The Pharmacist / Spring 2022 / Volume 44 / Issue 2

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
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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