Capsule Spring 2026

DEAN'S MESSAGE

Excellence Comes In Many Forms One of the most challenging parts of producing each issue of Capsule magazine is deciding what to feature. Across the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy (UMSOP), exceptional work is happening every day: innovative teaching, practice-changing scholarship, meaningful community engagement, state-of-the-art research, and leadership that is shaping the future of pharmacy, science, and health care.

With such a wealth of accomplishments and remarkable people, any single issue can capture only a small portion of our collective impact.

The Spring 2026 issue highlights three stories that reflect the breadth, depth, and international reach of our School.

We begin with a feature on our longstanding Tablets and Capsules Hands-On Short Course, a program that has influenced pharmaceutical scientists and industry leaders since its inception in 2013. This internationally recognized program has convened scientists and industry leaders in Pharmacy Hall to advance the science of oral solid dosage forms. Its success as one of only two programs of its kind in the United States is a testament not only to technical excellence, but to the School’s role as a trusted source of expertise and a hub for advancing pharmaceutical science.

We also showcase the growth of global experiential learning rotations for our Doctor of Pharmacy students. As pharmacy practice increasingly operates within a global context, these experiences prepare our students to deliver patient-centered care across cultures and health systems. At the same time, they amplify the School’s reputation as a leader in experiential education with an international footprint.

Finally, we highlight the work of pharmacy legend Mary Lynn McPherson, PharmD ’86, PhD, BCPS, FAAHPM, whose opioid conversion chart has been championed and endorsed by nearly a half-dozen pain and palliative care professional organizations nationwide. This widely used tool demonstrates how faculty expertise at UMSOP translates directly into improved patient care, informing practice and policy at the national level.

These stories represent just a fraction of the excellence across our School. Faculty, staff, students, alumni, preceptors, and partners contribute daily to discoveries, innovations, and practices that improve health and elevate science and the profession of pharmacy.

I hope this issue of Capsule leaves you both inspired by what is featured and mindful of all that could not fit within these pages. It is a privilege to lead a School defined by such talent, dedication, and impact.

With warm regards,

Sarah L.J. Michel, PhD Dean and Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences University of Maryland School of Pharmacy

OUR MISSION: The University of Maryland School of Pharmacy globally engages and leads education, pharmacy practice, scientific research, and pharmapreneurial initiatives to collaboratively and equitably improve the health of society.

OUR VISION: The University of Maryland School of Pharmacy is internationally recognized for: • empowering learners and graduating visionary leaders • pioneering social impact and business innovation through pharmapreneurship • listening to all voices to equitably enrich the lives of our internal and external communities • positively influencing the delivery of convenient and affordable health care • leveraging pharmaceutical expertise and relentlessly collaborating to solve scientific, clinical, and social problems that matter to all citizens of the world OUR VALUES: We embrace a culture that embodies the University of Maryland, Baltimore’s core values: • Respect and Integrity: We value each other and hold ourselves accountable for acting ethically and transparently using compassion and empathy.

• Well-Being and Sustainability: We care about the welfare of our people, planet, communities, and University.

• Equity and Justice: We embrace and are committed to diversity, and we value inclusive and just communities.

We oppose discrimination in all its forms.

• Innovation and Discovery: We imagine and explore new and improved ways to accomplish our mission of education, research, clinical care, and service.

University of Maryland School of Pharmacy Alumni Magazine SPRING 2026

Becky Ceraul, Capsule Editor Assistant Dean, Communications and Marketing, School of Pharmacy

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SHORT COURSE IS LONG ON VALUE

Chris Zang, Editor

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A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE

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MORE THAN NUMBERS

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FACULTY PROFILE

Special thanks to the following contributors:

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STAFF PROFILE

School of Pharmacy

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STUDENT NEWS

Ken Boyden, JD, EdD Associate Dean, Development and Alumni Affairs

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PRECEPTOR PROFILE

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ALUMNI PROFILE

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ALUMNI NEWS

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DONOR PROFILE

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MESSAGE FROM DEVELOPMENT

Julie Bower, Director, Design Services University of Maryland, Baltimore Office of Communications and Public Affairs

Pamela Carder Senior Web Content Specialist/Writer Communications and Marketing Greer Griffith, MS Executive Director, Development and Alumni Affairs Tae Kerney Videographer/Photographer, Communications and Marketing Liz Myers, MBA Lead Marketing Specialist, Communications and Marketing Student Government Association

University of Maryland, Baltimore Office of Communications and Public Affairs Jen Badie, Assistant Director, Editorial Services

We welcome your comments, news, and suggestions for articles. Send your ideas to Becky Ceraul at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, 20 N. Pine St., Room N302, Baltimore, MD 21201.

Email: rceraul@rx.umaryland.edu; Telephone: 410-706-1690; Fax: 410-706-4012.

Copyright © 2026 University of Maryland School of Pharmacy

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Read More, See More, Share More!

Read in-depth biographies of faculty, see additional pictures of School events, and share School news with your friends on social media. More details on the articles covered in this issue of Capsule are available in an electronic version — online. You can view Capsule from any mobile device. Visit pharmacy.umaryland. edu/capsule and start learning more about the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy.

SCHOOL NEWS

UMSOP Strengthens National Impact with $36.1 Million in Sponsored Funding

The University of Maryland School of Pharmacy (UMSOP) continues to advance its research mission, securing $36.1 million in sponsored funding during Fiscal Year 2024. This achievement propelled the School to an American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy 12th place national ranking in total external research funding among pharmacy schools, reflecting a steady rise over the past five years and underscoring UMSOP’s ability to attract support from a diverse range of sources to advance high-impact research that addresses critical health challenges.

With 44 funded investigators — placing the School among the nation’s top 10 — UMSOP continues to strengthen its position as a leader in transformative pharmaceutical research.

As part of the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB), which shares an R1 research designation with the University of Maryland, College Park, UMSOP is part of a collaborative, high-impact research ecosystem that spans institutions and disciplines.

The School’s research excellence is evident across federal — including the National Institutes of Health (NIH) — and nonfederal awards, which together totaled $23.8 million in FY 2024. In addition, UMSOP researchers generated 15 active patents in 2025, demonstrating the School’s ability not only to secure funding but also to translate discoveries into innovations with real-world impact. This diverse portfolio enables the School to advance cutting-edge science while supporting its community-focused initiatives and improving patient care.

UMSOP researchers continued to secure major grants in 2025, reflecting the breadth and depth of the School’s research portfolio: • The PATIENTS Program, led by C. Daniel Mullins, PhD, professor in the Department of Practice, Sciences, and Health Outcomes Research (P-SHOR), directs a $9.4 million NIH Health Equity Research Hub as part of the national ComPASS program. Partnering with other UMB schools and community leaders, the Hub supports projects advancing health equity across the U.S.

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• Ryan Pearson, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences (PSC) and director of the Bio- and Nano-Technology Center, received $3.4 million from NIH to develop nanoparticle immunotherapy targeting sepsis.

This research could pave the way for biomaterial-based treatments that restore immune balance and improve patient outcomes. (See story on page 6.)

• Julia Slejko, PhD, associate professor of P-SHOR, led a national study published in Value in Health showing that most Americans prioritize reducing health disparities, valuing gains for disadvantaged groups six to seven times more than for better-off populations. The findings highlight strong public support for integrating equity into U.S. health policy and evaluation.

• Angela Wilks, PhD, the Isaac E. Emerson Chair of Pharmaceutical Sciences, was awarded a $2.63 million NIH grant to study how Pseudomonas aeruginosa survives nutrient-restricted conditions, uncovering pathways for targeted therapies against antibiotic-resistant infections.

(See story on page 5.)

• Hongbing Wang, PhD, professor and interim chair of PSC, and Fengtian Xue, PhD, professor of PSC and associate dean for research, received a $2.84 million NIH grant to develop safer, more effective treatments for triple-negative breast cancer, optimizing drug metabolism while protecting the heart. (See story on page 8.)

“These grants, along with our patents and numerous other awards, provide essential resources for innovative research and allow our teams to explore approaches that could transform patient care,” said Xue. “Each accomplishment represents years of collaboration, creativity, and persistence — driving discoveries from molecular science to community health.”

The School’s growth in research funding, patents, and national ranking reflects the dedication and collaborative spirit of its faculty and staff. “UMSOP’s achievements demonstrate our faculty’s creativity and commitment to solving pressing health care challenges while training the next generation of pharmacy leaders,” said Sarah L.J. Michel, PhD, dean of the School and professor of PSC. Research funding for Fiscal Year 2025 is expected to surpass $37 million, reinforcing UMSOP’s leadership in pharmaceutical research.

“The future of pharmacy research lies in integration — linking basic science, clinical application, and community impact,” said Michel. “At the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, we are committed to advancing discoveries that improve lives worldwide.”

Joining with Hopkins to Support Long COVID Patients As the health care community continues to respond to the long-term effects of COVID-19, the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy (UMSOP) and the Johns Hopkins Hospital Department of Pharmacy are helping to lead the charge through a groundbreaking collaboration with the Johns Hopkins University Mojdeh Heavner School of Medicine.

Mojdeh Heavner, PharmD ’08, BCCCP, FCCM, FCCP, professor in the Department of Practice, Sciences, and Health Outcomes Research (P-SHOR) and assistant dean for experiential learning at UMSOP, and Erin VanMeter, PharmD, BCACP, an adjunct faculty member at UMSOP and ambulatory care clinical pharmacy specialist at the Johns Hopkins Health System, serve as the two pharmacists currently working with the Johns Hopkins Post-Acute COVID-19 Team (JH PACT). The JH PACT is an interdisciplinary clinic focused on supporting COVID-19 survivors in their recovery journeys, and since July 2024, it has served more than 570 patients.

The collaboration between UMSOP and the JH PACT clinic began in March 2025. The clinic itself, which opened in April 2020, was established by Johns Hopkins Medicine to provide integrated, standardized care for patients experiencing long COVID symptoms.

These include fatigue, brain fog, respiratory issues, and complications related to critical illness.

The clinic is supported in part by a grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). The grant, titled “Supporting Patients Recovering from COVID (SPaRC),” aims to expand essential clinical services for individuals living with long COVID and to build a collaborative coalition that enhances support for primary care providers.

Pharmacists like Heavner, who specializes in critical care and has previously practiced in the Medical Intensive Care Unit at the University of Maryland Medical Center, play a vital role in optimizing medication regimens for patients whose complex health needs often evolve over time.

“Our goal as pharmacists is to support patients through individualized medication management,” said Heavner. “Many of them are receiving numerous therapies, and they need careful

oversight to avoid dangerous interactions and improve outcomes. We also help educate patients on how to manage their symptoms and what to expect during recovery.”

In addition to her clinical role seeing patients through population health initiatives aimed at underserved communities at Johns Hopkins, VanMeter also contributes to pharmacy education at UMSOP through teaching in chronic disease management courses and serving as a preceptor for Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience students and the School’s ambulatory care residency program. Her academic and clinical experience uniquely positions her to support patients navigating the complex, evolving challenges of long COVID. “As pharmacists, we’re able to offer a unique perspective on medication management that complements the work of our colleagues in medicine, nursing, and rehabilitation,” said VanMeter.

“It’s a true team effort focused on meeting patients where they are in their healing journey.”

Leading the program as medical director is Ann M. Parker, MD, PhD, a pulmonary and critical care medicine specialist, and assistant professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Parker brings a strong clinical focus on rehabilitation and recovery in post-ICU patients, including those battling the long-term effects of COVID-19.

“The JH PACT clinic was created to fill a gap in care for patients experiencing persistent, life-disrupting symptoms after COVID-19,” said Parker. “Our team brings together diverse expertise, from pulmonary care and rehabilitation medicine to pharmacy, to ensure each patient receives a holistic and coordinated treatment plan.”

Kimberly Nelson, CRNP, a pulmonary nurse practitioner and one of the clinic’s primary clinicians, works alongside Parker, Heavner, and VanMeter. She takes a leading role in patient assessment, management, and care coordination.

“Every patient’s story is different. Some are just coming out of the ICU, while others are months to years along in their journey with the Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection and/or PostIntensive Care Syndrome but still struggling day to day,” Nelson explained.

In addition to clinical services, which include physical, occupational, speech-language therapy, and neuropsychology, the clinic also offers a free virtual support group for patients suffering from long COVID. “We’re proud of Dr. Heavner’s and Dr. VanMeter’s leadership and the integral role pharmacists are playing in post-COVID care,” said Jill Morgan, PharmD, BCPS, BCPPS, FNAP, professor and chair of P-SHOR. “Their work with Johns Hopkins exemplifies the power of interdisciplinary teamwork in improving patient outcomes.”

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Faculty Member Awarded NIH CBI Training Grant Steven Fletcher, PhD, professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences (PSC) and director of the MS in Pharmaceutical Sciences program at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy (UMSOP), has been awarded a prestigious T32 training grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The grant, co-led by Steven Fletcher Fletcher and Aaron Smith, PhD, MSc (contact PI), associate professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), will provide six annual fellowships over five years to support graduate students working at the intersection of chemistry and biology.

The grant supports the Chemistry-Biology Interface (CBI) training program, a unique collaborative initiative that brings together students and faculty from Fletcher and Smith’s departments as well as UMBC’s Department of Biological Sciences. The current CBI cohort comprises 10 to 15 students from each department, for a total of 44 students.

The program officially kicked off at UMSOP in September with a session focused on topical science issues. Also, during this meeting, select students gave “elevator pitches” of their PhD dissertations — succinct, engaging overviews of their research — to their peers

and faculty mentors. Such pitches can be crucial in attracting future employers at environments such as conferences, where time is short and opportunities for in-depth conversations are hard to come by.

These early presentations are part of the program’s broader emphasis on clear scientific communication across disciplines.

“This is a wonderful example of a successful inter-institutional collaboration,” said Fletcher. “The CBI program enables students from our department to engage deeply with topical science issues and to discuss their own research with their peers from two departments at UMBC. It promotes not only academic rigor, but also the spirit of intellectual community and collaboration that’s essential for the future of the biomedical sciences.”

The CBI program provides a structured, interdisciplinary training environment where students are exposed to a broad range of scientific perspectives. Weekly meetings include journal clubs, research presentations, and collaborative discussions designed to strengthen students’ abilities to communicate across disciplines — a vital skill in modern pharmaceutical and biomedical research.

A key feature of the program is its cross-training research component, which provides students with real, hands-on experience in a scientific discipline outside their primary area of expertise. This practical exposure to new techniques and methodologies is a critical measure of the program’s success: equipping students with both breadth and depth in their scientific training.

The T32 training grant is among the most competitive training mechanisms supported by the NIH, awarded to institutions with demonstrated excellence in research training. The CBI initiative reflects the shared commitment by UMSOP and UMBC to expanding interdisciplinary opportunities for graduate students.

UMB Employees of the Month

Liz Myers

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Lisa Finn

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Two University of Maryland School of Pharmacy (UMSOP) staff members were recognized at the end of 2025 with back-to-back University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) Employee of the Month awards.

Liz Myers, MBA, lead marketing specialist in the Office of Communications and Marketing, received the honor in November, for her creative social media campaigns, which promote the School’s reputation for excellence and build community.

Myers manages UMSOP’s presence on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, and Threads, investing tremendous time, energy, and imagination into customizing content, ensuring that every post resonates with current and prospective students while reinforcing the School’s reputation for excellence in research, education, and practice.

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Continued from page 4 She also closely monitors analytics — tracking what drives reach and engagement — and uses that data to refine strategies and adopt new approaches. Her data-driven methods have led to consistent growth in followers, engagement rates, and overall reach.

As lead marketing specialist since 2023, Myers not only manages UMSOP’s social media but also the marketing efforts for student recruitment for the School’s 11 academic programs, ensuring that the recruiting team has the resources it needs and working with the thirdparty advertising agency. She also manages branded giveaway items, internal and external email marketing, and content on the School’s personal URL website, which personalizes content for prospective PharmD students.

Lisa Finn, MPH, assistant director of assessment and accommodations in the Office of Faculty and Academic Affairs, was named December’s UMB Employee of the Month for her many accomplishments, including the establishment of the School’s Educational Support and Disability Services (ESDS) testing center.

Finn supports faculty development, handles the School’s awards and nominations process as well as purchasing, works with course

evaluations and assessments, and implements accommodations for students with disabilities.

In that role, Finn helped to establish an ESDS testing center for UMSOP and physician assistant students, which included retrofitting space in the Pharmacy Learning Center, working closely with UMB’s ESDS team to make sure that it was up to their specifications, and developing a process for scheduling that space. Since opening in October, the School’s ESDS testing center has been highly successful with more than 300 separate testing appointments.

Finn has worked for UMSOP for 18 years in several roles, including helping to manage the PharmD program at the Universities at Shady Grove when the popular MS in Medical Cannabis Science and Therapeutics program was established in 2019. The program was approved in June, and it was to launch in three months. Finn developed processes and procedures for admissions and registration such as how faculty would review applications and developing a waitlist. The School received 700 applications for 150 spots.

Congratulations to both of the School of Pharmacy’s recent UMB Employees of the Month.

NIH Awards Wilks $2.63 Million to Advance Research on Antibiotic-Resistant Infections

Angela Wilks

Angela Wilks, PhD, Isaac E. Emerson Chair of Pharmaceutical Sciences and co-director of the Metallotherapeutics Research Center at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy (UMSOP), has been awarded a five-year, $2.63 million R01 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to continue her pioneering work on bacterial iron acquisition and its role

in chronic infection.

The grant will support Wilks’ efforts to investigate how Pseudomonas aeruginosa, an antibiotic-resistant bacterium identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as a serious threat to public health, adapts to the nutrient-limited environment of the human body during infection. Her research zeroes in on a key survival mechanism: the bacterium’s ability to switch from using freely available iron sources to scavenging iron from heme, a molecule

found in blood.

“We’ve spent over two decades unraveling how pathogens adapt to nutritional stress within the host, particularly iron deprivation,” Wilks says. “This grant will allow us to dive deeper into the molecular signals and regulatory networks that drive this adaptation and ultimately help us identify new drug targets to combat chronic bacterial infections more effectively.”

While most bacteria rely on common iron uptake systems to grow and survive, P. aeruginosa has evolved sophisticated tools to access heme-bound iron, especially during prolonged infection, such as in the lungs of patients with cystic fibrosis or in wounds.

Wilks’ research focuses on two key heme acquisition systems in the bacterium, Has and Phu, which are essential for sensing, capturing, and utilizing heme as an iron source.

Recent findings from the Wilks lab have shown that a heme metabolite, biliverdin IXβ (BVIXβ), acts not only as a breakdown product but also as a regulatory molecule, influencing bacterial motility and biofilm formation, both of which are critical for chronic infection. The lab also identified a transcriptional regulator, BdrB, that links heme metabolism to changes in bacterial behavior, such as transitioning from free-floating (planktonic) to surface-attached (sessile) communities.

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Continued from page 5 post-transcriptional level; • Clarifying the role of BdrB in the transition to biofilm formation; • Identifying upstream regulatory elements that control this network of genes.

By understanding these iron-dependent adaptations, Wilks and her team hope to identify proteins and pathways essential for infection but not for bacterial survival outside the host. This could lead to the development of therapeutics that are more selective, and less likely to foster antibiotic resistance.

The project builds on close collaborations with Maureen Kane, PhD, professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences (PSC) and executive director of UMSOP’s Mass Spectrometry Center, who provides expertise in proteomics and metabolomics, and Fengtian

Xue, PhD, professor of PSC and associate dean for research, whose work has led to the development of lead compounds targeting bacterial iron uptake. Previous findings from this line of research also contributed to the creation of Galeo Therapeutics, a startup cofounded by Wilks and supported by an NIH University of Maryland Baltimore Life Science Discovery Accelerator award.

The long-term implications of this research are significant — not just in the fight against P. aeruginosa, but across a wide range of infections caused by antibiotic-resistant pathogens.

“We are working toward antibiotic strategies that target what bacteria need to survive in the host — pathways that aren’t shared by harmless or beneficial bacteria,” adds Wilks. “That’s the future of precision antimicrobial therapy.”

$3.4 Million NIH Grant Supports Development of Nanoparticle Immunotherapy for Sepsis Ryan Pearson, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and director of the Bio- and Nano-Technology Center at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, has been awarded a prestigious $3.4 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to advance groundbreaking research into a first-in-class, cargo-free nanoparticle Ryan Pearson immunotherapy for the treatment of sepsis.

Sepsis is a life-threatening condition caused by an uncontrolled immune response to infection and accounts for nearly 20 percent of all deaths globally, with survivors often suffering long-term health complications such as cardiovascular disease and cognitive impairment. Existing treatments have been hampered by sepsis’ clinical heterogeneity (diversity) and the complexity of its immune dysregulation.

Pearson’s project aims to overcome these challenges by developing immunomodulatory nanoparticles (iNPs), a “drug-free” class of biocompatible polylactic acid nanoparticles designed to modulate multiple aspects of innate immunity. Prior studies from Pearson’s team have demonstrated that iNPs significantly improve survival in mouse models of sepsis by reducing pro-inflammatory 6

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responses, preserving critical immune cells, and enhancing bacterial clearance, especially when combined with antibiotics.

“This grant is a strong validation of our innovative approach, which has been years in the making,” Pearson said. “Our iNPs leverage both their physical nanoparticle structure and compositional properties to target multiple immune pathways simultaneously — a strategy necessary to address sepsis’ complex immune dysregulation.”

Pearson notes that the research will unfold in two key phases.

The first focuses on optimizing nanoparticle design and elucidating the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which iNPs modulate immune responses. The second phase aims to define the optimal dosing and therapeutic window using clinically relevant polymicrobial sepsis models, assessing impacts on organ function and survival.

“This project could transform sepsis treatment by providing a simple, broadly acting immunotherapy that integrates rapidly into existing care standards like antibiotics,” Pearson added. “Beyond sepsis, this platform holds promise for treating a wide range of inflammatory and immune-mediated diseases, setting the stage for new biomaterial-based immunotherapies.”

Pearson leads a multidisciplinary team on the project, including co-principal investigator Lin Zou, MD, PhD, associate professor of anesthesiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM), and co-investigator Wei Chao, MD, PhD, FAHA, Anesthesiology Endowed Professor of Translational Research at UMSOM. Their collaborative work deepens scientific understanding of sepsis pathophysiology and accelerates translation toward clinical application.

Two Faculty Named International Fellows by FIP

Magaly Rodriguez de Bittner and Amy Howard

In a prestigious recognition of global impact and leadership, two faculty members from the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy (UMSOP), Amy Howard, PharmD ’17, MS, and Magaly Rodriguez de Bittner, PharmD ’83, MS, FAPhA, FNAP, have been named Fellows of the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP). The award was announced at the FIP World Congress in Copenhagen, Denmark, in September.

Up to 12 pharmacists worldwide are selected annually for this honor, which recognizes significant contributions to international pharmacy education, science, and practice, as well as exemplary service to FIP. Selecting two fellows from the same institution is a rare occurrence and a testament to UMSOP’s ongoing leadership in the global pharmacy landscape.

FIP is a global organization representing pharmacy, pharmaceutical sciences, and pharmaceutical education. Its mission is to ensure access to safe, effective, and affordable medicines and care by empowering pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists worldwide. FIP’s strategic plan focuses on expanding access to care, strengthening pharmaceutical education and the workforce, supporting health systems and supply chains, and aligning all efforts with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Through global collaboration, FIP works to improve health outcomes and promote pharmacy as an essential pillar of public health.

Howard, a pediatric clinical pharmacist and assistant professor in the Department of Practice, Sciences, and Health Outcomes Research (P-SHOR) at UMSOP, has spent more than a decade working in international pharmacy, first as a student, and now focusing on health literacy and global pharmacy education. As a student at UMSOP, she was elected to the International Pharmaceutical Students’ Federation Executive Committee, which led to her involvement in FIP itself.

“I went to my first FIP World Congress in my second year of pharmacy school — this year marked my 10th,” Howard shared. “I knew early on that I wanted to be involved in shaping the global

pharmacy conversation.”

Howard has served in multiple leadership roles within FIP, including as the representative of the Americas in the Health and Medicines Information Section, and now as member-at-large. Her work has focused on health literacy, workforce development, and facilitating global collaboration to improve patient education and access to pharmacy services. She has organized international training events and led grant-funded projects to assess the intersection of health literacy and pharmacy practice worldwide.

As a global educator and advocate, she has shared UMSOP’s innovative education models, such as layered learning and pharmacy teaching rotations, with peers across the world. “What we do here, like incorporating teaching into clinical rotations, is still new and aspirational in many countries,” said Howard.

Rodriguez de Bittner, associate dean for clinical services and practice transformation and professor of P-SHOR, has dedicated much of her career to advancing pharmacy practice and education across the Americas and beyond. For more than two decades, she has worked with FIP and its affiliated organizations to help improve health outcomes through pharmacist-led care.

She currently serves as president of the Pharmaceutical Forum of the Americas, where she leads efforts to strengthen pharmacy education, practice, and infrastructure in countries across North, Central, and South America. Under her leadership, the Pharmaceutical Forum was fully integrated into FIP — a milestone that further solidified the Americas’ role in shaping global pharmacy initiatives.

“My work with FIP has always been about building relationships and sharing knowledge,” said Rodriguez de Bittner. “Pharmacists around the world face many of the same challenges, and when we collaborate, we can find solutions. It is incredibly rewarding to support colleagues in other countries and to see how small exchanges of ideas can help transform practice worldwide.”

She emphasized that being part of FIP allows her to both learn from and mentor global peers. “Whether it’s offering guidance to a team developing a new pharmacy service or contributing to a publication on best practices, it’s about helping others move forward and that benefits patients everywhere,” said Rodriguez de Bittner.

“It allows me to disseminate the pharmapreneurial ideas we have implemented at UMSOP to improve care and education globally.”

“This recognition not only honors Dr. Howard and Dr. Rodriguez de Bittner individually but also reflects the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy’s enduring impact on the international pharmacy stage,” said Sarah L.J. Michel, PhD, dean of UMSOP and professor of pharmaceutical sciences. “Their work exemplifies our mission: To globally engage and lead education, pharmacy practice, scientific research, and pharmapreneurial initiatives to collaboratively and equitably improve the health of society.”

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$2.84 Million NIH Grant to Improve Chemotherapy for Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

Fengtian Xue

Hongbing Wang

Two faculty members from the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy (UMSOP) have received a $2.84 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to explore a novel therapeutic strategy aimed at enhancing the efficacy of and reducing the toxicity of a widely used chemotherapy regimen for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).

The five-year R01 grant, titled “Impact of CAR and Nrf2 Dual Activation on Cyclophosphamide Bioactivation and Doxorubicin Detoxification,” was awarded to Hongbing Wang, PhD, professor and interim chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences (PSC), and Fengtian Xue, PhD, professor of PSC and associate dean for research.

TNBC is an aggressive and hard-to-treat subtype of breast cancer that often does not respond to hormonal or targeted therapies. Patients are typically treated with a combination of cyclophosphamide (CPA) and doxorubicin (DOX) — a regimen that, while effective for some, can lead to serious side effects and treatment resistance.

Wang and Xue, along with collaborators from the University of Maryland, Baltimore and Michigan State University, aim to improve the efficacy-to-toxicity ratio of CPA/DOX chemotherapy by investigating how dual activation of two key molecular pathways — constitutive androstane receptor (CAR) and nuclear factor erythroid 2–related factor 2 (Nrf2) — can simultaneously boost cancer-killing activity and reduce heart-related toxicity.

“This grant supports a bold and highly translational approach to cancer therapy,” said Wang, who serves as principal investigator on the project. “Our goal is to turn existing limitations of chemotherapy into opportunities by using newly developed small molecules to

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optimize drug activation in the liver while shielding the heart from damage.”

The team already has identified a promising lead compound, YA9073, which shows strong potential to activate both CAR and Nrf2 pathways. With the new NIH funding, the research team will further test YA9073 and related compounds across several models — including human liver and heart cell cultures as well as transgenic mouse models — to assess their impact on drug metabolism, anti-cancer efficacy, and toxicity profiles.

“This research leverages a multidisciplinary approach — combining medicinal chemistry, pharmacology, and advanced disease modeling — to answer a critical question in oncology drug development,” said Xue, who will serve as multiple principal investigator. “We hope that dual activation of CAR and Nrf2 will pave the way for a new generation of safer and more effective chemotherapies, not only for TNBC, but potentially for other malignancies treated with CPA/DOX regimens.”

In addition to Wang and Xue, the project team includes: • Alexander MacKerell Jr., PhD - Co-Investigator, UMSOP • Stuart Martin, PhD - Co-Investigator, University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) • Katherine Tkaczuk, MD - Co-Investigator, UMSOM • Charles Hong, MD, PhD, FAHA, FACP - Co-Investigator, Michigan State University Members bring complementary expertise in drug metabolism, molecular pharmacology, computer-aided drug design, cancer biology, and therapeutic development, enhancing the project’s potential to translate laboratory findings into clinical applications.

This research may represent the first therapeutic strategy to deliberately combine CAR activation for drug bioactivation with Nrf2 activation for detoxification, offering a precision-medicine approach to chemotherapy optimization.

“The long-term impact of this work could be transformative,” Wang said. “By refining how drugs are metabolized and reducing systemic toxicity, we can improve patient outcomes and quality of life — two of the most critical measures in cancer treatment.”

UMB Partners with xFoundry Alliance to Expand Student Opportunities in Innovation The University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB), through the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy (UMSOP), has joined the xFoundry Alliance, a groundbreaking initiative committed to transforming universities into hubs of innovation and problem-solving. Backed by UMSOP’s esteemed pharmapreneurship program, this partnership provides students with unparalleled access to xFoundry’s innovative resources and hands-on opportunities.

Through the xFoundry Alliance, students from UMB’s six professional schools — Dentistry, Law, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Social Work — and interdisciplinary School of Graduate Studies will now be eligible to participate in the prestigious Xperience Competition, a multi-stage program designed to empower students to develop scalable solutions to global challenges.

Participants will gain access to xFoundry’s comprehensive Resource MatriX (a suite of tools and services for venture development), compete for funding investments totaling up to $2 million, and connect with seasoned mentors and industry leaders.

“We are thrilled to join the xFoundry Alliance and extend these world-class opportunities to our students,” said Joga Gobburu, PhD, MBA, the Gyi Endowed Memorial Professor in Pharmapreneurship at UMSOP, professor in the Department of Practice, Sciences, and Health Outcomes Research, and founder and director of the School’s Center for Translational Medicine. “The pharmapreneurship program has always sought to push boundaries, and this collaboration aligns perfectly with our commitment to innovation and real-world impact.

“Pharmapreneurship is UMB’s campuswide commitment to turn the art of science and ideas into real, lasting health care solutions.

This partnership with xFoundry reflects that mission — equipping our community to push boundaries and shape the future of health care.”

UMB students will benefit from xFoundry’s broader mission to foster entrepreneurial mindsets, refine innovative ideas, and prepare the next generation of leaders to tackle challenges in sustainability, health care, education, and beyond.

The flagship program, Xperience, invites students to collaborate across disciplines, offering structured support through its key stages: • The NEXPLORE Summit and Horizons Challenge: A venue for multidisciplinary teams to identify pressing global issues and propose problem statements.

• The Xperience Competition: A 15-month entrepreneurial sprint of building prototypes, gaining market validation, and refining business plans.

• The Launch Pad: The winning teams launch their businesses with up to $2 million in investment and guidance from experienced executives.

With access to the Resource MatriX, UMB students will leverage tools like the AI-powered CognoXent, the Xperiment Academic Curriculum, and the Xpand Startup Accelerator to build impactful ventures.

Aligned with xFoundry’s mission, the Pharmapreneurship – xFoundry @ UMB program continues to solidify its leadership in fostering innovation and collaboration among students. Anchored by this new relationship, UMB reinforces its commitment to producing not just health care professionals, but leaders poised to make a difference across industries.

Founded in 2023, xFoundry is an innovative nonprofit initiative that transforms universities into dynamic solution engines through interdisciplinary collaboration and venture-building competitions. Its flagship program, the Xperience Competition, empowers students to address societal grand challenges by providing mentorship, funding pathways, and AI-driven resources.

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SCHOOL NEWS

Faculty and Staff Laurels Kimberly Claeys, PharmD, PhD, received the Maryland Society of Health-System Pharmacy’s (MSHP) 2025 Excellence Award.

Stephanie Jackson, PharmD, and Danielle Yu, PharmD, have become Certified Specialists in Poison Information.

Catherine Cooke, PharmD, MS ’18, BCPS, PAHM, has joined the editorial board of the journal Patient Preference and Adherence.

Brooke Langevin, PhD ’25, received the 2025 Clinical Pharmacometrics Special Interest Group Award at the American Conference on Pharmacometrics.

Andrew Coop, PhD, and Chad Johnson, PhD ’19, received a U.S. patent for “Methods of Using Muscarinic Antagonists in the Treatment of Depression.”

Bethany DiPaula, PharmD ’95, BCPP, FASHP, was elected a member-at-large on the American Association of Psychiatric Pharmacists’ Board of Directors.

Megan Ehret, PharmD, MS, BCPP, received MSHP’s 2025 W. Arthur Purdum Award and joined the editorial board of Pharmacy Times.

Steven Fletcher, PhD, Paul Shapiro, PhD, and Alexander MacKerell Jr., PhD, received a U.S. patent for “Inhibitors of Extracellular Signal-Regulated Kinase.” MacKerell also was named a Fellow of the Biophysical Society.

Mathangi Gopalakrishnan, PhD, MS, is a co-recipient of the 2025 James McKeen Cattell Memorial Award from the American College of Clinical Pharmacology.

Mojdeh Heavner, PharmD ’08, BCCCP, FCCM, FCCP, was named Mentor of the Year by the American College of Clinical Pharmacy’s Critical Care Practice and Research Network, was appointed a senior associate editor for the American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy, and has been appointed to The CHEST Professional Standards Committee’s guideline on Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome.

Emily Heil, PharmD, MS, FIDP, BCIDP, AAHIVP, has been named president-elect of the Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists.

MD Fitrat Hossain, PhD, earned an associate certificate from the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning through the University of Maryland, Baltimore’s (UMB) Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning.

Tuan Huynh, PharmD ’11, AAHIVP, HIVPCP, received the School of Pharmacy’s LEADer in Inclusive Excellence Award for Programmatic Impact for his work in advancing institutional excellence and student success through initiatives such as career mentoring programs and curriculum innovation.

Lauren Hynicka, PharmD, BCPS, has been named a Fellow of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy.

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Mary Lynn McPherson, PharmD ’86, PhD, BCPS, FAAHPM, received the Award for Excellence in Education and Training from the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine.

Michelle Medeiros, MS, MA, CRPP, has been named an abstract reviewer for the 2026 AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting.

Sarah L.J. Michel, PhD, was named vice chair of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy’s Council of Deans Programming Committee.

Jill Morgan, PharmD, BCPS, BCPPS, FNAP, received the School of Pharmacy’s LEADer in Inclusive Excellence Award for Schoolwide Impact for her sustained, transformational leadership and was named president of the Maryland Pharmacists Association Foundation.

Emma Nelson, PharmD ’25, received the 2026 Elgene Jacobs Memorial Scholarship Award from the American Drug Utilization Review Society’s Board of Directors.

Troy Parker, MBA, graduated from UMB’s Emerging Leaders Program.

Magaly Rodríguez de Bittner, PharmD ’83, MS, FAPhA, FNAP, received a Hispanic Leadership Award from the Maryland Daily Record and was appointed by the Maryland Department of Health as a member of the AHEAD Primary Care Advisory Council.

Kristina San Juan, MBA, received the School of Pharmacy’s LEADer in Inclusive Excellence Award for Individual Impact, honoring her dedication to enhancing holistic student success and fostering a thriving culture.

Jana Shen, PhD, MS, has been named a Fellow of the American Chemical Society.

Yan Shu, MD, PhD, and Fengtian Xue, PhD, have received U.S. and European patents for “WNT Signaling Pathway Inhibitors for Treatments of Disease.” Xue and Yong Ai, PhD, also received a U.S. patent for “ALDH2 Inhibitors and Methods of Use Thereof.”

Julia Slejko, PhD, was a co-recipient of the Best General Podium Research Presentation at the ISPOR (The Professional Society for Health Economics and Outcomes Research) Annual Meeting.

Short Course Is Long on Value UMSOP's immersive one-week tablets and capsules training pays big dividends.

BY NALA ROGERS

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At the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy’s (UMSOP) Tablets and Capsules Hands-On Short Course in October 2025, Debora Rezende, MBA, gently scraped her fingernail along the side of a round white tablet. The top flaked off like a broken muffin. The problem, explained the laboratory instructor, was the binder. More binder would hold the components together, ensuring tablets could rattle in their bottle and remain intact until they were swallowed by a patient.

Rezende is a Texas-based senior scientist at Indovinya, a division of Indorama Ventures that manufactures excipients such as binders.

Her company provides these raw materials to drug manufacturers, and she has worked with customers who are struggling to keep their tablets from crumbling.

“A customer says, for example, ‘My tablet is breaking a lot of the time. Do you know how I can improve it?’ With this course, it was tangible to see what can cause these types of problems,” says Rezende. “The better I know the topics the customer needs, the better I can share this knowledge with our customers, so we can give them solutions.”

Rezende hopes more people from Indovinya can attend the course in future years.

From Raw Materials to Product Testing

UMSOP’s Tablets and Capsules Hands-On Short Course is one of only two programs of its kind in the United States. Packed into one immersive week, it takes students through every step of tablets and capsules manufacturing, from raw materials to final product testing, says Stephen Hoag, PhD, professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at UMSOP. The course Stephen Hoag is run out of Hoag’s Applied Pharmaceutics Lab (APhL), a small-scale Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) facility that formulates and manufactures drugs for clinical trials.

“The goal of this course is to build a foundation that students can work from,” Hoag says. “When they return to work, they'll have a strong, broad base to build upon, allowing them to get up to speed

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much more quickly.”

Rezende was excited to learn from Hoag, since she has studied textbooks that he authored. The course instructors include both academics like Hoag and experts from industry.

“To be able to learn from an expert on their equipment in their technical field, and learn the little tricks of the trade — that’s where the value is,” says Robert Sedlock, director of Natoli Scientific, a division of Natoli Engineering Co. that specializes in tablet technology. Sedlock gives the course’s lecture on tablet compaction and teaches a lab on tablet formulation evaluation. UMSOP’s course is very prestigious, he says, and it boosts his company’s credibility to be a part of it.

Hoag developed the Tablets and Capsules Hands-On Short Course in 2013 with Ahmed Ibrahim, PhD, who is now the quality control manager for APhL as well as course director. In the years leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic, each class trained 30 to 50 students from industry and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It has drawn international as well as U.S.-based students, with some traveling from as far as Italy and Saudi Arabia. After a three-year pandemic hiatus, the course is once again going strong.

“It's the most exciting time of the year, full of energy and shared learning and genuine connections,” says Dongyue Yu, PhD ’22, senior scientist at Bristol Myers Squibb and a UMSOP alumna who participated in the course as a student and assistant and returned last year as an instructor. “Many of the skills, insights, and relationships I gained from the Short Course continue to influence my work today.”

Hands-On Learning

Ahmed Ibrahim

Ibrahim likens his role as course director to running a show that is live on-air. Months of planning must come together seamlessly, with equipment, food, instructors, and students all moving through an intricately choreographed schedule.

Days start with breakfast at 7:15 a.m., with instruction beginning at 8 a.m. and running as late as 5:40 p.m.

Students learn together at lectures, then break into groups of four to six

for labs.

The labs are especially challenging to arrange. The tablet press must be shipped in from New Jersey, and it’s up to Ibrahim and his colleagues to wrestle the 800-pound machine into place. But it’s worth the effort. Labs are the heart of the course — indispensable opportunities to learn by doing rather than merely listening.

Gary Hollenbeck, PhD, has been teaching at the School of Pharmacy since the 1970s. After a 10-year period as chief scientific officer at UPM Pharmaceuticals, he returned to the University to support GMP activities and to provide instruction for the Short Course.

“Labs are expensive. They take a lot of time, and so the actual hands-on training in universities has decreased,” he says. “How do you do things like formulate and develop a pharmaceutical product without having that kind of background experience?”

Moreover, Hollenbeck adds, technological advances have increasingly turned manufacturing Gary Hollenbeck equipment into “black boxes.” Instead of using valves and levers to make intuitive adjustments, operators are now separated from the action by layers of programming and screen inputs. In his Bead and Tablet Coating lab, Hollenbeck demystifies the tablet coating machine through a sort of mechanical vivisection.

“We rip it apart,” he says. “We'll show you the critical components, how one controls the operation, all the process parameters that need to be controlled for a successful outcome.”

He even pulls out the spray nozzle, which is usually hidden on modern tablet coaters, and uses it to spray water on a paper towel.

By the time students create their own coating using the reassembled machine, they understand exactly what’s happening inside.

Many of the labs encourage students to experiment and see how their own choices affect the process and outcome. For example, in the High Shear Granulation lab, each team of students chooses the dye and the amount of water to add to a powder containing excipients and acetaminophen. They also choose the speed and settings on the high shear mixer, which resembles a high-tech KitchenAid appliance. Blades spin to mix dry ingredients with water

or other liquids, eventually forming tiny granules about a millimeter in diameter.

The lab is taught by Tim Smith, MS, a 35-year veteran of FREUND Inc., the company in Iowa that produces the high shear mixer used in the course. During the mixing process, Smith periodically removes the mixture so that he and any students who want to can test it with their bare hands — something that would never be possible during real production.

“The human hand is a wonderful tactile device of feeling and knowing things,” says Smith. “We'll reach in and try to make a small snowball. If it just falls apart, or if I have dust on my hand, we know that there's not enough moisture in there.”

Sometimes, students can see immediately how their choices affect the final product, such as when granules are too large or coatings are cracked. In other cases, students find more subtle problems when they test their creations. In Ibrahim’s Quality Control lab, for example, they might discover that their tablets dissolve too quickly in a solution mimicking gastric juices.

Students also can compare their own creations to those of other students and lab groups, so everyone has the chance to see optimal and sub-optimal results. During the course wrap-up on the last day, Ibrahim leads a discussion of all the lab results, and the group that made the best extrusion and spheronization product wins a prize.

Who Should Take the Course?

Early-career participants can obviously benefit from the foundational training the course provides. But many of the students are experts in their own right — people who have worked in a particular area of pharmaceutical manufacturing for years.

“Maybe you've had somebody in the industry who's been an analytical chemist their whole career, and now they want to branch out into formulation or manufacturing,” Hollenbeck says. “Or maybe they are moving up the administrative ladder, so they're going to be supervising people in different areas.”

Experienced people can reap benefits even if they aren’t planning a career move. When industry personnel understand the entire tablet- and capsule-making process, they can better ensure that their own work serves larger goals such as production efficiency and product quality. For example, some students have decades of experience working in a particular area such as granulation.

“Having a better understanding of what's happening in

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the drying step will help you to optimize the granulation so that it'll work better downstream,” says Keith Freel, PhD, research project director at APhL and one of the course instructors. “Even though you're an expert in one thing, you get an introduction to all aspects of the manufacturing, so you can understand where your specialty fits into the bigger picture.”

Keith Freel The Short Course also helps participants stay up-to-date with new advances. It covers techniques that are on the cutting edge of technology, such as in-process measurement during hot-melt extrusion, as well as big-picture aspirational topics such as continuous manufacturing. The 2025 course introduced a new lab on 3D printing.

Yu’s first experience with the course was in 2017, when she was beginning her PhD research in Hoag’s lab using a STYL’One compaction simulator. At the time, UMSOP was the only academic institution in the country to have such a machine, which allows drug developers to test different approaches for pressing out tablets before beginning large-scale production. The instructor for the compaction simulation lab was an expert from Medelpharm (now part of Korsch AG), the company that manufactures the machine.

“It was a very new machine. Everybody was trying to learn how to operate it. There were a lot of details that are not something you can just directly find from the manual,” Yu says. She later applied those lessons during internships with Roquette and Merck & Co., Inc. Yu no longer uses a compaction simulator herself, but her

colleagues at Bristol Myers Squibb use one at other stages of development. The training makes her better at her job, Yu says, “because I know what's going to happen next.”

Regulators also need an up-to-date understanding of the entire production process, which is why the FDA has sent more than 200 people to take the course since its inception. When regulators inspect facilities, they are often seeing systems that have been honed and perfected, notes Hollenbeck. The course helps them appreciate the challenges that must be overcome to achieve process maturity, and how problems in one area can ripple through other links in the production chain.

Lasting Connections

All course participants benefit from the chance to learn from people representing different parts of the pharma world. Academics, regulators, and industry experts can compare notes and perspectives, and they often form lasting friendships, cemented through shared experience and social events such as the opening reception dinner.

Yu says it’s easier to network at the Tablets and Capsules HandsOn Short Course than it is at professional conferences. One of the friends she met there works at the FDA, and she regularly sends him regulation-related questions.

In the end, the benefits accrue to patients.

“My touchstone is, is this a product that I would take? And I think the more experience you have, and the more training you have in terms of manufacturing these things, the safer the pharmaceutical products are,” Hollenbeck says. “We're part of making sure that the landscape of commercial pharmaceutical products are quality products.”

To learn more about the Tablets and Capsules Hands-On Short Course, visit www.pharmacy.umaryland.edu/facilities/applied-pharmaceutics-lab-aphl/training/shortcourse/ The next course is Aug. 3-7.

Instructors and students from one of UMSOP's Tablets and Capsules Hands-On Short Courses.

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A World of Difference Global rotations are widening UMSOP pharmacists’ horizons.

BY EMILY BLEIWEIS

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When Vraj Patel, a fourth-year PharmD student at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy (UMSOP), traveled to Zambia, Africa, he spent four weeks at the University Teaching Hospital getting hands-on experience in a health care system that, in many ways, was quite unlike his own.

But what wasn’t different was the Vraj Patel care and compassion needed to gain patients’ trust when treating them.

In Zambia, a lot of medications are packaged in blister packs, Patel says. Some of the biggest outliers are HIV medications, which are packaged in pill bottles. And pill bottles audibly rattle in pockets and bags.

“There’s a stigma around hearing a pill rattling in someone’s bag,” Patel says. “And so, when patients would come in, they would ask you to really pack in cotton rounds and pieces of newspaper, so … if they were walking on the street, or if they had family members that live with them, they wouldn’t hear those pills rattling.

“That served as a reminder that even in Zambia and in America, there is going to be stigma around any disease state, and we as pharmacists are trusted to keep that confidentiality and hold our patients’ trust.”

Expanding Partnerships Across the Globe

Patel’s international rotation, which occurred in May and June 2025 at the start of his fourth year, allowed him to explore multiple areas in pharmacy including inpatient cardiology, infectious diseases, outpatient management of pediatric cancers, and HIV. That rotation in Zambia is one of more than half a dozen partnerships UMSOP has across the globe.

The School has partnered with universities in multiple parts of the world, including Australia, Egypt, Italy, South Korea, Thailand, and Zambia. And it’s only growing.

“Hardly a month goes by without the Experiential Learning Program [ELP] receiving a new inquiry from a university abroad, eager to establish a formal agreement or explore opportunities for collaboration and exchange,” says Mojdeh Heavner, PharmD ’08, BCCCP, FCCM, FCCP, assistant dean for experiential learning and professor Mojdeh Heavner in the Department of Practice, Sciences, and Health Outcomes Research (P-SHOR). UMSOP has an established international presence, and institutions are eager to work with the School, she adds.

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UMSOP is always looking to grow the number of sites it partners with and grow the number of students who participate in these rotations, says Emily Heil, PharmD, MS, FIDP, BCIDP, AAHIVP, a professor in P-SHOR and the School’s global health liaison.

But part of that goal means finding a sustainable funding solution to help offset the cost of these rotations for students, Heil says, to make sure these types of opportunities are not just available, but financially viable.

“One of the barriers to equitable access to the international rotations is that they are self-pay in terms of the housing and the travel to get there,” Heil says.

Building a Framework

Each international rotation opportunity the School provides is a bit different logistically, says Heil. But they all follow a similar structure.

Local preceptors help students find housing, such as short-term rentals like an Airbnb, as opposed to having set housing for each site.

“The preceptors are professionals we know and have worked Emily Heil with over the years at UMSOP,” Heil says, adding “usually someone at the local pharmacy school or at the hospital that we’ve had contact with.”

The preceptors, mentors who oversee the PharmD students on their rotations, provide a key role in international experiential learning programs, and students work with them on a daily basis.

“Students are usually spending a lot of time with that person directly day-to-day — almost folding into that person's daily job and shadowing to some extent depending on the rotation and the student's skills and level of comfort,” Heil says. “The preceptor is coaching the student. They're modeling what they do in their day jobs. They're teaching the students directly through topic discussions and filling in the gaps of what the students might see when they're spending time with that person.”

Patel’s work in Zambia taught him about foundational pharmacy — the experience was a refresher on baseline pathophysiology of disease states for him and his fellow classmates.

For example, he says, medical charting in the facilities he worked in for his rotations was done entirely on paper, something that hasn’t been done for years in the United States. This skill may seem irrelevant now, Patel says, but recently the EPIC system — which medical professionals in the United States often use to electronically record patient information — crashed, and while downtime procedures exist for hospitals for this type of scenario, the skill set of knowing how to chart on paper became a lifeline.

But more than a refresher on the basics, from a larger perspective, Patel’s rotation allowed him to see how connected public health is.

“Just getting any global experience at all will remind you that our health system is a part of something bigger,” Patel says. “We always think about us first, but we never think about the impacts that global policies have outward.”

Creating an Ambassador Program

Adds Heavner, “Experiential learning makes up more than a third of the PharmD curriculum, beginning with Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experiences [IPPE], where students explore various practice areas, and continuing with Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences [APPE], which help them solidify their career interests.

During their fourth year, students complete eight five-week APPE rotations, including required experiences in community, ambulatory care, acute care, health systems, and patient care, along with elective opportunities in non‑patient care settings.”

The ELP team at UMSOP meets with students seven times during the third year to talk about APPE preparation. During those meetings, Heil says, they talk to students about both local, nontraditional tracks, as well as the concept of international rotations.

These are mandatory, classwide meetings, Heil says, where the team meets with the students to tell them about the different options that exist, and provide summaries of available international sites. Sometimes, she adds, they’re able to put students in contact with the international sites directly.

UMSOP is in the development phase of expanding these types of global experiences for students in a more formal way, Heil says, through a Global Ambassador Program. Students interested in global health would be able to take an interprofessional elective developed in partnership with the six other schools at the University of Maryland, Baltimore.

These global rotations provide students with hands-on experience in parts of the world often very different than the United States. The opportunities allow students the chance to think on

their feet, understand how to work when there is disparity, and learn how to treat patients from different demographic, educational, and socioeconomic backgrounds.

“Our vision would be that third-year pharmacy students would take that elective, and then they would pursue an international practice experience in their fourth year,” Heil says.

“This would carve out an opportunity to learn more about interprofessional global health before they do an actual global health rotation and experience the role of a pharmacist across the world,” she adds.

For many health care professionals, their role is often predictable. But in pharmacy, what the profession looks like can vary depending on where the pharmacist practices, Heil says.

“Seeing what practice looks like in different parts of the world can help students improve their own practice in the U.S. It gives them a better understanding of the pros and cons of the U.S. health care system when they're able to compare and contrast it with health care systems in other countries,” she says. “It also helps with cultural competency and will help them be better communicators with patients from all sorts of backgrounds.”

Students who have the chance to participate in an international rotation always describe them as life-changing, she adds.

“There's [a lot of ] personal and professional growth that can happen when you are challenged to go outside of your comfort zone, go to a completely new practice area and learn from people in places that don't look like what you're used to in your home country,” Heil says.

For Patel, his time in Zambia (photos below) was a reminder that regardless of where in the world they’re practicing, a pharmacist’s role often is as an educator.

“Our training involves a lot of education — whether that’s educating the patient or educating health care providers — we’re just taught to be teachers,” Patel says. “And because this rotation was very patient-facing — we spent a lot of time in the outpatient HIV clinic — that was direct patient contact that would benefit any pharmacy student who wants to gain hands on-experience.”

BY GWEN FARISS NEWMAN

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More Than Numbers McPherson’s dogged pursuit brings consistency and safety to opioid conversion calculations.

BY ROBYN FIESER

Mary Lynn McPherson

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In hospice and palliative care, few clinical tasks create as much angst as opioid conversion calculations. When done well, it can help seriously ill patients cope with pain in a dignified and comfortable way. Done poorly, it can lead to uncontrolled pain, toxicity, or even overdose.

At its core, an opioid conversion asks clinicians to switch a patient from one opioid regimen to another. Whether it be to help control pain, minimize side effects or combat opioid intolerance, clinicians must decide, often with incomplete information, what dose will relieve suffering without causing harm. It is a decision that has long been guided by equianalgesic tables built from limited data and applied with a level of certainty the evidence does not always support.

That gap between high-stakes decision-making and shaky evidence has now narrowed.

In January 2025, leading oncology and palliative care organizations released a multi-national consensus statement on opioid conversion in adults with cancer, offering clinicians a shared, evidence-informed framework for a practice long marked by variation and uncertainty.

For more than a decade, Mary Lynn McPherson, PharmD ’86, PhD, BCPS, FAAHPM, helped lay the groundwork for this moment. A professor in the Department of Practice, Sciences, and Health Outcomes Research at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy (UMSOP) and a palliative care pharmacist, McPherson has worked to make opioid conversion calculations safer by steering the field away from rote calculation toward informed clinical judgment. She developed an opioid conversion table grounded in real-world practice and devised a five-step process that asks clinicians to look beyond the numbers and truly see their patients.

She also worked with other experts to lead the comprehensive scoping review that underpinned the new guidance, with results that closely mirror the approach she has advanced for years. Endorsed by organizations including the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM), the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC), the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association (HPNA), and the National Interdisciplinary Consortium for Supportive Care in Oncology (NICSCO), the consensus statement represents something rare in palliative care: a shared framework clinicians can trust.

“I am very proud, and I am especially pleased we are moving toward an evidence-based approach,” says McPherson.

able to swallow tablets or capsules. Organ failure (kidney or liver), allergies, or disease progression can all make an opioid rotation necessary.

The risk in the conversion lies in the margin. Doses that are too high can cause over-sedation or even overdose. Doses that are too low can leave the patient in pain. Historically, many conversion ratios came from drug-specific studies or pharmaceutical package inserts designed to protect patients from overdosing on a single medication. But a comprehensive guide to safely transition across an entire class of drugs did not exist. The result was often an overly conservative starting dose that protected against toxicity but left patients suffering.

“You don’t want to overdose somebody,” says Ryan Costantino, PharmD, MS ’20, PhD ’25, an Army pharmacist who teaches advanced pain management and has worked closely with McPherson as a student in UMSOP’s MS in Palliative Care program and its PhD in Pharmaceutical Health Services Research program.

Ryan Costantino “But the challenge is that to not overdose, it could mean that you’re in pain. It’s always a tradeoff.”

When pain is not controlled, Costantino says, patients often respond in deeply human ways. They may take extra tablets or combine medications, seeking relief.

“That’s when sometimes they take two, they take three, they forget the last time they took one,” he says. “A lot of what we see is people become over-sedated, or an overdose is honestly just a very human reaction to their suffering.”

That tension — treating pain aggressively enough to relieve suffering, but carefully enough to avoid causing harm — has long been at the center of opioid conversions. It is also a problem McPherson has encountered repeatedly in her own clinical work providing hospice and palliative care. She saw how easily uncertainty could creep in, and how quickly clinicians were forced to make high-stakes decisions with imperfect tools.

“The whole practice of opioid calculations, it’s not just numbers.” she says.

More Common Than You Think

Booking A Solution

It is estimated that one in three cancer patients will need an opioid rotation. These conversions happen for many reasons. A medication that once worked may stop working. A patient may no longer be

Even small clinical changes can dramatically alter how an opioid behaves in the body. Potency varies from drug to drug. Route of administration matters. As does frequency. “How often you

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give it, how you give it. It all depends on how it gets into your bloodstream,” McPherson says. In palliative care, where patients may move from home to hospital, from oral medications to intravenous infusions, those shifts are common and sometimes urgent.

By the early 2000s, McPherson began searching for clearer, more practical guidance for her own patients, but she found little.

“I kept looking for the literature,” she says. “And finally someone said, ‘I think you will have to write a book.’”

That’s what she did. The first edition of Demystifying Opioid Conversion Calculations was published in 2009, followed by a second edition in 2018. A third edition is forthcoming this year. It includes opioid conversion tables drawn from the best available evidence, but McPherson is explicit about their limits.

The numbers are meant to guide, not dictate clinical decisions.

“When people see a chart with numbers, they think it’s set in stone,” she says. “The chart is important, but it’s not just the number.”

From the outset, she published her tables within a five-step framework designed to slow clinicians down, beginning with an assessment of the patient's pain and side effects, followed by cautious calculations, conservative adjustment, and close, ongoing reassessment.

McPherson often jokes that she is a “card-carrying weenie” when it comes to being overly aggressive with scheduled opioid doses. The caution, she says, is intentional. “It’s the very, very best that you can do,” she says of opioid conversion, “but it’s the process.”

“I don’t care whether you use an equianalgesic chart or a multiplier, or a divisor really, this kind of a calculation just gets you in the ballpark and once you’re there you have to figure out which of the 40,000 seats are yours,” she says.

That approach would go on to shape not only her teaching and writing, but the broader evidence base that followed.

The Quest for Reliability

Over time, McPherson’s questions about uncertainty grew more formal and more urgent. Conversion tables were everywhere, but they mostly didn’t agree. Most of them were based on small studies, single-dose trials, or assumptions that did not hold up in real-world palliative care. And yet the numbers were treated as fixed truths.

In 2023, a small group of clinicians and researchers decided to take a harder look. “A couple of years ago, a palliative care physician said the whole thing was stupid,” McPherson recalls, laughing. “And that was kind of the moment.”

What followed was a deep dive into the literature to understand not just what ratios were being used but how reliable they were.

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That resulted in a comprehensive scoping review examining opioid conversion calculations across decades of published studies. The review analyzed more than 200 randomized and non-randomized trials, a body of evidence that had never been systematically examined in one place.

It found wide variability, modest evidence strength, and no single “right” answer. “Bottom line,” McPherson says, “there is not one right answer.”

That reality shaped what came next. Using the findings of the scoping review as a foundation, an international expert panel that included McPherson convened under the leadership of five major professional organizations: MASCC, ASCO, AAHPM, HPNA, and NICSCO. Through a formal, modified Delphi process, experts from multiple countries evaluated proposed statements and voted anonymously, with a 75 percent agreement threshold required for inclusion in the guidelines.

The result was Opioid Conversion in Adults with Cancer, a multi-national consensus guideline jointly endorsed by the five organizations in 2025.

What emerged from the process was intentionally imperfect.

Where the evidence was strong, the guidelines offer clear conversion ratios. Where it wasn’t, the panel resisted the urge to manufacture certainty and kept ranges instead. The goal was not to eliminate clinical judgment, but to anchor it in the best available evidence.

“Having a consistent table informed by the highest level of evidence is incredibly important,” says Akhila S. Reddy, MD, a professor and section chief of palliative and supportive care in the Department of Palliative, Rehabilitation, and Integrative Medicine at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Reddy served on the guideline’s steering committee. “It helps promote consistency in practice and patient safety across the world.”

Hitting the Mark

Reddy’s own research reinforced the need for the shared framework. In 2021, she conducted an international survey of more than 400 clinicians from 53 countries to examine how opioid conversions were being handled in practice.

The results revealed wide and unsettling variation in conversion approaches, Akhila Reddy even among experienced clinicians. For Reddy, the findings underscored the risks created by

inconsistency. It also helped drive momentum toward a consensusbased approach grounded in the strongest available evidence.

What surprised many on the panel, Reddy notes, was how closely the final consensus aligned with the conversion ratios McPherson had already been teaching and publishing for years.

As the evidence was reviewed and the ranges refined through the Delphi process, McPherson’s tables repeatedly landed squarely in the middle of what the literature and the expert panel supported, reinforcing her approach had been right all along.

That reassurance was deeply satisfying.

“When I saw that my numbers landed right in the middle of the evidence, I was thrilled,” McPherson says. “I did a happy dance for three days straight. But what mattered most wasn’t about being ‘right.’ It was seeing the field move toward an evidence-based approach. It’s not about the very, very best number, it’s about process.”

These days, McPherson says, the pace of the work has only accelerated. Health systems around the country have started

embedding her opioid conversion chart directly into their electronic medical records. Even more gratifying, she says, the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine — the field’s central professional organization — has adopted her chart across its educational materials.

Meanwhile, McPherson is wrapping up two consecutive threeyear terms on AAHPM’s board of directors, where she made history as the first non-physician elected to serve. Her teaching continues.

At the organization’s annual meeting in March 2026 in San Diego, she and longtime collaborator Mellar Davis, MD, FCCP, FAAHPM, a palliative care specialist, led a two-hour session titled “Deep Dive Opioid Conversion Calculations and Breakthrough Pain: Innovation Informing the Art and Science.”

For McPherson, the moment feels less like a culmination than a confirmation that years of careful thinking, a good dose of humility around uncertainty, and even a little humor can still move the field forward. The math may never be perfect. But it’s firmly in the ballpark.

OPIOID CONVERSION CALCULATIONS It is often necessary to switch from one opioid to a different opioid, a different formulation, or a different route of administration.

STEPS INCLUDE:a

1. Assess patient’s pain complaint thoroughly; is pain controlled (e.g., at goal)?

2. Determine average total daily dose of current opioid use (long- and short-acting).

3. Set up ratio using equianalgesic equivalence chart; calculate new dose.

4. Individualize calculated dose based on patient assessment in step 1. a. Staying with same opioid, but different route of administration: > pain controlled, use calculated dose > pain not controlled, increase dose (e.g., 20-30%)

SELECTED EQUIVALENCIESbc Equianalgesic Equivalence (mg) OPIOID

PARENTERAL

ORAL

Morphine

10

25

Fentanyl

0.15

NA

Hydrocodone

NA

25

Hydromorphone

2

5

Oxycodone

10d

20

Oxymorphone

1

10

Example: Patient receiving long- and shortacting oral oxycodone, on average 80 mg per day. Patient can no longer swallow tablets or capsules; pain is well controlled on this regimen.

METHADONE IN Switch to oral morphineDOSING solution, dosed q4h ADVANCED ILLNESS around the clock. b. Switching from one opioid to another > Methadone is a very useful opioid, but requires opioid: “x” mg oral morphine = 25 mg oral morphine close attention to detail in dosing and follow-up. > pain controlled, reduce calculated dose 80 mg oral oxycodone 20 mg oral oxycodone > Evaluate patient’s risk status (e.g., QTc by 30-50% “x” = 100 mg oral morphine prolongation), prognosis, history of medication > pain not controlled, reduce calculated Reduce by 25-50% because switchinginteracting opioids medications, pain history. adherence, dose by less (e.g., 10-20%) and pain was controlled, to oral morphine 50-75 > Opioid-naïve 5. Monitor patient closely; adjust as needed. mg daily. Ex: morphine 10 mg po q4h. patients: 2-5 mg oral methadone total daily dose (or, up to 7.5 mg per day if a. Gammaitoni, et al. Clin J Pain 2003;19(5):286-297. b. Equianalgesic data presented in this table are that which are most commonly used by health care practitioners, and based on best evidence appropriate). available, but they are still approximate.interacting medications.

Consider These are NOT opioid DOSES for individual patient use; this is equivalency information. The clinician is urged to access the original work “McPherson ML. Demystifying opioid conversion calculations: A guide for effective dosing, Second edition. Bethesda, MD: American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, 2018.” c. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International. Copyright 2022 ASHP. d. Not available in the US.

> Opioid-tolerant patients: Convert patient’s current opioid regimen to oral morphine equivalents (see side). CARE ONLINE MASTER OF SCIENCE, PHD, AND GRADUATE CERTIFICATES INreserve PALLIATIVE Recommended dosing is as follows: Total Daily Dose Oral Morphine Equivalent (OME)

Conversion Ratio to Oral Methadone

0-< 60 mg

Follow opioid-naïve dosing (above)

60-199 OME and < 65 years old

10 mg OME : 1 mg oral methadone

> 200 mg OME and/or > 65 years old

20 mg OME : 1 mg oral methadone

ADDITIONAL GUIDANCE: > Do not increase dose before 5-7 days. > Do not increase total daily oral methadone dose by more than 5 mg/day (can increase by up to 10 mg/day once total daily oral methadone dose is 30-40 mg/day) > When converting to oral methadone, do not exceed 30-40 mg oral methadone per day as starting dose, regardless of previous opioid dose. > Reduce calculated oral methadone dose by 25-30% if patient receiving known enzyme inhibitor. > Assess patient daily for 5-14 days after methadone initiation and adjustment.

Reference: McPherson et al. J Pain Symptom Manage, 2019;57(3), 635–645 This is not a substitute for clinical judgment, particularly with complex comorbidities and high morphine equivalents.

410-706-PALL (7255) | graduate.umaryland.edu/palliative | palliative@umaryland.edu ONLINE MASTER OF SCIENCE, PHD, AND GRADUATE CERTIFICATES IN PALLIATIVE CARE

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FACULTY PROFILE

Promoting Health Care as a Human Right

BY ROBYN FIESER

From the start of her career, Danya Mazen Qato, PhD, PharmD, MPH, Danya Mazen Qato associate professor in the Department of Practice, Sciences, and Health Outcomes Research (P-SHOR) at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy (UMSOP), has been guided by a core belief: health care is a human right.

Born in Palestine and raised between Chicago and the West Bank, Qato developed a deep understanding of how politics and social structures can improve or limit access to care. Her Doctor of Pharmacy training at the University of Illinois at Chicago, her Master of Public Health education at Harvard University, and her PhD experience at Brown University provided the academic grounding necessary to pursue innovative research that supports more equitable and expansive care for all.

It is a perspective that has informed her work as an epidemiologist, a pharmacist, a health services researcher, and a teacher. “My work as an epidemiologist and a pharmacist is rooted in advocating for more equitable and evidence-based social policies,” she says.

Qato’s research, which has been supported by major federal agencies, including the National Institute on Aging and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, spans global health, access to essential medicines, pharmacovigilance, substance use, and mitigating harm associated with high-risk medications in vulnerable populations. According to Qato, there is a connecting thread — people’s health is shaped not just by clinical care, but also by the conditions of their daily lives and the systems that surround them.

Whether examining opioid use disorder or global medicine access, Qato centers the whole person and the systems shaping their well-being. Her work shows that narrow notions of “treatment” and “access” often overlook essential supports such as housing, mental health care, and strong social safety nets. Her research reveals how structural barriers — from provider stigma to persistent racial, economic, and policy-driven inequities — limit effective care and compound vulnerabilities, especially for older adults. This structural lens and historical awareness define her scholarship and contributed to her selection as a Robert Wood 22

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Johnson Foundation Culture of Health Leader in 2020.

This blend of rigorous scholarship and human empathy also defines her teaching. Qato encourages UMSOP students to see themselves as active agents in improving care. “I am a naturally curious person,” she says. “I’m grateful to be surrounded by engaging students who challenge me and deepen that curiosity.”

As director of the Pharmaceutical Health Services Research graduate program from 2018 to 2023, Qato advocated to raise PhD student stipends and expand student participation in P-SHOR governance. She also launched the program’s first Health Equity Book Club, a three-year series that helped P-SHOR deepen its understanding of its role in advancing health equity. The series included The Black Butterfly by Baltimore scholar Lawrence Brown, PhD, MPA, who visited the department to discuss the city’s history and its impact on health.

Qato’s teaching excellence has been recognized with the 2023 University of Maryland School of Medicine’s Department of Epidemiology Faculty Teaching Award for her Principles of Epidemiology course and the University of Maryland, Baltimore’s (UMB) 2024 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Diversity Recognition Award for Outstanding Faculty.

In 2025, she was one of three faculty selected by University leadership to deliver remarks at UMB’s Faculty Convocation and she serves as faculty advisor for the student chapter of the Maryland Public Health Association.

A former Fulbright Scholar, Qato’s research is global as well.

Through the Alicia and Yaya Initiative in Global Aging Research, she met with older adults and centenarians in Costa Rica to understand what contributes to long and meaningful lives. “The resounding answer was family and community,” she says. It is a reminder that well-being is shaped largely by life outside the hospital.

Qato has published and presented widely at national and international conferences and is a sought-after speaker on topics ranging from epidemiologic methods of studying opioid use disorder to optimizing care for older adults and decolonizing global health.

Whether in Baltimore, Palestine, Costa Rica, or beyond, her work reflects an unwavering commitment to dignity, equity, and the core belief that access to quality health care is a fundamental human right.

STAFF PROFILE

Her Poison Pen Is Kind Indeed

BY CHRISTINE STUTZ

As public education and communications manager for the Maryland Poison Emily Paterson Center (MPC) at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, Emily Paterson, MPH, CHES, educates the public about poisons in their environment, how to prevent poisonings, and the services of the MPC. With 6.3 million Maryland residents and only two people on the MPC’s public education and communications team, Paterson maximizes her impact through social media, webinars, and community partnerships to spread the MPC’s poisoning prevention and awareness messages. She also trains medical professionals and large groups — at health fairs and other community events — to spread the information as widely as possible.

“Building partnerships is very important for us,” she says. “[Partner organizations] have the time and the bond in the community to impart this information.”

One of those important partnerships, Paterson says, is Safe Kids Carroll County, a program of the Carroll County Health Department, which always includes MPC materials and messaging. “We have trained their educators in half-day ‘train the trainer’ events,” she says, touching on topics such as poisoning risk factors for different age groups.

At a recent Safe Kids Day, the MPC hosted a table with coloring sheets and fun activities to teach children and their families about poison prevention. Through Paterson, the MPC also participates in an annual health fair for students and employees at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. “It’s nice to be in that community setting,” she says, “because people feel like they can talk to you and ask questions that they may be too scared to call about.”

Paterson “works smarter,” says Angel Bivens, BS Pharm, MBA, CSPI, managing director of the MPC. “She understands the ways that the MPC fits into public health organizations around the state and that these partnerships are an important way to reach [many] people.”

Since 1972, the MPC has served as an essential health care resource, providing 24/7 expert guidance to Marylanders, and

now Washington, D.C., through its 1-800 helpline. Pharmacists and nurses respond to callers dealing with poisoning emergencies and questions. In 2024, the MPC managed more than 37,000 cases, including almost 30,000 human exposures and about 7,000 requests for information.

In April 2025, Prince George’s and Montgomery counties and the District of Columbia were added to the MPC’s service area.

Social media trends and changes in federal and state policies and laws, like the legalization of recreational cannabis in Maryland, also increase call volume, widening the demand for Paterson’s community outreach.

Her social media expertise allows the MPC to reach thousands with a single message. She manages the MPC’s Facebook, X, Instagram, and YouTube accounts and she writes a blog and bimonthly newsletter, Poison Prevention Press.

To reach older Marylanders, Paterson trains student ambassadors from the School of Pharmacy to take the MPC’s knowledge to senior centers, where they stress the importance of careful tracking of the seniors’ medications.

A swim instructor in her youth, with a passion for health literacy, Paterson gravitated to community health education to have “the best of both worlds,” she says. She received a BS in Community Health at Salisbury University before earning her Master of Public Health from the University of Maryland, College Park.

A Certified Health Education Specialist, Paterson is the current past co-chair of the Educators Advisory Council for America’s Poison Centers and a board member and education and training liaison for the Partnership for a Safer Maryland.

After seven years at the MPC, Paterson says her work is very fulfilling. “I enjoy making a difference in the community by educating people about poison prevention and awareness of the services we provide,” she says. “With such a diverse population, it’s important to reach people where they are.”

Bivens praises Paterson’s ability to speak in plain language to help eliminate medical jargon in the Maryland Poison Center's messaging.

“She takes very complicated topics and makes them understandable, without making it simplistic,” says Bivens.

“She’s a very gifted communicator.”

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STUDENT NEWS

Back to School Backpack Drive Students and faculty donated backpacks and school supplies to a local elementary school to kick off the new school year in late August.

Angel Lynne Galutira, Class of 2027 (left), and Cherokee Layson-Wolf, PharmD ’00, BCACP, FAPhA, professor in the Department of Practice, Sciences, and Health Outcomes Research.

From left: Andrew Friscia, Class of 2027, Kelsey Roland and Jonathan Kim of the Class of 2028, and Arthur Pasqualini, Class of 2027.

Immunization Awareness Month Teamwork makes the shots work! The American Pharmacists Association-Academy of Student Pharmacists Operation Immunization crew showed up in green for National Immunization Awareness Month in August to spread awareness and celebrate the power of vaccines. Protecting our communities, one dose at a time.

American Pharmacists Month The School’s American Pharmacists Association-Academy of Student Pharmacists chapter and the Student Government Association set up a thank you card table in Pharmacy Hall to celebrate faculty members during American Pharmacists Month in October. Thank you cards and homemade cupcakes were presented to faculty. From left: Arthur Pasqualini, Class of 2027; Kathleen “Katy” Pincus, PharmD ’09, associate professor in the Department of Practice, Sciences, and Health Outcomes Research; and Abby Le, Class of 2027.

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Food for Thought with Howard UMSOP’s chapter of the Student National Pharmacists Association hosted the Howard University College of Pharmacy’s student chapter for a Lunch and Learn session in Pharmacy Hall in October.

Members of the chapters practiced mock consultations and grew together as future pharmacists.

Healthy Halloween PharmD students from several Student Government Association organizations visited Mother Mary Lange Catholic School in Baltimore on Halloween to educate students in pre-K through 8th grade about healthy habits.

From left: Andrea Sequeira, Class of 2028; Abby Le, Class of 2027; Alexander Rah and Nadeem Jaheer, Class of 2028; Angel Lynne Galutira, Class of 2027; Jonathan Kim, Emily Wong, Matteo Capuano, Camila Medina, Johana Boby, Kelly Pham, and Alyssa Toni, Class of 2028; and Konstantinos Magoulas, Class of 2029.

From left: Amiya Jenkins, Haim Lee, and Solomon Jenkins of the Class of 2028.

From left: Matteo Capuano, Solomon Jenkins, and Alyssa Toni of the Class of 2028 promote healthy hand hygiene.

Lemonade Stand The student chapter of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy hosted a Lemonade Stand fundraiser in October for the National Breast Cancer Foundation. From left: Alyssa Toni, Class of 2028, and Gabrielle Guy and Nimrat Sangha, Class of 2027.

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STUDENT NEWS

Founders Week Fun Members of the UMSOP Student Government Association attended the Student Cookout in October as part of the University of Maryland, Baltimore’s Founders Week celebrations.

Rho Chi Dean’s List Academic excellence was celebrated on Nov. 14 at the Rho Chi Honor Society’s annual Dean’s List dinner, which recognized PharmD students who earned a 3.5 or higher GPA for both fall and spring semesters in the 2024-2025 academic year.

Feeding the Needy In November, members of Students Promoting Awareness (SPA) volunteered at the Maryland Food Bank, taking time out of their busy student schedules to help those in need. SPA boxed 11,200 pounds of food to distribute to food pantries in the Baltimore area.

SPA members Daniela Anconeira, Class of 2028 (far left), Albert Walker, Class of 2027 (fifth from the left), and Angel Lynne Galutira, Class of 2027 (third from right) with other volunteers.

Class of 2029 Bake Sale The PharmD Class of 2029 hosted a bake sale in November to raise funds for their class activities. From left: Renee Ofori, Mary Hall, Dayra Beltran, and Irene Kwak.

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Holy Mission Members of Christian Pharmacists Fellowship International volunteered in November at the St. Vincent de Paul Beans & Bread Center, donating essential items, taking blood pressure, providing medical referrals, and offering medication reviews.

SGA Spirit Week Students showed their UMSOP spirit during Spirit Week, Oct. 27-31, with theme days including Twin Day, Alumni Day, and Halloween Costume Day.

Breanna Chidebelu, Class of 2028, and Gabriele Miksa, Samantha Swope, Hannah Kokinda, and Salma Hegazy, of the Class of 2029, show off their undergraduate alumni sweatshirts.

Allison Froderman (left) and Rachel Karlowitz of the Class of 2028.

Jonathan Kim (left) and Matteo Capuano of the Class of 2028.

Blankets and Brownies The School’s chapter of the Pediatric Pharmacy Association hosted a Blankets and Brownies event on Nov. 17 in Pharmacy Hall, where they enjoyed brownies and made 17 blankets to donate to patients at the University of Maryland Children’s Hospital, with faculty and staff donating the blanket-making supplies.

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STUDENT NEWS

In an Emergency, RxSTAT UMSOP debuted a new Student Government Organization on Dec. 1 with the first General Body Meeting of RxSTAT, which is affiliated with the Academy of Emergency Medicine Pharmacists (AEMP). The organization’s goals are to increase awareness of emergency medicine pharmacy as a career path, create opportunities for PharmD students to engage in emergency medicine-focused education, research, and professional activities, foster mentorship and networking between students and pharmacy residents/fellows and practicing pharmacists, and serve as a direct link to national RxSTAT initiatives and AEMP opportunities.

UMB Involvement Fair Students from the University of Maryland, Baltimore’s (UMB) student chapter of the International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology (ISPE) participated in a tabling event at UMB’s 2025 Campus Involvement Fair Sept. 12, where they connected with new and returning students, highlighted the chapter’s mission, and sparked interest in joining the community.

From left: Yujia Li, L. Yesenia Rodriguez Tanta, and Xujun Gu, all PhD in Pharmaceutical Health Services Research students.

Trivia Night Students in the PhD in Pharmaceutical Health Services Research program who represent the student chapters of the International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology (ISPE) and ISPOR, the Professional Society for Health Economics and Outcomes Research, sponsored an engaging Trivia Night on Dec. 4. Students and faculty challenged their knowledge on scientific methods related to epidemiology and economic outcomes.

From left: Hyung-Seok Kim, L. Yesenia Rodriguez Tanta, Yueh-Yi Chiang, Tien Tran, Chia-Yun Hsu, Mu-Chun Chiu, Yujia Li, Yu-Hua Fu, Susan dosReis, BSPharm, PhD ’99, professor in the Department of Practice, Sciences, and Health Outcomes Research (P-SHOR), Wendy Camelo Castillo, MD, PhD, MSc, assistant professor of P-SHOR, Sanaya Shenoy, Fengdi Zhang, Xujun Gu, and Taraneh Mousavi.

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Gathering AAPS-PSC Community The School's student chapter of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) and the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences (PSC) hosted a fall-themed coffee hour on Nov. 4 to bring together students, faculty, and staff for coffee, tea, and seasonal pastries while connecting as a community.

Capstone Commitment Students in the School's MS in Pharmaceutical Sciences (PSC) program presented their capstone projects on Dec. 12 at a podium and poster presentation event in Pharmacy Hall. The 16-month full-time program culminates with a biopharmaceutical research internship with a researcher or scientist mentor from the University, pharmaceutical or biotechnology industry, or government agency. This internship will help students gain handson experience in the laboratory, while equipping them with the knowledge and skills needed to succeed in a variety of research and leadership positions after graduation.

Maharshi Patel, an MS in PSC student, presents his biopharmaceutical internship research to Daniel Deredge, PhD, assistant professor of PSC.

MS in PSC students with program director Steven Fletcher, PhD, professor of pharmaceutical sciences (front center), and Scott Riley, PhD, instructor in pharmaceutical sciences (back center).

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STUDENT NEWS

Student Laurels The following students in the PhD in Pharmaceutical Health Services Research (PHSR) Program received Student Travel Scholarships: • Yueh-Yi Chiang, BSPharm • Yu-Hua Fu, PharmD, MS • Dominique Seo, MPH The following students in the PhD in PHSR Program received its Donald O. Fedder Memorial Scholarship: • Xujun Gu, MSPH • Lynn (Pei-Lin) Huang, MHS • Taraneh Mousavi, PharmD • John Rizk, BSPharm, MSc • Tien Tran, PharmD, MPH The following student pharmacists received letters of commendation from Johns Hopkins Hospital for exemplifying professionalism and commitment to patient care during extended winter weather in January.

• Camila Batiz Ortiz • Maerielle Batugo • Solomon Jenkins • Ariana Murgor • Israel Sebbag • Andrea Sequeira The School of Pharmacy’s student chapter of ISPOR — The Professional Society for Health Economics and Outcomes Research received the 2025 Outstanding Student Chapter Award at the ISPOR Europe Meeting in November in Scotland.

Mahder Abate, a student in the PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences (PSC) Program, received a travel award to attend the 2026 annual meeting of the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics in May. Ryan Baldeo, MPAS, MSPC, PA-C, a student in the PhD in Palliative Care Program, has been selected as a member of the Guideline Expert Panel for the 5th Edition of the National Consensus Project Clinical Practice Guidelines for Quality Palliative Care.

Daniel Butz and Zachary Geesaman, both fourth-year PharmD students, won the 2025 American Society of Health-System Pharmacists’ Local Clinical Skills Competition and participated in the national competition in December.

Jennifer Contreras, MPH, and Uzma Pathan, BPharm, MPharm, MS, students in the PhD in PHSR Program, received the Arthur Schwartz Memorial Scholarship.

Tiffany Frimpong, a first-year student pharmacist, has received an American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Walmart Community Pharmacy Scholarship.

Xujun Gu, MSPH, a student in the PhD in PHSR Program, received a $5,000 Challenge Award from the PhRMA Foundation.

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Hyung-Seok “John” Kim, MHS, a student in the PhD in PHSR Program, was selected for the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB)/AstraZeneca Health Economics & Payer Evidence Fellowship in Oncology Market Access and Pricing for 2025-2027.

Yujia Li, MS, a student in the PhD in PHSR Program, received its Harris Zuckerman Scholarship Award.

Brandon Lowe, a student in the PhD in PSC Program, has received a one-year, $10,000 contract from the American Foundation for Pharmaceutical Education for “Design, Synthesis, and Biological Evaluation of Non-Hydroxamate-Based, Selective Histone Deacetylase 8 (HDAC8) Inhibitors.” Lowe and Rutu Valapil, a student in the PhD in PSC Program, received Graduate Merit Awards from the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Taraneh Mousavi, PharmD, a PhD student in the PHSR Program, completed a summer internship in policy and research at Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.

Sabina Nyangwechi, a second-year student pharmacist, has been named a Provost’s Global Scholar by UMB. John Rizk, BSPharm, MSc, a student in the PhD in PHSR Program, received the Outstanding Student Award from the Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drugs Section of the American Public Health Association at its annual meeting in Washington, D.C., in November.

Dominique Seo, MPH, a student in the PhD in PHSR Program, has been named chair of ISPOR — The Professional Society for Health Economics and Outcomes Research’s Student Network.

Mingzhe Shen and Madison Worth, students in the PhD in PSC Program, received Graduate Fellowship Awards from the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Becca Snyder, MN, APRN, AGPNP-BC, ACHPN, a student in the PhD in Palliative Care Program, began a three-year term on the Hospice and Palliative Credentialing Center’s Board of Directors.

Tien Tran, PharmD, MPH, a student in the PhD in PHSR Program, received the Greg Alexander Outstanding Student Paper Award from the Maternal and Child Health Section at the 153rd Annual Meeting of the American Public Health Association in November 2025. He also has been selected as an editorial fellow for the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s JCO Clinical Cancer Informatics journal.

Yuly Chiang Yu, a student in the PhD in PSC Program, was recognized as an Outstanding Early Career Scientist by the Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences.

PRECEPTOR PROFILE

A Passion for Solving Problems

BY MEREDITH LIDARD KLEEMAN

Yogitha Pazhani

Yogitha Pazhani, PharmD ’19, a clinical pharmacy specialist at MedStar Good Samaritan Hospital (MGSH) and a preceptor for the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy (UMSOP), is an innovative problem-solver.

She sharpened those skills as a student at UMSOP. In her first year of pharmacy school, Pazhani was helping to plan a roundtable event hosted by the School’s student chapter of the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP).

The event “is basically a large networking opportunity,” Pazhani says. “I felt I was very underprepared for it.” Pazhani remembers being told by professors how important networking skills are. “Being an introvert, talking to people I don’t know at large networking events is difficult for me,” she says. “One of my professors mentioned during a lecture that he also struggles with this at conferences and learned ways over the years to help him out.”

Pazhani imagined that other students might feel the same way. “I got the idea to create a workshop for networking to help everyone out,” she says. Pazhani reached out to that professor to organize a workshop to help students prepare for the upcoming roundtable. The workshop had simulated activities that would help students learn the small, yet critical skills necessary to successfully network, such as how to politely enter a group of people chatting and how to politely exit that group.

Pazhani brings that same innovative, problem-solving spirit to her work as a preceptor at MGSH. After her first year as a preceptor where experienced professionals oversee PharmD students on their rotations, Pazhani noticed there were limited resources for new preceptors on how to build a student rotation experience with standardized learning experiences at the site.

“I started putting together a manual, which became the basis for the student curriculum at MGSH,” Pazhani says. “It started as a set of standards, to ensure every student who comes through is getting similar rotation experiences and learning opportunities.”

MGSH students select an interesting patient case or journal club, and give an oral presentation on it. “The fourth year of pharmacy school is a good opportunity to master and develop analytical and critical thinking skills,” Pazhani says. Preceptors also host weekly North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination topic discussions and can participate in a preceptor development series.

Allison Chilipko, PharmD ’09, BCPS, BCGP, director of clinical pharmacy services at MGSH, was one of Pazhani’s former preceptors and is now her supervisor. “I precepted Yogitha on a pharmacy administration rotation and hired her at MGSH,” Chilipko says. “It has been a pleasure to see her grow and come full circle from student to preceptor to student curriculum developer to enhance our experiential learning program.”

As a preceptor for the acute care general medicine advanced pharmacy practice experience, Pazhani helps students “bridge their didactic knowledge with real-world patient care applications,” says Tuan Huynh, PharmD ’11, AAHIVP, HIVPCP, assistant director of UMSOP’s Experiential Learning Program. “She focuses on supporting students’ learning while inspiring them to be their best selves during rotations. Yogitha is consistently available to answer questions and provides timely, constructive feedback to foster growth, both clinically and professionally.”

Pazhani’s dedication and enthusiasm as a preceptor earns her high praise from students. Huynh reports that one student called her “the best preceptor I’ve had during my pharmacy career.”

Another shared that “Dr. Pazhani displayed skills as a first-year preceptor that I would expect from a lifelong preceptor.”

But Pazhani is quick to credit others, including her fellow students at UMSOP and her colleagues at MGSH. “A lot of the ideas come from me pushing this through and orchestrating parts of it,” she acknowledges. “But the student curriculum has only been running and has had success because other preceptors here have been open to it.”

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ALUMNI PROFILE

Doing a Number While Finding Joy

BY GWEN FARISS NEWMAN

Janet Edwards, BSP, MS ’21, is a talker — by her own admission — and loves people.

These traits have served her well both

Janet Edwards

personally and professionally.

Edwards, an alumna of the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy’s (UMSOP) Master of Science (MS) in Regulatory Science program, graduated from the University of North Carolina (UNC) Eshelman School of Pharmacy in 1995. Although experiencing retail pharmacy and hospital pharmacy, her interests were strongest in the pharmaceutical industry.

At UNC, Edwards had internships at numerous pharmaceutical companies. There was one poll question she asked almost everyone she met: “Are you happy?”

Finding those in the pharmaceutical industry had a high level of happiness given the flexibility to change paths if they chose, without having to go back to school necessarily, Edwards forged her future path.

Now, Edwards – who lives in Washington, D.C. – is a senior account specialist with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), where she’s been for 28 years. GSK has offered a robust respiratory pipeline that has been a disease state of most interest to Edwards because of its impact on so many lives. It’s also allowed her to mix her love of economics (her father was an accountant) with health, business, and science.

Over the years, Edwards took on a growing array of sales and account management roles to better position GSK’s products and assist health care professionals in making informed decisions for their patients.

An academically gifted student who showed a natural talent for leadership, serving as her high school class president for three years and student body president in her hometown of Siler City, N.C., Edwards also has looked both retrospectively and prospectively at previous interests and future aspirations.

Edwards had an interest in regulatory science, in addition to pharmaceutical sales, in college. In 2019, she decided to honor that interest by pursuing an MS in Regulatory Science at UMSOP. That

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decision was supported by a mentor who saw her as the go-getter she is, always open to change and craving immersive experiences.

Because the MS program is 100 percent online, Edwards could easily remain on course while working full time and maintaining her personal and professional obligations. Not even the COVID-19 pandemic could alter her warm feelings of being at home and in good care at UMSOP. “The MS in Regulatory Science shapes my sales and regulatory activities by adhering to a highly regulated marketplace that is everchanging,” says Edwards. “We’re navigating a new world, and I get excited about the totality of it all. I ask, ‘How can I be a part of the solutions in health care to better help patients?’ The needle is always moving, and I knew it was never going to be stagnant, but rather always interesting and exciting.”

That excitement dates to her last two years of high school, when Edwards participated in the Leadership Education and Development (LEAD) program in business. Thirty students from across the country were paired with mentors at premier universities and immersed in case presentations and visits to government agencies and businesses. That grew into roles in pharmacy school with the Student National Pharmaceutical Association (including chapter president) and induction into the Rho Chi Pharmacy Honor Society as a UMSOP student.

Currently Edwards relishes being vice chair of the UNC Eshelman Foundation board and secretary of the UMSOP Alumni Association Council. “I love interacting with alumni from both institutions, sharing my experience and networking with students," she says. "Being able to see where students have landed, learn of the experiences they're having, and what they aspire to be brings great joy.”

This natural evolution allows Edwards to use her passion to speak about novel medications to health care professionals, mentor students, and volunteer with pharmacy alumni.

The icing on the cake? “I get to interact with a wide range of people — physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and students. And I know I'm also helping patients at the end of every day.”

Her advice to students? “I look at a job like others look for a home. You'll know it in your gut. Observe. Ask questions. Be open to new opportunities. You'll know intuitively if it’s for you.”

ALUMNI NEWS

ISPE Alumni and Friends Event Students and alumni from the PhD in Pharmaceutical Health Services Research (PHSR) Program gathered during the International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology (ISPE) 41st Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., in August 2025. This event was supported by the School of Pharmacy’s Office of Development and Alumni Affairs, the University of Maryland, Baltimore’s ISPE student chapter and the chapter advisors — Susan dosReis, BSPharm, PhD ’99, professor in the Department of Practice, Sciences, and Health Outcomes Research (P-SHOR), and Wendy Camelo Castillo, MD, PhD, MSc, assistant professor of P-SHOR — bringing together current trainees, recent graduates, and faculty members. This event showcased the School’s influence in pharmacoepidemiology and real-world evidence research and provided a space for mentorship, networking, and reconnecting with colleagues.

American Conference on Pharmacometrics The University of Maryland School of Pharmacy hosted a reception at the American Conference on Pharmacometrics in Denver in October 2025, which attracted students, alumni, faculty, and partners from across the pharmacometrics community. More than 50 guests attended, including current students in the School’s MS in Pharmacometrics and MS in AI for Drug Development (AIDD) programs, alumni, collaborators, affiliate faculty, and faculty members from the School’s Center for Translational Medicine (CTM). During the reception, faculty shared updates on CTM’s strategic goals and highlighted the launch of the new MS in AIDD Program.

Blown Away by Support for School The School of Pharmacy’s David Stewart Associates (DSA) Society members gathered Nov. 13, 2025, for a donor recognition event at Corradetti Glassblowing Studio. Donors enjoyed the opportunity to reconnect while watching a live glassblowing demonstration by the studio’s artisans. The DSA was founded in the mid-1980s in honor of David Stewart, the nation’s first professor of pharmacy and one of the School of Pharmacy’s founders. Members of this prestigious group, who make an annual gift of $1,000 or more to the School, recognize the importance of sustained leadership giving to provide a solid base of private support and ensure the School’s continued prominence.

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ALUMNI NEWS

Staying Connected The School of Pharmacy’s biennial Grad Gathering took place on Oct. 17, 2025, bringing together more than 180 students, faculty, alumni, and industry professionals to celebrate innovation, research, and alumni impact. The event featured keynote speakers, panel discussions on emerging trends, student research showcases, and opportunities for networking across the School’s graduate programs. The Grad Gathering culminated with a happy hour at La Cuchara in Baltimore.

Class Notes 1984

Matthew Shimoda, PharmD, dean of the Notre Dame of Maryland University School of Pharmacy and Health Professions, was appointed to the Maryland Board of Pharmacy.

2007

1992

2011

Lynette Bradley-Baker, BSP, PhD ’99, received the United States Pharmacopeia President’s Award at the organization’s convention in May 2025.

1998

Soumi Saha, PharmD, received the Gold Stevie Award for Female Thought Leader of the Year – Business Products at the Women in Business Awards.

Erin Doxtater, PharmD, obtained the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists’ (ASHP) Compounded Sterile Preparations Professional Certificate for Pharmacists.

Jeremy Cundiff, PharmD, was appointed an independent pharmacist commissioner on the Maryland Board of Pharmacy.

Deanna Tran, PharmD, received a 2026 American Pharmacists Association Distinguished Achievement Award in Service.

Barry Flannelly, PharmD, was named independent director of PharmaEssentia USA Corp.

2012

2002

Jen Hardesty, PharmD, has obtained certification from the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists as an age-friendly pharmacist.

2004

Melissa Mannion, PharmD, started a position at Jones Day as counsel in the Health Care and Life Sciences Practice.

2015

Brandon Keith, PharmD, was reappointed to the ASHP’s Section of Specialty Pharmacy Practitioners Advisory Group on Operational and Workforce Development.

Sharon Park, PharmD, was a co-recipient of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy’s 2025 Rufus A. Lyman Award.

Elisabet Tassis, PharmD, started a position as global associate medical director of dermatology at Sanofi.

2005

2016

Hoai-An Truong, PharmD, received the University of Maryland Eastern Shore School of Pharmacy and Health Professions' Faculty of the Year Award from the Class of 2027 and was sworn in as the 2025-2026 president of Phi Lambda Sigma.

2006

Joseph LaRochelle, PharmD, received the American College of Clinical Pharmacy’s Pediatrics Practice and Research Network Outstanding Practitioner Award.

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Christopher St. Clair, PharmD, started a position as senior principal scientist at Clinical Outcomes Solutions.

2017

Shailly Mehrotra, PhD, started a position as senior director of quantitative clinical pharmacology at Takeda.

Charles Ng, PharmD, started a position as lead pharmacist, Specialty Pharmacy at Penn Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Health System.

2019

Renadin Siagat, PharmD, received the U.S. Medical Affairs Excellence Award for the AIR Team at Chiesi USA, Inc., and was elected president of the Cameroonian Pharmacists Association USA.

2021

C. Sheree Almonte, MS, has started a psychotherapy private practice.

2022

Shanetha Marable-Lewis, MS, was named among the 2025 Women in Business Trailblazers: Revolutionizing Mental Health by the Center Club.

Brandon Smith, PharmD, received certification as a critical care pharmacist from the Board of Pharmacy Specialties.

2023

Alexandra Howell, PharmD, started a position as an ICU clinical pharmacist at Innova Health.

Karen Jaynes, MS, started a new role as scientific roundtable member and scientific educator at the Swiss Institute for Medical Cannabis Research.

Chintal Shah, PhD, began a term as chair of the ISPOR New Professionals Steering Committee.

2024

Matthew Hursey, PhD, started a position as a senior scientist at Alcami Corp.

MESSAGE FROM ALUMNI AFFAIRS

Sharing Our Strengths, Strengthening Our Community

Greer Griffith

One of the greatest gifts of the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy’s (UMSOP) alumni community is the tremendous range of strengths, talents, and experiences you collectively hold as PharmD, PhD, and MS graduates. From community pharmacy to pharmaceuticals, palliative care, and medical cannabis, each of you carry skills shaped by your time as a UMSOP student, skills that continue to grow as you advance in your personal and professional lives.

Our alumni also share a deep pride in belonging to one of the nation’s oldest and most respected schools of pharmacy. That pride comes not only from your individual accomplishments, but from being part of a community known for excellence, innovation, and leadership in every corner of the profession.

As we look ahead, we invite you to share your strengths with other alumni and students in ways that feel meaningful to you. Whether it’s mentoring a student, offering career insights and expertise, or reconnecting with fellow alumni, your contributions strengthen the network that has supported generations of educators, researchers, clinicians, and health care leaders.

When we share our collective expertise and influence, we elevate our School of Pharmacy community. These contributions open doors, spark ideas, and help to ensure that UMSOP remains a place where innovation thrives and we work together to collaboratively and equitably improve the health of society.

Thank you for being part of our proud University of Maryland School of Pharmacy community, where expertise is not only celebrated but shared. If you're interested in getting more involved, we’d be delighted to help you find the right opportunity. Please reach out anytime.

Warmly,

Greer Griffith, MS Executive Director, Office of Development and Alumni Affairs 410-706-5893 | ggriffith@rx.umaryland.edu

In Memoriam The University of Maryland School of Pharmacy honors the lives and memories of the following alumni who passed away between Jan. 1, 2025, and June 30, 2025. We are grateful to each of these alumni for the lasting impact they made on the School community and the advances they achieved in education, research, or practice.

Michael N. Blazejak, BSP ’82 Carl M. Caplan, BSP ’59 James E. Crouse, BSP ’59 Samuel M. Halpern, BSP ’52 Stanley B. Karmiol, BSP ’55

Thomas H. Keller Jr., BSP ’63 Stephen P. Levin, BSP ’63 Glenn W. Nash, BSP ’68 Carole S. Schagrin, BSP ’63 Howard R. Schiff, BSP ’56

Alan R. Stoff, BSP ’70 M. Eugene Streett, BSP ’52 Kathleen L. Trunk, BSP ’69

If you would like to make a memorial gift, please use the enclosed giving envelope or call 410-706-5893.

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DONOR PROFILE

Giving Back in Various Ways

BY CHRISTIANNA MCCAUSLAND

Cynthia J. Boyle, PharmD ’96, FAPhA, FNAP, FASCP, remembers the early days of pharmacy Cynthia J. Boyle preceptor training in the late 1990s.

“Our national organization had four videotapes on how to be a preceptor,” she recalls. “Some of the information is probably still valid today, but it wasn't a structured curriculum, and it wasn’t accessible.”

After graduating from the University of Oklahoma with a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy, Boyle had a 30-year career in community, health system, and consulting pharmacy. She then enrolled at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy (UMSOP) to earn her Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) degree. She joined the faculty as an assistant professor and assistant director of the Experiential Learning Program (ELP) in 1999. Boyle explains that students’ experiential learning then was shifting from an unstructured internship to a structured curriculum with standard requirements for licensure. Today, experiential education accounts for more than 30 percent of the four-year PharmD curriculum.

Having been a preceptor herself, Boyle understood what it was like to work with pharmacy students, fitting them into your practice.

“We sought excellence, quality, and rigor; we didn't want students merely serving time,” she says. She also created opportunities for preceptors to network, for their own professional development, and to be recognized. In 2004, she launched UMSOP’s Academy of Preceptors (AOP), designed to recognize preceptor excellence, improve experiential course delivery, and develop teaching skills among volunteer clinical faculty.

During the next 20 years, Boyle became executive director of ELP, a full professor, and director of continuing education. In 2011, she moved to the University of Maryland Eastern Shore School of Pharmacy and Health Professions as a professor and department chair. She served as interim dean for a year before returning to UMSOP. She retired in 2022 and was awarded professor emerita status, but her passion for experiential learning has not waned. Recently, she established an endowment that supports ELP and the AOP. 36

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Greer Griffith, MS, executive director of development and alumni affairs, explains that funding is for leadership trainings, professional travel stipends for preceptors of the year, student recognition awards, and activities that encourage student growth and practice proficiency.

“We not only are deeply grateful for Dr. Boyle’s generous support but also for engaging with us to develop a first of its kind endowment for the School that supports this important component of our PharmD educational experience,” says Griffith. “We welcome all ideas from donors regarding establishing new funds that support the educational, research, practice, and community work that is a hallmark of UMSOP.” Today, the School partners with more than 875 active preceptors across diverse practice settings. They work with pharmacy students on introductory and advanced pharmacy practice experiences.

“Preceptors are the cornerstone of experiential education,” says Mojdeh Heavner, PharmD ’08, BCCCP, FCCM, FCCP, assistant dean for experiential learning and professor in the Department of Practice, Sciences, and Health Outcomes Research. “They bridge classroom learning with real-world practice, shaping students’ clinical judgment, professionalism, and confidence. Their mentorship and guidance are critical to preparing graduates for the complexities of person-centered care.”

Boyle says that experiential rotations are where students “not only develop competence in the profession, but confidence.” And though she and her husband, Raymond Love, PharmD ’77, BCPP, FASHP, also a UMSOP professor emeritus, have been philanthropic to the School in many ways, she knew there was a need to support the AOP and provide a gift that might inspire others. “Pharmacists are hardworking people but if they have saved and know that their needs are covered, then there is an opportunity to give — and those pooled efforts have impact,” she explains.

Boyle has fond memories of how the AOP under her leadership recognized preceptors’ contributions, from a preceptor event at the National Aquarium to providing preceptors regalia to wear at graduation. Now, she explains, the best thing about her gift is she can see her contributions being deployed. Such as the immense success of the AOP, which in 2025 drew nearly 100 attendees, underscoring its sustained relevance and impact.

MESSAGE FROM DEVELOPMENT

A Generous Dose of Thanks “To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.” ­­— Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ken Boyden

The University of Maryland School of Pharmacy enjoys the generosity of our alumni and friends through a variety of giving methods. For example, our David Stewart Associates (DSA) is a group of supporters who each year make contributions to the School at the $1,000 level or higher. Every year we enjoy the opportunity to say thank you to these donors at our annual DSA receptions and through other valuable interactions.

The School’s Legacy Council allows us to thank those supporters today who have made financial estate accommodations that will result in certain assets being transferred to the School upon their passing. We are uniquely grateful for our Legacy Council supporters since they have effectively listed the School of Pharmacy in their life planning akin to a family member status, a remarkable honor.

Our former and current members of the School’s Board of Visitors give generously of their time and wisdom, which is of incredible value to the School and our mission. Additionally, we have numerous Annual Fund donors who choose to support areas of highest import to them, such as scholarships, fellowships, faculty support, research, Pharmapreneurship, or the greatest needs of the School of Pharmacy.

In prior Capsule columns, I shared various ways of tax-wise giving to the School, such as donor advised funds, transfers of highly appreciated securities (held for more than one year), bequests, and charitable trusts. However, I am pleased to take this opportunity to say thank you to our many friends, alumni, and supporters who have given to the School in 2025 irrespective of the giving method.

Without your valued and important contributions, whether through financial support, gifts of time, or the sharing of your counsel and guidance, the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy would not be the leading institution that we are today.

If you have yet to make your contribution, please consider making your gift today by using the enclosed giving envelope or by visiting pharmacy.umaryland.edu and clicking on the Donate box in the upper right corner. You also can reach out to me directly at kboyden@rx.umaryland.edu to discuss your giving goals.

Your support will benefit our students, our faculty, our research, and our mission to improve health care. Such support and association are deeply appreciated.

Thank you,

Ken Boyden, JD, EdD Associate Dean, Office of Development and Alumni Affairs 410-706-4415 | kboyden@rx.umaryland.edu

Nonprofit Organization U.S. Postage

PAID Permit No. 4695 Baltimore, Maryland

20 N. Pine Street Baltimore, MD 21201-1180

Looking to advance your career?

In addition to the Doctor of Pharmacy degree, the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy (UMSOP) offers highly competitive, research-based master’s, PhD, and certificate programs that equip students with the knowledge and skills to launch successful careers or advance in the pharmaceutical and health care industries, academia, and the federal government. Available online, hybrid, and in-person, UMSOP’s programs deliver exceptional value by preparing graduates for high-demand, rewarding careers, turning your education into a career advantage.

• • • • • • • • • • • • •

Graduate Certificates in Palliative Care Graduate Certificate in Regulatory Science Graduate Certificate in Medical Cannabis, Therapeutics, and Policy MS in Artificial Intelligence for Drug Development MS in Medical Cannabis Science and Therapeutics MS in Palliative Care MS in Pharmaceutical Health Services Research MS in Pharmaceutical Sciences MS in Pharmacometrics MS in Regulatory Science PhD in Palliative Care PhD in Pharmaceutical Health Services Research PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences

Applications are being accepted for fall 2026.

Learn more and apply! pharmacy.umaryland.edu/admissions/