says.
“I guess I found my calling.”
SPRING 2022 THE PHARMACIST 21

Dr. Soojin Jun is a
board-certified geriatric
pharmacist in Illinois and
Wisconsin. She is also a
certified professional in
patient safety (CPPS) and
a certified professional in
healthcare quality (CPHQ).
After losing her dad to
many gaps in healthcare
as a minority caregiver,
one of them a medication
adverse event, she
changed her career from
a wedding videographer
to a pharmacist. Currently,
she works as an inpatient
pharmacist and also a
Salk Health Activist fellow
at Jewish Healthcare
Foundation. She is a
cofounder of Patients for
Patient Safety U.S., a group
of patient safety activists
who are committed to
activating U.S. healthcare
according to the Global
Patient Safety Action Plan
2021–2030 of the World
Health Organization. She
specializes in medication
therapy management
and believes empathy
in healthcare can make
healing possible in any
relationship of healthcare.
She has experience in both
inpatient and outpatient
pharmacies and has
worked as a population
health pharmacist for heart
failure patients. She is also
an ambassador for the
Patient Safety Movement
Foundation, a nonprofit
organization dedicated to
patient safety worldwide.
She passionately speaks
up about patient safety,
patient rights, health equity,
the expansion of roles of
pharmacists in public health
and policy, and patient
advocacy for voiceless
patients.
Three Reasons Why Recognizing
Pharmacists as Providers Can Help Solve
Public Health Crisis in the United States
Here are three ways pharmacists can help address the two most
pressing problems of healthcare in the United States.
BY SOOJIN JUN, PHARMD ’13, BCGP, CPPS, CPHQ
After losing my dad to medical gaps and adverse
events from medications as a minority patient, I
decided to change careers and went from being a
videographer to being a pharmacist. Through my naive
yet passionate endeavor, I thought I could improve
healthcare one patient at a time. I was so eager for
change that I created a business plan with my friends
for a pharmacist-mediated digital health solution that
would allow patients and caregivers to coordinate care
together with doctors and hospitals, an idea directly
inspired by my personal experience as a caregiver
before graduation.
I interacted with entrepreneurs from StartUp Health,
PillPack, and incubator 1871 (now Matter) as well
as venture capitalists and competed in different
competitions, including South by Southwest. I enrolled
in the health informatics graduate program to make the
app a possibility with a targeted clinical trial for minority
patients in mind. I could not continue after I became
pregnant with my third child, but I gained valuable
lessons and observations from this experience.
There were not many pharmacists in the middle of this
innovation movement and conversation because we
could not bill as providers; innovators did not look to
pharmacists, with whom they could and should partner, to
bring changes.
At the time there was a petition going around started
by Sandra Leal, now the president of the American
Pharmacists Association (APhA), asking for federal
recognition of pharmacists as providers under Medicare.
I decided to help spread the word with another
student in Texas, Steve Soman. We created
a Facebook page, “Recognize Pharmacists
as Providers,” and posted the efforts on
the Facebook pages of other colleges
of pharmacy. The original Change.org
petition was moved to the White House
petition site, gained traction, and
received a response as promised after
reaching the target of 25,000 under
the administration of Barack Obama.
Although federal recognition was
not achieved and the response was
far from what we were looking for,
it created a conversation. California became the first
state to recognize pharmacists as providers in 2013.
Since then, we have 37 states recognizing pharmacists
as providers. However, lack of federal recognition still
slows innovation that we desperately need, especially
in cutting costs and optimizing therapies for chronic
illnesses. I know billions of dollars are often attributed
to a lack of “compliance” with medications. To me, this
is a tunnel-visioned estimate of the cost. (By the way,
patient advocates cringe over that word, compliance, so
if your organization claims to be patient-centric, please
consider avoiding the word.)
The first and foremost value of recognizing pharmacists
as providers is that we can help deprescribing
medications and guide patients to healthier lives for
many chronic illnesses. Many insurance and government
sponsored programs are wasting money by “restricting”
how pharmacists should practice under their laws and
regulations when they can better use the time and money
by “guiding” how pharmacists could practice as providers.
There are many pharmacists who are burnt out of
practicing in the boxed set of rules that clearly do not
bring the real results we want to see in patients. Many
functional medicine pharmacists who look at patients as
a whole, for example, have created their own practices.
However, because pharmacists are not providers in
many states, the results pharmacists can bring are more
regional than widespread. With telehealth and digital
health tools, this is changing. Still, too many barriers
continue exist for pharmacists.
The second equally important value of
recognizing pharmacists as providers
is that we can guard patient safety
more effectively. Traditionally,
nurses and doctors have been in
the main roles of patient safety
and still are. However, as Lucian
Leape, the renowned father of
the patient safety movement,
had written in his published
paper, pharmacists’
participation in intensive
care unit rounds
reduced medical
22 THE PHARMACIST PHARMACY.UIC.EDU

errors significantly. This only makes sense considering
pharmacists’ extensive education. We are the last guards
of patient safety before medications go into the bodies,
especially in outpatient settings, not to mention monitoring
and adjusting the doses. Despite the beneficial evidence,
pharmacists are still not considered as main players in
many settings outside of the Department of Veterans
Affairs. The VA has long been supportive of pharmacists
as providers. Pharmacists’ scope of practice is much wider
in the VA setting, and it is growing significantly in rural
areas and in outpatient clinics due to many benefits in
this setup. When the third leading cause of death in the
United States is medical error—although it could very well
be the first as there is no way to track the real number
with current healthcare model—we desperately need more
pharmacists dedicated to patient safety, guarding patients,
and advocating for changes in policies. We need more
pharmacists to speak up for patients.
The third equally important value of recognizing
pharmacists as providers is cutting the cost of
healthcare in conjunction with the first value, which
brings the second value to be realized. Not all chronic
diseases need medications. Many medications should
be viewed as temporary measures until patients can get
back on their feet again. Yet, getting prescriptions has
become an expectation from patients and what providers
provide when patients come in for treatments without
proper assessment and followup. We probably all know
friends and families going from one doctor to another,
not finding answers but getting more prescriptions. By
empowering pharmacists as care coordinators and
patient advocates, patients will have someone to look
out for in their unorganized and dangerous care. Many
pharmacists also specialize in pharmacogenomics
(discipline of medicine and genes) and nutrigenomics
(discipline of nutrients and genes) that can guide
selecting the right treatment and identifying the right
nutrients to supplement. Now, ordering these labs also
requires provider status in many states.
You get the idea.
Reprint authorized by Dr. Soojin Jun,
from original Medium.com post
(10/31/21).
Dr. Lisa Sharp Receives Inaugural Diversity,
Equity, and Inclusion Impact Award
BY ANDREW FAUGHT
In the United States, African Americans are twice as
likely as whites to die from diabetes, according to the
Department of Health and Human Services.
The discrepancy, one of many documented examples of
health disparities afflicting underrepresented groups, is
a professional passion for Dr. LISA SHARP, professor
in the Department of Pharmacy Systems, Outcomes, and
Policy. Her research focuses on some of the reasons
for varying health outcomes, which she says include
systemic racism and language barriers.
“There is no biologically plausible reason that a person
of color should be diagnosed with diabetes at a higher
rate than European Americans,” Dr. Sharp says. “These
differences in health are driven by structural inequities
in our society.”
In November, Sharp received the College of Pharmacy’s
inaugural Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Impact Award,
presented for her three-decade-long advocacy and
“hands-on involvement and leadership” in the field,
notes Dean Glen Schumock.
“From the bottom of my heart, having individuals
recognize that I’m trying to address social justice and
being a voice for people that may not always have their
voices heard, is the greatest honor that I can have,”
Sharp says. “On the other hand, I look forward to the day
when such an award doesn’t need to exist.”
In her teaching, Sharp says she challenges stereotypes and
assumptions that are endemic to healthcare. In addition
to race, she also focuses on the healthcare challenges
of those with disabilities or differing gender identities.
“I’m very aware of the language and images I use to
challenge assumptions that we, as white people, have
relied upon,” she adds. “I think a lot about windows and
mirrors—the notion of a person on the outside looking
in, but not necessarily being a part of what’s going on.
I try to think about providing mirrors, so students are
seeing and hearing things that reflect them.”
As a clinical health psychologist, Sharp’s primary area
of research focuses on the health of minorities and
underserved populations in an attempt to understand
the direct and indirect effects of stress and depression
on chronic illnesses. Her work also considers patient
participation and communication in the doctor-patient
relationship and ecological, social, and psychological
influences on health.
Disparities in care, meantime, can happen in a variety
of ways, from being conveyed inaccurate directions
because of language barriers, to rude interactions with
providers, Sharp says.
“Unpleasant interactions with healthcare providers
can impact patients.” she adds, “It can be life or death,
because the patient is not going to come back.”
SPRING 2022 THE PHARMACIST 23

CLASS OF 2020
WHERE ARE
THEY TODAY?
LAST SPRING, 162 INDIVIDUALS EARNED THEIR PHARMD DEGREE from the UIC College of Pharmacy, adding their
respective names to a long line of distinguished graduates from an institution that traces its origins back more than 160 years.
Like so many before them, the Class of 2020 immediately transported the skills and knowledge they gained from their studies
into serving others and propelling healthcare. From clinical pharmacy roles to corporate positions, from residencies to research
fellowships, the Class of 2020’s varied career paths underscore the versatility of the UIC PharmD degree and the diverse ways in
which UIC alumni can—and do—impact lives, improve healthcare, and serve communities with a spirited mix of acumen and energy.
DR. ANNITA MATHEW
Mathew is completing the second
year of her postdoctoral training
in ambulatory care pharmacy at
the Boise VA Medical Center in
Idaho. She hopes to continue
optimizing the training she
has received through the VA to
practice as a mid-level provider
in ambulatory care settings while
simultaneously increasing access
to high-quality healthcare in
underserved communities.
“The power of the UIC PharmD
program is rooted within the
professionals who work tirelessly
to help develop strong UIC
pharmacists. Reaching out to my
UIC preceptors and alumni to
elicit their insight and guidance
has added great value in the
pursuit of my career goals.”
DR. DEVAL PATEL
Patel is serving as a pharmacy
manager at a CVS in Chicago’s
northwest suburbs, a first step
toward larger career aspirations
in pharmacy administration or
management. Long term, he
is interested in applying his
knowledge to an entrepreneurial
venture, staying close to the
field of pharmacy while also
exploring other opportunities in
the healthcare space capable of
enriching lives and supporting
wellness.
“Through UIC, I was fortunate
to build a strong professional
network, enjoy great mentors,
and discover that a pharmacist
should never stop learning.”
DR. JENNY PARK
Completing the second year of
a health economics outcomes
research (HEOR) fellowship with
Genentech and the University
of Washington, Park continues
developing her HEOR skill set in
areas such as economic modeling
and claims analyses. In her career,
she hopes to “strategically and
proactively” leverage evidence to
identify unmet needs, optimize
care patterns, increase patient
access, promote health equity,
and improve patient outcomes.
“At UIC, I learned that a strong
work ethic and adaptability invite
opportunities. While HEOR is
not the traditional route many
PharmDs pursue after graduation,
UIC widened my perspective
and helped me discover where
I can passionately maximize my
potential.”
DR. LOAN VI
Vi balances a full-time role as
remote clinical/MTM pharmacist
for Optum under UnitedHealth
Group with part-time duties as
a clinical pharmacist at South
Shore Hospital for CompleteRx.
In the coming years, she aims
to gain licensure in multiple
restricted states, earn certification
in diabetes education, and pursue
opportunities in ambulatory care.
“UIC positioned me for
professional success with
various rotations that provided
me rich real-world experience
and taught me to be patientfocused,
empathetic, and
patient. Those are lessons I’ve
been applying regularly here in
my early career.”
24 THE PHARMACIST PHARMACY.UIC.EDU

CLASS OF 2020 BY THE NUMBERS
162
PHARMD GRADUATES
34%
MALE
66%
FEMALE
86%
CAME IN WITH A BS
DEGREE OR HIGHER
29%
FIRST-GENERATION
COLLEGE STUDENTS
GRADUATED DURING
A PANDEMIC
89.51%
FIRST-TIME NAPLEX
PASS RATE
52
COMPLETED A
POSTGRADUATE
RESIDENCY
19
COMPLETED A
FELLOWSHIP
JOB PLACEMENTS BY REGION
JOB INDUSTRIES BY PERCENTAGE
WEST
10% MIDWEST
78%
SOUTH
6%
EAST
6%
36% COMMUNITY PHARMACY
33% HOSPITAL
13% PHARMACEUTICAL
4% MANAGED CARE
2% AMBULATORY CARE
2% GOVERNMENT
2% SPECIALTY
3% CONSULTING
2% RESEARCH
1% UNKNOWN
TOP EMPLOYERS (class of 2020)
ABBVIE • ADVOCATE AURORA HEALTH • ALBERTSONS/JEWEL-OSCO • AMITA HEALTH • ASTELLAS •
BOISE VA MEDICAL CENTER • CVS HEALTH • GENENTECH • HORIZON THERAPEUTICS • J E S S E B R O W N
VA MEDICAL CENTER • JOHN H. STROGER JR. HOSPITAL OF COOK COUNTY • KITE PHARMA • L OYO L A
UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER • MEIJER • MOFFIT CANCER CENTER • NORTHWESTERN MEMORIAL
HOSPITAL • OPTUM RX • NORTHSHORE UNIVERSITY HEALTHSYSTEM • PFIZER • PIEDMONT FAYETTE
HOSPITAL • SANOFI GENZYME • SUTTER HEALTH • UC DAVIS HEALTH • U OF COLORADO HEALTH •
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO MEDICINE • UI HEALTH • UNITEDHEALTH GROUP • WALGREENS
SPRING 2022 THE PHARMACIST 25

You’ve Got Mail!
In 2021, nationally, 5% of all graduating pharmacists
sought nontraditional career opportunities within
the pharmaceutical industry where they will find
exciting and rewarding roles in the development and
commercialization of new medicines. Like last year’s
group, our P4 students again received word virtually of
their fellowship placements.
Ashik Jayakumar
Nearly 10% of our Class of 2022 received word this past
December regarding their postgraduate placements. A few of
our P4s who are sure to be future pharma leaders are Rachel
Goldberg, Jola Ignaciuk, Ashik Jayakumar, Dagmara Kutrzuba,
Tiffany Kuo, Shani Patel, Vassi Tsolova, and Peyton Wade.
Dagmara Kutrzuba
Be it postgraduate opportunities within the pharmaceutical
industry, further clinical training by way of a residency (to be
announced during the annual match day in the spring),
or offerings from a plethora of employers, our graduates
will soon join fellow alumni in leadership positions in
significant pharmacy, healthcare, and pharmaceutical
companies across the country and around the world.
Vassilena Tsolova
Jola Ignaciuk
Peyton Wade
Tiffany Kuo
Shani Patel
Rachel Goldberg

Help Us with a Further Boost of Curb Appeal
and Leave Your Mark on the College!
For a donation of $500 to
the college’s Dean’s Fund
for Excellence, you can get a
brick engraved with up to 64
characters placed in our beautiful
POZEN Plaza—a gift from Dr. John
and Mrs. Clare Plachetka and the
Plachetka Family Foundation.
JOIN OVER 400 FELLOW
ALUMNI AND FRIENDS.
PLEASE SEIZE THIS
OPPORTUNITY AND
ORDER YOUR PAVER AT
GO.UIC.EDU/
PLAZAPROJECT
BY JUNE 1.
If a minimum of 10 bricks are sold during this campaign,
they will be installed later this year. If that threshold
is not met, we will hold off installation until we have a
minimum of 10 bricks to add to the plaza.
SPRING 2022 THE PHARMACIST 27

Investing
theFuture
in
Endowed scholarships created through UIC’s IGNITE campaign demonstrate
B Y
D A N I E L P . S M I T H
the spirit and commitment of the College of Pharmacy community.
Jim and Phyllis White
Dr. Jerry and Judy Bauman
SINCE UIC LAUNCHED the university-wide
IGNITE campaign in 2017, alumni and friends of the
UIC College of Pharmacy have created 49 endowed
scholarships totaling more than $2.6 million.
Many of the scholarships nobly aim to ease the financial
burden of pharmacy education and reward those
committed to the profession and patient welfare. Some
honor former classmates or mentors. Some look to
propel careers in specific areas, such as rural pharmacy
or community practice. Others stimulate opportunities
for first-generation college students or those from
underrepresented backgrounds.
Whatever the scholarship’s criteria might be, the support
promises to have an undeniably positive impact on UIC
pharmacy students, a quarter of whom receive financial
support while pursuing their studies.
“These scholarships serve as a lasting legacy that will
long help bridge our students’ financial need gap,”
assures Ben Stickan, the college’s associate dean of
advancement.
With the addition of the 49 scholarships created through
the IGNITE campaign, the College of Pharmacy now
features 77 endowed scholarships. Stickan hopes the
college can reach 100 endowed scholarships when the
five-year INGITE campaign closes at the end of 2022.
“It’s an ambitious goal,” Stickan says. “But there’s a
spirit to our institution, and so many in our community
who recognize the importance and value of pharmacy
education at UIC and just how important this education
is to the students as well as the future of patient care.”
Here we highlight five recently endowed scholarships at
the College of Pharmacy:
JIM AND PHYLLIS WHITE SCHOLARSHIP
When Jim White, BS ’65, tells people he attended UIC on
a shoestring budget, they often dismiss the comment as
hyperbole.
Only White isn’t exaggerating.
“Literally, I had one pair of shoes, which I fixed with tape
and cardboard,” the 79-year-old White recalls.
White, who grew up in the central Illinois town of
Petersburg, attended UIC thanks in part to a scholarship
awarded by a physical therapy agency. (He thanks his
mother’s creative lobbying for that.) And he worked
throughout college, including earning cash by performing
in a singing trio with college roommates Bern Hapke,
BS ’65, and Dan Warfield, BS ’65, while also having the
good fortune of being “bailed out” a few times by former
College of Pharmacy dean George Webster.
White’s ability to endure and capture his degree
propelled a professional career that included positions
in corporate and institutional settings in addition
to establishing one of Illinois’s first hospital-based
community pharmacies.
“The excellent education and training I received at
UIC prepared me for the many diverse opportunities I
enjoyed in my career and helped create a life I never
could’ve imagined,” says White, who retired in 2017.
The upward mobility ignited by his UIC degree, in
fact, spurred White and his wife, Phyllis, to establish a
revocable trust and earmark a “worthwhile” percentage
of the funds to UIC. The resulting Jim and Phyllis White
Scholarship will support PharmD students with a
demonstrated financial need.
28 THE PHARMACIST PHARMACY.UIC.EDU

Phyllis White says she and her husband “understand
the important role advanced education can play in a
person’s life” and the couple, married since 1966, calls
the scholarship “a meaningful promise.”
“If we can ease the financial burden of pharmacy
education and provide others a smoother path to
achieve their dreams, then that’s something worth doing
for us,” White says.
BARTELS AND BAUMAN FAMILY SCHOLARSHIP
In 2010, Dr. Jerry Bauman and Dr. David Bartels played
central roles in launching the College of Pharmacy’s
Rockford campus, an endeavor that enabled the college
to regionalize its programs and expand its student base
to better address the needs of Illinois citizens, particularly
those outside the state’s core metropolitan areas.
While Bauman, as the college’s dean, handled much
of the organizational aspects of creating the Rockford
campus, including accreditation, hiring, and planning,
Bartels operationalized the effort as the campus’s
regional dean.
Today, the thriving and growing Rockford campus with
its special focus on rural healthcare serves a testament
to Bauman and Bartels’ spirited work and trust-filled
relationship, a connection forged across years of
carpooling into the Chicago campus from their respective
Naperville homes, professional collaborations, and genuine
friendship, including taking family vacations together.
In a continued show of commitment to the Rockford
campus, Bauman approached Bartels about establishing
a scholarship for Rockford PharmD students interested
in rural practice. Bartels and his wife, Carol, immediately
agreed, setting plans in motion for the Bartels and
Bauman Family Scholarship, a name honoring the
families’ close ties and enduring respect for one another.
“Jerry didn’t have to give us a hard sell,” says Bartels,
who retired from UIC in 2016 after 38 years with the
university.
Beyond their affinity for the Rockford campus, Bauman
and Bartels—natives of downstate Decatur and an Elginarea
farm, respectively—both champion the importance
of pharmacy care in rural communities, so many of
which are losing access to a licensed pharmacist and
earning the “pharmacy desert” label.
“It’s so critical people around our state have access
to pharmacy care,” says Bauman, dean emeritus after
leading the college from 2007 to 2017. “We felt it
important that students with an interest in serving in
rural communities have that opportunity and receive
the support they need to earn their degree and enter
practice to serve patients in small towns in Illinois and
the Midwest.”
DR. ALICE ROMIE, PHARMD ’94, MEMORIAL
SCHOLARSHIP
As Dr. Alice Romie, PharmD ’94, battled breast cancer
a second time, her long-time mentor, UIC College of
Pharmacy associate dean for clinical affairs Dr. Andy
Donnelly, broached an uncomfortable but important
topic with her. Donnelly hoped to create a scholarship
in Romie’s honor at UIC, a perpetual tribute to a woman
Donnelly calls “unbelievably kind and always positive.”
“Though I hoped it would be a moot point,” Donnelly
confesses.
Sadly, it was not. Not long after Donnelly’s conversation
with Romie in early 2021, the 52-year-old mother of two
passed away on May 12.
“True to form, she fought a courageous battle,” Donnelly
says of Romie, who came to the United States from
Vietnam in 1975, conquered an earlier bout with breast
Dr. David Bartels and Carol Bartels
Drs. Andy Donnelly and Alice Romie
N O V E M B E R 3 0 , 2 0 2 1
WE’LL SUPPORT THE NE X T GENER ATION
OF PHARMACISTS AND PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENTISTS
YOU DID IT! WE’RE SO GR ATEFUL TO YOU!
THANKS TO YOU, WE E XCEEDED OUR GOAL , R AISING $112,291!
Thank you for being a part of UIC history this #GivingTuesday, as our UIC Pharmacy
community came together in record numbers to far exceeding previous years’ totals. More
than 200 alumni, faculty, staff, friends, students, and parents proved the power of collective
giving, with a total of $112,291 going to the areas you care about at UIC Pharmacy. Together,
we met 12 matching gift challenges, and a new endowed scholarship was created—thank
thank you!
you, Drs. Susan and Mike Maddux. Together, we raised over $33,000 for current-use student
scholarships, which will be awarded this spring at our annual Honors Convocation.
SPRING 2022 THE PHARMACIST 29

Drs. Susan Veremis Maddux
and Mike Maddux
cancer, and endured the loss of a son, Samuel, in 2007
while thriving as a collaborative, admired professional.
Donnelly worked with College of Pharmacy officials
to establish a formal scholarship in Romie’s name.
He then began contacting some of Romie’s closest
colleagues and past coworkers, including ones from
Fresenius Kabi, where Romie served as director of
professional strategies at the time of her passing, to
solicit contributions. He also leaned on Dr. Brad Cannon,
PharmD ’94, to rally support from members of the closeknit
Class of 1994.
“If you knew Alice one bit, then it’s no surprise to see the
energetic response this scholarship created,” Cannon
says. “Alice was graceful, incredibly intelligent, and a
light in the room.”
The Dr. Alice Romie, PharmD ’94, Memorial Scholarship
honors Romie’s spirited life. The scholarship will be
awarded to PharmD students with a demonstrated
financial need who can also detail how they have
overcome a significant life challenge and plan to
leverage that experience to help others.
“It’s nice to have student applicants giving thought and
reflection here because that exemplifies Alice,” Donnelly
says. “She was someone who faced hardship and kept
pressing forward in service to others.
MADDUX-VEREMIS SCHOLARSHIP
While growing up in the rural southern Illinois town of
Louisville, Dr. Susan Veremis Maddux, BS ’81, PharmD
’87, didn’t know the uplifting professional opportunities
that awaited her. After earning her PharmD from UIC,
however, Maddux began an inspired, diverse career in
pharmacy that included a decade on the UIC College of
Pharmacy’s clinical faculty, working at the UIC Medical
Center, and managed care positions that catapulted her
into her current role as the chief pharmacy officer for
UnitedHealthcare’s Employer Group Division.
“My education at UIC enabled me to do so many things
in my career and demonstrated the importance of
pharmacy education and the profession as a whole,”
says Veremis Maddux, whose husband, Dr. Mike Maddux,
RES ’80, the executive director of the American College
of Clinical Pharmacy is, like his wife, a former UIC
College of Pharmacy faculty member.
Pairing an earnest gratitude for the opportunities UIC
afforded each of them with a sincere desire to unlock
similar opportunities for others, the couple established
the Maddux-Veremis Scholarship to support PharmD
students with demonstrated financial need.
“We didn’t have to think long about creating something
like this,” says Veremis Maddux, who attended UIC on a
scholarship herself. “It made perfect sense for us to do.”
The couple hopes their scholarship enables students
with limited financial resources to attend the UIC
College of Pharmacy and pursue their professional
ambitions just as they were both fortunate to do.
“We want to make sure pharmacy education is
accessible and affordable to many different individuals,”
Veremis Maddux says. “We believe in the value of
professional education and the doors it opens for
people to fulfill personal goals and improve healthcare
in their corner of the world.”
BARTELS FAMILY PHARMACEUTICS LAB
SCHOLARSHIP
Whenever Dr. Dave and Carol Bartels would listen to
their son, UIC College of Pharmacy clinical assistant
professor Dr. Brad Bartels, talk about the students in
his pharmaceutics lab courses at UIC, they noticed
an undeniable enthusiasm in his voice. After students
were sitting in classes, listening to lectures, and running
statistics on a computer, they looked forward to getting
into the pharmaceutics lab to apply their classroom
learning in a hands-on way.
“We could see how much this meant to Brad and how
much it seemed to mean to his students as well,” Carol
Bartels says.
In establishing the Bartels Family Pharmaceutics Lab
Scholarship, the family aims to further energize Brad
Bartels’s laboratory-based classroom and encourage
deeper study of pharmaceutics, an increasingly critical
professional area as the number of compounding
pharmacies across the United States declines.
“Compounding is an important part of pharmacy
practice, but somewhat of a dying art,” says Dave Bartels,
a 38-year UIC College of Pharmacy faculty member and
former vice dean of the college’s Rockford campus. “We
want to support those interested in this area and those
who show promise in it.”
Brad Bartels, the college’s 2021 Golden Apple Award
winner, hopes the scholarship not only motivates
students to do well in their pharmaceutics lab courses,
but that its eventual recipients leverage the scholarship’s
funding to pursue additional training in compounding.
In a competitive job market in which compounding skills
are becoming more and more valuable, Brad Bartels
believes students with a strong grasp of pharmaceutics
can differentiate themselves and uplift their career
prospects alongside patient care.
“In addition to lightening the financial burden of their
pharmacy education, we hope this scholarship opens
future opportunities for the recipients,” Brad Bartels
says. “There’s an important place in our profession for
individuals who can do compounding with competence
and confidence.”
30 THE PHARMACIST PHARMACY.UIC.EDU

UIC COLLEGE OF PHARMACY
VIRTUAL RESEARCH DAY 2021
NOVEMBER 12, 2021
THIS YEAR’S COLLEGE OF PHARMACY RESEARCH DAY WAS A SUCCESS.
With 89 posters presented virtually and significant participation from our alumni and external colleagues who served as
scientific judges, we presented over $25,000 in scholarships and awards. Dr. Paul Hergenrother, the Kenneth L. Rinehart
Jr. Endowed Chair in Natural Products Chemistry Professor from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Department of Chemistry, delivered a memorable keynote lecture, “New Strategies for Anticancer and
Antibacterial Drug Discovery.”
Events like Research Day would not be possible without our presenters and judges, along with our sponsors,
university supporters, alumni, friends, and their involvement and support for this event.
Dr. Paul Hergenrother
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF OUR POSTER AWARD WINNERS!
For details on the winning posters and the noteworthy science behind them, please visit
RESEARCHDAY.PHARMACY.UIC.EDU.
In addition to Research Day, the Office of the
Associate Dean for Research and Graduate
Education recently hosted our annual College
of Pharmacy “Images of Research” competition.
The purpose of the competition is to assemble
a portfolio of the most innovative and creative
images to convey the range of research taking
place in the college. These images will be used
to promote, advance, and represent our college
in both printed and digital media.
SPRING 2022 THE PHARMACIST 31

UIC COLLEGE OF PHARMACY
VIRTUAL RESEARCH DAY 2021
NOVEMBER 12, 2021
IMAGES OF RESEARCH
CONTEST 1ST PLACE
GLIA GLUE
By Jessica Benitez-Burke, PharmD Student and Graduate Research
Assistant, Dr. Eric Wenzler’s lab, Department of Pharmacy Practice
Fluorescent Flames! Psuedomonas aueruginosa, glowing under certain
light conditions, is used to test antimicrobial resistance against this
specific strain via E-test methods as displayed in the background. The
bacteria colonies are shown in the UIC Flames logo.
For details on the various images or research taking place, visit
GRAD.PHARMACY.UIC.EDU/IMAGES-OF-RESEARCH-2/.
OUR THANKS TO THIS YEAR’S SPONSORS

Dr. Mashal Alshazi Develops
Vaccines to Save Lives
BY JESSICA CANLAS
MASHAL ALSHAZI, PhD ’15, is working
on an innovative platform for vaccines
development.
Born in Saudi Arabia, Alshazi now works
in Riyadh as assistant professor of
pharmaceutical biotechnology in the
Infectious Diseases Vaccination Research
Chair and the College of Pharmacy at
King Saud University (KSU).
“I feel that I have the mandate to start
this kind of work because there is a gap
in vaccine development in Saudi Arabia
and in the region itself,” he says.
He and his team focus their work on
responding to specific local health
concerns. An example is Middle East
Respiratory Syndrome, or MERS, which
first appeared in 2012, with 80% of
cases in Saudi Arabia.
“There was no interest in developing a
vaccine [elsewhere], so now we believe it
is our job as scientists in Saudi Arabia.”
Although the disease is still considered
rare, Alshazi believes in being prepared.
“We are generously funded by the Saudi
Ministry of Education to develop a
vaccine against MERS in collaboration
with the Texas Children’s Hospital Center
for Vaccine Development.
“If we can develop a vaccine now, it will
be ready when we need it.”
Meanwhile, with the entire globe still in
the midst of a pandemic, Alshazi and his
team, in collaboration with King Abdullah
International Medical Research Center,
a research facility in Riyadh, are taking
a different approach to developing their
own COVID-19 mRNA vaccine.
“We collected COVID-19 samples [found
in] Saudi,” Alshazi explains. “We are
trying to identify the local sequence
and design a vaccine based on that
sequence. This will make our vaccine
more relevant to the region.
“Changing the sequence will directly
affect vaccine efficacy.”
Alshazi admits that a passion for science
fueled his entry into biotechnology.
After completing his bachelor’s in
pharmaceutical sciences at KSU, he
worked as a hospital pharmacist for a
year before returning to the university as
a teaching assistant. A year and a half
later, he was awarded a full scholarship
by KSU to continue his education, which
he used to enroll in the UIC College
of Pharmacy, where he investigated
antimicrobial drugs and resistance
mechanisms of antimicrobial-producing
bacteria in Dr. Alexander Mankin’s lab.
After earning his doctorate, Alshazi
joined the faculty at KSU College
of Pharmacy and was subsequently
selected for a special research program
at Texas Children’s Hospital Center for
Vaccine Development in Houston.
“After I finished the program, I went back
to Saudi Arabia with the ambition to start a
center for vaccine development,” he recalls.
“So I established my team here, working on
mRNA and protein-based vaccines.”
As a result, Alshazi is now the vice
director for Infectious Diseases
Vaccination Research Chair at KSU.
In addition, Alshazi also volunteers with
Ready2Respond, a global partnership
that works directly with the World
Health Organization and the Centers
for Disease Control to strengthen the
pandemic preparedness of low- and
middle-income countries. He also works
as a vaccines and biologics consultant
with the Saudi Food and Drug Authority.
“I am happy with what I am trying to do
now with my team here in Saudi Arabia,
but we still have a lot of goals to be
achieved.”
MASHAL ALSHAZI · PHD ’15
ALUMNI PROFILES
SPRING 2022 THE PHARMACIST 33

ALUMNI PROFILES
KERSTEN WEBER TATARELIS · PHARMD ’07, RES ’08
Dr. Kersten Weber Tatarelis
Helps Health Care Evolve
BY JESSICA CANLAS
KERSTEN WEBER TATARELIS,
PharmD ’07, RES ’08, honed a knack for
challenging the status quo at UIC as
a student, extern, and resident. Today,
she brings that independent-minded
approach to healthcare leadership at one
of the country’s largest health systems.
Weber Tatarelis rose to the position of
vice president of pharmacy operations for
Advocate Aurora Health in 2018, shortly
after the merger of Illinois’s Advocate and
Wisconsin’s Aurora healthcare systems. In
that role, she’s responsible for pharmacy
operations at hospitals in northern
Illinois, while also overseeing a large
remote clinical pharmacy services team
and several system pharmacy operations,
including clinical practice, medication
safety, and antimicrobial stewardship.
Healthcare leadership appealed to the
strategic thinker in Weber Tatarelis, she said.
“Leading through change, helping others
with developing their purpose and vision
is really my passion. I love big strategy. I
love challenging conventional thinking.”
That creative and independent streak first
blossomed at UIC, where Weber Tatarelis
also completed a pharmacy practice
residency. “The mentors I had always pushed
you to think differently, to think outside
the box, challenged you to think beyond
what’s right in front of you,” she said. “That
type of thinking helped me to be more
confident in the way I look at problems
and solutions. It set me up for success.”
The approach has served Weber Tatarelis
well in a fast-changing industry, she
added. “Healthcare is dynamic and
ever-changing, and we’re challenged to
continue to evolve with it. That is also
the most rewarding thing, to not think so
conventionally, but to think forward.”
Weber Tatarelis began her post-UIC
career at the University of Chicago as
a surgical intensive care pharmacist,
where she helped develop residency and
clinical programs. She next moved on as
a clinical coordinator at Advocate Illinois
Masonic Medical Center, rising through
clinical pharmacy leadership positions
until her VP promotion. Even today, she
continues to advance her thinking in the
field at the University of Illinois Urbana-
Champaign’s online MBA program.
“For me, the MBA is trying to close gaps
in areas that I don’t feel as confident in
and that I’d like more exposure to,” she
said. “I’d also like more exposure to the
way other industries operate.”
Weber Tatarelis said she’s most proud,
though, of her family. “Having a demanding
career with four small kids at home—that
is what I am most proud of. Keeping up
with them is the hardest part!”
Deanna Horner Is Comfortable
Being Uncomfortable
BY JESSICA CANLAS
DEANNA HORNER, PharmD, RES ’08,
says she does well with a little
discomfort in her life.
Horner, who is VP of specialty pharmacy
management with UnitedHealthcare’s
Government Programs, found that educational
and career transitions strengthened
confidence in her ability to grow.
“I discovered . . . that I was just developing
more quickly than if I had stayed in one
place,” she recalls. “Each time, I learned, ‘I
can do this,’ and it reinforced that I can do
different things, take the knowledge that I
already have and build on that.”
As an undergrad, Horner, who hails from
Downers Grove, Illinois, spent much of
her time volunteering in clinical settings
34 THE PHARMACIST PHARMACY.UIC.EDU

at UIC, where her mother worked as a
mechanical engineer. She was intrigued
by seeing clinical pharmacists in action
and realized it would make an ideal
career path—combining her interest in
science with a desire to serve others. After
earning her degree in bioengineering at the
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, she
traveled west to the University of California,
San Francisco, School of Pharmacy,
where she focused on critical care.
Horner then returned home for
her PGY1 residency at UIC, where
she sought to expand her practice
experience in critical care. “There
were a lot of things in residency at UIC
that got me comfortable with being
uncomfortable,” she says.
Horner recalls the daily noon reports, led
by residency director Dr. Frank Paloucek.
Residents who had been on call the
previous night were required to present
reports of their work for team review.
“That was an absolutely fantastic learning
experience, to hear how coresidents and
preceptors would approach problems. It
was a wealth of knowledge.
At the beginning of residency, Paloucek
required residents to complete the
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. “I identified
as having a high burnout risk,” Horner
says. “[Since then] I’ve been mindful of
that, making sure that I maintain balance
between my career and personal life.
That was useful to know, especially early
on in my career.”
Horner went on to complete her PGY2
in critical care at University of Kentucky
before returning to UCSF for a full-time
position as a critical care pharmacist,
where, in addition to patient care, she
was able to teach and work with interns,
residents and fellows on rounds.
“I also got the opportunity to do some
quality improvement work, both for our
patients with sepsis and for those in
stroke management. As part of those
projects, I started to see more broadly
how I could impact population health,
so I became interested in what clinical
programs we could implement and how
we could evolve those.”
Horner was also able to step out of her
comfort zone to work as interim clinical
pharmacy manager, further gaining the
experience she needed to transition back
home to a permanent role with the same
title at Tenet Healthcare, where she oversaw
four hospitals in the Chicago market.
“I was able to take that experience and
develop teams of pharmacists in the
hospital setting and outpatient clinics,”
she recalls. Continuing on her path toward
population-level healthcare, Horner took
on the responsibility for establishing an
antimicrobial stewardship program at
Westlake Hospital in Melrose Park.
After three years at Tenet, Horner realized
it was time, once again, to step up her
discomfort level.
“At Tenet, none of the pharmacists reported
to me. I was providing recommendations
and guidance to the pharmacy director and
staff, more like a consultant. I wanted to go
from leading through influence to leading
a team directly.”
Horner moved on to UnitedHealthcare,
where, after two years as a clinical
pharmacy manager, she was promoted
to senior director of specialty
pharmacy management, leading a
team of pharmacists and technicians
in the medication adherence program
supporting UHC Medicare Advantage.
“Our goal with that program was to
improve medication-taking habits of our
members so they could be adherent to
their [regimens].”
Another two years later, Horner moved
on to her current, more clinically focused
position at UHC as VP, developing
strategy and implementing medical drug
benefit programs. Now, she and her team
perform outreach to Medicare members
to ensure access and adherence.
“We want to get to patients before they
have those negative complications of
their disease states,” Horner explains.
At UHC, Horner feels she’s found a home,
“helping people live healthier lives and
making the healthcare system work
better for everyone.” One of the factors
that drew her to a larger company—UHC
employs more than 3,500 pharmacists—is
opportunity. She encourages students and
fellow alumni to take advantage of any
chance to learn from diverse vantage points.
“It can be scary,” Horner admits. “But with
each transition, if you try something new,
you’d be surprised. You’ll find you can
do more than you’d expect if you just
continue to challenge yourself.”
DEANNA HORNER · PHARMD, RES ’08
SPRING 2022 THE PHARMACIST 35

ASK AN ALUMNUS
Denise Scarpelli, PharmD ’96, MBA
Executive Director of Ambulatory Pharmacy and Business
Development, University of Chicago Medicine
Dr. Denise Scarpelli has served as the executive director of ambulatory pharmacy and business
development at the University of Chicago since 2017. Previously she held many leadership
roles at Walgreens, leading Pharmacy Operations in Chicago for over 20 years.
Dr. Scarpelli earned a Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of Illinois Chicago
College of Pharmacy in 1996 and a Master of Business Administration from
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in 2021. She is currently the chair
of the Illinois Board of Pharmacy and on the Dean’s Advisory Board for
Midwestern College of Pharmacy. Denise has also served as the chair of
the ASHP Section of Specialty Pharmacy Practitioners Section Advisory
Group (SAG) on Business Development in 2020. She serves as a committee
member of many ASHP groups.
Scarpelli serves as the clinical leader within the actuarial organization, guiding
financial initiatives related to medical and pharmacy spend across the organization
and influencing the risk management of major developments in the industry, such as gene
therapy and the COVID-19 vaccines.
As a pharmacist, how can I best prepare to adapt
to the inevitable changes in the next ten years?
As I reflect on three decades of experience,
pharmacy has changed dramatically. The one
thing I came to learn is that change is constant, and as a
pharmacist, you need to be aware of the changes, or you
will not be relevant to the industry. To adapt, you need
to be reading about the changes in healthcare, network
with other pharmacists and healthcare providers to
discuss the changes, and create strategies around
how you fit or your practice fits with those changes. I
have seen so many pharmacists not keep up with the
changes and have been left behind due to not changing
with the profession.
What are you working on right now, and what have
you learned from it?
Currently, I am building a central fill pharmacy and
a home infusion pharmacy. I have learned that no
matter how much experience you have, there are always
new things to learn. I have learned to reach out to my
colleagues in the industry to pick their brains to learn
from them. Also, no matter how much planning you do,
there are always hiccups along the way with a project and
having a flexible plan to let you adjust to the changes. The
changes happening in the world around the supply chain
and resources have made new projects difficult, and we
need to learn that new projects might take longer than
anticipated. You should always have a contingency plan
when developing new pharmacy services.
With three decades in pharmacy, what were the
things that most influenced or informed your career?
Over my three decades in pharmacy, the things
that influenced or informed my career were
the organizations I became involved with and the
networking contacts I developed outside of my work
environment. These contacts helped me learn what
else there was to do in pharmacy and helped me make
connections for career growth and opportunities.
I advise students all the time to get involved. It will
help their careers and network outside your work
environment; it enables you to grow professionally.
36 THE PHARMACIST PHARMACY.UIC.EDU

Being involved with the board of pharmacy has also
informed and influenced my career. In every aspect of
my job or projects I am involved with, I always have my
legal hat on to ensure we are following the rules of the
law. Pharmacy law is as important as the clinical side
of pharmacy; it helps protect the health and safety of
our patients.
What career highlight has given you the most
satisfaction given your incredible career?
Some of the highlights might not seem so
significant anymore, but to me, it was exciting to
see the advances in the industry over the years. The
first one was when pharmacists could start vaccinating.
When I was at Walgreens, this was a game-changer for
the profession and showcased that a pharmacist can
provide clinical services in a retail setting. The next one
was the collaborative agreements and standing orders;
the creative pharmacists were building pharmacy
services within a clinic and demonstrating the impact
that can improve outcomes. The other one was the
Affordable Care Act and all the initiatives involving
pharmacists such as meds-2-beds programs in
reducing readmissions or pharmacists embedded in
clinics to help with MTMs. All things were just ideations
or in their infancy stages when I first started as a
pharmacist.
Has being a woman in leadership/pharmacy
impacted you in any way?
Being a woman in leadership has impacted
me and how I work. I don’t think this is isolated
to pharmacy but all woman leaders. We have come
a long way, but there is still work to be done to have
the same equality as men leaders. When I first started
in leadership, only a few women were in leadership
roles. I learned early on that I can impact future women
leaders by mentoring and encouraging them to take
on these roles. When you still look at the profession,
which is predominately women, there are still more men
in leadership roles, but it is improving, so we still have
work to promote more women into these roles.
What was the most important thing you learned
while in pharmacy school? Who has influenced
your career?
The most important thing I learned is that it is
challenging to know all aspects of pharmacy and
know all medications, but by the training we received,
we understand how to look it up, conduct research,
and ask the right questions to make the best clinical
decision for the patient. In pharmacy, it is continuous
learning every day from your patients and colleagues.
There have been many people that influenced my career
over the years. I have had many mentors that I still lean
on today for advice. But the most significant influencer
was my mother; she continuously pushed me to do
more, set high goals, and told me to say yes to every
opportunity that came my way.
You’ve had success at several professional
stops—how?
First to stop, listen, and learn that professional stop
and your team. Never come into a new position
with the plan to change it, but come in with a strategy
to listen and learn, have the team get to know you and
you them. As you understand, look for improvement,
efficiencies, and new approaches. The team will respect
you and, in the long run, follow your lead over time. This
has worked time and time again. Also, celebrate the
wins even if they are little wins. A team wants to be on
the winning team and continue to support the team’s
success. My success has been the amazing teams I had
the opportunity to work with over the years.
Second, anticipate and accept innovation. As human
beings, we are often resistant to change. In the face of
change, our first instinct is to question it, resist it, and
dismiss it as being short-lived. Those who anticipate
innovation, embrace it, and evolve with it are the ones
who will be successful long-term.
Where do you see pharmacy/healthcare going in
the years ahead, and what opportunities do you
see for our current student pharmacists?
Over the next few years, there will be a growth
in telehealth and telepharmacy—a focus on
providing care in patients’ homes with the hospital at
home and home infusion. With the continued growth
of specialty, there is a need for pharmacists to work in
this space as well. Also, with collaborative agreements,
there is a need to have more specialized pharmacists
to provide clinical services in ambulatory. Ambulatory
services continue to grow with healthcare shifting
patient care from hospital to home. Patients recover
more quickly at home and have less risk of exposure
to infections.
The other area is analytics; there is a lot of patient data
available, there will be a need for pharmacists to publish
outcomes of the great work they are doing. The data
and research can provide more prescriptive prescribing
with pharmacogenomics. This is the area of pharmacy
where there will be an opportunity in the future, and we
need pharmacists trained to provide this type of care.
SPRING 2022 THE PHARMACIST 37

ALUMNI NEWS
PEDRO ABREU, PharmD ’10,
started a new position as clinical
pharmacist at UnitedHealth Group.
ALI ALOBAIDI, PharmD ’18, MS ’20,
was recently promoted to associate
director, Global Health Economics
and Outcomes Research–
Neuroscience, at AbbVie.
division of Walgreens, and she was
recently appointed to the National
Association of Specialty Pharmacy
Board of Directors.
JASMIN BROWN, PharmD ’19,
was recently promoted to clinical
pharmacy specialist at the Karmanos
Cancer Institute.
Dr. Jasmina Bjegovic
JEANNETTE ASH, BS ’76, MS ’85,
was recently appointed director
of consulting and clinical services
at Forum Extended Care Services
Pharmacy.
RUDINA ATIEH, PharmD ’20,
recently joined Walgreens as a staff
pharmacist.
MARK BACHLEDA, PharmD ’99,
MBA, was recently appointed as the
chief commercial officer at Galera
Therapeutics, Inc.
Dean emeritus and distinguished
professor emeritus JERRY
BAUMAN, BS ’76, PharmD, has
received the American College of
Clinical Pharmacy Cardiology PRN
Lifetime Achievement Award.
Dr. Lakesha Butler
KAREN BERGER, PharmD, RES ’11,
recently joined Nova Southeastern
University College of Pharmacy as
an assistant professor.
JASMINA BJEGOVIC, PharmD ’12,
recently joined the National
Association of Boards of Pharmacy
as senior manager, competency
assessment.
ALEXANDRA BROADUS,
PharmD ’08, leads the Specialty
Health Solutions team within the
Pharmacy and Healthcare Strategy
LAKESHA BUTLER, PharmD,
RES ’06 recently received the
APhA Academy of Pharmacy
Practice & Management (APhA-
APPM) Distinguished Achievement
Award in Pharmacy Service, which
recognizes an APhA member
in any practice setting who has
distinguished themself and the
profession through outstanding
performance in pharmacy
practice. Dr. Butler led 14 national
pharmacy organizations against
racial injustice. She serves as the
inaugural director of diversity,
equity, and inclusion at Southern
Illinois University Edwardsville.
Community Service
Nehemiah Ewing (age 11)
receives his first dose of the
COVID-19 vaccine surrounded
by (left to right) his father and
District 60 Board President
Brandon Ewing, HHS
Secretary Xavier Becerra, and
Congressman Brad Schneider
AMEIRA JALOUGA-LAMBAZ, PharmD ’07,
appeared on WGN News on November 9 for a Biden
administration event promoting COVID-19 vaccinations
in underserved minority, pediatric patient populations
(children ages 5–11) held at the Jack Benny Middle
School in Waukegan, Illinois. Dr. RINA SHAH, PharmD
’05, represented Walgreens on the event’s vaccine
equity roundtable, which also included President Biden’s
Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra,
U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider (IL-10), public health partners,
educators, and parents of kids who were now eligible for
a COVID-19 vaccine. The panel discussed the importance
of pediatric vaccinations, education, and the need to have
a continued focus on health equity.
Earlier this year, in the midst of the pandemic, HELEN
JUNG, PharmD ’03, MBA, was able to partner with
Seattle Washington State Korean Association and a group
of highly dedicated RiteAid pharmacists and community
volunteers to vaccinate over 1,000 Washingtonians in
four hours. Recently, the community expressed their
appreciation and gratitude with a bit of public recognition
on behalf of RiteAid and Bartell Drugs.
38 THE PHARMACIST PHARMACY.UIC.EDU

CHRISTOPHER CAMPEN,
PharmD ’07, was recently promoted
to senior medical science liaison at
Janssen Hematology.
SUSAN CHUCK, PharmD ’98,
recently joined Merck as executive
director, Global Medical Affairs–HIV
Treatment and Prevention.
MARC COOK, PharmD ’95, was
recently promoted to director, Diabetes
Central Region, at Novo Nordisk.
LAUREN CUNNINGHAM,
PharmD ’19, is now a certified
diabetes care and education
specialist (CDCES).
KAITLYN DALTON, PharmD ’19,
recently joined St. David’s Healthcare
as a critical care clinical pharmacist.
SUCHI GUNASEKARAN,
PharmD ’12, started a new position
as clinical pharmacy manager at
City of Hope.
DAN GRATIE, PharmD ’17, was
promoted to director, strategic
partnerships, at AESARA.
JAY HILAO, PharmD ’05, started
a new position as senior manager,
investigational product management,
at CVS Health.
HOLLY HOFFMAN-ROBERTS,
PharmD ’98, recently joined Paratek
Pharmaceuticals as director, field
medical.
Ozzie Feliciano, BS ’80
In a city that’s just shy of 200
years old, it’s not often one finds
a business that’s survived more
than half of that time.
Last fall, OZZIE FELICIANO,
BS ’80, owner and operator of
Deitch Pharmacy, shuttered the
doors on his business that has
stood as a pillar on the corner
of Wood Street and Chicago
Avenue in the West Town
neighborhood for more than
a century. Feeling the strain of
insurance practices and recent
changes in healthcare access,
he decided it was time to retire
in 2020 after practicing pharmacy for 40 years. Despite being
unable to find a buyer, Feliciano decided to remain open
to offer support to the bilingual community he served for
decades when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
Jess de Jesus
JESS DE JESUS, PharmD ’90, MBA/
HCM, recently joined Beth Israel
Leahy Health as their senior vice
president and chief pharmacy officer.
KRYSTAL DO, PharmD ’21,
recently joined Comprehensive
Pharmacy Services as a clinical staff
pharmacist.
TAMMY ESPINOZA, PharmD ’99,
was recently promoted to senior
manager, specialty clinical
development at CVS Health.
MICHAEL GANNON, PharmD ’15,
MBA ’21, recently joined Loopback
Analytics as director of product
management.
NIRMAL GHUMAN, PharmD ’12,
MPH, was recently promoted to
senior manager, trend product
management, at CVS Health.
SONAL GOYAL, PharmD ’10, MPH,
recently joined the FDA as a data
scientist.
Dr. Bedrija Isic-Nikocevic
BEDRIJA ISIC-NIKOCEVIC,
PharmD ’08, assistant professor
of clinical sciences at Roosevelt
University, was recently named
Educator of the Year (2021) by the
Illinois Pharmacists Association. The
annual award recognizes leaders and
committed educators. Dr. Isic-
Nikocevic teaches self-care and
nonprescription therapy courses and
serves as the director of professional
laboratories.
JANINA JANIK, PharmD ’13, started
a new position as clinical pharmacy
specialist at the VA Great Lakes
Health Care System, VISN 12 Clinical
Contact Center.
KELSEY JOHNSON, PharmD ’20,
started a new position as clinical
pharmacist at CVS Specialty.
JACQUELINE JOURJY, PharmD,
FEL’10, recently joined Reveles
Clinical Services as a clinical
research pharmacist.
SOOJIN JUN, PharmD ’13, started
a new position as death and dying
fellow at the Jewish Healthcare
Foundation.
Feliciano began at Deitch as a pharmacy technician six
months before graduating from the UIC College of Pharmacy,
eventually purchasing the business in 2001. He enjoyed the
independence of owning his drugstore while maintaining
direct contact with healthcare providers and patients.
Throughout the years, Feliciano has served as an active
caregiver in the community, collaborating with local clinics to
offer services to its residents and even founding the Chicago
Avenue Business Association in the early ’80s, which partnered
with local law enforcement to reduce crime in the area.
In retirement, Feliciano is pleased to spend more time with his
aging parents.
SPRING 2022 THE PHARMACIST 39

ALUMNI NEWS
LAURIE NOSCHESE, PharmD ’12,
was promoted to chief of pharmacy
at Lovell FHCC.
BOLU OLADINI, PharmD ’18,
started a new position as scientific
associate at PRECISIONvalue.
FARAH OSMAN, PharmD ’17, is
now a staff pharmacist at Walmart.
GENNARO PAOLELLA, PharmD ’17
(pictured to the left with Dean Glen
Schumock), serves in the Office of the
Attending Physician (OAP) and provides
pharmacy services for U.S. Congress
and Supreme Court members.
LEAH PATEL, PharmD, RES ’08,
has started a new position as senior
medical scientist at Amgen.
Dr. Joe Sasseen
MICHELLE KELLER, PharmD ’05,
was promoted to senior principle
clinical research pharmacist at Pfizer.
KRZYSZTOF KOC, PharmD ’15,
started a new position as clinical
pharmacist at Blue Cross and Blue
Shield. Dr. Koc also started a new
position as pharmacist PRN at
Walgreens.
AUDREY SUH KROLICKI,
PharmD ’01, was recently promoted
to executive director, scientific
publications and medical education,
at Astellas Pharma.
VARUN MOHAN KUMAR, MBBS,
MPH, MSc, FEL’16, is a cofounder of
OneVenture.
DANIEL KY, PharmD ’15, recently
joined QueensCare Health Centers
as an outpatient pharmacy manager.
YANA LABINOV, PharmD ’11,
RES ’12, ’13, was recently promoted to
senior medical information manager,
specialty, at Astellas Pharma US.
KIRSTEN LARSON, PharmD ’20,
MS, started a new position as
clinical pharmacist at Baltimore
Medical System.
SAJEEL LATIF, PharmD ’20,
started a new position as pharmacy
manager at Jewel-Osco.
LIZ LESSER, PharmD ’14, was
recently promoted to director,
medical affairs, ophthalmology,
JEM&A TA Lead at AbbVie.
ADELA LUPAS, PharmD ’20,
recently joined Piedmont Fayette
Hospital as a clinical pharmacist.
CARISSA MANCUSO, PharmD,
RES ’03, ’04, recently joined Eisai as a
senior manager, medical information.
SANJAY MEHTA, PharmD ’01,
MBA, recently joined Pfizer as
director, outcomes and analytics.
ALBERT MEI, PharmD ’17, was
promoted to CareMore national
pharmacy lead—ambulatory
pharmacy manager and digital
innovation at CareMore Health.
ALEXANDER METZGER,
PharmD ’21, has joined the
Northwestern Medicine Kishwaukee
Hospital team as a clinical/staff
pharmacist.
HSUAN-MING YAO, PhD, ’05,
recently joined Proteovant
Therapeutics as a senior director,
clinical pharmacology.
MIRIAM MOBLEY SMITH,
PharmD ’95, recently joined the
Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy,
University of Hawaii at Hilo, as interim
dean and visiting professor.
ZACHARY MOLDWIN, PharmD ’20,
was recently promoted to clinical
data scientist at the FDA.
CANDY NG, PharmD ’11, recently
joined CVS Caremark as a clinical
pharmacist.
SEEMA PATEL, PharmD ’12,
RES ’13, ’14, recently joined the
Cleveland Clinic as a clinical
pharmacy specialist.
FELICIA (BARTILOTTA) PRYOR,
PharmD ’13, was quoted in an article
in Forbes.
ANNA PURDUM, PharmD ’98, MS,
was recently promoted to head of
U.S. market access at Kite Pharma.
SAMONA RAWAL, PharmD ’20,
was promoted to associate manager,
Regulatory Affairs—Oncology, at
Astellas Pharma.
LAMAR QUINN, PharmD ’11,
recently joined Dallas Healthcare
Pharmacy as a staff pharmacist.
NICOLE SALATA, PharmD ’10,
MSc, MBA, recently received her MBA
from the Quantic School of Business
and Technology.
JOE SASEEN, PharmD, RES ’95,
presented on “TG Lowering and CVD
Risk Reduction” on December 8 at
the Heart of Cardiology Conference,
a national conference that drew
more than 2,000 participants.
CRAIG SCHAEFER, PharmD ’21,
recently joined CVS Specialty as a
clinical pharmacist.
CHRIS SCHRIEVER, PharmD ’99,
was promoted to clinical associate
professor at the UIC College of
Pharmacy.
40 THE PHARMACIST PHARMACY.UIC.EDU

ZACK SESSIONS, PharmD ’19,
started a new position at Kyowa
Kirin, Inc., as medical science liaison,
hematology/oncology.
BONNIE (VU) SETO, PharmD ’14,
started a new position as pharmacy
manager/pharmacist in charge at
CVS Pharmacy.
KAREEMA SIDDIQUI, PharmD ’21,
recently joined CVS Health as a staff
pharmacist.
DAVID SILVA, PharmD ’19, is now a
board-certified cardiology pharmacist
(BCCP).
SUNDIP SINGH, PharmD ’20, was
promoted to pharmacy manager at
Walgreens.
KATIE SUDA, PharmD, MS, FEL ’02,
was recently honored with the
college’s Research Impact Award at
our 2021 Research Day program.
ANGELINE TRACY
SOUVANNASING, PharmD ’17,
recently joined Optum as a clinical
pharmacist–utilization management.
ANDREA TENBARGE, PharmD ’12,
was recently promoted to advisor,
medical affairs strategy and
transformation, at Eli Lilly and
Company.
NISHANT THAKAR, PharmD ’12,
received the Faculty of the Year
Award from the Class of 2023 at
Roosevelt University.
ALEXANDER THORP, PharmD,
RES ’21, joined ThedaCare as an
ambulatory care clinical pharmacist.
DECLAN TUFFY, PharmD ’19,
recently joined Intersect ENT as a
clinical scientist.
RUSSELL USAUSKAS,
PharmD ’12, was recently promoted
to pharmacy procurement supervisor
at the Edward Hines VA Hospital.
KRISTINE VALEN, PharmD ’16,
started a new position in Portland,
Oregon, serving as a pharmacist at
Walgreens.
PAMELA VITALO, PharmD ’21,
recently joined Consonus Healthcare
in Glendale, Arizona, as a pharmacist.
In January, and after 45 years,
DAVE WEGMAN, BS ’77, RPh,
MS ’80, FASCP, retired as director of
business development at Green Tree
Pharmacy.
MICHELLE WEISMAN, PharmD ’19,
RES ’20, started a new position
as clinical pharmacy specialist on
the Specialty Pharmacy team at
UChicago Medicine.
TIERA WILLIAMS, PharmD ’20,
recently joined Acadia Healthcare
as a staff pharmacist.
SUSAN WOELICH, PharmD,
RES ’10, started a new position as
clinical pharmacist at Washington
University School of Medicine in
St. Louis.
ZHAOJU “DAISY” WU, PharmD ’20,
recently joined Marianjoy Rehabilitation
Hospital as a clinical staff pharmacist.
SHAN XING, PharmD, PhD ’17,
was recently promoted to director,
U.S. Medical New Product Planning,
at Takeda.
PMPR 329 | Dean’s Leadership Forum
Alumni and friends shared their career experiences and
provided memorable advice (virtually) with over 130
second-year students in our fall Dean’s Leadership Forum
elective (PMPR 329). A huge thank you to our fall line-up
of speakers who our students will not soon forget.
DELICIA ADAMS, PharmD ’99, BCGP, Chief Executive
Officer, Senior-Ally Home Care
KASEM AKHRAS, PharmD ’94, Senior Director,
Translational Access, Geneconomics & Outcomes
Research—New Products, Novartis Gene Therapies
SAAD ALI, PharmD ’13, Client Formulary Director, CVS
Health
CHRISTINA BERBERICH, PharmD ’12, MPH ’12, RD
Head of Regulatory & Policy Affairs, Bobbie
JASMINA BJEGOVIC, PharmD ’12, Senior Manager,
Competency Assessment, National Association of
Boards of Pharmacy (NABP)
ANDY DONNELLY, BS ’80, MBA ’84, PharmD ’87,
Clinical Professor and Associate Dean for Clinical
Affairs, UIC College of Pharmacy, and Director of
Pharmacy and PGY2 Residency Program Director,
University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System
DANIELLE GILLIAM, PharmD ’96,
MPH ’14, Senior Medical Liaison, Obesity,
Clinical Development Medical and
Regulatory Affairs, Novo Nordisk
JEFFREY HERZFELD, PharmD, MBA
Managing Director, CLX, LLC
JON IONITA, PharmD ’08, Director, Global
Medical Information Systems and Vendor
Management, Astellas Pharma US
ELLIE JHUN, PharmD ’16, PhD ’16, Senior
Clinical Development Scientist, OneOme
CHRISTINA PETRYKIW, PharmD ’90,
RES ’91, ’92, CDCES, Clinical Pharmacist,
Medicaid DUR Coordinator, Academic Detailer,
and Clinical Instructor, UIC College of Pharmacy
MARGARET RAUSA, PharmD ’05, Vice President,
Medical Oncology and Specialty Drug Clinical Strategy
and Growth, eviCore Healthcare
SAM RIMAS, PharmD ’13, BCPS, Pharmacy Manager,
Northwestern Medicine McHenry Hospital
PMPR 329
DEAN’S LEADERSHIP FORUM
THURSDAYS
11:30 AM - 12:30 PM
LOCATIONS
CHICAGO CAMPUS, RM 134-1
ROCKFORD CAMPUS, RM E218
Each week, the Dean’s Leadership Forum will feature a different guest lecturer who will
represent a different pharmacy career and provide real world accounts of their experiences
08/26
09/02
GLEN SCHUMOCK
PharmD, RES ’91,
FEL ’92, MBA ’94,
PhD ’12
09/09
Professor and Dean,
UIC Co lege of Pharmacy
KASEM AKHRAS
PharmD ’94
Senior Director, Translational
Access, Geneconomics &
Outcomes Research - New
Products, Novartis Gene
Therapies
09/16
ANDY DONNELLY
BS ’80, MBA ’84,
PharmD ’87
09/23
Clinical Professor & Associate
Dean for Clinical Affairs, UIC
Co lege of Pharmacy and
Director of Pharmacy & PGY2
Residency Program Director,
University of I linois Hospital
and Health Sciences System
MARGARET RAUSA
PharmD ’05
Vice President, Medical
Oncology and Specialty Drug
Clinical Strategy and Growth,
eviCore Healthcare
09/30
JASMINA BJEGOVIC
PharmD ‘12
Senior Manager, Competency
Assessment, National
Association of Boards of
Pharmacy (NABP)
10/07
10/14
CHRISTINA
PETRYKIW
10/21
PharmD ’90, RES ’91,
RES ’92, CDCES
Clinical Pharmacist, Medicaid
DUR Coordinator, Academic
Detailer, and Clinical
Instructor, UIC Co lege of
Pharmacy
CHRISTINA
BERBERICH
SAM RIMAS
PharmD ’12, MPH ’12, RD
Head of Regulatory & Policy
Affairs, Bobbie
PharmD ’13, BCPS
and wisdom. While some classes will be in the traditional lecture form, it is our hope that a
good part of classroom time will be spent in discussion and dialogue with our guests.
COURSE OBJECTIVES Describe the importance of developing
AUG 26
GLEN SCHUMOCK
PharmD, RES ’91, FEL ’92,
MBA ’94, PhD ’12
professional awareness, networking,
communication, and interpersonal skills.
Professor and Dean,
UIC Co lege of Pharmacy
What has
changed in
your life?
PLEASE LET US KNOW AT
GO.UIC.EDU/
ALUMNIUPDATE
Dr. Katie Suda
Explain the importance of staying involved
in the profession after graduation.
Formulate student career planning.
GLEN T. SCHUMOCK, PharmD, MBA, PhD, is Dean
of the College of Pharmacy at the University of Illinois
at Chicago (since 2018). He is also Professor in
the Department of Pharmacy Systems, Outcomes
and Policy – where he also served as Head from
2013-2018. He was previously founding Director
of the UIC Center for Pharmacoepidemiology and
Pharmacoeconomic Research (2002-2013) and has
been a faculty member in the College of Pharmacy
for over 25 years.
Dr. Schumock is a licensed pharmacist (in Illinois
and Washington) and was a Board Certified
Pharmacotherapy Specialist (BCPS) from 1993-
2014. He has worked as a clinical pharmacist
and held several managerial positions in hospital
pharmacy – including Director of Pharmacy and
Respiratory Care at Wausau Hospital in Wisconsin.
He has degrees from Washington State University
(B.Pharm.), the University of Washington (Pharm.D.),
and the UIC (M.B.A., and Ph.D.). He also completed
residency and fe lowship training at the University
of Washington and UIC. Dr. Schumock’s research
and expertise is in the economic impact, clinical
effectiveness, and safety of pharmaceuticals and
related services or policies. His research has been
funded by the NIH, AHRQ, FDA, private foundations,
and various pharmaceutical companies. He has
received over $6 million in funding as a PI or co-PI.
Dr. Schumock has authored and edited over 200
articles and books. He is currently on the editorial
board of the journals Pharmacotherapy and
Pharmaco Economics and is Associate Editor of
the Journal of Comparative Effectiveness Research.
In 2014, he received the Award for Sustained
Contributions to the Literature from the
American Society of Health-System
Pharmacists (ASHP) Foundation.
Pharmacy Manager,
Northwestern Medicine
McHenry Hospital
10/28
DELICIA ADAMS
PharmD ’99, BCGP
Chief Executive Officer,
Senior-Aly Home Care
11/04
JEFFREY HERZFELD
PharmD, MBA
Managing Director, CLX, LLC
11/11
ELLIE JHUN
PharmD ‘16, PhD ‘16
Senior Clinical Development
Scientist, OneOme
11/18
SAAD ALI
PharmD ‘13
Client Formulary Director,
CVS Health
12/02
JON IONITA
PharmD ‘08
Director, Global Medi
Information Systems
Vendor Managemen
Astelas Pharma US
DANIELLE
PharmD ’96
Senior Medica
Obesity, Clinic
Development
& Regulatory
Novo Nordis
SPRING 2022 THE PHARMACIST 41

ALUMNI NEWS
DIPA (SHAH) DENOUDEN,
PharmD ’14, and husband Christian
welcomed their third child; daughter
Lainey Hope was born on December
7, 2021. She joins big sister Lyla
and big brother Leo.
Elliott Ruth Muran
CASSIE (STROMAYER) MURAN,
PharmD ’14, and Adam welcomed
their first child; daughter Elliott Ruth
was born September 23, 2021, at
1:04 a.m. weighing 6 lbs. 13 oz. and
measuring 18” long.
Alfa Asfaw
Charlie James Deng
Kai James Wojtanowski
Juliana Rose Acosta
KAITLYN (KALATA) ACOSTA,
PharmD ’15, and husband Jason
welcomed their first child; daughter
Juliana Rose was born on October
6, 2021.
HANEEN AMMAR, PharmD ’15,
and Shady Yassin welcomed their
third child; daughter Huda Yassin
was born on September 24, 2021.
Huda joins big sister Sereen and big
brother Noah.
ALEMSEGED AYELE ASFAW,
PhD ’20, and wife Fanus welcomed
a baby boy, Alfa, on September 7,
2021.
SEAN CHANTARAPANONT,
PharmD ’11, and Amanda Seddon,
PharmD ’12, welcomed their second
child, daughter Sophie May, on
November 22, 2021. She joins big
brother Oliver (18 months).
CASSANDRA (CLEMENT)
DAVIS, PharmD ’12, and husband
McKenney “Mac” welcomed their
second child; son Richie was born
December 12, 2021, at 5:17 a.m. He
joins big brother Kenney (2).
MORGAN (MICHALEK) DENG,
PharmD ’14, and husband James
welcomed a son, Charlie James
Deng, on August 5, 2021, weighing
7 lbs. 1 oz. and measuring 19” long.
CAROLYN DEWART, PharmD ’15,
and husband Mike Wojtanowski
welcomed their first child; son Kai
James Wojtanowski was born on
September 24, 2021, weighing 9 lbs.
3 oz. and measuring 20.75” long.
BRUCE and LINDA GRIDER, BS
’74 and BS ’75, respectively, became
grandparents for the third time;
granddaughter Eleanor Marie Sheble
was born on December 19, 2021,
weighing 8lbs. 3 oz. and measuring
20.5” long. Eleanor joins her big
cousins Henry (6) and Oliver (3).
YASH JALUNDHWALA, PhD ’16,
MS ’10, and DIMPLE MODI, PhD
’16, welcomed a baby girl, Jiya
Jalundhwala, on January 4, 2022.
Yash Jalundhwala
NICOLE (SINSABAUGH) JOYCE,
PharmD ’14, and husband Joshua
welcomed their second child; son
Arlo James was born on November 3,
2021. He joins big brother Isley (4).
BRITTANY (LEE) KARAS,
PharmD ’17, and husband Andrew
welcomed their first child; daughter
Blakely Drew Karas was born on
November 4, 2021, weighing 7 lbs.
6 oz. and measuring 19.25” long.
TATYANA (LAWRECKI) LAURETO,
PharmD ’10, and husband Thomas
welcomed their second child;
daughter Olivia Rose Laureto was
born December 10, 2021, at 1:30
p.m. weighing 7 lbs. 4 oz. and
measuring 20” long. She joins big
brother Anthony (2).
David Dean Dolejs
VICTORIA RAMOS, PharmD ’19,
and husband Moshe Dolejsi
welcomed their first child; son David
Dean Dolejsi was born on August
24, 2021.
HASAN SIDDIQUI, PharmD ’17,
and Shyema welcomed their first
child; son Ezan Jamal Siddiqui was
born on November 19, 2021.
LAUREN (STAMBOLIC)
TRAJKOV, PharmD ’19, and
husband Dejan welcomed their
first child; son Jason Daniel Trajkov
arrived on December 14, 2021,
weighing 5 lbs. 7 oz. and measuring
19” long.
ELLEN UPPULURI, PharmD,
RES ’16, and her family welcomed
two new additions on Sunday,
September 26, 2021. Neil Rao
Uppuluri, weighing 5 lbs. 11 oz. and
measuring 18.5” long, and Aiden
Johnny Uppuluri, weighing 5 lbs.
10 oz. and measuring 19” long.
Neil Rao and Aiden
Johnny Uppuluri
42 THE PHARMACIST PHARMACY.UIC.EDU

MAY
08
SEP
18
OCT
09
ALEX KANTOROVICH, PharmD ’12,
married Annette on May 8, 2021, in Rolling
Meadows. The newlyweds honeymooned
in Hawaii.
SEP
18
VIVIAN LIANG and DAVID WU, both
PharmD ’16, were married on September 18,
2021, in southern California. The happy
couple have delayed their honeymoon but
shared their big day with UIC Pharmacy
Alumni.
SEP
25
KENNETH CAPULONG, PharmD ’18,
married Donna Yeung on Octorber 9, 2021.
The newlyweds honeymooned in Hawaii.
OCT
31
JOSIAH BAKER, PharmD ’21, and
ISABELLA (RUIZ) BAKER, P3, were
married on September 18, 2021.
SEP
18
MICHELLE SMITH, PharmD ’19, married
Jeremy Weisman on September 25, 2021,
at Ashley Farm in Yorkville, Illinois. The
newlyweds honeymooned in Cancun, Mexico.
OCT
02
CARMEN KOTFISZ, PharmD ’16, married
Jessica Perez-Cardwell, MD, on October 31,
2021, in Antigua, Guatemala.
KATHERINE KATSIVALIS, PharmD ’19,
became engaged to Peter Simantirakis.
CRAIG HERNANDEZ, PharmD ’20,
married Becky Hernandez on September
18, 2021. The happy couple honeymooned
in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.
MYRNA RIVAS, PharmD ’18, married
Jesus Perez on October 2, 2021, in the
Dominican Republican. The newlyweds
honeymooned in the Dominican Republic
and Puerto Rico.
SPRING 2022 THE PHARMACIST 43

Franklin D. Hiter
FRANKLIN D. HITER, BS ’54, MS
’62, passed away on April 8, 2019.
Franklin was a WWII Army Air Corps
veteran who dedicated his life to
family and community service in
the Village of Alsip as civil defense
director and trustee and through
many other Alsip community projects
and activities. He also served many
years on the IL District 218 School
board.
LAWRENCE JAY HORWITZ, BS
’64, passed away on September
21, 2021. Larry was born in the
Bronx and moved to Chicago as
a teenager. After graduating from
Senn High School and the College
of Pharmacy, he went to Coown
Parkway Drugs, which consisted of
several drugstores located in
Chicago and the north suburbs.
Larry was an avid sports fan and
loved opera, theater, and travel.
MILLER H. KALOM, BS ’59,
passed away October 23, 2021.
JOAN M. MASTERS, BS ’74,
passed away on July 16, 2021.
She was retired and a resident of
Chesterfield, Missouri.
Richard W. Piepho
RICHARD W. PIEPHO, BS ’54,
passed away on December 2, 2021.
Richard served two years in the U.S.
Army after graduation. He operated
South Park Pharmacy in Park Ridge,
Illinois, following his service. He sold
the business and retired in 1992 to
Palm Springs, California.
Carl M. Rish
CARL M. RISH, BS ’55, passed
away on January 3, 2022. Carl was
a proud member of the Class of
1955. After graduation, he worked
in retail and clinical settings before
becoming an owner and partner
of Menard Dempster Pharmacy in
Morton Grove, which he operated
for 15 years. Carl then finished
his career working for 22 years at
Walgreens, retiring in his 80s.
Lawrence Jay Horwitz
P L A N T O D AY
A N D I N V E S T I N T H E
future
The University of Illinois Chicago College of
Pharmacy is continually strengthened by the
generosity of our dedicated alumni and friends.
As you reflect on your own goals, we hope you’ll
also consider a deferred gift that will benefit
the college after your lifetime.
We can provide you the language to include the University of
Illinois Foundation for the benefit of the college in your will or
living trust and also custom language for a beneficiary designation
via a retirement plan, whole-life insurance policy, or payable on
death (POD)/transferable on death (TOD) account or to further
designate your bequest in a way that is meaningful to you.
Please contact Associate Director of Gift Planning Geoffrey
Hammond, JD, for more information on how to invest in the future
at the UIC College of Pharmacy.
Office of Gift Planning and Trust Services
University of Illinois Foundation
1305 W. Green St. (MC 386)
Urbana, IL 61801
217.332.5714 | gh15@uif.uillinois.edu
44 THE PHARMACIST PHARMACY.UIC.EDU

What will be your legacy?
Helping future pharmacy students thrive and
bring positive change to the world is a focal
point of the UIC College of Pharmacy. Leaders
like Mayowa Agbaje-Williams, MPH ’08,
PharmD ’14, are catalysts for change. This
incredibly driven clinical development
professional and her partner, Matt Kehrein,
created the UIC Pharmacy Clinical Scientist Group
Scholarship Fund as part of their commitment
to leveling the playing field concerning racial
and ethnic disparities in healthcare. To that
end, their scholarship supports UIC Pharmacy’s
diverse student body by providing financial
resources for students engaged in the college’s
Black Pharmacy Student Association (BPhSA).
“As a 2014 alumna of the UIC
College of Pharmacy, the MLK
Scholarship, offered by the Urban
Health Program, was integral to
helping my partner and me in
covering my tuition expenses.”
MAYOWA AGBAJE-WILLIAMS, MPH ’08, PHARMD ’14,
AND HER PARTNER, MATT KEHREIN.
Their generous scholarship will provide
additional, much-needed support for
outstanding students, like Mayowa, as they
become the healthcare leaders of tomorrow.
Please join Mayowa and Matt in supporting
the next generation of pharmacists and
pharmaceutical scientists.
It only takes a minute to make
a gift that lasts a lifetime.
GIVING.PHARMACY.UIC.EDU
To discuss a lasting legacy of your own to benefit
the next generation of pharmacists and scientists,
please get in touch with associate director of
development Lexi Betcher at LBetcher@uic.edu.
COLLEGE OF PHARMACY

833 S. WOOD ST. (MC 874) · CHICAGO, IL 60612
The day you proudly graduated from the UIC College of Pharmacy,
you pledged to make a difference in the lives of others.
We’re calling on you to take a moment to pledge again to
support the college and the students whom we serve. Make a
gift or consider a multiyear pledge. Your support will secure our
continued advancement as an engine of opportunity for future
generations of ambitious, hard-working young people. Together,
we will ensure that programs and facilities match ambitions,
access matches need, and opportunities match dreams.
It only takes a minute to make
the gift that lasts a lifetime.
giving.pharmacy.uic.edu