UHCOP Alumni, Faculty Among Top Honorees in Leadership, Mentorship and Research Presentations at 2021 TSHP Seminar

April 30 — Several UH College of Pharmacy alumni and faculty members were among the award-winners and honorees at the 2021 TSHP Virtual Seminar April 9-11.  

Two-time UHCOP alumna Mallory Gessner-Wharton, Pharm.D. ('11), M.S. ('13), BCPS, was recognized with the TSHP 2021 Pharmacy Leadership Award. Gessner-Wharton most recently served as TSHP Secretary, with past service as president-elect/president/immediate past president of the Gulf Coast Society of Health-System Pharmacists.

Alumnus and Clinical Associate Professor David A. Wallace, Pharm.D. ('98), received the TSHP 2021 Pharmacy Mentor Award. A UHCOP faculty member since 1999, Wallace has mentored countless students in the college's Pharm.D. and M.S. in Pharmacy Leadership and Administration (the academic component of The Houston Program) degree programs as well as through his volunteer preceptorship at the nonprofit H.O.M.E.S. Clinic for Houston's homeless population.

In addition, alumna Kimberly S. Putney, Pharm.D. ('00), MPH, was installed as president of the TSHP Research & Education Foundation during the seminar. Putney currently serves as CHI St. Luke’s Health Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center clinical pharmacy manager; policy, research and education director for the institution's PGY1/PGY2 Health-System Pharmacy Administration residency in collaboration with UHCOP; and director of institution's pharmacy residency programs. Prior to her installation, Putney served as foundation secretary and scholarship committee chair. A UHCOP adjunct faculty member, Putney also serves on the advisory committee of The Houston Program with UHCOP and six other Texas Medical Center health systems.

Several UHCOP alumni, including a current faculty member, were among the honorees of the TSHP Research & Education Foundation Research Poster Competition: 

• Winner, Resident/Fellow/Post-Graduate: PGY1 & PGY2 Category – "Evaluation Of The Use Of Leapfrog’s Gold Standard Medication Reconciliation Audit Process At A Large Quaternary Care Academic Medical Center" by lead author and The Houston Program's Ezimma C. Nnyagu, Pharm.D., MPH, CHI St. Luke’s Health Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center PGY1 resident, with coauthors including Putney).
• Honorable Mention, Resident/Fellow/Post-Graduate: PGY1 & PGY2 Category – "Implementation Of A Pharmacy Technician-Driven Service For Hepatitis C Follow-Up Care" by lead author Tatiana Bujnoch, Pharm.D., BCPS, The Houston Program PGY2 Health-System Pharmacy Administration resident at Memorial Hermann Health System, with coauthors including Joseph Rogers, Pharm.D., M.S. ('16), and UHCOP faculty members Shane Tolleson, Pharm.D. ('14), Bernadette Asias-Dinh, Pharm.D. ('11), BCACP, BCPS, CDCES, and Divya Varkey, Pharm.D., M.S.
• Honorable Mention, Administrative/Clinical/Education/Practice Management Practitioner Category – "Characterization Of Antibiotic Utilization In COVID-19 Patients At A Community Hospital" by lead author Ashley M. Long, Pharm.D. ('18), infectious diseases clinical pharmacy specialist at Memorial Hermann Southeast Hospital. 
• Honorable Mention, Student Category – "Medication Use Evaluation Of Lung Surfactant In The NICU: Beractant & Poractant Alfa" by lead author Kathryn V. Oliveira, Pharm.D. candidate, and coauthor Briget Martinez, Pharm.D. ('07), UHCOP clinical assistant professor and DHR Health clinical pharmacist. 

Several other students and alumni were credited as coauthors on other top posters, including:

• Pharm.D. candidate Alyza King ("Evaluation of the Efficacy and Safety of Sodium Zirconium Cyclosilicate And Sodium Polystyrene Sulfonate In Treatment Of Hyperkalemia" – winner of the Practitioner Category by lead author Chiamaka C. Ike, Pharm.D., BCCCP, clinical specialist at Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital).
• Gessner-Wharton ("Implementing AUC Monitoring In A Pharmacist-Managed Vancomycin Dosing Protocol: A Retrospective Cohort Study" – winner of the Resident/Fellow/Post-Graduate: PGY1 & PGY2 category by lead author Brandon Robinson, Pharm.D., PGY1 resident at HCA Houston Healthcare-Kingwood Medical Center).
• Pharm.D. candidates Lauren Eichinger and Minali Patel ("Medication Use Evaluation Of Bamlanivimab At Central Texas Baylor Scott & White Institutions" – winner of the Student Category by lead author and Texas A&M Irma Lerma Rangel College of Pharmacy Pharm.D. candidate Chidinma N. Ahiarah). 

To view all of the recognized and accepted posters and abstracts, visit the TSHP Research & Education Foundation 2021 Virtual Poster Hall.