AACP

Pharmacy SuRGE

Pharmacy SuRGE (Scholarship, Research and Graduate Education)

Pharmacy SuRGE is an AACP initiative to bring together leaders from pharmacy schools to advance research, research training and graduate education. SuRGE meetings provide an opportunity to discuss and develop strategies for supporting research, identify opportunities for collaboration, and share experience in navigating the changing research regulation and funding landscape. SuRGE is envisioned as a starting point for activities that can be continued through AACP affiliate groups such as the Graduate Education Special Interest Group (SIG.)

Quarterly SuRGE meetings are held from 1 - 2:30 p.m. ET on the third Tuesday of March, June, September and December. Please contact Dorothy Farrell for more information.

The next Pharmacy SuRGE meeting will be held on Tuesday, December 16, 2025.

Agenda

Tuesday, September 16, 2025

Please note: All times listed below are in Eastern Time.

Alternative Models for Research Support

1:00 p.m. - 1:10 p.m.

Opening Remarks

Andrew Coop, Ph.D., Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Associate Dean for Students, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy

Greetings, setting the stage for the discussion

1:10 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.

What could alternative models for research support look like?

Angela Birnbaum, PhD, FAES, MLS(ASCP), Professor, Department of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology (ECP), University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy

David Feola, Pharm.D., Ph.D., Professor and Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies, University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy

Rheem Totah, Professor, Medicinal Chemistry, Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Programs, University of Washington School of Pharmacy

Drs. Birnbaum, Feola, and Totah will introduce three different models for supporting research - industry partnerships, dedicated funding for graduate students, and reimagined training pathways.

1:30 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Virtual Breakout Discussions

Discussions led by Drs. Birnbaum, Feola, and Totah

Breakout groups will address the feasibility of the different models proposed above, along with the challenges and opportunities presented by each. Each discussion group will focus on one proposed model.

2:00 p.m. - 2:15 p.m.

Open Discussion of Models

Moderated by Dr. Coop

2:15 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.

Discussion of future SuRGE topics and activities

Moderated by Dr. Coop

SuRGE Goals and Objectives

A Pharmacy SuRGE Community Taskforce has been established for 2025-2026 by Graduate Education SIG Chair Om Perumal. The taskforce will develop a community statement and articulate the goals and objectives for the SuRGE initiative and community.

The goals and objectives of the initial SuRGE meetings have been to

Devise a strategy for AACP to expand its support of college of pharmacy research and graduate programs.
Engage individuals with research and graduate education leadership responsibilities across the academy to expand this community within AACP.
Initiate the drafting of a Community Statement and a Pharmacy Research Statement.

Background Materials

The American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) is the national association for pharmacy education in the United States, and our 143 institutional members are the colleges and schools of pharmacy accredited by or with candidate status from the American Council on Pharmaceutical Education (ACPE.) Our mission is to lead and partner with our members in advancing pharmacy education, research, scholarship, practice and service to improve societal health.

There are more than 6200 full and part-time faculty members in pharmacy schools in the United States, teaching in both professional and graduate programs. Enrollment in these programs includes more than 44,000 PharmD students, just over 3500 Ph.D. students, and nearly 1900 students enrolled in M.S. programs.

In 2022-23, programs in pharmacy schools conferred

12,639 Pharm.D. degrees
1,888 M.S. degrees
657 Ph.D. degrees

The most common Ph.D. degrees conferred by discipline were

223, Pharmaceutics
143, Medicinal Chemistry
129, Pharmacology
76, Social and Administrative Sciences
30, Pharmacy Practice

Other disciplines in which Ph.D. degrees were conferred include biological & medical informatics; biomolecular sciences; chemistry; drug discovery; immunology; industrial physical pharmacy; pharmacogenomics; pharmacotherapy; pharmacometrics and systems pharmacology; and translational science.

According to data collected through the AACP Funded Research Grant Data collection, in federal fiscal year 2023, 1772 investigators at pharmacy schools were principal or co-investigators on research grants or contracts originating outside their home school or college. These extramural grants totaled over $740 million dollars in NIH awards, $110 in other federal awards and $190 million in funding from non-federal sources.

Data on student enrollments and degrees conferred taken from AACP Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness “First Professional and Graduate Enrollment Trends Interactive Dashboard” and “Fall 2023 Degrees Conferred - Profile of Pharmacy Students”

AACP Competency Framework for Graduate Education

Six Domains of Graduate Education in the Pharmaceutical Sciences, taken from Competency, Programming, and Emerging Innovation in Graduate Education within Schools of Pharmacy: The Report of the 2016-2017 Research and Graduate Affairs Committee

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