USC Pharmacy Results Magazine - Fall 2021 Issue

PUBLISHED BY THE USC SCHOOL OF PHARMACY

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UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

FALL 2021

FROM BENCH TO BEDSIDE How the school’s dynamic research environment fuels discovery, clinical application and innovation

EDITOR IN CHIEF

Michele Keller

MANAGING EDITOR

Susan L. Wampler

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Dora Dalton Stephanie Hedt Ron Mackovich Jenesse Miller Linda Wang Stan Wedeking DESIGN

Warren Group | Studio Deluxe PHOTOGRAPHY

Ed Carreon Isaac Mora Reynaldo Obrero Gus Ruelas Linda Wang COVER ILLUSTRATION

Stuart Bradford

© 2021 BY THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SCHOOL OF PHARMACY

Letters to the editor, questions, comments, address changes, requests to be added/ removed from the mailing list and all other inquiries should be addressed to:

Michele Keller

Director of Communications and Marketing USC School of Pharmacy 1985 Zonal Avenue – PSC 700 Los Angeles CA 90089-9121 kellermi@usc.edu 323-442-3497 PHARMACYSCHOOL.USC.EDU

DEAN

Vassilios Papadopoulos, DPharm, PhD, DSc (hon) BOARD OF COUNCILORS

David Neu, Chair Edward C. Abrahamian Anil “Neil” Badlani Melvin F. Baron Gale Bensussen Danielle C. Colayco William (Bill) Crown Daniel Gil Amy Gutierrez Dolly Harris William A. Heeres Dong Koo (D. K.) Kim Dianne Kwock Vinson Lee Sohail Masood Newell McElwee William Pih Robert Popovian Denis Portaro Jacque J. Sokolov Eileen C. Goodis Strom Khanh-Long (Ken) Thai Kelly Wilder

ABOUT THE USC SCHOOL OF PHARMACY One of the top pharmacy schools nationwide and the highest-ranked private school, the USC School of Pharmacy continues its century-long reputation for innovative programming, practice and collaboration.

The school created the nation’s first Doctor of Pharmacy program, the first clinical pharmacy program, the first clinical clerkships, the first doctorates in pharmaceutical economics and regulatory science, and the first PharmD/MBA dual-degree program, among other innovations in education, research and practice. The USC School of Pharmacy is the only private pharmacy school on a major health sciences campus, which facilitates partnerships with other health

professionals as well as new breakthroughs in care. It also is the only school of pharmacy that owns and operates five pharmacies.

The school is home to the D. K. Kim International Center for Regulatory Science at USC, the Titus Center for Medication Safety and Population Health, the Center for USC-Taiwan Translational Research, and the Center for Quantitative Drug and Disease Modeling, and is a partner in the USC Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics, the USC Institute for Addiction Science, the USC Ginsburg Institute for Biomedical Therapeutics, the Southern California Clinical and Translational Science Institute, and the USC Center for Drug

Discovery and Development. The school pioneered a national model of clinical pharmacy care through work in safety-net clinics throughout Southern California and is a leader in comprehensive medication management. The school is distinguished by its focus on encouraging innovation, building new research portfolios, increasing diversity and preparing students for the careers of tomorrow.

Results magazine, published semi-annually, highlights some of the school’s latest advances and achievements, as well as the faculty, students, alumni and donors who make this work possible.

Creating New Knowledge USC is among a small number of premier research institutions on which the nation depends for a steady stream of new knowledge, innovations and discovery. Since the School of Pharmacy’s inception, our faculty has produced research aimed at preventing, detecting and curing diseases and improving human health. Our multidisciplinary investigations include collaborations with colleagues on the USC Health Sciences Campus and at other top academic institutions across the country and around the globe.

Our faculty members routinely earn significant grants from the National Institutes of Health and other federal and state agencies as well as philanthropic foundations and corporations. They share groundbreaking findings in leading scientific journals and at major academic conferences. Their impactful research informs policymaking and enhancements to the regulatory process.

Students throughout the school’s four departments and in our undergraduate programs enjoy meaningful opportunities to conduct research with impact. Our alumni are frequently recognized for their notable scholarly and leadership contributions.

During the pandemic, the school’s important research activities not only continued but also intensified. Many of our scientists added COVID-19 investigations to their research portfolios. Our health economists have provided essential analysis of testing and vaccine allocation strategies, vaccine hesitancy and mandates, and other critical issues. And our clinical pharmacists—along with alumni and students—have led vaccine-distribution efforts across Los Angeles.

As the world gained renewed appreciation for the importance of pharmaceutical advances, the role pharmacists play in promoting and protecting health, and the need to focus on value and impact in health policy and regulation, the USC School of Pharmacy continued doing what we always do. We focused on advancing the entire spectrum of pharmacy education, research and practice with the ultimate goal of making social impact.

Our cover story on the school’s research enterprise features just a few of the recent and noteworthy grants awarded to our extraordinary faculty. We also highlight the latest investments in state-of-the-art equipment suites and core laboratories, on page 31.

In this issue, we profile Erin Trish’s research and her new role as co-director of the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics—a partnership between the School of Pharmacy and the USC Price School of Public Policy.

Meanwhile, Co-director Dana Goldman has been named dean of the USC Price School of Public Policy (see page 27).

You’ll read about the new USC Institute for Addiction Science, co-led by Daryl Davies, associate dean for undergraduate education and director of the Alcohol and Brain Research Laboratory. We also introduce the leadership team for the new Titus Center for Medication Safety and Population Health.

We celebrated our students’ return to campus with back-to-back white coat ceremonies for the classes of 2024 and 2025. Commencement exercises were held at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for the first time in 70 years, recognizing this milestone for the classes of 2020 and 2021.

As we reunite on campus and I begin my second term as dean, I remain inspired by our school’s collective passion for research that can improve our world.

Your partnership helps the school create new knowledge.

Vassilios Papadopoulos, DPharm, PhD, DSc (hon) Dean, USC School of Pharmacy John Stauffer Decanal Chair in Pharmaceutical Sciences

Colored scanning electron micrograph of a 293T cell infected with HIV (yellow dots). Small spherical virus particles, visible on the surface, are in the process of budding from the cell membrane. Non-highlighted vesicles of uneven shape are exosomes, which are thought to be involved in cell communication and transmission of disease, and are under investigation as a means of drug delivery.

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Broad Spectrum 4 / OVERCOMING SUBSTANCE DEPENDENCE 5 / PHARMACIST, TEACHER, COMMUNITY BUILDER: MEL BARON 6 / EMERGING LEADER: ERIN TRISH 8 / 50 YEARS OF PHARMACY SERVICE: FRED WEISSMAN 9 / WHITE COAT CEREMONIES 10 / TITUS CENTER LEADERSHIP APPOINTMENTS Cover Story 12 / FROM BENCH TO BEDSIDE: THE SCHOOL’S RESEARCH ENTERPRISE Giving 20 / DISCOVERING THEIR FUTURES: SUPPORTING UNDERGRAD RESEARCH 21 / BADLANI JOINS BOARD OF COUNCILORS Alumni 22 / 25TH ANNUAL CPHA AWARDS 22 / SHANE HONORED WITH ASHP LECTURE 23 / REMEMBERING A TRAILBLAZING PHARMACIST 24 / CLASS NOTES Faculty 26 / ADDRESSING A GROWING NEED: MENTAL HEALTH PHARMACISTS 27 / GOLDMAN NAMED DEAN OF USC PRICE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY 27 / AWARDS AND HONORS 28 / PAPADOPOULOS FEATURED IN LEADING BIOLOGY JOURNAL 28 / NEW FACES

Contents

29 / INCREASING DIVERSITY IN IMMUNOGENOMICS 30 / OPIOID OVERDOSE RISK IN OLDER AMERICANS 31 / CORE SUPPORT: INVESTMENT IN LABORATORY FACILITIES Students 32 / STUDENT SPOTLIGHT: BROOKE PIGNERI 33 / NEW GRADUATE CERTIFICATE 33 / SCHOOL LAUNCHES NEW UNDERGRAD PROGRAMS 34 / COMBATING VACCINE HESITANCY 35 / A DAY OF FIRSTS: COMMENCEMENT 36 / PHOTO SHOP

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Zeyu (Angel) Zhang, research lab technician/supervisor for the Translational Research Lab and Histology Lab, checks cryovials in a nitrogen freezer for cell culturing.

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OVERCOMING SUBSTANCE DEPENDENCE To stem the tide of substance and alcohol use disorders, the USC School of Pharmacy is a key partner in the newly established USC Institute for Addiction Science (IAS), the nation’s first universitywide, comprehensive, transdisciplinary addiction institute. IAS brings together 77 faculty from nine colleges and schools, including medicine, social work, psychology, communication, public policy and engineering, in addition to pharmacy.

IAS aims to transform the field of addiction science to improve lives and free communities from the ravages of substance use and overdoses. By providing an infrastructure to support synergy and collaboration between scholars, IAS will generate innovative and impactful addiction research and educational

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programs that advance the science, prevention and treatment of addiction.

Pharmacy Leadership One of IAS’ leaders is Daryl Davies, professor of clinical pharmacy and director of the Alcohol and Brain Research Laboratory at USC. His research revolves around the development of novel treatments for alcohol use disorders (AUDs), third on the list of preventable causes of morbidity and mortality in the United States. The economic burden to society for AUDs is in excess of $220 billion annually.

To date, pharmacotherapies, even in conjunction with psychosocial strategies, have had limited success in treating AUDs, with approximately 70% of patients relapsing back into heavy drinking within

one year. Drug development for AUDs is a relatively young field compared to other diseases, such as cancer and cardiovascular and psychiatric disorders.

Thus development of new treatments for AUDs represents an important unmet medical need.

In response to this challenge, Davies and his team have focused on identifying molecular targets of alcohol action in the central nervous system. Recent findings from this work have resulted in specific targets for which therapeutic compounds have been designed and are currently under investigation.

Davies’ work—and that of numerous other School of Pharmacy faculty—will be bolstered and advanced by the school’s leadership role in the new institute.

Pharmacist, Teacher, Community Builder MEL BARON RETIRES AFTER SIX-DECADE CAREER A pharmacy innovator and honored educator, Melvin Baron, PharmD, MPA, retired in June 2021 after a remarkable 60-year career. He made significant contributions to the profession of pharmacy, reduced barriers to healthcare for underserved communities, and guided the careers of countless students and faculty members.

Following completion of his PharmD training at the USC School of Pharmacy in 1957, Baron established Shield Healthcare, a community pharmacy that he developed into an innovative home healthcare center providing infusion therapy, ostomy care, durable medical equipment, and respiratory and incontinence care. The company is now a national chain that provides home health services that Baron foresaw as an unmet patient need.

Baron joined the faculty part time in 1981 and became a full-time clinical faculty member in 1990. He directed the first-level externship program, which he helped create. He co-directed the pioneering PharmD/MBA Program and taught clerkships in Pharmacy Administration and Health Care Needs of Special Populations.

“Mel Baron didn’t believe in business as usual when it came to pharmacy,” Dean Vassilios Papadopoulos says. “He found new ways to reach vulnerable patients, took unique approaches to preparing students for their future careers, and was an invaluable leader and colleague at the school and across the profession.”

Champion of the Underserved Baron launched the school’s Health Literacy Program to improve health equity

Mel Baron didn’t believe in business as usual when it came to pharmacy.

He found new ways to reach vulnerable patients, took unique approaches to preparing students for their future careers, and was an invaluable leader and colleague at the school and across the profession.”

Dean Vassilios Papadopoulos

among low-literacy Latino populations.

Since its launch in 2000, the program has produced multiple fotonovelas and audio-visual novellas to explain complex health conditions and the need for care and screenings. These projects have garnered national attention, with thousands distributed to individuals in need.

In recognition of his accomplishments, Baron was named a fellow of the California Pharmacists Association (CPhA), American Pharmacists Association and American College of Apothecaries. In 2008, he earned CPhA’s Pharmacist of the Year honor and in 2021 was inducted into its Hall of Fame. He and several colleagues received the 2007 Pinnacle Award of the American Pharmacists Association and the 2009 Transformative Community Service Award of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy.

In 2011, Baron earned a Pinnacle Award for individual achievement.

The USC Mel and Lorraine Baron Endowed Scholarship Fund is accepting donations to honor Baron. He remains a member of the school’s Board of Councilors.

If you’d like to make a donation to the USC Mel and Lorraine Baron Endowed Scholarship Fund, contact Cheryl Stanovich at stanovic@usc.edu.

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Emerging Leader A health economist whose research focuses on the intersection of public policy and healthcare markets, Erin Trish is nationally renowned for her work on surprise medical billing, Medicare Part D and health insurance markets. After serving as associate director of the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Economics & Policy for the past several years, she was appointed co-director this fall. She serves alongside founding director Dana Goldman, who was recently appointed dean of the USC Price School of Public Policy (see story, page 27).

“I am confident that under the leadership of Erin Trish and Dana Goldman, the center will continue expanding its impact to improve health policy and delivery,” says Leonard D. Schaeffer, advisory board chair and center namesake. “Erin’s evidence-based research has already made meaningful contributions to informing public policy.”

Trish is an assistant professor of pharmaceutical and health economics at the USC School of Pharmacy.

In 2018, she received the American Journal of Managed Care’s Seema S. Sonnad Emerging Leader in Managed Care Research Award, which recognizes early-career achievements concerning managed care that demonstrate potential for long-term leadership contributions to the field.

Here, she talks about her latest research, her aims as Schaeffer Center co-director and more.

What attracted you to USC and the Schaeffer Center?

I came here as a postdoctoral fellow in 2013 because I wanted to be in a place that not only supports traditional research but also engages with policymakers and private-sector stakeholders. I was drawn to the unique opportunity to develop skills as a researcher and communicator and am grateful for the incredible mentorship and collegiality that I have experienced here.

You recently co-wrote a study on the cost of generic drugs in Medicare Part D participants. What did you find?

We found that Medicare could have saved over $2.6 billion in 2018 by simply buying common generic drugs at Costco. The problem is bad incentives and a complex supply chain. Though pharmacy benefit managers— who oversee prescription drug benefits for most Americans—are able to negotiate low prices for generic drugs, they don’t have the right incentives in place to pass those savings on to patients. Instead, Costco uses a streamlined distribution system and has strong incentives to deliver the lowest prices since customers are paying directly, just like with paper towels. Our work highlights the need for policymakers to address the issues in the supply chain, including bringing more transparency and competition to improve these incentives.

Your research has influenced nationwide legislation to shield patients from surprise medical bills.

Tell us about this work.

Patients who diligently seek providers from within their insurance networks can still get stuck with massive bills from emergencies and other situations where choice is not possible. Even for preapproved surgeries, patients seldom have a choice of ancillary clinicians—like anesthesiologists and radiologists—who may be out of network even though the hospital and surgeon are not. Most policymakers agreed that this was unfair to patients, but not on how to address the problem. Our research helped to move the debate forward by highlighting the market failures and evaluating the impact of potential policy solutions. Late last year, Congress passed the No Surprises Act, which will outlaw these bills starting in January 2022.

What are you looking forward to in your new role as co-director?

Leonard Schaeffer endowed our center to improve health and economic policy through rigorous, independent research. Helping fulfill his vision means a great deal to me, and I am honored to become co-director of the Schaeffer Center alongside my mentor Dana Goldman.

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50 Years of Pharmacy Service Fred Weissman has been an integral part of the USC School of Pharmacy for half a century.

His fellow faculty members have long looked to him for wise leadership and expertise in pharmacy law, and he has mentored generations of pharmacy students.

His service was exemplary and his retirement is well-deserved.”

Former Associate Dean Fred Weissman retires after decades as a dedicated teacher and renowned pharmacy law expert.

After 50 years of distinguished service to USC, Fred Weissman, PharmD, JD, retired in June 2021. As a professor of clinical pharmacy at the School of Pharmacy, he made countless contributions to the school and the pharmacy profession.

A second-generation pharmacist, Weissman earned a PharmD from USC in 1963. He practiced as a community pharmacist, hospital pharmacist and director of pharmacy services for St. Mary Medical Center in Long Beach, Calif. During the Vietnam War, he served as a military clinic pharmacist in Germany.

His passion for pharmacy education began with his appointment as a teaching assistant at the USC School of Pharmacy in 1965. He joined the faculty in 1970. In addition to ongoing teaching, Weissman held leadership roles at the school, including associate dean of academic and clinical affairs from 1998 to 2012, and associate dean of faculty and student affairs from 2012 to 2017.

“Fred Weissman has been an integral part of the USC School of Pharmacy

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Dean Vassilios Papadopoulos

for half a century,” Dean Vassilios Papadopoulos says. “His fellow faculty members have long looked to him for wise leadership and expertise in pharmacy law, and he has mentored generations of pharmacy students.

His service was exemplary and his retirement is well-deserved.”

Exceptional Expertise in Pharmacy Law Weissman earned a JD from Loyola Law School in 1989 and became widely known for his contributions to pharmacy law.

In addition to numerous articles on pharmacy law and the evolution of clinical pharmacy practice, in 1997 he published the first edition of A Guide to California Community Pharmacy Law. The 10th edition was published in 2021. He taught the pharmacy law course at USC for

more than 25 years, led pharmacy law board-review sessions at universities across the country, served as an expert adviser for major health systems and was involved in creation of the PharmD/JD dual-degree program at USC. His students honored him as an outstanding teacher of the year four times. He was selected as USC Pharmacy Alumnus of the Year in 2002 and was inducted into the California Pharmacists Association Hall of Fame in 2020.

His first wife, Adrianna “Terri” Weissman, who died in 2006, graduated from the School of Pharmacy in 1970.

If you’d like to make a donation to the USC Terri and Fred Weissman Endowed Scholarship Fund, contact Cheryl Stanovich at stanovic@usc.edu.

A Tradition Returns The treasured tradition of the annual white coat ceremony—marking the beginning of Doctor of Pharmacy students’ journey to joining the profession—returned to campus with a dual celebration for the classes of 2024 and 2025 in August.

The event was particularly poignant for the 181 members of the Class of 2024, who are entering their second year of the program but their first on campus.

Dean Vassilios Papadopoulos thanked the students for their leadership and vision during a time of uncertainty and hardship.

Looking to the Future The prominent role of pharmacists in the city and across the nation inspired many of the 192 members of the Class of 2025 to enter pharmacy school. Papadopoulos told the incoming class, “You have made a wise decision to study at a leading research university and at a school that is redefining the role of the pharmacist.”

At the morning ceremony for the Class of 2025, clinical pharmacist Komal Patel, PharmD ’04—who leads clinical product development at health technology company Catalia Health—served as alumni keynote speaker.

“Your career and your future are not bound by traditional norms,” Patel said. “Explore ideas on how to innovate pharmacy practice.”

Michael Pazirandeh, PharmD ’11, senior clinical value and outcomes liaison at Seattle Genetics, provided the afternoon’s alumni keynote address to the Class of 2024.

“During the city’s darkest COVID hour, you answered the call,” Pazirandeh said. “You volunteered at vaccine clinics in record numbers. You literally saved lives.”

OFFICE OF ADVANCEMENT

Congratulations on your White Coat Ceremony!

from Southern Oregon via livestream, said she was thrilled to spend time with her classmates in person, after initially meeting online and then volunteering at vaccine clinics last semester. “Now it’s like a reunion,” she said.

Second-year student Ieeshia Otarola said the in-person rite of passage was all the more meaningful after missing college graduation in spring 2020. “My grandmother and my sister flew in from Costa Rica just for this moment, so it really means a lot to me,” Otarola said.

“Today means a clean slate, a new start,” second-year student Jason Jang said. “I have this fire in my heart. Now is the moment we’re starting our journey of becoming a pharmacist.”

You have chosen a great profession. As you start your first step, remember it is a privilege to help people. Wear your coat proudly and with humility.

You will do good things for many people.

Enjoy the journey, and best of luck!

Lauren Kim, PharmD 1996

University of Southern California

Students each received a note from an alumnus encouraging them on their journey to becoming a pharmacist.

A Family Affair—In Person “I’m a first-generation college student and the first in my family to pursue a doctorate,” said second-year student Gilberto Peña. “Having my family out in the stands, them being able to see my accomplishments, it just means a lot to me.”

Kathryn Perkins, whose parents traveled from Washington state for the ceremony while her grandparents watched

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IMPROVING OUTCOMES, ENHANCING HEALTH EQUITY LEADERSHIP TEAM ANNOUNCED FOR TITUS CENTER FOR MEDICATION SAFETY AND POPULATION HEALTH

The COVID-19 pandemic has sharply highlighted the multiple barriers that vulnerable populations face when seeking access to quality healthcare.

To help ensure that patients receive optimal medication guidance and therapy that improves health and reduces the risk of harm, the USC School of Pharmacy’s new Titus Center for Medication Safety and Population Health will combine evidence, education and advocacy to make more effective use of community pharmacists.

Expanding pharmacists’ role to include medication management has been shown to better optimize treatment and improve outcomes for patients from underserved populations—who suffer disproportionally from common chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and asthma.

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The center will be led by Steven W. Chen, a national leader in expanding the scope of pharmacy practice to improve patient outcomes and save healthcare dollars. Clinician and data scientist D. Steven Fox will serve as the center’s research head and co-director.

“Dr. Chen is an expert in designing and implementing innovative clinical pharmacy practice models and a tireless advocate for utilizing the pharmacist as an integral member of the healthcare team—and Dr. Fox is a superb clinician-health analyst,” Dean Vassilios Papadopoulos says. “Together, they’ll set the tone for the center, whose high-impact mission is to create healthier communities while making healthcare more affordable.”

Founded in March 2021, the Titus Center is built on earlier foundational work conducted in partnership with key government and commercial entities, including the Health Resources and Services Administration, Patient Safety and Clinical Pharmacy Services Collaborative, Federally Qualified Health Centers, several California health plans and numerous community pharmacies.

Those partnerships, supported by more than $18 million in foundation and government funding, demonstrated pharmacists’ tremendous value in improving population health outcomes.

“Over $528 billion of avoidable spending occurs each year in the U.S. due to preventable harm or inadequate treatment from medication, accounting for the third leading cause of death,” notes Chen, associate dean for clinical affairs and the William A. and Josephine A. Heeres Chair in Community Pharmacy.

“The Titus Center will create opportunities for pharmacists to ensure that all patients, regardless of their socioeconomic status, can attain optimal results from medication therapy, leading to healthier and more productive lives,” he adds. “The services and research supported by the center will also address the social determinants of physical and mental health through delivering care that is culturally and linguistically appropriate.”

The Titus Center will advance training and initiatives to ensure pharmacists deliver high-value clinical services such as comprehensive medication management.

“Medications usually can’t cure chronic diseases, but almost 90% of chronic conditions require carefully targeted medications to achieve optimal control,” Chen says. “We must get those medications right in order to keep patients healthy and out of the hospital.” Center initiatives include cuttingedge technological solutions for improving medication therapy efficacy and safety.

Driving those efforts to advance sustainable and scalable programs

Efforts to reduce prescription drug prices tend to focus on brandSteven W. Chen

The Titus Center will create opportunities for pharmacists to ensure that all patients, regardless of their socioeconomic status, can attain optimal results from medication therapy, leading to healthier and more productive lives.”

Steven W. Chen

name medicines,

D. Steven Fox

requires reliable evidence, including scientifically rigorous evaluations of each program’s health outcomes. That analysis will be led by Fox, assistant research professor in the school’s Department of Pharmaceutical and Health Economics.

“The center will create a sustainable infrastructure for collaboration among researchers, policymakers, practitioners, healthcare system leaders, patients and communities,” Fox says. “That infrastructure will enable the center to rapidly test potential innovations in real-world settings and scale up those that provide effective and equitable solutions.”

A faculty member at the school since 1998, Chen has been among the leaders in expanding the school’s footprint in safety-net clinics throughout Southern California, providing disease management and medication consultative services to vulnerable populations by teams of clinical pharmacists, residents and students. He was a co-investigator on the largest grant ever received by the school, a $12 million innovation grant from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services that aimed to improve medication use and safety and access to primary care among underserved populations. Building on that work, he founded the California Right Meds Collaborative, an innovative healthcare solution that partners physicians with pharmacists to save time, money and lives.

The Titus Center is named after USC alumna Susie Titus, who died in February 2020 and gave $5 million from her estate to the school.

but the opaque pharmaceutical supply system can also cause health plans and taxpayers to overpay for generics.”

Geoffrey Joyce, chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical and Health Economics at the School of Pharmacy and director of health policy at the USC Schaeffer Center, in a July U.S. News & World Report story about the center’s finding that Medicare Part D plans paid 21% more in 2018 compared to Costco member prices for the same generic drugs Coverage of the new study was also picked up by CNN, C-SPAN, Forbes and numerous other local and national media outlets.

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FROM BENCH TO BEDSIDE HOW THE SCHOOL'S DYNAMIC RESEARCH ENVIRONMENT FUELS DISCOVERY, CLINICAL APPLICATION AND INNOVATION

By Susan L. Wampler

While COVID-19 brought a dramatic reminder of the importance of biomedical innovation, pharmaceutical research has driven advances in healthcare throughout history.

Creation of a smallpox vaccine in 1796, discovery of the world’s first antibiotic in 1929 and development in the 1990s of new classes of antiretroviral drugs to treat AIDS are just a few examples of research that has saved and extended millions of lives.

This drive to improve human health has remained at the heart of the USC School of Pharmacy’s mission since its founding in 1905. The school’s four departments— Clinical Pharmacy, Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Pharmaceutical and Health Economics, and Regulatory and Quality Sciences—provide a singular and dynamic environment for laboratory discovery, translational breakthroughs, clinical applications, policy solutions and regulatory innovation.

Here, we showcase just a few of the latest significant grants and research achievements of the school’s faculty.

FULL SPECTRUM “The school is unique in that we’re not just one discipline,” notes Annie Wong-Beringer, associate dean for research. “Our research extends from basic discovery to experimental therapeutics—and all the way to clinical trials and implementation and analysis of impact. We cover the entire spectrum of pharmaceutical discovery and health application.”

The School of Pharmacy’s research enterprise has been rewarded with significant grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF), Department of Defense, and other government agencies and philanthropic foundations as well as contracts from the pharmaceutical industry that support the school’s collaborative approaches to

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Stan Louie Professor, Clinical Pharmacy ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

$1.6 million+ from the Department of Defense to promote nonfibrotic healing in an ocular globe injury model

the virus but the inflammation caused by the virus that triggers cancer. My lab recently had a paper accepted in a highimpact journal that shows that if you stop inflammation, you can stop cancer.

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What’s the main focus of your research?

What keeps you at USC?

Recent grant

I work on understanding how the body heals wounds. If we can understand that, perhaps we can prevent people from aging or getting conditions like Alzheimer’s or blindness. We’re working on developing drugs to promote regeneration.

It’s the people I work with at the School of Pharmacy and the USC Ginsburg Institute for Biomedical Therapeutics. I am on the team with Mark Humayun that created the world’s first artificial retina. I’m developing compounds to stop the cause of blindness, and we have three agents in •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• either preclinical or late clinical trials or in What attracted you to this line of research? human studies. One of the drugs, applied topically, can repair the eye without I started out investigating viruses, such as causing fibrosis—something no other drug those that cause HIV and cancer. What we has been shown to do. found, interestingly enough, is that it’s not

drug development, targeting, delivery and discovery. Faculty members share their findings in top scientific journals and at major conferences. Their analysis informs new legislation and helps shape regulatory policy. A dozen faculty members hold patents, many of which have been licensed to industry.

INTERDISCIPLINARY PARTNERSHIPS “Our interdisciplinary environment fosters leading-edge research and strengthens the school’s dedication to revolutionizing healthcare through discoveries and innovations that enhance people’s lives,” says Papadopoulos, who with his team has successfully grown human testosteroneproducing cells in the lab, paving the way

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to someday treating low testosterone with personalized replacement cells.

In addition to the Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles County + USC Medical Center, Keck Hospital and the Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, alliances across USC include the Viterbi School of Engineering, Price School of Public Policy, Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, and Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. However, School of Pharmacy research initiatives extend far beyond campus and California, with numerous external academic and industry partnerships across the nation and around the world.

Frequent local collaborators include Caltech, Cedars-Sinai, City of Hope, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Kaiser Permanente School of Medicine and RAND Corp.

LONGSTANDING CONTRIBUTIONS The school’s faculty members have long been recognized for their groundbreaking contributions—from University Professor Jean Chen Shih’s influential work illuminating how the brain enzyme monoamine oxidase (MAO) affects behavior to Enrique Cadenas’ study of the molecular mechanisms inherent in brain aging and Alzheimer’s disease.

Shih is the Boyd and Elsie Welin Professor, and Cadenas holds the Charles Krown/ Alumni Professor of Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Julio Camarero, the John A. Biles Professor in Pharmaceutical Sciences, won one of the first NIH “big idea” awards to “encourage projects so original that they have the potential to challenge fundamental beliefs.”

Houda Alachkar Assistant Professor, Clinical Pharmacy ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Recent grant Five-year, $1.79 million grant from the NIH for a study that could lead to advancements in personalized treatments for acute myeloid leukemia.

RESEARCH CENTERS The School of Pharmacy’s mission of innovation includes major research centers, institutes and partnerships that drive discovery, improve access to quality, cost-effective healthcare, and lead the convergence of science, healthcare and policy: •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

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USC Institute for Addiction Science

How would you describe your research?

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Basically, I do translational and functional genomics. The big goal is to identify therapeutic targets from samples from public data and translate those advances to patient care.

Center for Drug Discovery and Development

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What is the big problem you’re trying to solve?

Currently, the overall survival rate for patients with acute myeloid leukemia is less than 30%.

This outcome is significantly worse for older patients. There’s a high need to identify new therapeutic targets to improve outcomes for all patients with this disease.

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Why is USC a great place to do your work?

Being in the School of Pharmacy allows me to collaborate with biochemists, pharmaceutical scientists and bioengineers, which helps us formulate targets into therapeutic approaches and strategies. We’re also in close proximity to the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, which helps us validate our findings with patient cohorts and bring ideas from patients to study in the lab. The interaction with clinicians, hematologists and oncologists is absolutely vital.

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USC Ginsburg Institute for Biomedical Therapeutics •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

D. K. Kim International Center for Regulatory Science •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Center for Quantitative Drug and Disease Modeling •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Southern California Clinical and Translational Science Institute •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Titus Center for Medication Safety and Population Health •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Center for USC-Taiwan Translational Research

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Annie Wong-Beringer Associate Dean, Research Professor, Clinical Pharmacy ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

What are the major problems you’re trying to solve?

Staph aureus is a skin bacterium that we all have, and it’s a leading cause of bloodstream infection. One out of three people with the best treatment currently available will continue to grow the bacteria in the blood, which is problematic because it not only gets seeded into other organs but such patients also will have a much higher likelihood of death. By better understanding the host and pathogen interaction, we can improve how we direct treatment.

Geoffrey Joyce Chair and Associate Professor, Department of Pharmaceutical and Health Economics ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

What are the key problems you’re trying to solve?

I focus on applying economics to the pharmaceutical industry, the decisions people make about consuming prescription drugs and the impact of drugs on their health. Drugs are very expensive and they should be priced based on their value instead of demand or what a firm can charge. So I am working on how to bring value to the healthcare space, particularly in pharmaceutical pricing.

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Zhipeng Lu Assistant Professor, Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Recent grant Five-year, $2 million+ R35 grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences to develop new chemical and computational tools to study RNA structures ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

What’s the main focus of your research?

My lab focuses on RNA machines in living cells. We develop and apply novel technologies to understand the structures and functions of RNA molecules in basic cellular processes, with the ultimate goal of treating human diseases, including genetic disorders, cancers and viral infections.

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Why is this work important?

RNA viruses include coronaviruses, Zika, HIV, Ebola and many others that cause terrible diseases. We’re studying their structures and interactions with the host, and we hope to unravel a totally different direction for drug discovery.

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Why did you choose USC? USC is a really nice place to do research, and we already have lots of collaborations. The school is very supportive of our work, and we have colleagues to help with research, grant writing and publication.

He recently earned a new patent for a novel cyclotide for potential use in treating cancer and heart attack.

economic wellbeing of minority elderly populations with Alzheimer’s disease.

Meanwhile, Clay Wang, chair of the Department of Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences, and collaborators at Jet Propulsion Laboratory garnered a grant from NASA to launch a pioneering study of fungi in outer space.

RAPIDLY GROWING PORTFOLIO

Under the leadership of founding director Dana Goldman, the Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics has received more than $64.5 million in government funding since its inception in 2009. More than $6 million of that amount is from NIH funding through the prestigious Resource Centers for Minority Aging Research (RCMAR) program. USC-RCMAR supports pilot projects by junior scholars focused on addressing disparities in the health and

In just the past two years, the school has secured numerous major grants as well.

With $3.6 million in support from Arnold Ventures, Erin Trish, co-director of the Schaeffer Center, serves as principal investigator on a portfolio of research and policy projects to improve understanding of rising healthcare spending by taking a data-driven look at provider prices, market consolidation, private equity, consumer costs, and the patchwork of state and federal laws that attempt to offer solutions.

Hygeia Centennial Chair Dima Qato’s recent study revealing that pharmacy deserts disproportionately affect Black and Latino

Carla Blieden and Richard Dang Assistant Professors, Clinical Pharmacy ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

What have you learned from the COVID-19 vaccination clinics?

Through our COVID-19 vaccination efforts, we’ve become even more familiar with areas in Los Angeles that would benefit from the types of health services that the school has long provided.

We will take these best practices and target our wellness events at the locations that need us most.

We’ve also been able to demonstrate the value of having a pharmacist on the team to the point where our partners request a pharmacist at every vaccination site. We presented a poster, “School of Pharmacy Led Interdisciplinary Mass COVID-19 Vaccination Program for a Large Urban City,” on these efforts at the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy’s annual meeting.

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residents was funded by the National Institute on Aging and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Paul Beringer Chair and Professor, Titus Family Department of Clinical Pharmacy ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

What is the main focus of your research?

I started working on cystic fibrosis research in 1996, when the life expectancy for someone with the disease was 28 years.

Now it’s pushing 50 years of age. In 2019, a new therapy was introduced that corrects the gene defect, resulting in significant improvement in lung function. But because the drug gets broken down by the liver, the therapy is contraindicated for some patients. My lab received funding from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation for a clinical trial to validate an alternative drug.

Serghei Mangul was awarded a $750,000 grant from the NSF in March to develop scalable bioinformatics methods to study the immune response, and another NSF grant of $199,000 in July. He aims to create robust, data-driven, computational approaches to improve human health.

Paul Beringer, chair of the Titus Family Department of Clinical Pharmacy and an expert in cystic fibrosis, earned a $335,000 grant from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in April.

Last year, Jianming Xie received a two-year, $460,000 R21 grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for an HIV study. He also was recently awarded two grants from the Ming Hsieh Institute and a Technology Advancement Grant for his work in developing treatments for acute myeloid leukemia.

Bangyan Stiles and collaborators at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering garnered a $636,000 NIH grant to develop statistical methods that aggregate small datasets to extend their value.

William Padula Assistant Professor, Pharmaceutical and Health Economics ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Tell us about your research.

I focus on comparing the value of different treatments as well as on modeling the use of pharmaceuticals and new surgical techniques to evaluate the most effective treatments for patients so they get the best-quality care for the best value.

Many of the school’s faculty members added COVID-19 investigations to their portfolio over the past two years. Beringer and colleagues are developing a peptide treatment for COVID-19 pneumonia. William Padula is examining the importance of testing for COVID-19 to understand asymptomatic infection as well as the association between national concentrations of registered nurses and mortality from the disease.

Wong-Beringer, Houda Alachkar, Mangul, Emi Minejima and collaborators are exploring T cell repertoire changes in infected subjects. Wong-Beringer and Minejima are also studying secondary bacterial infections in patients hospitalized for COVID-19. Stan Louie is evaluating the anti-hypertension drug telmisartan for treating COVID-19.

“The school’s research enterprise continues to evolve and grow,” Papadopoulos says. “Our commitment to improve lives remains constant.”

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Yong (Tiger) Zhang Assistant Professor, Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

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Recent grants

What makes USC a good setting for your work?

Four-year, $2 million+ R01 NIH grant to reprogram exosomes for biomedical applications; five-year, $1.9 million NIH General Medical Sciences grant to advance understanding of complex ADP-ribosylation processes ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

What’s the main challenge addressed by your current research?

Scientists used to think that exosomes— small vesicles secreted by cells—were just dumpsters of excreted waste. In the last 10 years, though, we’ve realized that these extracellular vesicles mediate communications between cells and organs throughout the body. This is the mechanism through which cancer and other diseases metastasize to invade tissues and organs.

But if diseases can be communicated in this way, why can’t we also use exosomes to reach affected areas with curative therapies?

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How are you designing these new therapies?

Exosomes can recognize immune cells as well as tumor cells. We are using this knowledge to generate innovative, exosome-based therapeutics to both target and treat cancer. Since vesicles can carry certain nucleic acid-based therapeutics, the technology could also potentially be used for neurodegenerative diseases.

At USC, I can recruit the most talented postdocs and graduate students. Without their hard work, we cannot be successful.

Here we also have access to world-class facilities and great collaborators—including clinical physicians and immunologists from the Keck School of Medicine, who can help study the therapeutic effectiveness of the exosomes we generate.

Eunjoo Pacifici Chair and Associate Professor, Department of Regulatory and Quality Sciences ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

What is the focus of your work?

In addition to our top-flight educational initiatives, the Department of Regulatory and Quality Sciences maintains a hub for research groups that develop new products for unmet medical needs. We have an affiliation with the Southern California Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute, which focuses on improving health outcomes for diverse communities.

Our Regulatory Science Consulting Center enables students to build expertise by working alongside faculty and other specialists in helping innovators navigate regulatory matters.

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Discovering Their Futures SCHOOL COMMITTED TO FOSTERING STUDENT INTEREST IN LABORATORY SCIENCE Educational excellence and innovative research are vital pillars of the School of Pharmacy’s mission to improve health. For talented undergraduates, those aspects intersect in the laboratory of Daryl Davies, associate dean for undergraduate education and professor of clinical pharmacy in the Titus Family Department of Clinical Pharmacy.

Through his watchful mentorship, they learn by partnering in discovery at a level that most peer institutions reserve for graduate students.

However, this commitment to providing the finest in pharmacy education and training relies on the school’s ability to offer meaningful financial support. Scholarships have always been central to USC’s long tradition of opportunity and access and are vital to maintaining a high-achieving and diverse student population.

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Fostering Students’ Passions It can be challenging for a student to attend their first-choice university, knowing that it might mean increased student or parental loan debt, part-time jobs, and potential lost opportunities for full participation in academic and student life on campus. This can be especially true for those from lower-income and underrepresented backgrounds.

The School of Pharmacy is committed to helping students explore their futures through laboratory science instead of depending on day jobs that can take crucial time away from their studies and achieving their goals. Philanthropic investment in undergraduate research scholarships can help the school add leading-edge scientific investigations to the experiences enjoyed by these gifted and motivated students.

Investing in Talent “Drug discovery—the process of identifying a disease target and then working through the process of developing new drugs—is an ever-growing field,” Davies says. “It’s one thing for undergraduate students to study basic scientific methods, discoveries and so on in a class.

But it is an entirely different process to learn firsthand by building hypotheses, conducting experiments, analyzing data and all the other lab activities necessary for advancing human health.”

In Davies’ lab, undergraduates aid in developing innovative pharmaceutical and natural products for treating alcohol-use disorders, liver disease and neurodegenerative conditions. They gain experience in using animal and cellular models as they see how Davies conducts studies that translate into clinical benefits.

“Most importantly, it teaches them to work as a team,” Davies explains. “Science is a highly collaborative venture. And as they gain more expertise, they pass that knowledge on to new students in the lab.

The mentee becomes the mentor.”

In summer 2021, Davies engaged nine undergraduates in his laboratory. “It’s a huge undertaking,” he says, “but the long-term benefit to the students as future pharmacists or scientists is well worth the effort.”

A new undergraduate research initiative is underway at the School of Pharmacy, with students receiving foundational training in hands-on laboratory practices and methods before they begin working in labs throughout the school. This strategy will help promote and elevate the acceptance of undergraduate students in ongoing research labs at the school. “It is a win-win situation,” Davies says. “The students gain confidence in their research capabilities. The faculty who bring these students into their labs have the confidence that they are getting well-trained, well-prepared candidates.”

BADLANI JOINS BOARD OF COUNCILORS

Assistant Professor Amanda Burkhardt works with students in the lab.

“I look forward to each day I spend in the lab and I learn new things every day,” says Master of Science student Carson Folk, who began building his research expertise as an undergraduate under Davies’ guidance. “The lab is very helpful for undergraduate students who want some exposure to the pharmaceutical industry without getting an internship and for those who do not get a lot of lab exposure in class.”

Support for this initiative will brighten the futures of undergraduate students—and lead to healthier lives for generations to come as these budding innovators build on their experiences in the lab and the exemplary education they receive at the USC School of Pharmacy.

Contact Cheryl Stanovich, chief development officer, at stanovic@usc.edu to learn more.

Science is a highly collaborative venture. And as [students] gain more expertise, they pass that knowledge on to new students in the lab.

The mentee becomes the mentor.”

Daryl Davies, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education

Anil “Neil” Badlani has joined the school’s Board of Councilors.

He is CEO of Health Specialty, a Food and Drug Administrationapproved contract manufacturing skin and hair care company based in Santa Fe Springs, Calif. He has more than 20 years’ experience in the health and beauty industry and has developed dozens of skin and hair care formulations available in salons and on pharmacy shelves.

Previous experience includes owning a compounding pharmacy and serving as pharmacy manager at American Drug Stores.

Badlani received his pharmacy degree from the Bombay College of Pharmacy and an MBA from the USC Marshall School of Business.

G IVING TU E S DAY Support the USC School of Pharmacy on this global day of giving!

Make a gift online at pharmacyschool.usc.edu/giving •••

November 30, 2021

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25TH ANNUAL CPHA AWARDS

SHANE HONORED WITH ASHP LECTURE

USC School of Pharmacy alumni were well-represented at the California Pharmacists Association’s (CPhA) 25th annual California Pharmacy Hall of Fame banquet in June.

Danielle Colayco— PharmD ’08, MS Pharmaceutical Economics and Policy ’10, member of the USC School of Pharmacy’s Board of Councilors—received the CPhA Excellence in Innovation Award.

The award, which is co-sponsored by the National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations, recognizes a pharmacist who has demonstrated innovative pharmacy practice resulting in improved patient care or a significant impact on the profession.

Among those inducted as CPhA fellows were Richard Dang, PharmD ’13, assistant professor of clinical pharmacy and 2021–22 CPhA president; Tony Dao, PharmD ’12, pharmacy informatics specialist at Children’s Health Orange County; and Ken Thai, PharmD ’02, member of the USC School of Pharmacy’s Board of Councilors and 2019– 20 CPhA president.

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Rita Shane, PharmD ’78— chief pharmacy officer at Cedars-Sinai— presented the ASHP’s 2021 William A. Zellmer Lecture in October. The award honors Zellmer’s contributions to policy development, advocacy, planning and communications during his career with ASHP. The lecture is given by a distinguished individual who has demonstrated exceptional leadership in advancing healthcare-related public policy that has improved the safety and effectiveness of medication use through the engagement of pharmacists.

Danielle Colayco

Richard Dang

Shane’s extensive contributions to the scientific literature have been influential in raising the awareness of state and national healthcare decision-makers about the critical role that pharmacists play as patient care providers. In 2018, Shane co-authored Senate Bill 1254 with California State Senator Jeffrey Stone. The legislation requires pharmacy staff to obtain medication lists for high-risk patients upon admission.

Tony Dao

The rescheduled Alumni Gala has been set for

SUNDAY, MARCH 6, 2022 Ken Thai

The Langham, Pasadena For tickets and more information, contact Mayra Martinez Bonilla at mayra.martinezbonilla@usc.edu or visit pharmacyschool.usc.edu/gala.

Remembering a Trailblazing Pharmacist Pharmacists Association’s Pharmacy Hall of Fame in 2018.

Outside of work, Bridgeforth enjoyed traveling the world and toured all 63 national parks in the U.S. She was a founding member of Bel-Vue Community Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles, and was active in local politics, serving as an officer on South Los Angeles’ Harbor Gateway North District Neighborhood Council.

“She lived a life in service to others,” Connie says. “She was a warrior woman with a heart of gold.”

Neodros Vernyta Bridgeforth ’52, the second African American woman to graduate from the USC School of Pharmacy, died October 13, 2017, at age 88. A trailblazer and community leader, Bridgeforth had a 60-year career in pharmacy.

“My mother was a force of nature,” says her son, Ronnie Bridgeforth.

Born in Jefferson, Ark., the eighth of 10 children, Bridgeforth exceled in school and after eighth grade was sent to continue her education in Pine Bluff, Ark., since no local high schools allowed African American students at the time.

At age 14, she moved to Los Angeles, where she had a transformative encounter with a pharmacist.

“She wandered into a pharmacy one day and the pharmacist asked if she wanted a milkshake,” Ronnie says. “He then asked her if she wanted to help him roll pills and told

She lived a life in service to others. She was a warrior woman with a heart of gold.”

Connie Bridgeforth-Coulter

her that she could become a pharmacist one day if she wanted to.”

“My mom was going through a dark period in her life but, from that day on, she felt like she had a direction and life goal,” says Connie Bridgeforth-Coulter, Bridgeforth’s daughter.

Bridgeforth graduated from high school, completed prerequisite courses at Los Angeles City College and enrolled in the USC School of Pharmacy when only a handful of African American students attended the school.

“She went to school during the day and did filing work at night,” Ronnie says, “but she persisted and she graduated.”

Her pharmacy career began at Thrifty Payless (now Rite Aid). In 1966, she opened her first independent pharmacy, Southend Pharmacy, in Compton, Calif. She went on to own or co-own three additional independent pharmacies in South Los Angeles and, working closely with local doctors, provided an important service to the community she loved.

“The stores served as an experiential training ground for many young people, including many of our extended family members,” Connie says. “She was a mentor figure to so many in our community.”

Throughout her pharmacy career, she helped meet the needs of underserved populations and was active in various pharmacy associations. She was inducted posthumously into the California

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class notes We want to hear from you! Submit your updates and career news to pharmacyschool.usc.edu/class-notes to be included in the next edition of Class Notes.

1950 s Shelton Shue Jann, PharmD ’58, is a retired pharmacist living in San Francisco.

19 7 0 s Bruce Ellinoy, PharmD ’70, retired in 2008 after a 37-year career at Los Angeles County+USC Medical Center as a critical care pharmacist.

Jim Roache, PharmD ’70, is president of Pharmacy Solutions Inc. Daniel Kenney, PharmD ’71, is enjoying retirement with his wife, Lorry, after a busy pharmacy career. He also served as mayor of Laguna Beach, Calif., for two terms in the 1980s.

Lawrence Cohen, PharmD ’78, retired in early 2021 after more than 40 years in pharmacy, medical education and practice. He was most recently a professor of pharmacotherapy at the University of North Texas Health Science Center.

B. Joseph Guglielmo, PharmD ’78, is retiring as dean of the University of California, San Francisco, School of Pharmacy.

Ettie Rosenberg, PharmD ’79, JD, is a professor and assistant dean of student affairs at West Coast University School of Pharmacy.

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1980 s

Benjamin Schatzman, PharmD ’96, is principal, U.S. strategy, at Market Access Transformation.

Kathleen Besinque, PharmD ’82, is a professor and director of experiential programs at Chapman University.

Stella Abnous Abramian, PharmD ’97, is an outpatient pharmacist at Providence Health.

Dorothy Wong, PharmD ’86, is an oncology pharmacist at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center.

1990 s Jacqueline Valdez-Bedikian, PharmD ’90, is pharmacistin-charge at Western Drug.

Reginald Gregorio, PharmD ’91, is a pharmacist specialist at Kaiser Permanente.

David Martin, PharmD ’91, is president and CEO of TrippBio Inc., a biotechnology company that identifies new applications for existing drugs to treat viruses.

Ricardo Trejo, PharmD ’91, is a pharmacy manager at Zweber Apothecary.

Mahshid Naini Aalam, PharmD ’93, is a clinical pharmacist/ HIV specialist at AIDS Healthcare Foundation Pharmacy.

Delia Dueñas Hernandez, PharmD ’93, is a clinical coordinator at Adventist Health Glendale.

Jinghua Wang, PhD Pharmaceutical Sciences ’95, is a professor of pharmaceutical sciences and associate dean of research and global advancement at Western University of Health Sciences.

Alfredo Sancho, PhD Pharmacology ’98, MPH, is a health scientist administrator at the National Institutes of Health.

Dennis Kim, PharmD ’99, is an inpatient pharmacy director at Kaiser Permanente.

Nancy Ryu, PharmD ’99, is a pharmacy supervisor at Loma Linda University Medical Center.

2000 s Dipika Patel, PharmD ’00, is owner of Health Complex Pharmacy.

Sharon Jhawar, PharmD ’01, is chief pharmacy officer at SCAN Health Plan.

Liza Eriguel-de Jesus, PharmD ’04, is an ambulatory care pharmacist at Kaiser Permanente.

Linda Simonian, PharmD ’04, is owner of ASAP Pharmacy, which specializes in providing pharmacy services to hospices.

Emily Wang, PharmD ’05, is a pharmacy manager at Rite Aid. Jia Dong, PharmD ’06, is a pharmacist at Walgreens.

Sarica Klein, PharmD ’06, is national director, field medical affairs, hematology, at Sobi North America.

Robert Poolsawat, PharmD ’06, is a senior medical science liaison at pharmaceutical company UCB. Amber Miller, PharmD ’09, is a critical care pharmacist at Antelope Valley Hospital and an assistant clinical professor of pharmacy practice at the University of the Pacific.

Chris Farina, MS Management of Drug Development ’16, is vice president of operations and chief of staff at Abcentra, a biopharmaceutical company developing new drugs for cardiovascular diseases.

Christy Harutunian, PharmD ’16, is senior manager of clinical development aesthetics at AbbVie.

20 10 s

Karey Kowalski, PharmD ’16, is associate director of clinical pharmacology at Pfizer.

Mary Miao, PharmD ’11, is an oncology medical science liaison at AstraZeneca.

20 20 s

Toan Vo, PharmD ’11, MS Regulatory Science ’11, is senior product lead at Genentech.

Lily Yip, PharmD ’11, is a medication therapy management pharmacist at Sansum Clinic.

Duane Mauzey, DRSc ’12, is director of regulatory affairs at Dynavax Technologies Corp. and an adjunct assistant professor for the USC School of Pharmacy’s Department of Regulatory and Quality Sciences.

Nick Mordwinkin, PhD Pharmaceutical Sciences ’12, is senior director of corporate development at Gilead Sciences Inc. John Ko, PharmD ’13, MS Regulatory Science ’13, is senior director of global value and evidence strategy at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals.

Andy Gelejian, PharmD ’15, is director of specialty pharmacy operations at California Specialty Pharmacy.

Hana Gelman, PharmD ’20, is a pharmacist at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles Specialty Pharmacy.

Craig Luis, PharmD ’20, MS Regulatory Science ’20, is a senior regulatory affairs associate at Gilead Sciences Inc. Kathleen Nakamura, PharmD ’20, is a staff pharmacist at Capsule Pharmacy.

Xiaodi Yang, MS Healthcare Decision Analysis ’20, is a strategic consulting associate at the National Kidney Foundation.

Hao Guo, PhD Pharmaceutical Sciences ’21, is a senior associate scientist at Amgen.

Nikitha Kolapalli, PharmD, MS Healthcare Decision Analysis ’21, is a senior associate at Deallus.

IN MEMORIAM

Ida Mitsuko Kada Watanabe, BS ’50, passed away at home June 17, 2021, in Santa Monica, Calif.

Mary Navarro Howey, BS ’51, passed away December 20, 2020, at age 91. She was owner of Kelly Pharmacy in downtown Los Angeles.

Dennis A. Petersen, PharmD ’72, lost his battle with cancer in Clovis, Calif., in October. He practiced pharmacy in Temecula, Calif., until his retirement.

Fred Mock, PharmD ’81, passed away April 28, 2021. He was a clinical pharmacist at Huntington Hospital for the past 15 years and loved mentoring pharmacy students. Just last year, he was honored as the “Most Knowledgeable Preceptor” by USC. Harold Cenideza, PharmD ’04, passed away in August at age 43. He had served as the nightshift pharmacist at Torrance Memorial since his graduation from the school.

Jimmy Nguyen, PharmD ’16, a clinical pharmacist at OptumRx, passed away unexpectedly in October.

Thomas M. Gilman, who was an associate professor at the USC School of Pharmacy for 20 years, starting in 1976, has passed away.

Matthew Lien, PharmD ’21, MS Healthcare Decision Analysis ’21, is senior analyst, global health technology assessment, at Intuitive.

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Addressing a Growing Need for Mental Health Pharmacists Approximately 1 in 5 adults experiences a mental health condition annually, and fewer than half of all patients with a psychiatric disorder receive treatment. Meanwhile, the U.S. has a severe shortage of behavioral health providers.

In an article published in Psychiatry Online, Lisa Goldstone— associate professor of clinical pharmacy and president of the College of Psychiatric and Neurologic Pharmacists—and co-authors outline a solution: Board-certified psychiatric pharmacists (BCPPs) can be more extensively leveraged as a collaborative solution to the mental health and substance-use disorder crises.

“As this specialty continues to grow, the involvement of BCPPs in care can be optimized to meet the common goal of expanding access, improving outcomes and minimizing costs of care,” Goldstone says.

In existence for about five decades, the psychiatric pharmacist profession became a recognized pharmacy specialty in 1992. Today board-certified psychiatric pharmacists are clinically trained doctors of pharmacy with specialized training in psychiatric pharmacy and patient care. Many have completed two years of postdoctoral residency training and have subsequently achieved their board certification through rigorous examination.

“BCPPs are often underutilized,” Goldstone says. “This results in lost opportunity to better address the needs of persons with psychiatric or substance use disorders and to meet these needs in a timely manner.

Better expansion, education and outcomes studies illustrating the BCPP’s value could help advance the opportunity for inclusion of the pharmacist in billing models such as value-based care to pay for the services they provide.”

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Goldman Named Price Dean Dana Goldman, Distinguished Professor of Public Policy, Pharmacy and Economics, has been appointed dean of the USC Price School of Public Policy.

For the past 12 years, Goldman has directed the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics— a partnership between the School of Pharmacy and the Price School. The center’s research has guided policy discussions on Medicare reform, the Affordable Care Act, Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, health disparities and more.

Goldman is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Social Insurance. In 2016, he was named a USC distinguished professor in recognition of bringing the university “special renown.” He has co-authored hundreds of journal articles on subjects including racial disparities in diabetes complications, obesity interventions, Alzheimer’s disease drug innovations and the role Medicare coverage plays in cancer detection.

His research has been sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation and National Institute on Aging.

Awards and Honors Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs Steven W. Chen was keynote speaker for Blue Shield of California’s 2021 Annual Pharmacy Council Meeting on “Advancing Pharmacy Practice: What’s Ahead in the Next 5-10 Years?” He also was one of 60 people across the U.S. participating in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s inaugural National Hypertension Roundtable. Chen is the William A. and Josephine A. Heeres Chair in Community Pharmacy.

Julie Dopheide received the Outstanding Teacher of the Year award at the USC Psychiatry Class of 2021 graduation, as voted on by the third-year class of USC psychiatry residents based in the Adult Outpatient Psychiatry Clinic.

Edith Mirzaian has been invited to serve on the 2021–2022 Academic Affairs Committee for the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. She is assistant dean of curriculum and an expert in international travel medicine and immunizations, as well as pharmacy-based patient care services and pharmacy education.

Glen Stimmel has received emeritus status. He retired at the end of 2020 after an illustrious career at USC that spanned 46 years. He served as interim dean of the School of Pharmacy from 2015 to 2016, and as associate dean for academic affairs from 2016 to 2020. Stimmel pioneered the field of psychiatric pharmacy.

At the 25th annual California Pharmacy Hall of Fame banquet in June, Patrick Tabon, assistant professor of clinical pharmacy, was named the California Pharmacists Association’s New Practitioner of the Year, which recognizes an outstanding new practitioner who has demonstrated energetic leadership at multiple levels of pharmacy.

Assistant Professor of Clinical Pharmacy Richard Dang has been honored as Outstanding Health Care Innovator in the 2021 Los Angeles Business Journal (LABJ) Health Care Leadership awards. The accolade acknowledges outstanding individuals and organizations in the healthcare field.

Dang was recognized for his leadership role in the rollout of COVID-19 vaccinations throughout the region. Now president of the California Pharmacists Association, he chaired the association’s COVID-19 task force and also served on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s COVID-19 testing task force. He worked tirelessly to help organize vaccine clinics and administer injections at Dodger Stadium, the nation’s largest vaccine distribution site, which surpassed 1 million inoculations in April 2021.

On receiving the award from the LABJ, Dang said, “This is all possible with the support and contributions of so many dedicated individuals across the USC School of Pharmacy, City of Los Angeles, Mayor Eric Garcetti, Los Angeles Fire Department, Community Organized Relief Effort, Carbon Health and Curative.”

The USC School of Pharmacy was also a finalist in the LABJ Health Care Leadership awards, in the category of Outstanding Collaboration, for the COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Program led by the City of Los Angeles.

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PAPADOPOULOS FEATURED IN LEADING BIOLOGY JOURNAL In a career-spanning interview for the peer-reviewed Biology of Reproduction, Dean Vassilios Papadopoulos discussed his inspirations and research. The latter includes discoveries that range from using stem cells for generating testosterone-producing Leydig cells to a study resulting in an innovative technique for diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease.

“It may be my background in pharmaceutical sciences and pharmacy that drove me to explore the power of chemicals and drugs to understand biological processes as well as to identify drug targets to manipulate cell function,” Papadopoulos said.

He also discussed his focus at USC, including the school’s efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic. “I led USC School of Pharmacy students, alumni, faculty and staff in partnership with the Los Angeles Mayor’s Office and other partners vaccinating over 1.2 million people in the city of Los Angeles,” he explained.

He then talked about his devotion to mentoring students. “My aim is to give them the tools that will allow them to become independent investigators,” he said. “I am also there not only to support their work but also to listen to them, to their concerns and worries, and provide them with advice and support.”

Biology of Reproduction is the journal of the interdisciplinary and international Society for the Study of Reproduction.

My aim is to give [students] the tools that will allow them to become independent investigators.”

Dean Vassilios Papadopoulos

NEW FACES Hovhannes (Hovik) Gukasyan, PhD, has joined the school as an associate professor of pharmacology and pharmaceutical sciences, and will help grow the school’s new undergraduate major in biopharmaceutical sciences.

He spent two decades in the pharmaceutical industry, including roles at Pfizer and AbbVie, and served as an adjunct professor at the USC School of Pharmacy and Keck Graduate Institute School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.

He earned a PhD in pharmaceutical sciences from the USC School of Pharmacy in 2004.

John Stofko, MPH, MBA, has joined the Department of Pharmaceutical and Health Economics as an associate professor. An experienced healthcare industry executive, he was most recently chief commercial officer at a medical device startup and vice president of program management at Kite Pharma. He earned a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy from the University of Connecticut, an MPH from the University of California, Berkeley, and an MBA from Babson College.

Autumn Walkerly, PharmD, has been named an assistant professor of clinical pharmacy.

She earned her doctor of pharmacy from Northeast Ohio Medical University and completed residencies at the Cleveland Clinic and, most recently, the University of Michigan.

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Increasing Diversity in Immunogenomics

Limiting immunogenomics studies to people of European ancestry restricts the ability to identify variations in human adaptive immune responses across populations. Thus, expanding the diversity of those studied is vital to advancing the frontiers of human immunology, according to USC-led commentary in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Methods.

School of Pharmacy scientists united researchers from 17 regions and countries to promote inclusivity in immunology studies. The eclectic group— with expertise in biomedical and translational research, population and public health genetics, health disparities, computational biology and immunogenomics—has also formed an international network to implement actions discussed in the commentary.

“We need to engage and study diverse populations—this is how we can understand the immune system and deliver effective therapies,” says co-author Serghei Mangul, assistant professor of clinical pharmacy. “Current databases are ill-equipped to serve non-European populations and thus we should move

the research to diverse populations. Without doing that we cannot serve underrepresented racial and ethnic groups.”

For example, more than three-quarters of individuals included in genomewide association studies reported through January 2019 were of European descent, despite the fact that Asian populations account for 59.5% of the world’s population. Even when data from underrepresented groups is available, researchers tend to exclude data from minority groups when conducting statistical analyses due to concerns about statistical significance.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the diversity of immune response around the globe. Scientists have immediate opportunities to investigate the role of genetic factors in vaccine-mediated immune responses.

“For the data to be meaningful, it needs to come from all representative populations,” adds co-author Houda Alachkar, assistant professor of clinical pharmacy.

“This is absolutely crucial for the implementation of research findings and the development of therapeutic approaches that are generalizable to all patients.”

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RISK OF OPIOID OVERDOSE APPEARS HIGHER IN OLDER AMERICANS from a pharmacy without a prescription from a physician. Even so, increased awareness about the hazards of opioid use and policy interventions such as prescription-drug monitoring programs have resulted in an overall trend of decreased prescribing, dispensing and use.

Even with COVID-19 dominating the news, the epidemic of opioid use remains a nationwide threat. While public awareness and efforts to stop addiction and overdoses have intensified, some communities reported higher rates of opioid-related deaths in 2020 than ever before. The extent and burden of opioid prescription drug use have gone largely uninvestigated as most studies have focused on curtailing illegal use.

Recent research led by School of Pharmacy faculty member Dima M. Qato aims to fill that knowledge gap. The findings—published in Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety— revealed that, although high-risk prescription opioid use has declined, nearly 1 in 10 adults takes opioids that put them at increased risk from an overdose.

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Qato and colleagues examined a representative, 5% sample of anonymized data drawn from individual prescription claims from 2011 though 2016. The study analyzed use among U.S. adults age 18 and older who bought prescriptions from retail pharmacies.

“These findings underscore the importance of strengthening the implementation of overdose prevention, particularly naloxone access laws, and harm-reduction strategies,” says Qato, a senior fellow at the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics and the Hygeia Centennial Chair and director of the Program on Medicines and Public Health at the School of Pharmacy.

Many states have naloxone access laws that allow individuals to get naloxone directly

High-Risk Use The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention define high-risk opioid use as equal to or greater than 50 morphine milligram equivalents (MME) per day. MME measures a drug’s potency in comparison with morphine. For example, 10 tablets of Vicodin—the most commonly used prescription opioid—is considered 50 MME. Accounting for these federal guidelines on usage, the USC team also factored in dangerous co-prescriptions of benzodiazepines, a class of sedatives commonly prescribed for anxiety, seizures or insomnia.

Combining opioids with benzodiazepines further increases the risk of overdose and death, the investigators found.

Qato and colleagues also accounted for several characteristics of prescription opioid users, including age and each pharmacy’s zip code. To track changes in use across time and geography, the researchers considered where the individuals purchased most of their prescriptions. They then broke down the data state by state and analyzed the trends for the entire nation. More than half of high-risk prescription opioid users received their prescriptions from a single provider.

Most—more than 72%—purchased the drugs at a single pharmacy.

The study detected higher rates of risk among older consumers, who tended to use Medicare for payment. They were also more likely than their younger counterparts to have multiple prescribers and purchase from multiple pharmacies. While opioid use declined by 36.2% among people ages 18 to 35, use declined by only 6.7% among those 65 years or older.

“Future clinical studies and policy interventions,” the authors suggest, “should consider targeting older adults with Medicare Part D, including those using a single pharmacy to fill their opioid prescriptions.”

Core Support The School of Pharmacy has made significant recent investments in its laboratory research facilities to better serve the faculty’s growing research portfolio. Multiple core laboratories with state-of-the-art equipment suites and a team of research support staff provide specialized equipment not typically maintained in individual faculty laboratories. These facilities serve USC scientists from both campuses and are also available to outside researchers.

The Mass Spectrometry Core supports students and faculty while also providing a

crucial resource for the larger community of scientific experts who partner with the school on vital projects. The core offers the latest technology, including imaging mass spectrometry; matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) imaging; high-throughput screening of small molecules, peptides and proteins; and quantitative metabolomic and proteomic mass spectrometry.

The Translational Research Laboratory features highly specialized instruments for applications including: sample processing,

cell and immunobiology, flow cytometry, molecular analysis and RNA/DNA sequencing.

The Histology Laboratory supports all research needs in histology and pathology— from tissue processing to sectioning and staining. The advanced equipment includes a cryostat for cryogenic temperature control and a microtome for precise sectioning of samples. The Lentiviral Laboratory provides services related to producing small-scale retrovirus stocks to aid researchers in solving vexing medical mysteries and generating platforms for innovative drug discovery and development.

Ethan Canfield, research lab specialist, Mass Spectrometry Core, sets up vials in the autosampler for mass spectrometry analysis.

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STUDENT SPOTLIGHT:

BROOKE PIGNERI Brooke Pigneri, PharmD Class of 2022, recently received the 2021 Excellence in Public Health Pharmacy Award from the U.S. Public Health Service in recognition of her role in developing naloxoneSC, a program that provides naloxone—a lifesaving medication for someone experiencing an opioid overdose—to anyone in need at USC. Here, Pigneri, former president of the USC student chapter of the College of Psychiatric and Neurologic Pharmacists (CPNP-USC), shares how she’s working to decrease stigma around opioid misuse and improve access to naloxone to positively impact health on campus and in the community.

Why did you develop naloxoneSC? College campuses across the country have seen rising levels of opioid overdoses.

In 2016, 3.8% of college students reported misusing an opioid other than heroin within the past year. USC has taken steps to improve access to counselors and other resources for students in response to these overdoses. Some students who may be at risk of opioid overdose don’t utilize these resources due to stigma, cost or lack of knowledge about harm reduction, including naloxone use. Therefore, CPNP-USC created this program to address this need in our community.

NaloxoneSC focuses on providing education on opioids, decreasing stigma on opioid misuse, and distributing fentanyl test strips and naloxone.

Tell us about your growing awareness of opioid misuse.

Naloxone distribution was something I was exposed to from day one of pharmacy school. It was the first medication I counseled on as a pharmacy student.

Throughout my CPNP-USC membership, I learned more about the opioid epidemic in the United States and the thousands of lives lost to overdoses.

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What steps did you take to make a difference?

As soon as I obtained a leadership role in CPNP-USC, as a first-year pharmacy student, I became involved in the naloxone distribution program. CPNP-USC has distributed naloxone to people experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles for about three years, and works closely with Homeless Healthcare of Los Angeles to obtain and distribute naloxone kits.

During my second year of pharmacy school, I spearheaded this distribution to the homeless population with hopes of expanding it further. During my third year, I served as CPNP-USC president and pivoted the program to address the needs in the USC community by creating naloxoneSC. Learn more at sites.usc.edu/naloxonesc

New Graduate Certificate in Advanced Practice for International Pharmacists The School of Pharmacy has launched a Graduate Certificate for Advanced Pharmacy Practice (GCAPP) program that provides a pathway to residency or licensure for pharmacists with advanced degrees who were trained outside the United States.

The program, set to begin in early 2022, will allow advanced pharmacy-degree holders from accredited international programs to complete advanced practice pharmacy rotations and prepare for U.S. licensure or residency. International participants can fulfill pharmacy practice requirements in two semesters.

“GCAPP is ideal for foreign-trained pharmacists to gain the credentials they need to practice in the U.S.,” says Terrence Graham, the school’s chief international officer.

“Participants not only gain a credential, but they also join the Trojan Family and benefit from the largest network of pharmacy professionals in Southern California.”

School Launches New Undergrad Programs In keeping with its tradition of launching groundbreaking degree programs, the School of Pharmacy has introduced new interdisciplinary options for undergraduates interested in careers in the health professions, biotechnology and beyond.

Major in Biopharmaceutical Sciences In addition to the BA/BS Pharmacology and Drug Development major established in 2017, students can now opt for a degree in Biopharmaceutical Sciences, which similarly offers a pathway for science (BS) and nonscience (BA) majors.

Those completing a capstone project are eligible to graduate with honors.

Through innovative coursework and independent research opportunities, the program instills undergraduates with skills in pharmaceutical sciences, business, marketing, product development and lifecycle, and medical product development and use. It’s designed to prepare students for employment at leading research universities and in industry, government or any researchcentric arena. It also readies students for graduate work in pharmacy, medicine, dentistry, biomedical engineering, business, finance and law.

Courses focus on subdisciplines of pharmaceutical sciences— including study of the chemical and physical properties of drugs and their biological effects—and link these systems to the discovery, development and commercialization of pharmaceuticals for the advancement of human health. Courses also explore the business and marketing aspects of the pharmaceutical industry.

applied business areas of medical and pharmacy practice, healthcare law, healthcare finance and healthcare consulting.

The Biopharmaceutical Business minor builds on the school’s other offerings, which include the Foundation in Regulatory Sciences minor and the Science and Management of Biomedical Therapeutics minor.

Those who simply want to round out their education can enroll in just a class or two—such as budding mystery writers interested in learning about poisons, or students in any major who want to explore pharmacoethics or biologics and vaccines, for instance.

Learn more at pharmacyschool.usc.edu

Biopharmaceutical Business Minor The new minor in Biopharmaceutical Business provides a foundation in biopharmaceutical business and marketing practices that can be used in a variety of careers. For example, graduates may find jobs in product development, marketing and brand management in the biopharmaceutical industry—or apply their knowledge to

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S T UDEN T S COMBATING VACCINE HESITANCY After helping administer COVID-19 vaccines at Dodger Stadium, Olivia Ramirez, PharmD Class of 2022, took her pandemic-fighting efforts a step further. She translated a presentation to promote vaccine confidence and dispel myths, and shared it with a Spanish-speaking community in need.

When the CEO of Yamamotoyama, a green tea company, asked the School of Pharmacy for help addressing vaccine hesitancy among some of the employees in its Pomona, Calif., warehouse, Ramirez stepped up.

“Three of my classmates—Vivi Nguyen, Ashley Bachan and Joy Ahn—were working on a presentation on vaccine awareness and debunking vaccine myths for their Scholarly Project,” Ramirez says. “I translated the presentation into Spanish.” She then gave the talk in two hour-long sessions in March to 60 to 80 attendees.

“I described the importance of herd immunity and why it was vital to get the COVID-19 vaccine when it was offered to

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them—and how it protects those who couldn’t get the vaccine yet, like children,” she says. “They asked a lot of great questions, like ‘Should we get one shot of Pfizer and one shot of Moderna?’ and ‘If I have cancer, should I get the vaccine?’”

She conducted pre-presentation and post-presentation surveys and notes that attendees expressed a lot more confidence in the vaccine after the talk.

“It felt rewarding to give back to my community,” Ramirez says. “They see someone who looks like them, and I think there’s a level of trust that comes just from that. I made sure to say ‘We should get the vaccine because …’ and ‘I was a little hesitant, too, but after reading about the science and digging into various resources, I think it’d be beneficial to get the vaccine.’”

Her work on the project also benefited her own family in Hawthorne, Calif. “My dad was hesitant to get the vaccine, but as he was helping me translate the Q&A and

presentation from English to Spanish, he felt more assured,” Ramirez says. “He read the resources, understood the science behind the vaccines and learned that he wouldn’t get sick from the vaccine. He’s vaccinated now, so I’m very thankful for how this whole experience impacted my family, too. My grandma and brother were also hesitant at first, but I made sure to prepare for the presentation in my living room where they could hear the material. Now everyone in my immediate family is vaccinated.”

Recalling the vaccination clinic at Dodger Stadium, Ramirez says at first it was a little overwhelming to be on the front lines of the pandemic, but she was grateful to be able to answer patient questions and concerns. “The school prepared students well, and overall it was a great, memorable experience,” she says.

Ramirez plans to become an ambulatory care pharmacist and help people manage chronic disease.

A DAY OF FIRSTS USC’s commencement exercises for the classes of 2020 and 2021 in May were held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for the first time in 70 years—complete with a lit torch.

It was also the first time two separate graduating classes shared a commencement, as well as the first time many graduates had seen each other in person in more than a year due to the pandemic. PharmD students who volunteered at citywide COVID-19 vaccine clinics as part of the School of Pharmacy’s leadership role in combating the pandemic were among the notable exceptions. But they shared the joy of

efforts of pharmacy students, faculty and staff, and their health sciences colleagues for their work at the vaccine clinics. The School of Pharmacy partnered with the mayor’s office, L.A. Fire Department and the nonprofit Community Organized Relief Effort at vaccine point-of-dispensing sites, including the nation’s largest at Dodger Stadium.

“We’ve all dreamt of this day and now it is finally here,” Papadopoulos told the graduates. “You’ve shown the true Trojan spirit to Fight On.” The school held its own virtual commencement celebration later the same day.

gathering with classmates to celebrate the milestone of graduation.

The School of Pharmacy joined with the Keck School of Medicine, Roski School of Fine Arts, and the Iovine and Young Academy for the first in the university’s weeklong series of graduation ceremonies, held twice a day from May 14–20. Spacing the celebrations out allowed for physical distancing and the opportunity for more friends and family to gather for the events.

School of Pharmacy Dean Vassilios Papadopoulos addressed the graduates from the stage and introduced a video greeting from Mayor Eric Garcetti (above right). The mayor applauded the

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PHOTO SHOP

Junji Watanabe, director of the Translational Research Laboratory and Histology Laboratory, examines a 3D brain image using the school’s super-resolution confocal microscope.

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SUPPORTING

STUDENT RESEARCH By supporting undergraduate research and scholarships, you help students gain real-world laboratory experience with top scientists as mentors—and get a head start over their peers at other institutions.

The undergrad research experience was very helpful for me in deciding my career path. It gave me an opportunity to learn lab protocols that are useful for industry and associate-scientist positions after graduation.”

—Carson Folk, BS ’21, MS Class of ’22

Support USC School of Pharmacy students and invest in their future. Make a gift online at pharmacyschool.usc.edu/giving.

Nonprofit Organization US Postage Paid University of Southern California USC School of Pharmacy Health Sciences Campus University of Southern California 1985 Zonal Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90089-9121

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Members of the Class of 2024 at the August white coat ceremony