News & Media

During the past several months as the new CEO of AACP, I have had the opportunity to meet many of you, and I remain amazed at the level of enthusiasm and passion all our members bring to the work of the Association.

A computer model developed by University of Florida College of Pharmacy researchers will help determine which drug combinations might increase the likelihood of unintended pregnancies. More than 900 million women and their partners worldwide use contraceptive products to prevent pregnancies. However, many contraceptive users may not realize taking additional medications can reduce the effectiveness of birth control—leading to unintended pregnancies.

More pharmacy schools are considering pass/fail grading systems, hoping to return to the original intention of letter grades: motivation. Shortly after Dr. Gary Pollack arrived at the University of Buffalo School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and assumed his position as dean, he began discussions with the faculty about how to nurture student success through a new grading system that would emphasize learning concepts over the attainment of letter grades.

As the nation’s first Hispanic Center of Excellence in Pharmacy, the Loma Linda University School of Pharmacy is one of several institutions working to diversify recruitment to support this underrepresented population and improve health outcomes for vulnerable communities.

Opioid use and the spread of illicit fentanyl continue to pose a risk to public health. Pharmacy schools are working to educate students and the public about substance use disorder, reduce stigma and encourage communities to embrace harm-reduction strategies.

Stipend will provide financial support to underrepresented minority students. For Immediate Release

Arlington, Va.—The American Association of Colleges of ...

Intent on growing the next generation of pharmacists to provide care to rural communities, some schools are focused on creative approaches to building the pipeline. Being a pharmacist often means fulfilling duties that aren’t traditionally part of the job description. Nowhere is that more evident than in rural areas, where healthcare resources can be scarce and the pharmacist may be the sole access point for patients.

Women in pharmacy academia reflected on their experiences in leadership positions during an AACP webinar that explored the challenges and rewards that come with moving to an administrative role. AACP’s 2021–24 Strategic Plan elevates the organization’s commitment to leading diversity, equity, inclusion and anti-racism efforts. Diversity, equity and inclusion in leadership roles with AACP and at various member institutions is part of this priority.

As AACP’s new Executive Vice President and CEO, Lee Vermeulen intends to promote the value of pharmacists while developing more innovative practice models to boost pharmacy school enrollment. Lee Vermeulen got his first glimpse into pharmacy while dusting shelves as a five-year-old at the hospital pharmacy where his father worked in Western New York. His father, the hospital’s first pharmacist, convinced the medical director to bring him on as he had been working at the community pharmacy for years, and immediately started making innovative moves.

The University of Minnesota’s Center for Orphan Drug Research wants to illuminate the struggles facing patients with rare diseases. Their unconventional approach? A stage production. Rare diseases are formidable, presenting challenging and complex uncertainties that would make for dramatic stories in the hands of great playwrights like Shakespeare or Sophocles. The Center for Orphan Drug Research (CODR) at the University of Minnesota (UMN) College of Pharmacy is tapping into that premise in a big way.

A University of Pittsburgh collaboration demonstrates that partnership between pharmacists and audiologists can promote patient hearing health. In October 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration proposed a rule to create a new category of over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids. This would allow some hearing aids to be sold directly to consumers without requiring a medical exam or a fitting by an audiologist.

It is my great pleasure to introduce this issue of Academic Pharmacy Now, my first as CEO of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. I have spent the past several months learning about AACP, meeting our leaders and members and getting to know our amazing staff.