Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony - University Of Health Sciences And Pharmacy In .

Opportunities in Pain Research from TRANSLATIONAL BASIC SCIENCE to CLINICAL TRIALS C risp sunlight filters through the windows of the sixth floor in the newly completed Academic and Research Building. Airy and open with clean lines, floor to ceiling windows, and modern, minimalist décor, the office and lab space of the Center for Clinical Pharmacology emanates the energy and potential of a blank canvas. 4 SPRING 2016 In a joint effort to address the rational use of existing and new medicines to accelerate the translation of basic research to clinical treatment for improving patient care, St. Louis College of Pharmacy and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have created the Center for Clinical Pharmacology. “The Center is a coalescence of several unmet needs, desires, and aspirations,” explained Evan D. Kharasch, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Center. The College hopes to develop and advance a research and scholarship agenda, while expanding both the College and School of Medicine’s portfolio of expertise and research abilities. “Clinical pharmacology, in general, is a domain that focuses on the interface between basic science and clinical medicine,” Kharasch detailed. “It has roots in each. In a more specific sense, as we now talk about personalized or precision medicine, clinical pharmacology is one of the action arms by which we can implement the concept of precision medicine.” As a joint clinical pharmacology research program between two separate institutions, “the Center for Clinical Pharmacology builds upon the existing strengths of both institutions,” Kharasch said. “It creates a new research focus, new opportunities for researchers and students, and a new paradigm of collaboration with an inherent opportunity for synergy, growth, and expansion over

On Campus Clinical pharmacology research is something neither the College nor the School of Medicine was doing before. The partnership has a unique deliverable around therapeutics. karen seibert, ph.d. co-director of the center time. We have a tremendous degree of freedom in how we address clinical pharmacology. You can define clinical pharmacology very narrowly as the study of drugs in patients, or you can stretch it out across a continuum. This continuum starts at translational basic science. The translation elements are to take basic science, marry it with large and small molecules to see how you can influence, change, and modulate physiology or disease processes. The next step is to do this clinically,” Kharasch said. Karen Seibert, Ph.D. and co-director of the Center, describes how the Center for Clinical Pharmacology provides a diverse set of opportunities for those trained in pharmacy to get involved in drug research and development. From participating in large clinical trials to participating in the policy setting, the Center creates opportunities to expand the understanding of the role of the pharmacist. “Clinical pharmacology research is something neither the College nor the School of Medicine was doing before. The partnership has a unique deliverable around therapeutics,” Seibert noted. With the Center newly completed and five laboratories to be filled, Kharasch and Seibert are eager to begin recruiting faculty in the area of analgesics and pain relief. “Clinical pharmacology is inherently multidisciplinary; it crosses every specialty and subspecialty in medicine and pharmacy,” Kharasch explained. “There is a challenge in creating a clinical pharmacology unit because of the breadth of health care issues that clinical pharmacology addresses. To be as efficient and effective as possible, we made the decision to focus, initially, on pain relief. Other research areas may follow. We’re starting to think about the kind of faculty we want for the Center. Ideally, we are recruiting not for the science of today, but for the science of tomorrow,” Kharasch said. According to a report from the Institute of Medicine published in 2011, about 100 million American adults suffer from chronic pain, costing the nation up to 635 billion each year in medical treatment and lost productivity. Chronic pain remains a major health care issue on both micro- and macro-levels. “As clinicians, we deal with very powerful drugs that have the ability to relieve pain and suffering,” Kharasch said. “The challenge is in how we adequately treat pain, and at the same time, prevent side effects.” “We want to bring forward new mechanisms to provide enhanced patient care. I hope the Center will bring in investigators who are ready to drive new approaches into that translational space and garner the attention of partners for clinical trials, industry-sponsored trials, and institutionally-sponsored trials,” Seibert said. The presence of the Center for Clinical Pharmacology on the College campus is the physical manifestation of the expanding possibilities for students and faculty. “The emerging role of the pharmacist is the clinical role,” Seibert explained. “It is deliving patient care and policy making, but there is another opportunity for pharmacists around research.” SCRIPT MAGAZINE 5

P3 student Jessie Nia Hwang serves as an example to her peers through her leadership and dedication to the profession of pharmacy.

Student Profile story KEAGAN KRISTOFF photos LINDA MUELLER JESSIE NIA HWANG Skydiver, Student National Pharmaceutical Association (SNPhA) national president, licensed insurance agent, and student pharmacist are just a few ways to describe P3 student Jessie Nia Hwang. The Atlanta native transferred to St. Louis College of Pharmacy three years after completing her bachelor of science degree in biology at Spelman College to pursue her desire to advocate for underserved communities and pave a way for others who were once in her shoes. With a spirit for adventure, Hwang always knew she wanted to help people. As SNPhA national president, she recognizes that she has a platform to not only make a difference nationally, but also to impact her peers at the College. During her undergraduate program at Spelman College, Hwang witnessed firsthand what it was like to work with patients who could not afford medications and health care services. After learning more about the challenges patients face in getting proper health care, she was inspired to help underserved communities. “I want to make a difference in the communities that have raised me. I believe there is a responsibility to pour back into communities that have poured into me,” Hwang said. Unsure of how she wanted to change the world, Hwang worked as an insurance agent where she learned to understand risks, delegate tasks, and connect with people. She went the extra mile to maximize every opportunity to help others fully understand their insurance policies. Through her love of people, she was able to grow in the insurance business and was eventually offered her own agency. She turned down the offer knowing that she wanted to make a difference in the lives of patients through a health care career. With some encouragement from her friends, Hwang left the insurance agency and transferred to the College. “There’s a saying that ‘life begins at the end of your comfort zone.’ I recall my transition from Atlanta to STLCOP as being initially uncomfortable, but providing me with an excellent opportunity to grow,” she said. “If I did not have those experiences, I recognize that I would not have been able to excel.” Her deeply rooted passion for community service guided her toward joining SNPhA. Empowered by colleagues and faculty and having served the year prior as the national president-elect, Hwang took on the role as the 2015-16 national president. SNPhA is a student-driven, nonprofit organization focused on serving communities across the nation, while promoting diversity in the profession of pharmacy. It consists of 92 chapters across the nation, is made up of nearly 6,000 student pharmacists, and is constantly growing. As national president, Hwang has implemented this year’s G.O.A.L.S. theme, an acronym for globalization, outreach, advocacy, leadership, and scholarship. Through her presidential address, she outlined her vision of creating cross-cultural relationships in order to encourage pharmacists globally to serve underrepresented populations. Before finishing out her term, she hopes to initiate the growth of SNPhA’s outreach internationally. “Struggling communities and pharmacy students do not only exist within our country’s borders but also around the world,” she said. “We will always be students of our profession, and it is our obligation to ensure that we continue to pay our abilities forward.” By sharing her experience and dedication to advocacy, Hwang is able to serve as a positive voice for underserved communities and educate other student pharmacists on how they can improve health care in the St. Louis area. “As a national officer, I must set an example of the expectations that I would like SNPhA to instill in the communities we serve,” she said. “As a pharmacist, I believe privilege is attached to being educated, therefore I consider it an honor to serve our patients to improve their health care.” SCRIPT MAGAZINE 7

Student Profile Freshman Steven Kramer, president of the ASL Club, signs the words “St. Louis College of Pharmacy.” STEVEN KRAMER “Steven with a ‘v’ for victory, not a ‘ph’ for phony. That is unless you know a Stephen with a ‘ph’, then it stands for sophisticated. I don’t like to make enemies the first time I meet someone.” Freshman Steven Kramer introduces himself by signing his introduction. His passion for American Sign Language (ASL) is evident from the moment you meet him. Kramer’s love of sign language began in the eighth grade when he joined the ASL Club. After learning how to sign the song We Are the World for a school talent show, he knew he wanted to advocate for the Deaf community. “We performed the song with music playing, but then we purposefully had the music stop and continued signing, so that those in the audience could experience being deaf,” Kramer said. “It was so quiet in the audience that you could hear a pin drop. That moment really touched me.” While attending O’Fallon Township High School in O’Fallon, Illinois, Kramer sparked interests amongst his peers and tried to implement an ASL organization, but was unable to find a teacher to sponsor his program. He then enrolled in sign language courses and joined the ASL Club at Southwestern Illinois College (SWIC). After attending STLCOP New Student Orientation this past summer, he spoke with Toni McMurphy, vice president of culture and campus life, and explained his dream of starting an ASL organization on campus. McMurphy agreed to sponsor his organization. After four years of waiting, Kramer’s dream was finally becoming a reality. As president of the ASL Club, he is tasked with educating nearly 30 members on how to help the Deaf community as future health care professionals. “Through special guests and presentations, members learn basic sign language skills and about technology that has been created to better serve the Deaf, hard of hearing, and deaf-blind,” Kramer said. Through his membership in the SWIC ASL Club, Kramer was able to help bring two ASL interpreters to the College’s fall play, The Curious Savage, in order to provide a deaf-friendly event. He looks forward to the new opportunities the STLCOP ASL Club will provide in connecting the College with the Deaf community. 8 SPRING 2016 “I hope to make more events deaf-friendly and eventually work with faculty to incorporate sign language into academic courses as a way to help prepare future pharmacists to better serve those with hearing loss,” he said.

STLCOP FALL 2015 STATS FRESHMAN STATS number of freshman students 203 61% female 39% male average act score average high school gpa 27 3.59 OVERALL STUDENT STATS total student body 1,389 60% female 40% male states represented countries represented 32 10 ALUMNI STATS 3/4 practicing pharmacists in the st. louis metro area are stlcop graduates Learn how to sign “St. Louis College of Pharmacy” at stlcop.edu/signstlcop. In the future, the ASL Club will also work with other STLCOP student organizations, SWIC ASL Club, and the Deaf community in St. Louis to raise awareness and understand the needs of the Deaf community. states represented countries represented 48 14 SCRIPT MAGAZINE 9

Feature MAKING THE CALL HOW TWO FACULTY MEMBERS AT ST. LOUIS COLLEGE OF PHARMACY ARE HELPING REDUCE HOSPITAL READMISSION RATES. 10 SPRING 2016

Feature of a medication vital to the survivor of a stroke. Pitlick caught FIVE MINUTES ON THE PHONE. THAT’S ALL IT a situation where a patient with chronic obstructive pulmonary TAKES FOR AMY DREW, PHARM.D., BCPS, OR disease (COPD) didn’t realize he was taking duplicate therapy. JAMIE PITLICK, PHARM.D., BCPS, TO SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE A PATIENT’S CHANCES OF BEING Physician Reaction READMITTED TO THE HOSPITAL. PHARMACISTS, Buy-in from their physician group was no problem, according to Drew and Pitlick. “Other health care professionals can uncover PHYSICIANS, HEALTH CARE EXECUTIVES, AND some big picture issues,” Drew said. “A pharmacist can make EVERYONE IN BETWEEN ARE TRYING TO FIGURE decisions based on the medications and expectations of the OUT THE BEST WAYS TO KEEP PATIENTS OUT patient’s health. It’s important to cover all the big counseling OF THE HOSPITAL AS THEY RECOVER. points, especially if it is a new prescription.” PATIENTS DREW AND PITLICK BELIEVE THEY’VE WITH 13 OR MORE Opportunity to Learn MEDICATIONS WERE FOUND A WAY TO DO SO. 50 Pharmacy students on rotation with Drew and Pitlick % The two associate professors of pharmacy practice make their own calls after a period of observation recently completed a study, presented at the 2015 and training. “They practice assessing a patient’s MORE LIKELY TO BE READMITTED American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) needs over the phone and have the opportunity to Global Conference on Clinical Pharmacy, in which a improve their listening skills and written communication pharmacist or pharmacy student called patients shortly when documenting the call,” Drew said. after discharge to review medications. Pharmacist-led calls have Students follow the script developed at the beginning of been studied closely, but Drew and Pitlick noticed a gap. the project. During the course of the call, they review “No one had looked at doing those calls in an the discharge notes, talk about new medications, outpatient setting,” Drew said. Both practice and confirm that the prescriptions have After talking at clinics in the Mercy hospital system. been received by the patient. The with a pharmacist Drew is at Mercy Clinic Family Medicine, biggest question, according to Drew, following hospital discharge, which is physician-based. Pitlick works is whether the patient started any at Mercy JFK Clinic, a hospital-based new medications. clinic serving patients who are uninsured or covered by Medicare Next Steps and Medicaid. The study, which was first mentioned in the Spring 2013 issue of Script, Their study first looked at whether caught the attention of Pharmacy a pharmacist’s involvement in postand several other media Times discharge counseling services led to outlets. Drew and Pitlick’s next steps a reduction in hospital readmission include submitting for publication rates. While the findings on that and sharing their findings with their question were not statistically significant, to the hospital. physician group. “We’re careful not to Drew recognized a trend toward reducing make assumptions about applying this to a re-hospitalizations. The two were encouraged larger practice setting or patient population, but to find that pharmacists made a noticeable impact this is working for us,” Drew said. on a group of patients who had a follow-up visit with a PATIENTS WERE 40% TH 13 W ER EL EA SE WI MEDICATIONS ER Drew and Pitlick attempt to contact every discharged patient by phone. They’re able to talk with the majority. In addition to reducing readmission rates, the pair are helping patients avoid serious complications. Drew was able to expedite the authorization AT LEAST T DY STU HE “Though not what we initially set out to look for, it’s what we’re most excited about,” Drew said. “Pharmacists are making a big difference on hospital readmissions.” N F PATIENT SI %O N 43 TA L physician within two weeks of going home. Among those patients who had an office visit, there was a reduction in readmissions for those patients who had talked to a pharmacist before their physician visit. MOR ET HA LESS LIKELY TO BE READMITTED DF RO M THE S HO PI SCRIPT MAGAZINE 11

Faculty Profile evelyn becker-meyer A Lasting Legacy For 46 years, Evelyn Becker-Meyer has been inspiring her biology students to do their best in the classroom with humor, encouragement, and hands-on learning. a unique combination of 12 SPRING 2016

E velyn Becker-Meyer ’88/’93, Pharm.D., professor of biology, started her teaching career while she was a graduate student at Washington University in St. Louis teaching biology to medical students. Now the longestserving faculty member, Becker joined St. Louis College of Pharmacy as a biology lab instructor in 1970 after completing her master’s degree in biology. She later became the first female, full-time professor at the College and also enrolled as a student while maintaining a full-time teaching schedule. Completing her bachelor’s degree in pharmacy in 1988 and her Pharm.D. degree in 1993, Becker’s experience as a student and professor at the College has given her a unique perspective and enabled her to form a deeper connection with her students. Drawing on her multidisciplinary education, Becker has an amazing ability to add context and depth to her teaching, successfully integrating basic sciences and pharmacy practice through practical applications. “One of the biggest influences for me as a teacher was going through the curriculum myself, mostly because I know what is expected and how the students will need to apply the material,” Becker explained. “I’ve had my teaching assistants work with me to create collaborative assessments, which are pharmacy applications of a basic biology principle.” A three-time recipient of the Alumni Association’s Joe E. Haberle Outstanding Educator Award, Becker’s warm and supportive teaching style has made her a favorite among current and former students. Her great passion for teaching and deep connection to her students is evident in every story and insight she recalls about her time at the College. “I’ve learned so much from my students over the years. I can’t even describe it,” Becker noted. “For me, the big thing is being a part of their lives. I’ve kept in contact with a lot of students that I’ve had in class and that’s really special, sharing in their lives.” Becker credits her successful career as an educator to providing a supportive, hands-on learning environment where students are encouraged to strive for their best. “My philosophy is that a good teacher is essentially a coach,” Becker said. “It’s important to set high expectations and provide the resources and support system to help them reach their goals. So, teaching assistants have always been a critical part of my teaching philosophy.” Becker has long been an advocate for tutoring and teaching assistant programs, and has helped train many of the students who assist in these roles. Another essential element to Becker’s teaching style is humor. “I think a little humor lightens things up, so students are less tense,” Becker said. “It’s one way to develop trust and sho

Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony Academic and Research Building n Aug. 13, 2015, St. Louis College of Pharmacy held an open house in the new Academic and Research Building (ARB) with a special ribbon-cutting ceremony. The event was held to celebrate the opening of the newly constructed, 213,000-square-foot building, which now houses the School of Pharmacy,