Pharmacy brings home hardware from AACP Meeting

The Harrison College of Pharmacy had a strong showing at the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) Annual Meeting, held July 19-22 in Chicago. Along with panels and poster presentations, faculty were recognized with eight different awards or honors, highlighting leadership, publications, teaching and innovation.

Awards were presented by AACP, as well as its various councils, sections and special interest groups (SIG).

Reed graduates from Academic Leadership Fellows Program

Professor Miranda Reed graduated from the AACP Academic Leadership Fellows Program (ALFP) as a member of its 21st cohort.

The ALFP goal is to develop and support leaders in the academy that contribute to the advancement of pharmacy education, higher education and the pharmacy profession. The program provides an opportunity for fellows to expand networking relationships with peers and colleagues in other institutions, as well as within their own college and university.

Those in the program complete sessions focused on leadership self discovery and teamwork, leadership skills building, current topics in leadership and refining leadership skills.

Pharmacy team wins SIG Publication Award

A team from the Harrison College of Pharmacy (HCOP) was recognized by the AACP Curriculum Special Interest Group with its 2024 Publication Award. The award recognizes scholarly collaborations between members of the Curriculum SIG and is evaluated by members of the scholarship committee using a standard rubric.

This year’s winner is the article titled “Evaluation of student academic performance after curricular content reduction,” that appeared in the July 2024 American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education.

Collaborating as authors were Daniel Trujillo, director of assessment; Emily McCoy, associate clinical professor; Nathan Pinner, associate clinical professor; Lori Hornsby, associate clinical professor; Miranda Andrus, clinical professor; Erika Kleppinger, associate clinical professor; and Lea Eiland, Hill Crest Clinical Professor. Additionally, former HCOP faculty member Taylor Steuber, now on faculty at Missouri-Kansas City, served as first author.

Alexander wins Innovation in Pharmacogenomics Teaching Award

Courtney Alexander, assistant professor of clinical pharmacogenomics, was recognized by AACP Pharmacogenomics Special Interest Group with its 2025 Innovation in Pharmacogenomics Teaching Award.

The award is presented annually to SIG members who demonstrate innovative teaching and learning strategies, as well as assessment methods. AACP’s Pharmacogenomics SIG is an interdisciplinary academic forum for exchanging ideas and resources to effectively teach pharmacogenomics and pharmacogenetics in the professional curriculum at a college of pharmacy.

Chung receives SIG Teaching Award

Associate Clinical Professor Allison Chung was recognized by AACP with the 2025 Pediatric Pharmacy SIG Excellence in Teaching Award. The award was created in 2021 to recognize innovative teaching that advances pediatric pharmacy education.

Covington wins Emerging Teaching Scholar Award

Associate Clinical Professor Elizabeth Covington was recognized as the 2025 AACP Council of Faculties Emerging Teaching Scholar Award recipient.

The award is designed to recognize excellence of academic pharmacy faculty engaged in and/or supporting scholarly teaching and the scholarship of teaching and learning. In recognizing service and outstanding contributions to the academy, pharmacy education and schools, the AACP COF Emerging Teaching Scholars will raise the bar for scholarly teaching and the scholarship of teaching and learning.

Eiland wins Section Distinguished Educator Award

Lea Eiland, Hill Crest Clinical Professor, was recognized by the AACP with the 2025 Distinguished Educator Award for the Pharmacy Practice Section. The award, presented annually, recognizes a distinguished educator in the area of pharmacy practice.

Garza receives Innovation and SoTL Paper Awards

Associate Professor Kimberly Garza was recognized by AACP with the 2025 Technology in Pharmacy Education and Practice SIG Innovation Award.

The award recognizes the development of an innovative technology project or an innovative project using an existing technology tool to enhance pharmacy education or pharmacy patient care.

Additionally, she was recognized by AACP with the 2025 Publication Award for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning by the Social and Administrative Sciences (SAS) Section.

The award was established to recognize high-quality scholarship of teaching and learning published by members of the SAS Section.

Qian wins SIG Individual Achievement Award

Associate Professor Jingjing Qian was recognized by AACP with the 2025 Graduate Education Special Interest Group Individual Achievement Award.

The award recognizes a member of the SIG for excellence in graduate education and for outstanding contributions in furthering the mission of the SIG. Nominees are evaluated on the extent to which they exemplify the qualities that characterize an outstanding graduate educator and mentor, and also the promotion of graduate education.