AACP

Pharmacy SuRGE

AACP Resource

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, September 15, 2026. 

Agenda

Tuesday, September 15, 2026

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

Research Policy and Programs within AACP – The Outlook for 2026-2027 

1:00 p.m.–1:10 p.m.   

Welcome and Overview

Dorothy Farrell, Ph.D., Senior Director of Science Policy and Chief Science Officer, AACP

Introduce AACP Advocacy Center and AACP Research & Graduate Affairs Hub

1:10 p.m.–1:50 p.m. 

Policy Updates and Outlook for 2026-2027 

Olunife Akinmolayan, Pharm.D., Director of Policy, Advocacy and Strategic Engagement, AACP

Dorothy Farrell, Ph.D., Senior Director of Science Policy and Chief Science Officer, AACP

New visa regulations, proposed changes to the framework of federal financial assistance and ongoing grant terminations and changes at federal funding agencies are creating uncertainty around research and graduate education in academic pharmacy. AACP staff will provide updates on recent and proposed changes to federal policies, including the final rule on student visa length of stay, proposed regulation on federal financial assistance and changes to funding strategies and processes at NIH, NSF and AHRQ. They will then lead a discussion of how these changes are expected to affect pharmacy research and introduce and review AACP policy resources, including the AACP Advocacy Center and Pharmacy SuRGE Newsletter. 

1:50 p.m.–2:20 p.m.   

AACP Programs and Initiatives to Support Research 

Dorothy Farrell, Ph.D., Senior Director of Science Policy and Chief Science Officer, AACP

Michael Jarstfer, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Assistant Dean for Graduate Education, and Director of Graduate Studies, The UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy

Based on recommendations from the AACP Research and Graduate Affairs Committee and feedback from members and affiliate groups including Pharmacy SuRGE, AACP develops programming to meet the needs of scientists and researchers in academic pharmacy. We'll provide updates on AACP programs and the SuRGE-inspired Re-envisioning Pharmaceutical Graduate Education Task Force and request feedback on how these programs can support our members. 

2:20 p.m.–2:30 p.m.   

Wrap-up and adjournment
 

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 

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

Research and Graduate Education Landscape

Reimagining STEMM Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Career Development: A Summit, from the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine

Drug Research and Development Workforce

Preparing the Future Workforce in Drug Research and Development - A Workshop

Research and Graduate Education in Academic Pharmacy

Trends in Research and Graduate Programs in Schools and Colleges of Pharmacy, Part 1: Programs
Trends in Research and Graduate Affairs in Schools and Colleges of Pharmacy, Part 2: Students
Trends in Research and Graduate Affairs in Schools and Colleges of Pharmacy, Part 3: Underrepresented Minorities

Report of the 2023 AACP Council of Deans Taskforce on Pharmacy Research and Scholarship

Competency, Programming, and Emerging Innovation in Graduate Education within Schools of Pharmacy: The Report of the 2016-2017 Research and Graduate Affairs Committee

Changing and Reframing the Norms of Pharmacy Graduate Education
 

 

About Academic Pharmacy

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 6400 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 42,000 PharmD students, almost 3500 full-time Ph.D. students, and over 2000 students enrolled full-time in M.S. programs. 

In 2023-24, programs in pharmacy schools conferred

  • 11,517 Pharm.D. degrees
  • 1,757 M.S. degrees
  • 553 Ph.D. degrees

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

  • 20, Pharmaceutics
  • 118, Medicinal Chemistry
  • 116, Pharmacology
  • 214, Social and Administrative Sciences
  • 20, 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 2024, 1599 investigators at pharmacy schools were principal or co-investigators on research grants or contracts originating outside their home school or college. The total value of these extramural grants was over $730 million dollars for NIH awards, $125 for other federal awards and $165 million for non-federal awards. 

Data on student enrollments and degrees conferred taken from AACP Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness “First Professional and Graduate Enrollment Trends Interactive Dashboard,” "Fall 2024 Enrollments - Profile of Pharmacy Students" and “Fall 2024 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