Campbell Comments Alumni Special Edition 2018

CAMPBELL COMMENTS For Alumni, Students & Friends of the Campbell University College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences

Alumni Special Edition 2018

DEAN’S MESSAGE IN THIS ISSUE

Dear Alumni and Friends,

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Alumni Association Changes

4

Elizabeth Nulton-Bodiford

5

Prasad Vinjamuri

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Bill Symonds

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Lee Easley

I welcome you to the special edition of Campbell Comments. This edition focuses on our CPHS Alumni Association and a major change that has recently taken place to advance the association. The alumni board of directors took bold new steps in further developing the association by eliminating membership and by becoming a service to all alumni. This change is aligned with a key component of our CPHS strategic plan – Centered in Community – as all our alumni are members of the CPHS community. While change is not easy, the move away from the dues-based membership will set up CPHS for future success as our alumni base continues to grow.

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Brittany Dunigan-Willis

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Laura Dail Blanchard

10 Lydia Sprinkle 11 Will Bratton & Alissa Loo

CHARTER CLASS OF 1990

The faculty, staff, students and I are very appreciative of all the association members and life-time members who helped to sustain and keep the association going during the past 15 years. Just like the University, which has evolved and grown from the first 21 students of Buies Creek Academy to what it is today with approximately 6,500 students across eight schools/colleges and more than 150 majors, tracks and concentrations, we have grown from the School of Pharmacy to the College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences. Based on a quote from Sam Waterston, we must keep moving forward so we don’t fall behind.

In looking ahead, the association plans to continue offering opportunities for alumni to gather, to grow, and to give back. The CPHS Alumni Basketball Watch Party will be Saturday, February 2 and the annual Alumni & Friends Golf Classic will be Friday, April 5. Alumni can also give back through mentoring students, being preceptors, giving donations, sharing job openings and news about their career steps and personal highlights. Be sure to like our Campbell University CPHS Alumni Association page on Facebook (@CampbellCPHSAlumni) and to join our Twitter feed (@CPHSAlumniAssoc).

The following articles highlight the alumni association and an alumni from each CPHS discipline. I hope you enjoy this special edition of Campbell Comments. As always, thank you for your ongoing support of CPHS.

Produced by the Campbell University College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences

Sincerely,

Editor and Writer: Meredith Blalock, ’00, CPHS Director of Communications & Marketing Primary Writer: Brandon Yopp Photographer: Will Bratton, ’11, CPHS Director of Advancement

Michael L. Adams, PharmD ’96, PhD Dean, College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences

Graphic Designer: Adam Fish, '09, Campbell University Communications & Marketing

CPHS Alumni Association Timeline 1987 • Campbell Comments started as a drug information piece

Early 1990s • Alumni contacts CONNIE BARNES (PHARMD ’90), DR. TOM HOLMES and DR. DAN TEAT

1998

2003

• SARAH SIMONS hired as Alumni Director

• Established Alumni Association and its Board of Directors – LEANNE KENNEDY (PHARMD ’93) was first board president

2001 • ANDY BOWMAN (PHARMD ’93) starts the Alumni Golf Classic

2002

Late 1990s

• DR. ANDY BOWMAN appointed Director of Continuing Education and Director of Alumni

• Campbell Comments began transitioning to a communications tool for alumni

• JODI STAMEY (formerly Peeler) hired as Associate Director of Alumni and Outcomes and Assessment

2 CPHS ALUMNI SPECIAL EDITION 2018

2005 • JODI STAMEY became Director of Alumni Relations and Advancement • ANDREA PRATT hired as Alumni Relations Coordinator

2005-2006 • Campbell Comments transitioned to an online publication

Alumni Association changes to benefit all CPHS grads The winds of change are blowing for the Campbell University College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences Alumni Association.

Beginning with the 2018-19 academic year, all prior and future graduates from all academic disciplines within the College will automatically become members of the Alumni Association as the current dues-based membership model becomes a thing of the past.

Formed in the early 2000s, the Alumni Association serves as a robust resource for alums and current students alike. The organization contributes to endowed scholarships, annually orchestrates the popular Alumni & Friends Golf Classic, holds homecoming and continuing education events, fosters engagement between current students and the College, and so much more.

LeAnne Kennedy (PharmD ‘93) has witnessed the growth of the Alumni Association first hand, having served as its first president.

“From the onset, we really worked to develop relationships,” said Kennedy.

“Looking at the accomplishments of our Alumni Association, it’s extremely rewarding. When you see the awards and scholarships that we’ve been able to provide, coupled with the annual golf tournament and the number of lifetime and honorary members we have, it’s really a source of pride not only for the College but the entire University as well.”

would expect from Campbell; an active community working to lead and serve.

engagement and participation regardless of financial status.

“Students tend to pick Campbell for a certain reason,” said Andrew Kessell (PharmD/MBA ‘07). “A lot of that has to do with our commitment to service, and we see that throughout the careers of our graduates once they leave Campbell and serve from their professions.

“We don’t want money to be an obstacle for any of our graduates, especially the more recent ones who are just getting started in their careers. Networking is such a key component of this industry, and it’s important that our alums have opportunities to socialize and meet.

“Our Alumni Association operates under the same principle. We’re aiming to best serve our current students, alumni, professions, and University community.”

“At the same time, there are so many meaningful ways for our alumni to become engaged and contribute just by contributing their time and supporting our current students.”

And serve they have. To date, a trio of CPHS-related scholarship funds holds more than $346K with the vast majority of gifts coming from Alumni Association members. On a directly personal level, members make a profound impact on the educational and social experiences of CPHS students by serving as preceptors, volunteering to mentor and network with students, and standing as CPHS advocates within the professional community.

But there’s more work to be done, and Kessell, who serves as the immediate past president of the organization, is ready to help usher in change.

“We’re moving away from the duesbased model, to one in which all CPHS graduates are automatically members,” said Kessell.

Kennedy, whose son is enrolled in the Doctor of Physical Therapy program and has received a scholarship from the Alumni Association, notes that the time is right to expand the organization and bring all graduates into the fold.

“I interact with CPHS alums on a daily basis,” said Kennedy. “The medical professional community is really a small group, and we want to connect as many of our graduates as possible so that they can take advantage of the relationships and resources that they have available to them. You never know when you may need just one connection to help secure that job, or put you in touch with someone who can provide guidance with respect to a professional challenge. Our Alumni Association has created an environment where all of this is possible, and we want all CPHS graduates to use it, enjoy it, and instill the pride of the University as we serve our patients together.”

What’s more is that the Alumni Association is everything that one

The new model, one that has enjoyed immense success at similar institutions throughout the country, encourages

2007

2008

2013

• Campbell Comments returned to a print publication

• JODI STAMEY appointed Assistant Dean of External Relations

• LEIGH FOUSHEE (PHARMD ’00) appointed Director of Alumni Relations

• First Distinguished Alumni Award given to ED HERRING (PHARMD ’95)

2010

2017

• ANDREA PRATT appointed Director of Communications

• WILL BRATTON (’11) hired as Director of Advancement

• JESSICA JOYNER appointed Director of Alumni Relations

• ALISSA LOO hired as Alumni Relations Coordinator

• ANDREA PRATT promoted to Associate Director of Alumni Relations • JESSICA JOYNER hired as Coordinator of Advancement Services

2011 • MELISSA STANCIL hired as Director of Alumni

CP H S.CAMP BE LL.E D U

2018 • Association moves to non-dues-based membership

C A MP B E L L CO M M E N T S 3

ELIZABETH NULTON-BODIFORD (MSCR ’11)

Taking her career to the next level Elizabeth Nulton-Bodiford (MSCR ’11) recently returned from running an audit in Australia. Before that it was Malta and several other countries throughout Europe and South America. As a manager of pharmacovigilance quality assurance at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), she’s crisscrossed the globe conducting internal audits, external audits, and assisting with regulatory authority inspections such as the U.S. Food & Drug Administration.

“I’ve been to six continents to conduct internal and external audits, and it’s been incredible.”

It wasn’t all that long ago that she was working in the data standards group at GSK, creating variables to represent clinical trial data and data sets to structure those variables in an effort to promote consistency. But that’s where her involvement stopped. She interacted with the statisticians that moved the project along, but her part was finished.

Led by an ambitious drive, she wanted to do more. So she found a way to make that happen.

Nulton-Bodiford graduated from Emory & Henry College, a small, private liberal arts college in southwest Virginia, with a double major in mass communications and visual arts in 1990. Following undergrad she moved to Raleigh and connected with a temp agency, which placed her at Burroughs Wellcome. The position allowed her to act on a lifelong passion for science that took a back seat during college.

“I was always passionate about science, especially in high school taking as many classes as I could and being proactive with student groups. In undergrad, the natural fit for me at that time was mass communications and visual arts, but that interest in science never completely went away.

“I think it was perhaps divine intervention that led me to this area of the country.”

She made it through the corporate mergers and acquisitions as Burroughs Wellcome ultimately became GSK, and had about 15 years of experience under her belt when she felt called to pursue 4 CPHS ALUMNI SPECIAL EDITION 2018

Campbell’s Masters of Science in Clinical Research (MSCR) and take her career to the next level. After conquering a handful of prerequisite requirements, she enrolled and immersed herself in the nontraditional student experience as a full-time employee and evening student.

“It’s a balancing act and a commitment. I also really enjoyed it because I honed my project management skills to balance work and grad school. The material that I was learning was very interesting. It was just a great fit for me.”

Nulton-Bodiford chose Campbell because of the nature of the program.

Designed for working professionals, the MSCR exposes students to the complete clinical development process using an end-to-end program. Students take coursework aligned with each step of the clinical development process, offering insight and education on areas in which they have little or no prior experience.

Students also learn in close proximity to successful, established industry leaders, many of whom teach the courses or serve as guest lecturers.

Within a year of graduating from Campbell, she was elevated to a bigger role at GSK. “The program gave me a really good understanding of what the different responsibilities of clinical research are.

That really prepared me for my current role. By having that strong foundational knowledge of the clinical development process, it’s much easier for me in my current role to interview and assess whether things are working well or not.”

Nowadays, Nulton-Bodidord remains actively involved at Campbell, albeit on the other side of the lectern. She began serving as an adjunct professor and guest lecturer in both undergraduate and graduate courses in November 2015. It’s her way of paying it forward.

“Campbell has given me so much and enabled me to continue my career with a job that I love. This is just a way to share and give back to Campbell. I love meeting the students and enjoy interacting with young, bright individuals. It’s very rewarding.”

PRASAD VINJAMURI (MSPS ’15)

Leaving home to make a difference It took roughly 30 hours for Prasad Vinjamuri (MSPS ’15) to travel to RaleighDurham International Airport from his native Visakhapatnam, India. The largest city and financial center of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, archaeologists speculate that the present city was built around the 12th century. Its rule has been acquired and ultimately lost by the Mughals, French and British until India gained its independence in 1947.

So how in the world did he wind up in Buies Creek?

Vinjamuri came to the United States to learn, gain experience, and eventually return home to improve the practice of pharmacy and the quality of pharmaceutical development in the land he calls home.

He earned his Bachelor of Pharmacy, a four-year degree in India, from Andhra University in Visakhapatnam. In India, that degree is the standard to be a pharmacist, but that role is very dissimilar to the role that a pharmacist plays in the United States, which is much more clinical and in-depth.

Following undergraduate school, Vinjamuri looked to the United States for the opportunity to further his education and get his hands on highquality technology and equipment. He began his search, as so many others do, by sifting through the U.S. News & World Report rankings.

“There were three major universities near Campbell: NC State, Duke and UNC CP H S.CAMP BE LL.E D U

Chapel Hill. I looked at their research profiles, but Campbell presented me with the best opportunity to do what I was looking to do.”

Vinjamuri found exactly what he was searching for at Campbell’s Pharmaceutical Education & Research Center (PERC). Upon learning of the center, he found a press clipping noting that Campbell had received a grant to purchase thermal characterization equipment. The thought of having regular access to state-of-the-art equipment sealed the deal.

He studied under the tutelage of Dr. William Stagner, Paul Johnson, and Scott Staton. He’s had three research papers published with Dr. Stagner and recently authored a fourth, worked on analytical testing at PERC under Johnson, and learned organizational and leadership skills from Staton.

“I wouldn’t be where I am today without those three.”

Within two weeks of graduating from Campbell, Vinjamuri had a job offer as a formulations scientist at Tergus Pharma in Durham. In addition to handling complex formulation development projects, he was tasked with establishing a rheology lab, starting from thorough training to leading an entire department within a year of graduating from Campbell.

“It was a huge opportunity for me, but it really wasn’t all that different from working at PERC at Campbell. The

knowledge and exposure that PERC gives to students at Campbell is phenomenal because the equipment is very advanced.

The reason that I was able to establish a rheology lab at Tergus is because of the exposure that I got at PERC.” Vinjamuri spent two years at Tergus Pharma and is now working on his Ph.D. in Pharmaceutics and Drug Delivery at the University of Mississippi. He’s always dreamt of earning a Ph.D., and formulation development and finding new drug delivery systems has become his passion. He’s hoping to wrap up his time in school, gain a few more years of industry experience, and then return to India and improve the practice of pharmaceutical sciences nationwide.

It’s been a long five-plus years for Vinjamuri, who arrived in the United States on August 1, 2013. He’s only gone home twice since reaching American soil, and neither his parents nor his younger sister have visited him stateside.

“It’s been extremely challenging, especially in the beginning, but I must say I had a family at Campbell. The faculty and students became my second family and that helped to alleviate a good deal of my homesickness.

“But I am ready to return to India and make a difference. I miss my family, and I want to be a good research scientist and contribute as much as possible to my country. I’m thankful that I’ve had this opportunity in the United States to make this a possibility.”

C A MP B E L L CO M M E N T S 5

BILL SYMONDS (PHARMD ’91)

Love led the way

Throughout his career, Bill Symonds (PharmD ’91) has been on the cutting edge of drug development, clinical research, and pharmacokinetics. Having served in senior leadership roles at Pharmasset, Gilead Sciences, Roivant Sciences, and now Altavant, he’s helped lead the way in groundbreaking research and the development of medications that are dramatically improving the quality of life for countless people.

And we all have his pharmacy school classmate and wife, Melissa, to thank for that.

Symonds, originally from Euclid, Ohio, once aspired to be an aerospace engineer. His quest took him to Rocky Top, where he enrolled at the University of Tennessee. But Melissa, also at UT, always wanted to follow in her grandfather’s footsteps as a pharmacist.

“The more Melissa talked to me about what she was doing, and pharmacy as a career, I became really interested.

She opened my eyes to the career potential that came with a pharmacy degree, and if it wasn’t for her I wouldn’t have pursued it.”

Love can make a young man change his mind. Symonds did an about face, exiting aerospace engineering and doing two years of pre-pharmacy in Knoxville.

From there on, it was only a question of where the couple would enroll. UT had a pharmacy program located in Memphis, but the nearly six hour drive from Knoxville resulted in them exploring other options.

A brand new school in Buies Creek, Campbell’s College of Pharmacy had a lot of things in its favor. One of Symonds’ 6 CPHS ALUMNI SPECIAL EDITION 2018

fraternity brothers from UT, Bill Strozyk, enrolled in the charter class, so he already had a built-in friend on campus who could show them the ropes and get the couple acclimated. And both Bill and Melissa became close with former assistant dean and associate professor of pharmacy practice Dan Teat, who served at the university from January 1986 to June 2012.

“A large part of the reason that I wound up in Buies Creek was because of Dan Teat. He made both myself and my future wife feel extremely wanted and welcome by Campbell.”

The couple spent a quick four years at Campbell. Drawn to the research side, Symonds was passionate about discovering how drugs actually work, how they were discovered, and how you actually prove they are effective.

Following graduation, the couple immediately moved to Buffalo where he completed a prestigious two year fellowship at The Clinical Pharmacokinetics Laboratory while Melissa completed a hospital residency program.

In January 2007, Symonds joined Pharmasset, Inc. after 15 years at GSK. A relatively small biotech at the time, he was one of the first 40 employees to join the organization, initially coming on board to work on medication to treat Hepatitis B. A series of events ultimately shifted the scope of the work to focus on Hepatitis C, which led to the development of Sovaldi, and later, Harvoni. When Gilead Sciences bought Pharmasset, Symonds stayed on board, commuting to California and leading its development,

through the approval period. To date, the breakthrough medications have cured hundreds of thousands of people suffering from chronic HCV infection throughout the world.

Symonds is aiming to do more of the same in his new role as chief executive officer of Altavant Sciences, a member of the Roivant Sciences family where he has served as a senior leader since the company’s inception in 2014, most recently as chief development officer since November 2016.

“My goal is to apply next generation development approaches to the development of promising new therapies across therapeutic areas. We’re very excited to start out with a great drug candidate, RVT-1201. It’s a potential treatment for a very serious disease, pulmonary arterial hypertension, as well as others.”

Symonds, who serves on the CPHS Dean’s Board of Advisors, keeps a close eye on Campbell. His oldest daughter, Allison, is a third-year student in the pharmacy program, and he regularly provides insight on the challenges faced by the pharmacy profession in the immediate future.

“Campbell is a place that molds future pharmacy leaders who can take on any challenge that is presented them.

I’ve been fortunate to serve in many leadership positions throughout my career, and it all comes back to the education, preparedness, and confidence that were instilled in me by the faculty at Campbell during my time there.

“And it all happened because of my lovely wife.”

LEE EASLEY (DPT ‘16)

Ready from the start Starting from scratch is just what Lee Easley (DPT ‘16) does.

He took a chance in 2013 by taking a seat in Campbell’s very first Doctor of Physical Therapy class. Now he’s rolling the dice again.

This past February, Lee went to work for himself, opening up Knox Physical Therapy in Knoxville, Tenn. His practice is growing in size and reputation, but it’s taken a tremendous amount of hard work, patience, and learning the ropes.

It’s kind of like enrolling in a doctoral program that hasn’t taught a single class yet.

A native of Marion, Ky., Easley studied business management as an undergraduate student as Tusculum College in Greenville, Tenn. He knew he wanted to enter the medical profession, but wasn’t exactly sure what his calling was. Flirting with several options, he sat for the GRE exam to get the ball rolling on the application process.

That’s when Campbell came out of nowhere.

“Campbell got my contact information from the GRE, and I got six or so emails about open house opportunities. Finally, I told myself, ‘They’re going to have a brand new facility. I should really check this out.’ And so, I made the six hour drive to Buies Creek and the rest is history.”

Like so many who come to Campbell, Easley immediately felt something special when he reached campus. The sense of community was obvious; the faculty was passionate and engaging. He could tell that he would be a person at Campbell, not a face lost in the crowd.

The faculty members assembled had accomplished curriculum vitae, and the students would learn using all new equipment.

Positive vibes aside, this was still a program that hadn’t produced anything.

An unaccredited program. He needed to know how this was all going to work out.

And so, Easley cornered DPT program director Dr. Gregory Dedrick, peppering him with questions.

“Dr. Dedrick addressed all of my concerns.

He told me flat out, Campbell has assembled a top-notch faculty that left CP H S.CAMP BE LL.E D U

other impressive faculty and practice positions to come here and get this program going. They didn’t give up their lives to come here and fail, and you won’t either. It made sense. It was exactly what I needed to hear.”

It wasn’t easy. Easley and his peers took every single class throughout their three years at Carrie Rich Hall. Faculty made adjustments on the fly, regularly asking for and incorporating student feedback.

It was a learning process, but everyone —students and faculty alike—were all in it together.

“One of my favorite things about being in the first class of the program was that at any given time I could walk into a faculty member’s office and just talk with them about anything. Family, school, class concerns. It didn’t matter.”

Looking back on the long nights studying at Carrie Rich, he recalls many times in which faculty burned the midnight oil alongside the students. You can hear his enthusiasm in recalling how a professor once ordered pizza for three students at 11 p.m. and then gave an impromptu lecture.

Nowadays, Easley is building something of his very own. Like that DPT program in 2013, he’s having to figure things out piece by piece, day by day.

“I didn’t have a clue on the different permits that you need to get started.

I didn’t know about the marketing aspect of having your own practice.

What is the best avenue for marketing?

You’re constantly trying to figure out what works.”

But it IS working. Right now he’s helping 60 patients, and word-of-mouth around town is giving him a solid reputation, resulting in an increasing amount of inquiries from potential clients. His wife, Justine, who’s been alongside him every step of the way, manages his website and helps with marketing. She also takes care of their three children around the clock, two of whom were born while he was in school at Campbell.

Just over two years removed from Buies Creek, the future is looking very bright for Easley. And there’s no chance he’s going to forget about Campbell. In fact, he’s already toying with the idea of bringing in students to learn on site, and potentially hire a fellow graduate when the timing is right.

“I am just extremely thankful for the sacrifices the faculty at Campbell made to make it work. They made me successful, gave me a great foundation, and put me in a place to stand out above physical therapy students from other schools.

“I mean, where else can you get that besides Campbell?”

C A MP B E L L CO M M E N T S 7

BRITTANY DUNIGAN-WILLIS (MSPH/MBA ’16)

In honor of Vivian Brittany Dunigan-Willis (MSPH/ MBA ’16) was in the fourth grade when her grandmother, Vivian Dunigan, began suffering from serious health complications. The family was diligent about pursuing medical treatment and getting to the root of the issue, but the local doctors and hospitals weren’t outfitted with the needed technology and equipment to get to the core of the problem.

In time the diagnosis came. Vivian was suffering from multiple myeloma. She passed away in less than two years.

“At the time of her diagnosis very little was known about the disease. I just couldn’t understand that. As a child, I thought science was supposed to have all of the answers. I wasn’t aware of how much research, work, and effort went into discovering, identifying, and treating conditions like this.

“Growing up, it was me, my grandparents and my mother. My mother was a working, single mom. My grandparents took care of me all the time. To see this woman slowly deteriorate and become physically weak, and to know that this was something that could’ve been treated well in advance had it been diagnosed earlier, that set something off in me.”

That profound and untimely loss set Dunigan-Willis on a lifelong course to become a change agent. With a mission in her sights and a deep interest in science thanks to a pair of elementary and high school teachers, Dunigan-Willis left her native Chicago to enroll at Raleigh’s Saint Augustine’s University on a full academic scholarship to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Biology.

It wasn’t a transition without challenges.

Chicago is the third largest city in the United States, with a bustling transportation system and a fast-paced 8 CPHS ALUMNI SPECIAL EDITION 2018

speed of life. As much as Raleigh’s grown over the past 10 years, it’s still a significantly slower lifestyle. And she moved to North Carolina without having any friends at Saint Augustine’s.

As luck would have it, she quickly met Kacey McHoney and Jennifer Plair and the trio have become inseparable. So much so that when McHoney applied to the pharmacy program at Campbell University, Plair followed suit in the Masters of Science in Public Health program. They knew Dunigan-Willis was passionate about healthcare, so they encouraged her to also apply to the MSPH program. Soon after they were all living together in Buies Creek and starting new academic careers.

And that’s not exactly as easy as it sounds.

Many minority populations in urban areas strongly question large government agencies and healthcare in general. It’s a challenge Dunigan-Willis and her peers are working to overcome.

“My own grandfather had a high distrust of the government and healthcare dating back to the Tuskegee experiment. In recent years, we’re seeing more and more groups that are extremely skeptical of vaccinations.

“When we go out and do health education in the community, we explain what vaccinations are needed, what they do, and why you should provide them. At the same time, we also explain what may happen in the event that a parent does At Campbell she got the education she not vaccinate their child. For example, needed to position herself to make a if your child gets sick, are you prepared difference. The faculty stressed flexibility and able to pay for their treatment? Are and adaptability. She enjoyed getting you in a situation in which you can take hands-on experience, implementing the off lengthy periods from work to deal lessons she was learning in the classroom. with a very sick child? If you have more than one child, do you understand the “It didn’t feel like a competition at high probability that more than one child Campbell. I never felt like I had to be may become ill?” the top person in the program. The faculty focused on bringing out all of our It’s challenging work indeed, but it’s strengths, as opposed to focusing on our extraordinarily meaningful. Her passion weaknesses. I loved the culture.” and hard-work has shown through and she recently was promoted to a Public After graduating, Dunigan-Willis Health Advisor with the CDC in Atlanta. applied to the Public Health Associate program, a competitive, two-year paid “Sometimes I get confused on what training program with the Centers for exactly my purpose is, but it always works Disease Control and Prevention. The out and makes sense in the end. I know program sent her back home to Chicago, that I am making a difference. In public where she focuses on immunizations health, it’s getting with the community at EverThrive Illinois. She’s regularly on a daily basis, hearing their needs, and out in the community, helping host finding a way to inform them. We serve two immunization seminars each as a bridge between the community and year, bringing together case workers, the medical industry, and that’s very pharmacists, doctors, medical assistants, rewarding for me personally.” nurses and community advocates, and Something tells me Vivian would agree. providing information and guidance in other capacities.

LAURA DAIL BLANCHARD (MPAP ’13)

A lot of firsts

Already working in the medical field as a recreational therapist in a children’s hospital, the defining moment came when Laura Dail Blanchard (MPAP ’13), a member of the charter class, watched a PA give a stem cell transplant to a pediatric patient. “That instance put me on the path to choosing physician assistant practice as a career.”

Blanchard always knew she wanted to help people. She attended East Carolina University, where she earned her bachelor of science in Recreational Therapy. That degree started her down the road to helping pediatric patients and their caregivers. In that role, she counseled them on procedures and what to expect, but knew there was something more in store for her.

She starting looking into the PA field and found a mentor in Patrick Carter, a PA and executive vice president of Clinical Services at ChartSpan in Greenville, SC. Carter helped guide Blanchard through earning prerequisite hours as an EMT, helped her prepare for interviews with PA programs and was a sounding board. She began looking into education options and learned Campbell was starting a PA program.

“My mom is a ‘double-hump camel’ with a master’s degree and doctorate degree in Divinity from the Campbell Divinity School, so I am very familiar with Campbell,” said Blanchard. But she still had reservations in applying to a brand new program.

“I was hesitant to apply to a new program, so I talked with my mom who said ‘Campbell doesn’t do anything halfhearted,’ and she helped convince me to go for it. It was a wonderful decision!

During the entire application process, I felt welcomed as an individual and felt that the faculty and school wanted to invest in me personally. I loved the new facility with the SIM labs, small class sizes, open door policy with faculty and staff, and that it was a Christian university.”

After her didactic year, Blanchard ventured into rotations and was the

CP H S.CAMP BE LL.E D U

first PA student from Campbell with a rotation at UNC Hospitals. As she got closer to graduation, it was time to decide where to work.

“I love everything about medicine, so it was hard deciding whether to be more of a generalist or to work in more of a specialty area. Dr. Chris Stewart, who was a professor and medical director of the PA program at the time and who works for Harnett Health, really took time with me to talk through the pros and cons of community medicine vs academic medicine. I also had a close friend who died our junior year of college from cancer, so I had a strong interest in working with cancer patients and in clinical trials to help find a cure for cancer. With all that in mind, I pursued a job with UNC Hospitals.”

She made such a great impression on her preceptor and providers at UNC, that she was hired directly into her dream job after graduation as the first inpatient Advance Practice Provider (APP – that’s what PAs are called at UNC Hospitals) in the Hematology and Oncology department, where she was tasked with helping develop the inpatient APP program. The department now has a six-person APP team, with hopes of expanding, who take care of leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma patients.

This past summer Blanchard was named Lead Inpatient APP and recently hired a fellow Campbell PA program grad. She is committed to Campbell and the PA program – finding ways to give back through lecturing, speaking at graduation, helping to interview prospective students, serving on the PA director search committee, and volunteering with the mock mass casualty event.

And she does all of this in addition to her job and family life with husband, Steven, almost three-year-old son, Harrison, and dog, Spot.

Blanchard has been nominated for the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society of North Carolina’s 2019 Women of the Year and is involved with the American Academy of PAs (AAPA) at the national and local levels. In the future, she wants to continue her involvement in these organizations and be a parttime educator, while still being at the patient’s bedside.

Blanchard has had a lot of “firsts” through her time at Campbell and during her PA career: first class of Campbell PAs, first Campbell PA student in a rotation with UNC Hospitals, first APP with the inpatient Hematology and Oncology department, and first Lead Inpatient APP in her department. We can’t wait to see what future “firsts” come her way.

C A MP B E L L CO M M E N T S 9

LYDIA SPRINKLE (BSN ’18)

Called to serve In the spring of 2018, Lydia Sprinkle (BSN ’18) was working to complete 120 preceptorship hours at WakeMed in Raleigh. Working alongside one of the hospital’s top nurses in the postanesthesia care unit (PACU), she was helping tend to a patient on a ventilator.

“The ventilator starts sounding, and I realized that the patient wasn’t getting enough oxygen. I had to act quickly, unhooking the patient from the ventilator and manually helping them breathe. In that moment I said to myself, ‘Oh my goodness. I am breathing for this person. This is real. I am a nurse now.’”

Everyone knew Sprinkle would have her "aha" nursing moment in time.

Except for her.

Prior to college, a lot of people told Sprinkle that she’d make an excellent nurse, including her mother. And her mother would know because she is a nurse. Tanya Sprinkle, Lydia’s mother, is the director of case management and care transitions at Iredell Memorial Hospital in Statesville, NC. Lydia grew up watching her mom in action and knew that she wanted to make a living in health care. But she wanted to do her own thing.

Strong in her faith, Campbell University had a lot to offer Sprinkle. Hailing from rural Taylorsville, she wanted a college where she could express her faith and make friends with likeminded individuals.

“I came to a visitation day at Campbell, and once I stepped on campus it immediately felt like home. After that visit I didn’t invest any time checking out a single other college. I knew I wanted to be at Campbell.”

Enrolling in the fall of 2014, Sprinkle began as a Biology pre-physician assistant major. But during her first semester she soured on the material. All of a sudden, years of unsolicited career advice from her mother and others started to make sense.

“I prayed about it, and I could hear God telling me that I was to be a nurse.”

So she switched gears and jumped full speed ahead into Campbell’s inaugural nursing class. Students took classes in the brand new, state-of-the-art Tracey F. Smith Hall of Nursing and Health Sciences on the Health Sciences Campus, 10 CPHS ALUMNI SPECIAL EDITION 2018

and the faculty worked overtime to make sure that Sprinkle and her peers were well prepared and challenged.

She took part in six different clinical rotations, learning new things and soaking up different experiences at each step. There was the small, rural hospital in Central Harnett County, the busy, urban setting at WakeMed in Raleigh, and a quaint, long-term care facility in Lillington. The opportunities opened her eyes to precisely how much nursing has to offer, and gave her the chance to incorporate all of the lessons that she had learned in the classroom.

Following her preceptorship in the PACU at WakeMed, the hospital intensely recruited Sprinkle for a full-time nursing vacancy. As much as she would’ve loved to stay at the bustling hospital she felt another calling.

“It would’ve been great to work at WakeMed Raleigh. The staff in the PACU are tremendous and they do an amazing job. But I really felt that God was telling me to come home and serve the community that did so much for me growing up. They deserve great healthcare back home, and I want to play a part in providing that.”

In August, Sprinkle began her career as a nurse on the cardiac telemetry floor at Iredell Memorial Hospital, the same institution where her mother holds court professionally. She looks after patients that have had heart attacks, cardiac catheterizations, or strokes. It’s rewarding work, but it’s also intense because the patients have the potential to become critical.

Back in Taylorsville --- depending on what end of the county you live in --you’ve got to travel at least 30 minutes to get serious medical attention. It’s but one example of the rural health care crisis that plagues North Carolina and the nation at large.

“I’m very hopeful that we’re going to see more and more graduates of medical programs earn their degrees and come back into the rural areas of our state to serve. That was a large focus at Campbell and it really spoke to me.”

Fortunately she was listening. She’s always been listening. Sometimes it just takes a while to hear.

Bratton, Loo serving CPHS alums Recent additions to the CPHS administration have not only hit the ground running in an effort to aid alumni and further the mission of the school, but they’ve quickly woven themselves deeply into the fabric of Campbell University.

In fact, it’s a family affair.

CPHS Director of Advancement Will Bratton is a Camel himself, having earned his undergraduate degree in communications in 2011. His wife, Sara, completed her PharmD/MSCR at CPHS in 2017. He spent five years in the university’s undergraduate admissions office before transitioning into his current role, taking advantage of the chance to meet students and alumni from all over the globe. He also served on the Campbell University Alumni Board of Directors from 2014-17. Bratton developed a strong love and appreciation for the university and its community as a student, and his professional experiences have only deepened those emotions.

CPHS Alumni Relations Coordinator Alissa Loo graduated from nearby NC

State and worked at Camp Seafarer, where her passion for building and nurturing relationships blossomed.

Her husband, Jonathan, is currently enrolled at Campbell Law School in downtown Raleigh where he was admitted on scholarship. His academic success, and the scholarship, cemented the importance of giving back and how students benefit from the success and generosity of the graduates that came before them.

Bratton and Loo work together in tandem to provide avenues by which CPHS alums can stay connected to each other and remain informed and active with the college and their respective degree programs.

“One thing that has stuck out about my time working with our alumni from the College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences is that they are different and passionate,” said Bratton. “Our CPHS graduates are leaders in thought, industry, and community.”

WILL BRATTON

ALISSA LOO

“I love working with alumni to help them stay connected to their alma mater and involved with our current students,” said Loo. Since the first PharmD class began in the fall of 1986, the College of Pharmacy has grown into the College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences, experiencing tremendous success and morphing into seven accomplished programs and more than 4,000 alumni worldwide. That level of growth and success presents a golden opportunity to celebrate the uniqueness of each of the programs, while also embracing the interprofessional nature of all seven combined.

Upcoming Events CPHS ALUMNI BASKETBALL WATCH PARTY

18TH ANNUAL CPHS ALUMNI & FRIENDS GOLF CLASSIC

Fighting Camels vs. Longwood Lancers Register at cphs.campbell.edu/basketball

For details, visit cphs.campbell.edu/golf Sponsorships are available.

Contact Alissa Loo at (910) 893-1313 or aloo@campbell.edu.

Saturday, February 2, 2019 2 p.m.

Gore Arena

CP H S.CAMP BE LL.E D U

Friday, April 5, 2019 1 p.m. Shotgun Start Keith Hills Golf Club

C A MP B E L L CO M M E N T S 11

College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences Office of Alumni Relations & Advancement Post Office Box 1090 Buies Creek, North Carolina 27506

cphs.campbell.edu | @CampbellCPHS |