USC Pharmacy Results Magazine - Spring 2019 Issue

PUBLISHED BY THE USC SCHOOL OF PHARMACY

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UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

SPRING 2019 PRESCRIP TIONS FOR REFORM The Schaeffer Center celebrates a decade of research with relevance — and its one-of-a-kind partnership with the USC School of Pharmacy.

EDITOR IN CHIEF

Michele Keller

MANAGING EDITOR

Susan L. Wampler

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Andrea Bennett Dora Dalton Emily Gersema Stephanie Hedt Linda Wang Stan Wedeking DESIGN

Warren Group | Studio Deluxe PHOTOGRAPHY

David Ahntholz Michael Owen Baker Tracy Boulian Ed Carreon Eric Hensman Chris Jones Isaac Mora Reynaldo Obrero Gus Ruelas Walter Urie Linda Wang COVER ILLUSTRATION

Mark Allen Miller

© 2019 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

William A. Heeres, Chair Melvin F. Baron Gale Bensussen Roslyn Ellison Blake Mark Clein Danielle C. Colayco William (Bill) Crown Daniel Gil Amy (Amarylis) Gutierrez Dolly Harris Dianne Jung Dong Koo (D.K.) Kim Vinson Lee Newell McElwee David Neu William Pih Denis Portaro Jacque J. Sokolov Eileen C. Goodis Strom Khanh-Long (Ken) Thai

ABOUT THE USC SCHOOL OF PHARMACY

One of the top 10 pharmacy schools nationwide and the highestranked 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.

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 the safe, efficient and optimal use of medication therapy that can save lives and improve the human condition.

The school is home to the International Center for Regulatory Science at USC, and is a partner in the USC Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics and the USC Center for Drug

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.

Research With Relevance As our school continues extending the range of the pharmacists’ role in enhancing health, one of our most vital initiatives has been aimed at widening access to care. A decade ago, we took a bold leap in this quest when business leader, policy expert and philanthropist Leonard Schaeffer established the Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics at USC as a joint venture between the USC School of Pharmacy and the USC Price School of Public Policy.

Our school is the only school of pharmacy in the country engaged in such a partnership, placing pharmacy at the center of research to engage the public, private and academic sectors in finding solutions that expand access to care while improving its value and quality. But, however crucial, that is just one part of the center’s mission. The Schaeffer Center also explores ways to rein in healthcare costs without dampening the innovation on which medical breakthroughs depend.

With interdisciplinary experts including three Nobel laureates, global partnerships and cross-campus collaborations with faculty from medicine, engineering, gerontology, social work and other fields, the Schaeffer Center conducts evidence-based research upon which policymakers and providers depend in better serving the public. It is truly research with relevance at an urgent time, when spiraling healthcare costs are putting people around the world at risk.

Even as we work to improve healthcare policies, the school continues as a key driver in improving global health itself through pioneering endeavors in basic and translational science as well as our clinical outreach throughout the Greater Los Angeles community. In this issue, you will read about how, through research and service, our faculty and students also are addressing one of the most tragic crises of our time: the opioid-abuse epidemic claiming nearly 50,000 American lives annually.

In this issue, we celebrate a record amount of scholarship support distributed to our students during the current academic year — and congratulate faculty including Edith Mirzaian and Steve Chen on their recent state and national awards. We also welcome our new Board of Councilors members and incoming faculty, even as we bid farewell to a beloved faculty leader in mourning the death of Michael Z. Wincor, associate dean for global initiatives and a 15-time professor of the year at our school.

The following pages help illustrate how the School of Pharmacy opens new paths forward in clinical care, pharmaceutical science and education. From policy analyses to laboratory investigations, our research not only has relevance but also impact. Thank you for your support, which helps make it all possible.

You help us produce research with relevance.

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

Hepatitis C virus. Image produced using high-dynamic-range imaging with transmission electron microscopy. A cure exists for hepatitis C infection, yet many Medicaid beneficiaries do not have access to these drugs. The Schaeffer Center developed a novel pricing strategy to help serve more patients and prevent further spread of the disease.

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Broad Spectrum 4 / ADDRESSING HEALTH DISPARITIES 5 / RIGHT MEDS, RIGHT TIME 5 / STARK RELIEF FROM SICKLE CELL PAIN 6 / REMEMBERING MICHAEL Z. WINCOR 8 / NEW HOPE FOR LEUKEMIA PATIENTS 9 / FOTONOVELA HEIGHTENS HYPERTENSION AWARENESS 9 / 24/7 HEALTH DISPENSARY Cover Story 10 / PRESCRIPTIONS FOR REFORM: SCHAEFFER CENTER AT 10 YEARS Feature 18 / ON THE FRONT LINES OF THE OPIOID CRISIS Giving 22 / NEW BOARD OF COUNCILORS MEMBERS 24 / CLEIN ENDOWS HEALTH ECONOMICS SCHOLARSHIP 25 / SCHOLARSHIP SURGE Alumni 26 / ALUMNI-LED LEGISLATION PROTECTS HIGH-RISK PATIENTS 27 / SPOTLIGHT: ROBERT POPOVIAN AND JORGE FARIAS 28 / CLASS NOTES Faculty 30 / NEW FACES 31 / BURDEN OF GENERIC DRUG PRICE SPIKES 31 / RECENT AWARDS

Contents

31 / PROMOTIONS Students 32 / SHOWCASING OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS 33 / STEPPING UP FOR SENIORS 33 / ACCESS TO INDUSTRY LEADERS 33 / NEW CAREER RESOURCE 34 / LABORATORY LEADERSHIP 35 / CALL OF DUTY: VETERAN AND PHARMD STUDENT JENO MABELLIN 35 / PASSING NAPLEX WITH FLYING COLORS 36 / PHOTO SHOP

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Under Stan Louie’s leadership as director of the Clinical and Experimental Therapeutics (CXPT) graduate program, the school recently developed a new master of science degree that emphasizes research in translating basic science discovery in chemistry, pharmacogenomics, molecular pharmacology, inflammatory diseases, infectious disease and oncology into therapeutic modalities.

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BRO A D SPEC T RUM

Addressing Health Disparities A lot of cultures believe if you have a mental health condition, it’s embarrassing or a smear on the family, and maybe you’re a bad parent if your kid has some mental health condition.

Pharmacists can try to help develop a culture of anti-stigma.

Julie Dopheide, professor of clinical pharmacy, psychiatry and the behavioral sciences, in the January issue of Pharmacy Today

The National Institute on Aging has awarded the USC School of Pharmacy and the Price School of Public Policy a $2.7 million, five-year grant to fund the USC Minority Aging and Health Economics Research Center (USC-RCMAR) within the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics.

Led by Julie Zissimopoulos, the Schaeffer Center’s director of training, and Dana Goldman, the Leonard D. Schaeffer Director’s Chair, USC-RCMAR was established in 2012 and has already funded 18 junior researchers. This extension will support pilot projects addressing disparities in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.

Junior scientists are paired with senior faculty mentors and are given access to extensive data and analytical support at the Schaeffer Center.

“These awards are especially impactful in launching the careers of young scientists, while simultaneously providing an opportunity for pivotal research on pressing societal issues,” says Vassilios Papadopoulos, dean of the USC School of Pharmacy.

Alumni have successfully won competitive grants and published extensively.

Among the nine scientists who finished at least two years ago, seven have received additional funding.

Notably, among those who have garnered additional funding, three scholars received National Institutes of Health career development awards totaling more than $3 million to continue their work focused on minority aging.

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The USC Verdugo Hills Professional Pharmacy in Glendale, Calif. — one of the five pharmacies owned and operated by the USC School of Pharmacy — has been renovated to provide additional space for private consultations, immunizations and other clinical services.

RIGHT MEDS, RIGHT TIME Suboptimal use of medications in the U.S. is responsible for $528.4 billion in avoidable healthcare spending annually. Meanwhile, an aging population with numerous health needs and a declining physician workforce have combined to limit access to care. Steven Chen, associate dean for clinical affairs and the William A. and Josephine A. Heeres Chair in Community Pharmacy, is showing how pharmacists can help.

A national leader in advancing the role of pharmacists in comprehensive medication management (CMM), Chen is launching the California Right Meds Collaborative in partnership with Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP) to build a regional and national network of pharmacists who can deliver high-impact CMM services through a sustainable, value-based payment model.

More than 70 healthcare leaders gathered in October at IEHP headquarters in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., to lend support and discuss strategies.

“Together, we’re committed to developing a network of pharmacists who can deliver highimpact CMM services through a value-based payment model that will serve as a best practice for the other managed care plans in the state and beyond,” Chen says.

Chen — a three-time Pinnacle Award winner from the American Pharmacists Association and

recipient of a groundbreaking $12 million Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation grant to study the impact of CMM — points to IEHP as a best-practice example of a payer that sees the value of pharmacists and incorporates them into effective and innovative healthcare solutions. IEHP provides services for more than 1.2 million members — the equivalent of 25 percent of the population of San Bernardino and Riverside counties. The organization developed a pay-for-performance model in which pharmacies are compensated when certain health outcome goals are met.

Tony Kuo, director of the Division of Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, says he was impressed by the enthusiasm of the attendees to scale CMM in the community and hopes that the California Right Meds Collaborative will serve as a model for future state and health-plan support for this intervention.

The launch meeting’s momentum will continue through monthly webinars, which will serve as a forum for participants to share updates and ideas on best practices and challenges when integrating CMM services into community pharmacies.

Left: Ken Thai (center), PharmD ’02, CEO of 986 Pharmacy, at the event in October Above: Steven Chen, associate dean for clinical affairs

STARK RELIEF FROM SICKLE CELL PAIN A new oral L-glutamine therapy lessens the pain from sickle cell disease in patients of all ages, according to a research team including USC School of Pharmacy adjunct professor Charles Stark. Published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the study showed that the therapy, marketed as Endari, reduced the frequency of sickle cell pain crises by 25 percent and hospitalizations by 33 percent compared to a placebo group.

Stark also serves as senior vice president of research and development

at Emmaus Medical, which developed Endari. The Food and Drug Administration approved the drug after reviewing the results of the team’s 48-week, Phase III clinical trial.

Named for how it malforms red blood cells, sickle cell disease hampers hemoglobin from supplying the body with oxygen — causing anemia, pain, weakened organs and neurologic complications.

The genetic disorder affects 100,000 Americans, particularly African-Americans, as well as millions more people worldwide.

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Remembering Michael Z. Wincor

Michael Z. Wincor, PharmD ’78 — associate professor of clinical pharmacy, psychiatry and the behavioral sciences at the USC School of Pharmacy and the Keck School of Medicine of USC — died November 30, in Long Beach, Calif. He was 72. He was an expert in sleep and anxiety disorders, clinical psychopharmacology, psychiatric pharmacy practice and global pharmacy education.

“Michael contributed to the field of pharmacy for 35 years as an educator, administrator and mentor, and he benefited countless students through his contributions in the field of global pharmacy,” Dean Vassilios Papadopoulos says. “He was one of a kind.”

As associate dean for global initiatives, Wincor served as a visiting faculty member and collaborated on pharmacy curricula at universities in Asia and Europe. He facilitated exchange programs with dozens of universities in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, Ireland, Korea, the Philippines and other countries, offering students and faculty opportunities to both host and visit sister institutions.

Wincor made an early decision to pursue psychiatric pharmacy. After completing USC’s psychiatric pharmacy residency program in 1979, he created a new position as a psychiatric pharmacist at Brotman

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He took the time to really get to know you. He’s truly irreplaceable.

He was just so loved.

Ana Barron, PharmD Class of 2019

Hospital in Culver City, Calif., and taught in a psychiatric pharmacy clerkship. He joined USC’s clinical faculty in 1983 to expand and improve the school’s presence in the LAC+USC Medical Center’s Adult Psychiatric Clinic.

“Michael always asked the probing questions that needed to be asked,” says Glen Stimmel, associate dean for academic affairs, who directed Wincor’s psychiatric pharmacy residency in 1978–79. “He was a valued colleague, highly respected by his fellow faculty, staff and students.”

Wincor later took over the directorship of the psychiatric pharmacy residency,

training pharmacy students and residents, medical students and psychiatry residents both in the classroom and the clinic.

“He was a student-first faculty member,” says Steven Chen, associate dean for clinical affairs. “It was in his DNA. He was a role model, and his passing is a huge loss in teaching leadership for the school.”

Adds Rory Kim, assistant professor of clinical pharmacy, “He had a spectacular gift for making us all feel heard and important.”

A founding member of the College of Psychiatric and Neurologic Pharmacists,

He was a student-first faculty member.

Steven Chen, associate dean for clinical affairs

Wincor was the 2007 recipient of the organization’s prestigious Saklad Memorial Lecture Award, which recognized his professional distinction in and dedication to the practice of psychiatric pharmacy.

“He was my first preceptor and taught me so much about psychiatric pharmacotherapy,” Charles Lacy, PharmD ’81 says.

Opposite page (clockwise): Wincor during his psychiatric pharmacy residency at USC, with his beloved Volkswagen and in his 1978 El Rodeo yearbook photo

A 15-Time Professor of the Year Wincor held many administrative roles throughout his career. At the time of his death, he was executive vice president of the national Rho Chi Society. He served as president of the USC School of Pharmacy Alumni Association from 1998–2007 and as advisor to the USC student chapters of the American Pharmacists Association and the Rho Chi Society.

Known for his daily habit of wearing a freshly cut red carnation in his lapel, Wincor was named Professor of the Year for the USC School of Pharmacy 15 times over the course of his career. He was named a fellow of the USC Center for Excellence in Teaching in 2012 and a distinguished fellow in 2015.

“I will miss Dr. Wincor’s calming presence,” says Danielle Colayco, PharmD ’08, MS ’10. “He was a great mentor and friend.”

Ana Barron, PharmD Class of 2019, recalls Wincor’s open office door, his friendly demeanor and his unique way of tilting his head to make pointed eye contact with students.

“He took the time to really get to know you,” she says. “He’s truly irreplaceable.

He was just so loved.”

PharmD Class of 2021 student Whitney Fakolade adds, “He was a phenomenal beam of light to our community, and he will be dearly missed.”

Wincor received his PharmD from USC in 1978 and was board-certified in psychiatric pharmacy. He completed a postdoctoral residency in psychiatric pharmacy practice and earned his BS in zoology from the University of Chicago, where he was actively involved in sleep research.

Wincor is survived by his two daughters, Katie and Meghan, and two grandchildren.

This page (clockwise): Wincor with a contingent of Taiwanese students in USC’s International Summer Program, wearing his trademark red carnation, at a recent commencement ceremony, and with some of the USC students he mentored over the years

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New Hope for Leukemia Patients A team of researchers at the USC School of Pharmacy has found that midostaurin — a protein kinase inhibitor — decreases regulatory T cells in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

“Regulatory T cells are the subset of T cells that function during transplant to suppress excessive immune response that can be harmful to the patient,” says corresponding author Houda Alachkar, assistant professor at the School of Pharmacy.

Researchers in her lab led the research, in collaboration with a scientist from the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2017 for use in combination with chemotherapy prior to bone marrow transplants, midostaurin was the first new drug in nearly two decades to receive authorization for treating AML. The School of Pharmacy study, published in Scientific Reports in December 2018, showed that the drug reduced regulatory T cells in blood samples from both healthy individuals and AML patients.

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AML — cancer of the white blood cells — is one of the most common types of leukemia in adults, with the highest mortality rate of all leukemias. As many as one-third of AML patients have mutations in the FLT3 gene, some of which are known to worsen prognosis of the disease.

The researchers investigated the effects of four of the new class of FLT3 inhibitor drugs — midostaurin, sorafenib, tandutinib and quizartenib — on blood samples obtained from healthy donors as well as from patients with AML. They found that only midostaurin led to a significant reduction in regulatory T cell markers.

FDA approval enabled the team to validate its findings in samples from AML patients treated with midostaurin, testing them before and after the drug was administered.

“These results highlight a novel therapeutic advantage of midostaurin that may be beneficial, particularly in the post-transplant setting as well as in combination with immunotherapy,” Alachkar says. However, much work

Houda Alachkar

remains to be done. “Our findings indicate that further investigations are needed to establish whether midostaurin may have potential benefit if used in post-transplant patients,” she notes.

The work was funded by the USC School of Pharmacy seed fund, a STOP CANCER seed grant, an American Cancer Society Institutional Research Grant, the USC Ming Hsieh Institute research fund and a grant from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health.

FOTONOVELA HEIGHTENS HYPERTENSION AWARENESS Lucia’s Llama Drama, the USC School of Pharmacy’s latest fotonovela, explains the importance of managing high blood pressure — also known as hypertension — to a high-risk population.

The comic-book-style booklet tells the story of two women whose luxury weekend vacation goes awry amid llama-caused confusion, leading to a deeper discussion of one sister’s hypertension and their family history of health problems. After the trip, her physician and pharmacist inform her about the effects of blood pressure medicine and how to stave off the condition through proper diet and exercise.

Lucia’s Llama Drama is the 11th fotonovela in the popular USC School of Pharmacy series created by longtime faculty member Mel Baron, PharmD ’57, that combines health information with dramatic storytelling and photography. Published in both Spanish and English, the booklet will be distributed at safety-net clinics, health fairs, pharmacies and other locations.

Studies estimate that each fotonovela is ultimately read by four people, so 200,000 people could be reached with these crucial tips. The format provides information to at-risk populations in a culturally sensitive way. These health education tools fill crucial knowledge

gaps, conveying information in a way that encourages behavioral changes.

Produced by Program Administrator Gregory B. Molina, Lucia’s Llama Drama was written by Gabriela López de Dennis, with photos by Walter Urie. Baron serves as project director for the fotonovela series he created. Funding through the USC Good Neighbors Campaign, Keck Medicine of USC, L.A. Care Health Plan and the American Heart Association supports distribution.

We do our best to entertain and inform people about critically important health issues. The idea is to keep people turning the pages.

Gregory B. Molina, program administrator

24/7 Health Dispensary Since health issues can arise at any time, a vending machine is now available to students 24 hours a day through a partnership between USC Student Health and the USC School of Pharmacy. Instead of snacks, the machine dispenses a variety of over-the-counter pharmacy products at its King Hall location on the University Park Campus.

Stocked with both general and reproductive health products — from ibuprofen to pregnancy tests — the self-service vendor was first proposed by students in Undergraduate Student Government (USG) as a way to make emergency contraception,

like Plan B, accessible to students when campus pharmacies are closed.

“We thought it was important for students to have around-the-clock access to emergency contraception on campus,” says student Andie Wright, USG director of wellness affairs.

USC Pharmacy staff members maintain the machine’s contents.

“We’re always looking for new ways to better serve students and make it easier for them to access the medications, clinical services and health resources they need,” says Raffi Svadjian, USC Pharmacy executive director.

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USC SCHAEFFER CENTER AT 10 YEARS

by Susan L. Wampler

Following a distinguished career in both the public and private sectors, philanthropist Leonard Schaeffer approached USC with the idea for a center that would provide actionoriented, evidence-based analysis to inform policy in tackling some of the country’s most intractable healthcare challenges. In just 10 years, the center that bears his name has become one of the most calledupon resources by policymakers, media and industry leaders.

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17 Nations forecasting long-term trends for better decisionmaking using Schaeffer Center’s Future Elderly Model (FEM) microsimulations

Since its launch in 2009 as a partnership between the USC School of Pharmacy and the USC Price School of Public Policy, the USC Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics quickly grew from an initial group of four health economists to achieve a critical mass of leaders from the field. It now is home to 114 faculty, staff and affiliated scholars, including three Nobel laureates.

A truly interdisciplinary research entity, the Schaeffer Center fosters cross-campus and global collaborations with experts from medicine, engineering, gerontology, social work and other fields.

The USC-Brookings Schaeffer Initiative for Health Policy expands the center’s presence in Washington, D.C. But at its core, the center remains a partnership between the School of Pharmacy and the Price School of Public Policy. As the only pharmacy school involved in such a venture, USC is in a unique position to address some of the most pressing health policy issues facing the country and the world.

№3 National ranking among health policy and management programs 11

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BROAD REACH

19.8K+ Citations of the Schaeffer Center’s papers in the past 10 years

“Our work spans the healthcare landscape,” says Dana Goldman, the Leonard D. Schaeffer Director’s Chair and head of the center since its inception. “We want to promote the development of a new treatment, provide it in the most efficient manner, make sure people have access to it and make sure it’s affordable. To do so requires a perspective that starts from biomedicine and translates all the way into policy.”

That breadth is also one of the key strengths of the School of Pharmacy and one of the reasons Schaeffer — who, early in his career, apprenticed with his pharmacist father — sought the school’s participation in establishing the center.

“USC remains the only pharmacy school spanning the entire spectrum from drug development to regulatory science to clinical care to health and pharmaceutical economics,” Dean Vassilios Papadopoulos notes. “Through the Schaeffer Center, we strive to increase access to and value in healthcare delivery, while helping contain costs and improve patient outcomes.

These are essential ingredients in achieving the school’s overarching mission of advancing health.”

In the center’s first decade, its faculty authored more than a thousand papers, hosted 182 events on vital healthcare topics, testified frequently before Congress and federal and state agencies, influenced significant new policies across the U.S. and around the world, and became the third-ranked health policy and management program. It also helps prepare new talent

$58.1

for the field, supporting students from five master’s programs, two doctoral tracks and a host of other training offerings, including predoctoral and postdoctoral fellowships as well as the federally funded USC Resource Center for Minority Aging and Health Economics Research Fellowship program (see story, page 4).

“We have one of the best policy and health economics groups in the country,” says Geoffrey Joyce, who, like Goldman, has been with the center from the start. “And they’re in a pharmacy school. It’s completely unique.” Joyce is the center’s director of health policy and chairs the School of Pharmacy’s Department of Pharmaceutical and Health Economics.

The other two founding faculty members, Darius Lakdawalla of the School of Pharmacy and Neeraj Sood of the Price School, also remain vital members of the still-growing Schaeffer Center.

100+ References to Schaeffer Center research in influential government reports and documents

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OUR GOAL — WHICH REALLY REFLECTS BOTH THE VISION OF

MILLION

USC AND LEONARD SCHAEFFER —

Government funding since the Schaeffer Center’s inception

IS TO USE THE BEST RESEARCH TO INFORM PUBLIC POLICY.”

Dana Goldman Schaeffer Center director 12

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A DECADE OF IMPACT From its inception 10 years ago, the Schaeffer Center has steadfastly pursued innovative solutions rooted in evidence-based research to measurably improve value in healthcare. Here’s a look at 10 areas of impact over the past 10 years.

1. Making Medicare Work Better

Nearly 60 million older adults and people with disabilities depend on Medicare, which is expected to account for 18 percent of federal spending by 2028. Policymakers rely on Schaeffer Center research as they strive to enhance the program’s effectiveness and sustainability.

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Estimated annual federal government savings — along with $1.4 billion in lower beneficiary Part B premiums — from Schaeffer Center proposal for reforming competitive bidding in Medicare Advantage

billion Schaeffer Center Director Dana Goldman, Price School Dean Jack Knott, School of Pharmacy Dean Vassilios Papadopoulos and Leonard D. Schaeffer

VAST VISION From working in state and federal government — as well as founding a major health insurance provider — Leonard Schaeffer understood firsthand the challenging issues and difficult decisions at stake when you’re dealing with something as important and personal as people’s health and access to affordable, high-quality care. Thus, the center was built on three pillars essential to transforming the healthcare landscape: access, quality and cost.

“Sometimes decisions are made for political reasons, sometimes they’re made for personal or ideological reasons,” says Schaeffer, who is the Judge Robert Maclay Widney Chair at USC. “I believe decisions

that are going to affect large groups of people should be based on evidence. That’s what the Schaeffer Center is all about. We want to focus on healthcare issues that are timely and relevant to Americans.”

“We have a problem in the United States in protecting the most vulnerable, and that often is people who are the sickest,” Goldman notes. “What we need are better treatments and lower costs, and to help those with devastating chronic illnesses.”

“I want to make sure the center has impact and that health policy and delivery are better as a result of the work that’s done at the center,” Schaeffer adds.

2. Investing in America’s Future Health

The Schaeffer Center’s microsimulation models effectively demonstrate how demographic, behavioral and policy changes might influence health outcomes — providing invaluable tools for decision-making that can shape the nation’s future health.

41%

Reduced prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease by 2050 that would result from a five-year delay in onset, in addition to lowering the overall costs to society by approximately 40 percent

3. Redefining Value in Cancer Care

By determining what is truly important to patients and by developing innovative payment models addressing value, price and access, the Schaeffer Center is redefining value in cancer care.

80%

Survival gains attributable to improved treatments, compared with 20 percent attributable to earlier detection

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EMPHASIS ON IMPACT The center’s prolific evidence-based research already has had a proven impact on health policy. The following are just a few examples: To address the overprescribing of opioids and antibiotics — which has fueled the opioid epidemic and the rise of antibiotic-resistant “superbugs” — Schaeffer Center researchers have devised and tested nudges that influence prescribing behavior without reducing physicians’ autonomy. These tactics — which include posted pledges in doctors’ offices, peer comparisons and computer prompts that appear in patients’ electronic charts — are being adopted by health departments throughout the U.S. as well as in the United Kingdom.

160K Page views of Schaeffer Center perspectives in the New England Journal of Medicine on Affordable Care Act repeal-andreplace attempts

Even with health coverage, countless Americans still receive massive medical bills from providers outside their insurance networks — often after emergencies prevent them from taking the advice of “shopping around.” Schaeffer Center researchers including Erin Trish have acted as a resource for federal and state policymakers on this topic, prompting bipartisan legislation to address the problem.

Acting on Schaeffer Center studies, India established the National Health Protection Scheme to expand healthcare to the nation’s underserved. Research had shown that a previous plan in the Indian state of Karnataka substantially reduced death rates while easing families’ financial burdens. As a result, free health insurance is being offered to nearly 500 million people — 40 percent of India’s population.

100% Schaeffer Center trainees enter academic, publicor private-sector careers

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Nearly 60 million older adults and people with disabilities depend on Medicare, which is expected to account for 18 percent of federal spending by 2028. As the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation tests the benefits of new payment and delivery models, John A. Romley and a colleague promote hospitalization-based bundled payments as a way to reduce medical costs. Joyce, Goldman, Lakdwalla and Sood have analyzed the impact of Part D formulary and benefit design on patient outcomes and future drug innovation.

They showed that the coverage gap disrupts prescription drug use, which was cited in expert testimony and addressed in the Affordable Care Act. Hepatitis C kills more people nationwide than any other virus. Yet five years after a cure became available, the high price kept it away from many of the 4 million afflicted Americans. The Schaeffer Center provided a solution leveraging competition among drug manufacturers. The company offering the best deal would receive an exclusive contract for a set period. Louisiana already plans to

implement this innovative model for providing treatments to its vulnerable populations, and other states have expressed interest. In addition, Jeff McCombs and Steven Fox are working with the Department of Veterans Affairs to develop more data-driven strategies for testing, managing and treating hepatitis C. Copay clawbacks force unwary patients to overspend on prescriptions when the insurance copay exceeds a drug’s retail price. Research on which Joyce collaborated revealed how deeply these clawbacks reach into consumers’ pockets.

In response to the Schaeffer Center report, new patient protection laws have been enacted at the federal and state level.

More than 10 million American adults suffer from serious mental illnesses. The investigations of Seth Seabury reveal that Medicaid formulary restrictions aimed at cost savings actually exact a significant toll. He found that restricting access to antidepressants increased the likelihood of hospitalization for people with major depressive disorder.

4. Informing the ACA Debate

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BEING THE NATION’S ONLY PHARMACY SCHOOL INVOLVED IN

As contentious discussions swirled around replacing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2017, Schaeffer Center researchers bridged the political divide with timely, evidence-based analysis aimed at maximizing healthcare’s value and reach.

40%

Reduction in premiums in the plan proposed by Goldman, compared with the ACA silver plan

SUCH AN ENTERPRISE PROVIDES A UNIQUE VANTAGE POINT FOR ADDRESSING THE MOST SUBSTANTIVE AND VEXING HEALTH AND POLICY CONCERNS.

5. Curbing Inappropriate Prescribing

Antibiotics prescribed inappropriately waste resources, can cause health complications and have helped give rise to antibioticresistant “superbugs,” while the opioid crisis claims more than 130 lives every day.

81% Geoffrey Joyce Chair, USC School of Pharmacy Department of Pharmaceutical and Health Economics

FUTURE MODELS Effective policy solutions depend on accurately forecasting future outcomes.

One of the Schaeffer Center’s most distinctive tools is the Future Elderly Model (FEM), a leading-edge microsimulation for predicting how demographic, behavioral and policy changes might influence health and economic outcomes. FEM scenarios inform policymakers nationally and internationally.

For example, to aid governments as they grapple with the needs of aging populations, the Schaeffer Center has developed a global network of collaborators, including researchers with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, who are building out country-level FEMbased models in 17 nations to assess how

current income inequalities affect people throughout their lifespans.

“FEM is a powerful tool to predict the consequences of public policy for health outcomes, population aging and fiscal sustainability,” Goldman says.

FEM has been extended to the entire adult population of the United States with the Future Adult Model (FAM). One significant project using FAM is an analysis of early childhood determinants of health in old age. A Schaeffer Center study using this microsimulation tool shows that every dollar spent on early childhood education for at-risk children yields $7.30 in long-term societal benefits.

Reduction in antibiotic overprescription using Schaeffer Center’s peercomparison physician nudge

6. Achieving Healthier Communities Globally From epidemics to changing demographics and chronic disease, healthcare challenges keep growing — as do ways to confront them.

Schaeffer Center collaborations reach worldwide to improve policies to achieve healthier communities everywhere.

500 million

Population in India who will benefit from the National Health Protection Scheme, for which Schaeffer Center research proved foundational to the expansion of coverage

7. E xamining Hospital and Health System Productivity and Value

Schaeffer Center experts analyze trends facing hospitals and health systems — and the patients they serve — from managing policy changes to the growing cost of care and new technologies.

5

Pieces of federal legislation addressing surprise medical bills authored since the 2016 Schaeffer Initiative report on the high cost of out-of-network emergency care

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5 State and federal government agencies calling upon Schaeffer Center experts on healthcare market consolidation and competition

182 Events on important healthcare topics organized by the Schaeffer Center in its first 10 years

School of Pharmacy faculty associated with the Schaeffer Center include, from left, Joel Hay, Jeff McCombs, Rebecca Myerson, Grant Lawless, John Romley, Erin Trish, Darius Lakdawalla and Geoffrey Joyce

GUIDING FORCE In 2012, with his wife, Pamela, Leonard Schaeffer made a $25 million gift to endow the center that bears his name, helping ensure its long-term success. But his support for its work goes far beyond finances. He forged a career combining scientific rigor with serving people’s needs. Just as the Schaeffer Center bridges the public and private sectors, Leonard Schaeffer’s successes include integrating two major government healthcare agencies into what is now the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and founding WellPoint (now Anthem).

“If you have the relevant data and analysis, you will make better decisions,” Schaeffer says of his quest to improve healthcare policy.

That empirical approach guides all Schaeffer Center initiatives. “Our goal — and it really

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reflects both the vision of USC and Leonard Schaeffer — is to use the best research to inform public policy,” Goldman says. “So we engage in a lot of academic and policy activities to try and shape the healthcare system and make it work better for people.”

Goldman considers Schaeffer a mentor and is grateful for his philanthropy. “Professor Schaeffer humbly attributes much of his success to people who helped him in his career. That’s part of what motivates him to give back. He makes the world a better place not just by advancing health policy but also by counseling future leaders in the field,” Goldman adds.

“My grandfather was a physician, and my dad was a pharmacist. My mother was a social worker,” Schaeffer says. “And they were all involved in helping people.”

1,020+ Papers authored

by Schaeffer Center faculty, more than 600 of which have been published in top-tier journals

DEDICATED DIRECTION with policymakers and the private sector to find solutions.”

While Leonard Schaeffer provided the fuel and initial spark, Joyce credits Dana Goldman with fanning the center’s flame.

“He’s an empire builder,” Joyce says.

As the center has grown, however, its faculty and staff remain as tightly knit as when it first began. “It’s a collegial place, and people want to work here,” adds Joyce, who came to USC from the RAND Corp. along with the other founding faculty.

Leonard Schaeffer agrees. “I think that Dana, the other experts and staff have done an outstanding job,” he says. “The center is now ranked number three in the country after only 10 years.”

“Our aim is to become the nation’s top health economics center,” Joyce says.

Goldman notes of the center’s upward trajectory: “When we first started, we tried desperately to get people to pay attention.

Now, after 10 years, people are coming to us and asking for the right answers. I think that best exemplifies the impact we’ve had.

And we look forward to continuing to engage

8. Improving the Performance of Healthcare Markets

Both provider and payer markets have substantially changed over the past decade. Schaeffer Center experts have examined the impact of consolidation and healthcare reform on cost and functioning of the system.

25%

Increase in middle-class family spending on healthcare since 2007

9. Combating Infectious Diseases

Schaeffer Center research has been pivotal to finding practical, evidence-based strategies that expand access to breakthrough infectious disease treatments while keeping costs in line.

$80 billion

Value of life expectancy gains from access to early HIV/AIDS treatment, which also prevented another 188,000 people from contracting HIV between 1996 and 2002

10. Fostering Better Pharmaceutical Regulation

“

WE WANT TO FOCUS ON HEALTHCARE ISSUES THAT

State and federal agencies turn to the Schaeffer Center’s research and innovative pricing models that balance the competing priorities of affordability and access while appropriately incentivizing future medical innovation and fostering better policy.

25%

Privately insured consumers who had copayments that exceeded the cost of their prescription

ARE TIMELY AND RELEVANT TO AMERICANS.

Learn more at healthpolicy.usc.edu/impact

Leonard D. Schaeffer Schaeffer Center Advisory Board chair

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ON THE FRONT LINES

By Linda Wang

What may have begun as well-intentioned efforts to ease pain has escalated into a crisis of opioid abuse destroying lives across the nation. The USC School of Pharmacy works at the front lines to curtail addiction, curb overdoses and provide support to patients suffering from pain.

Students run an impactful naloxone distribution program, researchers have found innovative ways to reduce opioid prescribing and are investigating natural pain relievers, and clinical faculty members have opened a comprehensive pain management clinic. The following pages highlight just a few examples of the school’s efforts to combat one of the worst drug epidemics in American history.

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The Right Balance While opioid overprescribing remains an urgent challenge, recent regulatory actions by federal and state agencies risk pushing too far in the opposite direction. Physicians and pharmacists face enormous pressure to curtail opioid use, leaving patients who legitimately need such therapy lost in the shuffle.

“Many patients fear that people are going to practice medicine from the standpoint of legal concerns instead of using clinical judgment,” says Melissa Durham, associate professor of clinical pharmacy at the USC School of Pharmacy.

She speaks from experience. When not teaching, Durham divides her time between two pain medication management clinics she helped establish: one at the USC Pain Center and a community-based clinic at the USC Medical Plaza Pharmacy. “For a lot of my patients, pain is their constant companion,” she says.

To render that companion a stranger, she seeks alternatives to opioids whenever possible. Many patients respond positively, and she has been able to taper down their doses while still easing their pain. Some patients’ pain even improves on lower doses.

Still, what works for one might fail to help another. With nearly 50 million Americans suffering from chronic pain, a one-size-fitsall approach is counterproductive. For one of Durham’s patients on long-term opioid therapy for neuropathic pain, any decrease significantly worsened the agony.

For a lot of my patients, pain is their constant companion.

Federal and state efforts to reduce opioid prescribing have exposed a fundamental dilemma — how to curb access to the addictive drugs while ensuring that chronic pain patients who need them can continue treatment.

“A lot of people get angry or nervous when providers think that they have to take people off of opioids no matter what because of fear of repercussions,” Durham says.

For Durham’s ongoing efforts to strike the right balance in this challenge, the California Pharmacists Association Western Pharmacy Exchange honored her as 2018 Cardinal Health Generation Rx Champion. She delivered the event’s keynote address, “Stuck in the Middle: Pharmacists and the Opioid Crisis.” Durham also co-wrote an article with USC Pain Center Director Steven Richeimer showing how a clinical pharmacist’s ability to provide individualized approaches to medication management can translate into an improved model for chronic pain management.

She’s not alone in her critique. A recent open letter by healthcare professionals to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

“You have to use clinical judgment and do what’s right for the patient and not practice out of fear,” Durham notes.

Melissa Durham, associate professor of clinical pharmacy at the USC School of Pharmacy

tragic toll

calls forced opioid tapering a “large-scale humanitarian issue.”

The Opioid Epidemic’s Human Costs Drug overdose fatalities continue rising in the U.S. — with opioid abuse driving this devastating trend. Americans are now more likely to die from opioid overdoses than from car wrecks, according to the National Safety Council.

of drug overdose 68 Percentage deaths involving an opioid number of 130 Estimated Americans dying each day from opioid overdoses of opioid overdose 47,600 Number deaths in 2017 alone due to overdoses 17,087 Deaths from prescribed opioids in 2017 of Americans 11.4 million Number misusing opioids who died from 400,000 Americans opioid overdoses between 1999-2017 of opioid 191 million Number prescriptions dispensed nationwide in 2017 of decrease 9.7 Percentage in opioid prescriptions after physicians received a Schaeffer Center nudge of clinicians less 7 Percentage likely to start patients on opioids or increase dosage after the nudge Sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Health and Human Services, USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics

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Left: PharmD students distribute naloxone kits and provide medication counseling during Homeless Care Days at MacArthur Park, Los Angeles.

Right: PharmD Class of 2022 student Lily Phong and classmates provide medication counseling to Catherine Burbank and her daughter, Sura.

Lifesaving Kits Sura Burbank and her mother, Catherine, regularly visit the booths and mobile clinics that gather biweekly in Los Angeles’ MacArthur Park. During a recent trip, in addition to free dental screenings and information on affordable housing, they received a kit containing the opiateoverdose-reversal medicine naloxone.

The Burbanks are among hundreds of people who depend on Homeless Care Days, a city initiative to aid displaced individuals and families. The USC School of Pharmacy has maintained an indelible presence in the program since April 2018, when a rotating group of PharmD students and preceptors first started distributing naloxone kits to help save lives.

“Going out and talking to people about the naloxone kits is really different from just reading about it for our classes,” says Anthony Luu, PharmD Class of 2020.

“It’s one way for pharmacists to be more involved in the community and play a role in tackling the opioid epidemic.”

The kits include injectable naloxone, alcohol swabs, a breathing mask, a sharps container and a description of the Good Samaritan law. Students also provide counseling to

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ensure that people feel comfortable using the medication.

The university awarded CPNP USC with the 2018 Tommy Community Outreach Award.

In 2014, the California State Assembly passed AB 1535, allowing pharmacists to furnish naloxone widely to those at risk of an overdose and to their family and friends.

“We want to encourage more of our students to change their communities for the better,” says Susie Park, associate dean for student affairs. “The opioid epidemic is unlikely to cease anytime soon, so as healthcare practitioners, we should continue to educate the public — not only on the appropriate use of naloxone products but also on the safe use of prescription opioids.”

“Laws are passed all the time, but if nothing is done, it goes for naught,” says PharmD Class of 2019 student Marl Ayson, immediate past president of the USC chapter of the College of Psychiatric and Neurologic Pharmacists (CPNP), which oversees the school’s participation in Homeless Care Days.

A year following the law’s passage, CPNP USC held its first naloxone training event after receiving a $500 grant to purchase naloxone kits. Since then, the school’s Naloxone Distribution Program has grown through a partnership with the nonprofit Homeless Health Care Los Angeles. In 2018, the Naloxone Distribution Program provided community members with more than 100 kits.

“We’ve had people come back and say, ‘I’ve used it on a friend and it saved his life,’” says Deep Patel, CPNP USC president, PharmD Class of 2020. “It’s a privilege to know that we’re making a real difference.”

PharmD Class of 2020 student Breanna Choi, CPNP USC director of mental health education, views naloxone counseling as a good entry point for more permanent treatments like addiction recovery. “You can’t help people if they’ve passed away,” Choi says.

The Burbanks hope they never have to use the naloxone kits they received, but say just having the medicine gives them peace of mind.

“People who use wouldn’t carry kits; it’s the friends and family who carry kits because they’re tired of being scared their loved ones will overdose,” Sura says.

Influencing Physician Prescribing Schaeffer Center researcher Jason Doctor employs theories of behavioral economics — or nudges — to influence provider prescribing behavior, both in the area of antibiotic overprescription and, more recently, to address the opioid crisis.

In a study published in fall 2018 in Science, Doctor identified an important gap in the care system: Many clinicians never learn of the deaths of patients from opioid overdoses. He and his colleagues created a simple nudge — they randomly selected half the study participants to receive a notification from the county medical examiner when

a patient to whom they had prescribed opioids suffered a fatal overdose.

In the three months after they received the letter, the clinicians’ opioid prescribing decreased by nearly 10 percent compared to the group not receiving a letter. In addition, they were 7 percent less likely to start a new patient on opioids and less likely to prescribe higher doses.

Following the publication of the study, multiple local and state agencies reached out to Doctor for guidance on implementation, including the L.A. County Board of Supervi-

sors, which voted unanimously in favor of a feasibility study into implementing such an intervention in Los Angeles. The results are particularly exciting given that more traditional state regulations involving mandated limits on opioids have not had much impact.

The authors point to the simplicity of the new approach, which provides an important missing piece of clinical information to physicians. This intervention is easily scalable nationwide as existing state and national resources already track overdose deaths associated with prescription and illicit drugs, Doctor says.

Addiction in Dreamland Former Los Angeles Times crime reporter Sam Quinones discussed his award-winning book, Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic, at a USC Visions and Voices event organized by the USC School of Pharmacy in January.

approaches to pain management, pharmaceutical companies filled that need with opioid painkillers marketed as nonaddictive. The belief in a simple solution to a complicated problem like pain contributed to skyrocketing rates of addiction, the author explained.

He pinpointed the start of the crisis to the 1980s, when physicians and pharmaceutical companies joined forces to declare a national “pain epidemic.” As doctors looked for new

“Pain treatment is an art as much as it is a science, and medical professionals and patients need to work together to find an appropriate treatment plan,” he said.

Pain treatment is an art as much as it is a science.

Sam Quinones, author of Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic

Far left: Associate Professor Melissa Durham moderates a conversation with award-winning author Sam Quinones.

Left: Quinones discusses the rise of opioid use and abuse.

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MEET THE NEW

Board of Councilors Members

The USC School of Pharmacy has appointed 12 new members to its Board of Councilors.

“They have unique backgrounds, with diverse experiences that make each of them an asset to the USC School of Pharmacy and to the university as a whole,” Dean Vassilios Papadopoulos says. “At the same time, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all of our long-serving board members whose vision has helped guide the school and the next generation of leaders in pharmacy.”

The new members join a thriving board of community leaders and experts from a broad range of healthcare sectors: Melvin F. Baron, Gale Bensussen, Roslyn Ellison Blake, Dolly Harris, Chair William Austin Heeres, Dianne Jung, Denis Portaro and Eileen C. Goodis Strom.

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Mark Clein, MBA, is co-founder and CEO of Precision Medicine Group.

He is a healthcare entrepreneur and co-founder of industry-leading ventures — including United BioSource Corporation, which conducts real-world research addressing safety, value and comparative effectiveness for the life sciences industry, and US Bioservices, a provider of personalized, direct-to-patient distribution services for specialty pharmaceuticals and biologics. Clein was previously chief executive officer of PMR Corporation, which offers outpatient services for psychiatric and central nervous system disorders. He holds an MBA from Columbia Graduate School of Business and a BA from the University of North Carolina, where he serves on the Arts and Sciences Foundation.

Danielle Colayco, PharmD ’08, MS ’10, is director of health outcomes and value strategy for Komoto Healthcare, an independently owned pharmacy organization whose services include community pharmacy, home infusion, ambulatory care and transitions of care. She completed her undergraduate education, doctor of pharmacy degree, and master’s fellowship in pharmaceutical economics and policy at USC. Upon completion of her fellowship, Colayco worked as part of the global health outcomes team at Allergan until 2011, when she joined Komoto Healthcare to lead its health economics department. In 2012, together with Komoto Healthcare’s founders, she established the Komoto Family Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting wellness for underserved communities.

William Crown, PhD, has been chief scientific officer of OptumLabs since 2013. He was previously a member of the board of directors at the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR), is a past president of ISPOR and currently co-chairs the ISPOR Health Science Policy Council Research Committee, which is responsible for guiding the organization’s research activities.

The author of two books and co-author of two others, he has published more than 170 journal articles, book chapters and other scholarly papers.

Crown earned a BA in economics from the University of Vermont, an MA in economics from Boston University, and a doctorate in urban and regional studies from MIT.

Daniel Gil, PhD, is a leader in pharmaceutical research and early-stage clinical development in the areas of ophthalmology, neuroscience and dermatology.

He runs Cellerity Consulting, a pharmaceutical and biotechnology consulting company.

He worked at Allergan for 30 years, last serving as vice president, research technologies and portfolio, and overseeing the progression of internal research programs and clinical development across the company’s therapeutic areas. Gil is an associate adjunct professor in pharmaceutical sciences at the University of California, Irvine, where he lectures undergraduate and graduate students on drug discovery, the history of the pharmaceutical industry and neurotransmission.

Amy Gutierrez, PharmD ’83, is senior vice president and chief pharmacy officer for national pharmacy programs and services at Kaiser Permanente.

She is also an assistant professor of clinical pharmacy at USC. At Kaiser Permanente, she oversees pharmacy practice and policy across eight national regions. Prior to this position, she served for 11 years as chief pharmacy officer for the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, the second-largest public health system in the U.S. In 2012, Gutierrez was appointed by Governor Jerry Brown as a professional member of the California State Board of Pharmacy, where she served for six years, including as the board’s president (2015-18).

Gutierrez earned a doctor of pharmacy degree from USC, then completed a California Healthcare Leadership Fellowship.

Dong Koo (D.K.) Kim established BP Industries Inc., a company specializing in the international trade of consumer products, in 1986.

It is now one of the premier home-décor vendors in the U.S. In 2003, he created the D.K. Kim Foundation Inc., a nonprofit supporting students and educational institutions.

Motivated by the missionaries who helped create opportunities for him during his childhood in a Korea divided by war, he learned the value of education as an investment in society.

Before he formed the foundation, Kim had been a generous donor to leading U.S. educational institutions.

Vinson Lee, PharmD ’06, MS, is principal at PARX Consulting, a full-service strategic consulting firm focused on payer, access, reimbursement and medical strategy for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and specialty pharmacies.

Lee has more than 12 years of experience in managed care, payer marketing, medical affairs, health outcomes and academia. He is an adjunct faculty member and course coordinator for the managed care elective at the USC School of Pharmacy and co-advisor of the USC Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy student chapter. He earned a doctor of pharmacy degree from the USC School of Pharmacy, an MS in cell and neurobiology from the Keck School of Medicine of USC, and a BS in biology from the University of California, Riverside.

Newell McElwee, PharmD, MSPH, is vice president of health economics and outcomes research at Boehringer Ingelheim. He was previously associate vice president in the Center for Observational and Real-World Evidence at Merck. McElwee has worked in health economics and outcomes research in the pharmaceutical industry for more than 20 years. Prior to joining Merck, he was vice president of outcomes research at Pfizer. Before joining the pharmaceutical industry, he worked in academia and the poison control arena for more than 10 years. He received a doctor of pharmacy degree from Mercer University and a master of science in public health from the University of Utah.

David Neu is co-founder of the Neu Family Foundation and former president of AmerisourceBergen Drug Corporation and Good Neighbor Pharmacy, one of the largest global pharmaceutical sourcing and distribution services companies. Neu recently retired after 34 years in several executive leadership roles, including serving as president of the retail division for legacy company Bergen Brunswig.

He and his wife co-founded the David and Esperanza Neu Charitable Foundation in 2010 and were recognized as Philanthropists of the Year in 2016 by the Association of Fundraising Professionals of Greater Philadelphia.

Committed to supporting causes related to health and education, they have partnered with several universities to establish scholarships for students in need.

William Pih, PharmD ’83, is principal at Two Labs, a pharmaceutical services consulting company that helps clients bring products to market. He founded The Huntington Consulting Group, which provides clinical consulting in infectious diseases and syndicated antibiogram tracking for susceptibility and resistance trends in acute care settings.

Pih also founded BioSys Laboratories, a medical device company focused on in vitro diagnostic devices and other medical and laboratory products.

He earned a doctor of pharmacy degree and a bachelor’s degree in biology and economics from USC.

Jacque J. Sokolov, MD, is chairman and chief executive officer of SSB Solutions, a nationally recognized consulting group working collaboratively with healthcare clients to develop physician-driven, value-focused strategies in rapidly evolving markets.

He also serves as chairman of the board for the Veterans Accountable Care Group and Veterans Accountable Care Organization.

Sokolov received a BA in medicine and an MD from USC, then completed an internal medicine specialty certification at the Mayo Clinic School of Graduate Medical Education.

Subsequently, he attended the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, completing cardiovascular disease and nuclear cardiology fellowships. Sokolov has served as a board director, corporate officer and advisor in multiple healthcare sectors.

Ken Thai, PharmD ’02, has years of experience in pharmacy management, staff development and pharmacy ownership training. He is currently CEO of 986 Degrees Corp., a pharmacy franchise. He also serves as an adjunct assistant professor of pharmacy practice at USC and at Western University of Health Sciences, precepting and mentoring students interested in becoming entrepreneurs in pharmacy.

He received a BS in biology from UCLA and a doctor of pharmacy degree from USC, then completed a residency in community pharmacy practice at USC. He currently owns multiple retail independent pharmacies throughout Southern California and Las Vegas. Thai serves as president-elect of the California Pharmacists Association and will be installed as its president in fall 2019.

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Clein Endows Health Economics Scholarship Mark Clein has given $200,000 to the USC School of Pharmacy to spur on new generations of health economics researchers. The donation creates the Mark P. Clein Family Endowed Health Economics Graduate Student Scholarship, supporting the work of budding investigators as they train and collaborate with faculty in finding evidence-based policy solutions to current and future healthcare challenges. The recipients’ studies and research will be conducted in the Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics.

Clein is CEO of Precision Medicine Group, which helps companies navigate the complicated journey from preclinical development to commercialization for pharmaceutical and life sciences products. He serves on the School of Pharmacy’s Board of Councilors.

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Scholarship Surge A record amount of scholarship support has been distributed to School of Pharmacy students during the 2018–19 academic year. Increasing scholarship support is essential to the school’s ability to attract and retain the top talent who will serve as tomorrow’s leaders in the profession, Dean Vassilios Papadopoulos notes.

“Scholarship support opens up opportunities for talented, hardworking students to benefit from the exemplary education and experiences that our school provides,” he says. “These students will go on to boldly shape the future of our field.”

Giving Tuesday “My scholarship allowed me to move from the East Coast to bring a different perspective to the USC School of Pharmacy community,” says Jeremy Dow, PharmD Class of 2021. Such generosity, he adds, enables students to pursue their dreams.

“Words cannot describe how fortunate I was to receive a scholarship. The financial assistance greatly impacted my life and allowed me to better focus on my academic workload,” says Marina Boulos, PharmD Class of 2019 (pictured below).

“Furthermore, this generous gift has fueled me to work harder in order to give back to the institution that has paved my career and equipped me to be a successful pharmacist.”

The 2018 Giving Tuesday fundraiser for the USC School of Pharmacy got off to a great start, reaching 100 gifts before noon and thereby unlocking a $1,000 donation to the Scholarship Fund from alumni Wandy and Larry Jung, both PharmD ’77. The school and its students thank everyone who participated in this successful day of philanthropic awareness.

The School of Pharmacy has unveiled tribute walls in the John Stauffer Pharmaceutical Sciences Center building, including this recognition of Gavin Herbert on the seventh floor as well as a thank you to the Bensussen family, located on the fifth floor.

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A LUMNI USC School of Pharmacy alumni Sen. Jeff Stone, PharmD ’81, and Rita Shane, PharmD ’78

Photo courtesy of Cedars-Sinai

Alumni-Led Legislation Protects High-Risk Patients Thanks to the efforts of two USC School of Pharmacy alumni, highrisk patients can now enter California hospitals with more confidence of being shielded from medication errors. Rita Shane, PharmD ’78, wrote a proposal to remedy the fact that many hospitals fail to charge specific clinicians with the responsibility of collecting accurate medication profiles for inpatients. State Senator Jeff Stone, PharmD ’81, then introduced the legislation as SB 1254, Hospital Pharmacies: Medication Profiles or Lists for High-Risk Patients.

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percent of these errors have the potential to cause moderate to severe harm,” Stone says, referring to Shane’s research.

“We found that when pharmacy staff obtained medication lists, there was an 80 percent reduction in medication history error,” notes Shane, who serves as director of pharmacy services at Cedars-Sinai.

Governor Jerry Brown signed the bill into law in September 2018 and it took effect on January 1. In addition to hurting patients, medication errors cost billions of dollars nationally due to avoidable hospital readmissions.

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT Two USC graduates who took advantage of different educational routes through the School of Pharmacy to success at the same company, Pfizer, share their views and experiences.

ROBERT POPOVIAN First Class

JORGE FARIAS

Outlook and Outcomes

Robert Popovian, PharmD ’93 and MS ’96, was in the School of Pharmacy’s first class to graduate with a master’s degree in pharmaceutical economics and policy. He now serves as vice president of U.S. government relations at Pfizer, working on state and federal healthcare policy and legislative issues.

Jorge Farias, PharmD ’13, MS ’16, was a senior pharmacy account specialist for Sanofi, educating community pharmacists on new products and engaging retail chains on programs aimed at improving medication adherence and patient outcomes. After a stint in consulting, he joined Pfizer as a medical outcomes specialist.

Why did you choose the USC School of Pharmacy?

What motivated you to pursue the MS in Healthcare Decision Analysis (HCDA) in addition to a PharmD?

I realized how economics drives human behavior — whether it has to do with one’s financial interests or health. I chose USC because the faculty had a broad background in economics, public health or public policy, unlike other programs where the faculty were primarily pharmacists.

Could you share some of your career highlights?

I worked in outcomes research and medical affairs at Pfizer in addition to government relations and was one of the first individuals in the industry to secure outcomes data regarding the labeled indication of a biopharmaceutical. Additionally, I was one of the first field-based medical directors for Pfizer, which led to the permanent establishment of the division at the company. I also have published and presented extensively on the impact of biopharmaceuticals and health policies on healthcare costs and clinical outcomes. Finally, I serve as a board member of Global Healthy Living Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to improving the quality of life for people living with chronic illness.

What advice do you have for students?

Always challenge yourself. Put your best foot forward at every opportunity. There are also several resources I recommend. Drugchannels.net and Pink Sheet (pink.pharmaintelligence.informa.com) are mustreads for anyone involved in healthcare and especially pharmaceutical economics and policy.

Most importantly, keep in touch with the faculty at the USC School of Pharmacy and the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics. They provide great content on various topics of importance in healthcare policy and economics. They can also be a powerful sounding board to discuss various issues that come up during your career.

SAVE THE DATE

I knew the curriculum would provide me with a better understanding of today’s healthcare landscape by focusing on topics such as health economics, pricing, reimbursement, managed care and health policy.

Did you find any of the school’s resources particularly helpful?

Joining organizations such as USC’s Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy student chapter and USC’s Student Industry Association helped me learn about different career opportunities for pharmacists by participating in committees and attending numerous informational sessions and student events.

I also am grateful for the amazing faculty at USC and the mentors I have met through the Trojan Family, particularly Dr. Ed Lieskovan. He always made time for his students, no matter how busy his schedule.

What’s your view of the state of the pharmacy profession?

The outlook for pharmacists in the pharmaceutical industry is very positive. When it comes to biopharmaceutical companies, you now see companies hiring pharmacists in almost every department — medical information, government affairs, market access, pricing, sales, marketing, health economics, regulatory affairs and more — because of the versatility of the PharmD degree.

Why do you stay involved with USC? The Trojan Family means you belong to a community of students and alumni who support one another. I have found my way of giving back by being a member of the USC School of Pharmacy Alumni Association Board of Directors. Here, I am able to help build our efforts to engage alumni, helping to ensure that they stay connected and that they have the opportunity to continue to support the school.

THE THIRD ANNUAL ALUMNI AWARDS GALA will be held at USC Town & Gown

↓ SUNDAY APRIL 28, 2019 More information is available at pharmacyschool.usc.edu/gala

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class notes We want to hear from you! Email your updates and career news to pharmcom@usc.edu to be included in the next edition of Class Notes.

19 7 0 s

Elan Rubinstein, PharmD ’78, is principal of EB Rubinstein Associates, a managed care and pharmaceuticals consultancy in Oak Park, Calif.

Julie Uyemura, PharmD ’78, is a home care surveyor at The Joint Commission.

1980 s

Charles Lacy, PharmD ’81, is vice president of executive affairs at Roseman University of Health Sciences Adrian Hurley, PharmD ’84, MD, is a physician at the Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group in Kensington, Md. Ken W. Wong, PharmD ’86, is pharmacy director at San Gabriel Valley Medical Center.

Alan Gurewitz, PharmD ’87, is senior director, medical communications & publications, at Akcea Therapeutics.

Sohail Masood, PharmD ’88, is founder and CEO of KabaFusion, a leading provider of acute and specialty home infusion services.

In January 2019, KabaFusion was acquired by Pritzker Private Capital.

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1990 s

Marvin Finnefrock, PharmD ’91, is vice president of clinical services and purchasing development at Comprehensive Pharmacy Services in Huntington Beach, Calif.

Catherine Salvatori, PharmD ’93, is a staff pharmacist at Kaiser Permanente South Bay Medical Center.

Jacqueline Nguyen, PharmD ’98, is founder and president of Dr. J’s Natural, a natural health supplement company.

Edward Wong, PharmD ’98, is director of pharmacy services at Saddleback Medical Center.

2000 s

Jose Castro, PharmD ’01, is manager of pharmacy operations at Keck Medicine of USC. Marita Nazarian, PharmD ’01, serves as director of pharmacy compliance at L.A. Care Health Plan.

Hooman Milani, PharmD ’02, is manager of pharmacy clinical operations at Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles Medical Center.

Sonya Frausto, PharmD ’03, is pharmacy care manager at Raley’s in Sacramento.

Ella Fridman, PharmD ’04, is pharmacy director at Factor Support Network.

Debrina Johnson, PharmD ’13, is an adjunct professor at the University of La Verne.

James Morton, PharmD ’05, is director of clinical programs at Quest Diagnostics.

JoAnn Pfeiffer, DRSc in Regulatory Science ’13, is director of the Clinical Research Management and Regulatory Sciences master’s programs at Arizona State University.

Robbie Leark, PharmD ’07, is owner of Burt’s Pharmacy and Compounding Lab. Sheena Jindal, PharmD ’09, MS Regulatory Science ’09, serves as a clinical pharmacist at PIH Health.

Jason Yamaki, PharmD ’09, PhD Clinical and Experimental Therapeutics ’13, is an assistant professor of pharmacy at Chapman University.

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Andrew Messali, PharmD ’10, PhD Pharmaceutical Economics and Policy ’15, is associate director of Sunovion Pharmaceuticals.

Jaejin An, PhD Pharmaceutical Economics and Policy ’11, is a research scientist at Kaiser Permanente Pasadena.

Michael Pazirandeh, PharmD ’11, is director of health economics and outcomes research at BristolMyers Squibb.

Janki Bhatt, MS Regulatory Science ’14, is a senior regulatory affairs specialist at Abbott Vascular.

Barbara Blaylock, PhD Pharmaceutical Economics and Policy ’15, is a senior manager at Stratevi.

IN MEMORIAM

Betty Katagiri Burrows, PharmD ’65, died on April 30, 2017.

Ed Baesel, PharmD ’70, died on Dec. 8, 2018.

Michael Z. Wincor, PharmD ’78, associate professor of clinical pharmacy, psychiatry and the behavioral sciences at the USC School of Pharmacy and the Keck School of Medicine of USC, died on Nov. 30, 2018 (see page 6).

Jamie-Dale Reiko Ueoka, PharmD ’88, died on Sept. 9, 2018.

John Mills, MS Healthcare Decision Analysis ’15, is a developer/analyst at IntrinsiQ Specialty Solutions.

Chris Farina, MS Management of Drug Development ’16, is vice president of operations and chief of staff at Abcentra.

Nicole Benko, MS Healthcare Decision Analysis ’17, is a consultant at The Segal Group.

Mia Mackowski, PharmD ’17, MS Healthcare Decision Analysis ’17, is global early clinical development manager at Amgen.

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New Faces

The USC School of Pharmacy has added several new faculty members to its ranks in recent months.

Terry David Church, DRSc, MA, MS, has joined the school as an assistant professor in the Department of Regulatory and Quality Sciences, and lecturer for the undergraduate program. He teaches the course on the history and geography of drugs.

Church, who was previously program manager for the Adolescent and Young Adult Program at Keck Medicine of USC, studies biorepository regulation and ethics, drug addiction and regulation of controlled substances, regulatory practices for continuity and disaster planning, and policies and ethics of academic research. He earned a master’s degree in cultural anthropology from Temple University, and doctoral and master’s degrees in regulatory science from USC in 2017 and 2015, respectively.

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Tatyana Gurvich, PharmD, is an assistant professor in the Titus Family Department of Clinical Pharmacy. A geriatric clinical pharmacologist, she spent 26 years as a clinical faculty member at Adventist Health Glendale Family Medicine Residency Program before joining USC. Throughout her career, she has fostered interprofessional collaboration between physicians and pharmacists.

She has taught family medicine residents and geriatric fellows, served as a clinical editor for a major publisher of drug textbooks and reference materials, and developed teaching models to integrate pharmacy and medical education, pharmacology curricula for postgraduate medical education, successful collaborative clinical pharmacy practices, and clinical practice guidelines for long-term care and managed care companies. Gurvich earned a PharmD from the USC School of Pharmacy.

William V. Padula, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical and Health Economics. His research explores the theoretical foundations of medical cost-effectiveness analysis, data analytics to predict health outcomes, quality improvement and reduced costs of hospital care, and drug-pricing issues. He joined USC from Johns Hopkins’ Bloomberg School of Public Health, where he was assistant professor of health policy and management and where he continues to hold a joint appointment in the School of Nursing and the Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality. In 2017, Padula and colleagues worked with the Maryland attorney general to pass bipartisan legislation that restricts price hikes on generic pharmaceuticals, the first legislation of its kind in the U.S. He earned a master’s degree in analytics from the University of Chicago, a master’s in evaluative clinical science from Dartmouth College and a PhD in pharmaceutical outcomes research from the University of Colorado.

Seth Seabury, PhD, joined the School of Pharmacy as an associate professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical and Health Economics, director of graduate studies for the Pharmaceutical Economics and Policy program, and director of the Keck-Schaeffer Initiative for Population Health at the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics. He previously was associate professor of ophthalmology at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. Seabury’s research focuses on the impact of legal and regulatory policy on healthcare delivery and patient outcomes, with a particular focus on at-risk and underserved populations, and has been funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the National Institute on Aging, the California Department of Industrial Relations and the U.S. Department of Labor. He earned a PhD in economics from Columbia University.

Erin Trish, PhD, has joined the school as assistant professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical and Health Economics. She is continuing her roles as associate director of health policy at the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics and assistant research professor at the USC Price School of Public Policy. Her research focuses on the impact of public policy on healthcare markets, with recent work evaluating the impact of insurer and hospital market concentration on health insurance premiums, the effects of rating regulations in the small group health insurance market, provider payment in Medicare Advantage, specialty drug spending and risk adjustment.

She earned a doctorate in health policy and economics from Johns Hopkins’ Bloomberg School of Public Health and completed postdoctoral work at the Fielding School of Public Health at UCLA and the USC Schaeffer Center.

BURDEN OF GENERIC DRUG PRICE SPIKES A new USC study reveals that sudden price spikes for generic drugs are becoming increasingly common. Published by researchers in the Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics in Health Affairs, the study shows that the portion of generic drugs doubling or more in price represents a small but growing share of the market.

“In most cases, this reflects an emerging strategy by generic manufacturers to identify and enter therapeutic areas with limited competition and raise prices substantially,” says Geoffrey Joyce, chair of the school’s Department of Pharmaceutical and Health Economics.

For consumers, this can mean soaring costs for lifesaving drugs, sparking public outrage and leading many to question whether the market — which has historically functioned well — is still working. Joyce and his co-authors note that the Food and Drug Administration has initiated new rules that require prioritized review, including action within eight months for drugs used to treat conditions in which there are no more than three approved products.

Recent Awards Chen Named Pharmacist of the Year

Mirzaian Honored by APhA

Steven Chen, associate dean for clinical affairs and the William A. and Josephine A. Heeres Chair in Community Pharmacy, was selected as 2018 Pharmacist of the Year by the California Society of HealthSystem Pharmacists (CSHP). CSHP’s most prestigious honor, Pharmacist of the Year is awarded annually to a member who has made significant and sustained contributions to pharmacy practice in California. Chen was recognized at the 2018 CSHP Seminar in October 2018 in San Diego.

Edith Mirzaian, assistant dean of curriculum and associate professor of clinical pharmacy, received the 2019 Community Pharmacy Residency Excellence in Precepting Award from the American Pharmacists Association (APhA). The award — which recognizes excellence in precepting, mentoring, leadership and community pharmacy residency program administration — was presented at APhA’s annual meeting and exposition in Seattle in March 2019.

Mosley Accepted for Career Development Program

Trish Recognized with AJMC Award

Scott Mosley, assistant professor of clinical pharmacy, has been accepted to the Southern California Clinical and Translational Science Institute Mentored Career Development in Clinical and Translational Science Program for the three-year period June 1, 2019 to May 31, 2022. Scholars are selected based on prior training, research, and commitment to a clinical or translational research career, as well as potential to excel in the program.

The American Journal of Managed Care, the leading peer-reviewed journal dedicated to issues in managed care, honored Erin Trish, assistant professor of pharmaceutical and health economics, with its 2018 Seema S. Sonnad Emerging Leader in Managed Care Research Award during its PatientCentered Oncology Care meeting in November.

Promotions

Paul Beringer, chair of the Titus Family Department of Clinical Pharmacy, has been promoted to professor of clinical pharmacy.

Melissa Durham has been promoted to associate professor of clinical pharmacy.

Edith Mirzaian, associate professor of clinical pharmacy, now also serves as assistant dean of curriculum.

Eunjoo Pacifici has been promoted to associate professor in the Department of Regulatory and Quality Sciences.

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Showcasing Opportunities for Students The USC School of Pharmacy’s annual Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPE) Fair lets third-year PharmD students meet with more than 100 preceptors from over 70 sites to learn about available APPE rotations.

Ying Wang, director of Professional Experience Programs, says the fair is exciting for PharmD students because it signifies the initial planning stages for their final year of pharmacy school.

“The fair gives our students exposure to a variety of experiences,” Wang says. “Since the role of a pharmacist is always evolving,

Since the role of a pharmacist is always evolving, we want to prepare students for those changes by expanding the breadth of APPE rotations available to them each year.

Ying Wang, director of Professional Experience Programs

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we want to prepare students for those changes by expanding the breadth of APPE rotations available to them each year.”

The 2018 APPE Fair, held at the Harry and Celeste Pappas Quad in September, convened preceptors from a wide range of locations across Southern California, including Allergan, Cedars-Sinai, Blue Shield of California, CVS, Ralphs and USC sites such as the five USC Pharmacy locations.

For example, Scott Takahashi, PharmD ’89, presented 13 APPEs he oversees at Kaiser Permanente, from rotations in pediatric ambulatory care to drug use management.

“I’ve been a preceptor since 1990,” says Takahashi, an ambulatory care pharmacist.

“I do it every year because it keeps you current, and it’s important to mentor the next generation of pharmacists that’s filling your shoes.”

For Daniel Cho, PharmD Class of 2020, the APPE Fair was an opportunity to find out more about possible career paths. “I learned a lot from this fair about different pharmacy settings and getting a clearer picture of what my final year of pharmacy school will look like,” he says.

Want to get involved? Contact Wang at wangying@usc.edu.

STEPPING UP FOR SENIORS In November 2018, 70 USC School of Pharmacy students held a free four-day workshop to help university retirees and their spouses enroll in the Medicare Part D plan that’s right for them. Those switching plans will save an average of $1,735 per year, with the highest savings totaling an impressive $16,192 annually.

Medicare Part D is designed to lower seniors’ prescription drug costs, but many find it difficult to navigate the medicare.gov site to choose optimal coverage.

“It can be a confusing process,” says Bradley Williams, one of the faculty advisors for 2018 Medicare Part D Enrollment Week. “Retirees often have the most trouble interpreting costs of the plans, which is made more difficult because their disease states and medication needs frequently change.”

Students prepared for the workshop with a prep session conducted by the Center for Health Care Rights, a nonprofit focused on healthcare advocacy and health insurance counseling. They also trained with Williams in reviewing case studies and becoming familiar with Medicare’s “find-a-plan” feature.

“The students are computer savvy and have the expertise to help me save a lot of money,” says Shanrong Shi, 82. “This is a great service for seniors.”

Amanda Nguyen, PharmD Class of 2021, student coordinator for the workshop, says that patient interaction benefits students by further developing interpersonal skills and an appreciation for the challenges of older adults when navigating medications and insurance.

Kimberly Nguyen, PharmD Class of 2021, advises a couple on the Part D plan that best aligns with their needs.

New Career Resource

Vincent Willey (second from left), vice president of industry-sponsored research at HealthCore, shares his expertise with students in the Healthcare Decision Analysis program.

Access to Industry Leaders The USC School of Pharmacy’s Healthcare Decision Analysis (HCDA) curriculum focuses on analyzing complex, real-world issues to prepare graduates for business careers in healthcare, biopharmaceuticals, insurance, and medical devices and diagnostics. Students benefit from a wide variety of high-profile business leaders invited to speak in their classes.

“The master of science program in Healthcare Decision Analysis uniquely offers our students both technical and problem-solving expertise, integrated into the practical applications required to get that first great job in the biopharmaceutical industry,” says HCDA Director Grant Lawless. “It develops each student’s analytical and leadership skills, incorporating classroom-based team projects and providing great networking opportunities with worldclass industry speakers.”

Jonathan Sedaghat, PharmD ’18, MS in HCDA ’18, is now a marketing associate in reimbursement, access and value at Amgen. He says he learned about

the HCDA degree in his first year as a PharmD student and was immediately interested.

“Because of the HCDA program and its wide array of guest lecturers all coming from high-level executive positions in biotech, pharma, managed care, medical devices and diagnostics, I quickly discovered that there’s so much more I can do with a PharmD and, when coupled with the MS in HCDA, I would get to where I wanted to be fast,” Sedaghat says.

Current Class of 2019 HCDA student and entrepreneur Yuefeng Zhang chose HCDA as a way to enhance his Chinabased consultancy.

“I wanted to learn everything about healthcare access and delivery in the U.S., as there are many differences between the States and my home country,” he says. “Getting to connect with the HCDA guest speakers is one of the most valuable things about the program. By getting real-world insights from industry CEOs and VPs, I’ve been able to better serve my clientele.”

Ashlee Klevens Hayes, PharmD, MHA, has joined the USC School of Pharmacy as a career strategist, a newly created, part-time role within the USC Margaret and John Biles Leadership Center.

Hayes will provide career counseling and advising to students, with an initial focus on third- and fourth-year PharmD students.

A third-generation alumnus of the school, Hayes is founder of Rx Ashlee, a careercoaching program that specializes in empowering pharmacists to explore nontraditional roles in pharmacy while providing motivation, accountability and confidence.

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Laboratory Leadership The lung-scarring condition cystic fibrosis is one of our nation’s most common fatal genetic disorders. PhD student Jordanna Jayne earned the 2018-2019 Charles and Charlotte Krown Fellowship for investigating a potential treatment for the disease.

Jayne works in the lab of Paul Beringer, chair of the Titus Family Department of Clinical Pharmacy, which is testing the efficacy of the peptide rhesus theta defensin-1 (RTD-1) against inflammation caused by cystic fibrosis. If successful, RTD-1 could also aid patients afflicted with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and bronchitis, preventing long-term lung damage.

“Cystic fibrosis patients have described living with the condition like spending every day desperately trying to breathe through a small straw,” Jayne notes.

Although the Krown Fellowship is the most prestigious award for graduate students at the USC School of Pharmacy, Jayne considers her work in Beringer’s lab to be an even greater honor.

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“I’ve always wanted to be involved in something that could have a healthcare outcome, and have the endpoint be that I contributed something that might improve somebody else’s life,” she says.

Beringer praises Jayne’s leadership, calling her an excellent mentor to other graduate students in his lab. She also has published several manuscripts, including as a first author. In addition, she tutors underprivileged children while juggling a full plate of research, student organization activities and coursework.

“Receiving the Krown Fellowship is a testament to Jordanna’s unique qualities,” Beringer says.

As president of the Los Angeles chapter of Graduate Women in Science, Jayne has secured funding for conferences and networking events, an accomplishment she says her mentors have helped her achieve.

“That kind of epitomizes the Trojan Family for me, and how incredibly supportive people can be,” she says.

A native of the United Kingdom, Jayne received her bachelor’s degree at the University of Birmingham and a master’s degree at Cardiff University. After earning her PhD in clinical and experimental therapeutics, as well as a master’s degree in drug development, she plans to pursue a career in regulatory affairs.

The Krown Fellowship comes with a $5,000 stipend, plus an additional $5,000 allowance that can be used for travel or purchase of educational or research materials.

PASSING NAPLEX WITH FLYING COLORS USC School of Pharmacy graduates had a 98.7 percent North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination (NAPLEX) passing rate in summer 2018, according to the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy. That’s nearly 5 percent higher than the overall state passing rate and 7 percent higher than the national rate.

While NAPLEX passing rates sharply declined nationally two years ago following a change in the exam format, USC has consistently maintained some of the highest first-time passing rates in California and across the country.

CALL OF DUTY Meet veteran and third-year PharmD student Jeno Mabellin. Here he reflects on his experiences in the U.S. Air Force, where he served from 2005 to 2009, and how his deployment to the Middle East sparked an interest in pharmacy.

Where is your hometown?

I feel fortunate to have two hometowns: Cagayan de Oro, Philippines, where I was born, and the San Francisco Bay Area, where my family moved when I was 15.

“These results are a testament to the high quality of our curriculum and the dedication of our esteemed faculty, as well as the hard work and rigorous preparation on the part of our highcaliber students,” says Vassilios Papadopoulos, dean of the USC School of Pharmacy.

NAPLEX, just one component of the licensure process, is used by boards of pharmacy to help assess a candidate’s competence to practice as a pharmacist.

What did you gain from your time in military service?

The military helped shape who I am today. I liked the stability, structure and discipline military life demands. For me, it was a positive force that guided an otherwise unmotivated teenager.

Describe your responsibilities in the Air Force.

I was honorably discharged with a rank of senior airman, but my official job title was missile and space facilities specialist. My squadron was tasked with maintaining our nation’s intercontinental ballistic missile launch facilities at peak operational capability. Essentially, I was an electrician, mechanic, troubleshooter, plumber and custodian rolled into one, working more than 80 hours a week. One of the most memorable experiences was working on the relief efforts from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.

What attracted you to the field of pharmacy?

A defining moment happened during my deployment to the Middle East. By chance, I was posted at the base hospital and saw military personnel being rolled in and out of the facility, some with more acute conditions than others. I started to understand the gravity of patient care and how it translates to health outcomes. It hit close to home because I was seeing fellow troops and thinking about their wellbeing (and their families). It was an epiphany that sparked my curiosity and eventual journey toward pharmacy school.

USC School of Pharmacy students provide free screenings to the community during Trojan Family Weekend in fall 2018.

Why did you choose the USC School of Pharmacy?

Like many of my peers, I was attracted to USC because of its reputation. To me, the USC brand represents innovation, tradition and, most importantly, family. Through the USC School of Pharmacy, I’ve also been blessed with amazing people whom I’ll treasure long after pharmacy school is over. Even though the curriculum has been challenging, I’m grateful I went with my gut instinct and chose USC. What are your career aspirations?

So far, I picture myself working in inpatient care. However, I also have a lingering desire to go back and serve as a military pharmacist.

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Do you recognize any of these faces from the early 1970s, when the School of Pharmacy’s John Stauffer Pharmaceutical Sciences Center was under construction?

Send your comments to pharmcom@usc.edu.

PHOTO SHOP 36

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THE FUTURE OF

PHARMACY

By supporting scholarships, you help the school recruit and retain outstanding students from diverse backgrounds while expanding educational opportunities for all. In turn, USC School of Pharmacy students continuously give back to patients throughout the community while enhancing their patient care skills.

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

When I see the smiles of patients when they report feeling better ‌ it fuels my passion to go above and beyond to help. With a PharmD, I obtain the blessed opportunity to give back to my community.

Edwin Bermudez PharmD Class of 2022

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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PharmD Class of 2022 student Michelle Kalu administers free health screening tests at Trojan Family Weekend 2018.