Sandra L. Kane-Gill, Angela Shogbon Nwaesei, Sonak Pastakia, Manjunath (Amit) P. Pai, and J. Herbert Patterson have been selected by the College’s Awards Committee to receive ACCP’s prestigious 2023 Therapeutic Frontiers Lecture Award, Education Award, Clinical Practice Award, Russell R. Miller Award, and Robert M. Elenbaas Service Award, respectively. They will be recognized Sunday morning, November 12, during the Awards and Recognition Ceremony at the 2023 ACCP Annual Meeting in Dallas, Texas.

Kane-Gill

The ACCP Therapeutic Frontiers Lecture Award recognizes an individual, including ACCP member and nonmember nominees, who has made outstanding contributions to pharmacotherapeutics in their field. Among the criteria for this award is the broad acknowledgment that the recipient is currently considered at the leading edge of therapeutic research. Sandra L. Kane-Gill, Pharm.D., M.Sc., FCCP, FCCM, is a tenured professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy. She is also a member of the graduate faculty and holds a secondary appointment at the Center for Critical Care Nephrology, Department of Critical Care Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Kane-Gill is known nationally and internationally for her sustained track record of innovative, cutting-edge research in the fields of critical care medicine, nephrology, and medication safety.

Dr. Mitchell Buckley,https://www.accp.com/images/report/0923/1957410_Kane-Gill.png critical care clinical pharmacy specialist at Banner University Medical Center Phoenix, wrote in his letter of support:

Dr. Kane-Gill is considered a leading contributor and expert in her fields of study, distinctly demonstrated from her research and scholarship accolades. Overall, she has published over 180 articles including original research relating to critical care pharmacotherapy with a focus on medication safety and nephrotoxin stewardship. The aggregate financial research funding at the national level is impressive. She has been awarded more than $8.5 million in federal funding in the capacity as Principal Investigator, while also securing an additional $4.4 million as a co-investigator. She is internationally recognized as a leading contributor in pharmacotherapy directly impacting patient safety. Expertscape, Inc., cited her as the top 1% of scholars with expertise in medication safety globally. Furthermore, she was the visionary leader conceptualizing the idea and executing the published work of the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM)’s inaugural clinical practice guidelines on medication safety in the intensive care unit (Kane-Gill SL, et al. Clinical practice guideline: safe medication use in the ICU. Crit Care Med 2017;45:e877-e915. PMID: 28816851).

Dr. Amy L. Dzierba, PGY2 critical care pharmacy residency director and critical care clinical pharmacist at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, added in her letter of support:

As a result of Dr. Kane-Gill’s transformative research and international reputation she is one of three pharmacists serving as an expert within a multi-professional team for the Acute Disease Quality Initiative (ADQI) Conferences leading to several publications. Her publication in Nature Reviews Nephrology, cited over 600 times since its publication, describes AKI and considerations for medical management and monitoring that could prevent patients from progressing to chronic kidney disease. Another ADQI publication she co-authored appeared in JAMA Network Open and has been cited 71 times since publication. This important work changed the schema for defining and categorizing AKI to include subclinical AKI, which occurs when a patient is functional biomarker negative but damage biomarker positive.

Dr. Amy Seybert, dean and professor of pharmacy and therapeutics, and Dr. Pamela L. Smithburger, associate professor of pharmacy and therapeutics, University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy, expressed in their letter of support:

We would be remiss to end without mentioning her passion for educating the next generation of scientists and clinicians. Not only does Dr. Kane-Gill strive to produce meaningful impacts on patient safety through research, she also carries this dedication to the classroom. The true success of a researcher is to share their experiences through publication and teaching. She is able to apply many of her research publications to the education of future pharmacists and other health care professionals by using medication safety examples throughout her coursework. Dr. Kane-Gill is actively involved in residency training at the University of Pittsburgh and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. To date, she has trained about 1000 residents and personally mentored 56 residents on projects resulting in 30 peer-reviewed publications. Additionally, she has mentored 8 masters students and 3 PhD students. Currently she is the major advisor to 5 PhD students. Her current doctoral candidate student received an NIAID Loan Repayment Grant to advance research for the management of patients with antibiotic allergies using health information technology. Dr. Kane-Gill’s work with learners in pharmacy further extends the impact and sustainability of her medication safety research.

Kane-Gill has received several prestigious honors and awards, including the ASHP Literature Award for Sustained Contributions, the ASHP Award for Innovation in Pharmacy Practice, SCCM’s Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacology Section Medication Safety Award, and the ACCP Critical Care PRN Achievement Award. She received ACCP Fellow recognition in 2009 and has served on numerous ACCP committees throughout her tenure as a member. At the time of her nomination, Kane-Gill had published 178 peer-reviewed articles, 200 abstracts, and 18 invited papers; written 18 book chapters; and given 130 national/international presentations. Her Therapeutic Frontiers Lecture, “Expanding Our Understanding and Stewardship of Drug-Related Kidney Disease,” will be delivered during the aforementioned ACCP Awards and Recognition Ceremony.

Shogbon Nwaesei

The ACCP Education Award recognizes an ACCP member who has made substantial and outstanding contributions to clinical pharmacy education at either the professional or postgraduate level. Angela Shogbon Nwaesei, Pharm.D., BCPS, is a clinical associate professor of pharmacy practice at Mercer University College of Pharmacy and an internal medicine clinical pharmacist at Emory Decatur Hospital. Nwaesei is an innovator who has developed interprofessional education programs for audiences that span the health care field, including medical, nursing, and pharmacy students. Her innovations have involved structured approaches to patient-based pharmacotherapy notes, oral assessments in didactic courses, and use of standardized patients for developing student pharmacists’ information-gathering skills. Nwaesei’s teaching also extends internationally to Nigeria, where she has established an international training workshop on pharmacotherapy and an international web-based preceptor development program.

Dr. Teresa Pounds, executive board member of the Nigerian Association of Pharmacists and Pharmaceutical Scientists in the Americas, wrote in her letter of support:

As a board member of the Clinical Pharmacy Development Consortium, Dr. Shogbon Nwaesei worked diligently to aid with planning and delivering continuing education programs towards the advancement of pharmacy education and clinical practice in Nigeria. Specifically, she worked with the leadership team to plan and deliver the first International Training Workshop on Pharmacotherapy - Best Clinical Practices at the University of Benin, Nigeria in which she presented several continuing education lectures. Through this 5-day intensive hands-on case-based training workshop, Dr. Shogbon Nwaesei contributed to the education of pharmacists from across the county, towards the goal of the program to build utilizable skills, knowledge and competence in pharmacotherapy of disease management in patient care settings.

Most recently, Dr. Shogbon Nwaesei led efforts towards the design, development and delivery of a web-based international preceptor development program to help foster the preparation of Nigerian pharmacy faculty and preceptors to precept students in the newly implemented Doctor of Pharmacy degree program in Nigeria. She worked collaboratively with other team members towards the successful delivery of this program to over 90 participants from several different states in Nigeria. Dr. Shogbon Nwaesei also continues to be an invited speaker at the University of Ilorin (Nigeria) Teaching Hospital Pharmacy Department Clinical Meeting virtual seminar, contributing to the education of over 80 participants from pharmacy and medical practices on clinical practice–based topics. Overall, Dr. Shogbon Nwaesei has displayed exemplary leadership skills and dedication to giving back to the profession, even on a global scale towards the education of health care practitioners and students, and advancement of pharmacy education and clinical practice.

Dr. Joy Nwoke from Baptist Hospitals of Southeast Texas wrote:

Dr. Nwaesei understands that a better tomorrow for pharmacy practice and emerging pharmacists begins with education. A piece of advice she left with me that I continually reflect on is, “Maximize every opportunity to grow in your knowledge, understanding, and application of information learned to prepare yourself to optimally care for your patients.” She embodies the advice she shares by continually being a trailblazer in maximizing every opportunity to grow, as seen in her consistent dedication to continuing education programs on local, national, and international scales and leadership in developing international continuing education programs in Nigeria.

At the time of her nomination, Nwaesei had completed 37 continuing education presentations at local, national, and international meetings. She has received numerous awards and honors, including the Distinguished Educator Award and Excellence in Service Award at Mercer University College of Pharmacy and the Georgia Society of Health-System Pharmacists Pharmacoeconomics Research Award.

Pastakia

The ACCP Clinical Practice Award is given to a College member who has made substantial and outstanding contributions to clinical pharmacy practice. Criteria considered in identifying potential candidates include exceptional leadership in developing innovative clinical pharmacy services and sustained excellence in providing them. Sonak Pastakia, Pharm.D., Ph.D., MPH, FCCP, is a professor at Purdue University College of Pharmacy and a consultant with Heart to Heart International – Helping Build Healthy Communities and serves as a member of the Purdue Global Advisory Board, the ME (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis) Action Medical Advisory Board, and the Direct Relief Medical Advisory Board.

Internationally, Pastakia has made a significant impact in Kenya by establishing and expanding pharmacy services there. He is part of AMPATH (Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare) at Purdue University. He spends 10–11 months each year in Kenya, implementing a wide variety of programs, including a rural diabetes and chronic disease management program, which now serves over 40,000 patients and has screened over 100,000 people. His work also includes a community-based care delivery program that integrates economic development with care delivery in remote, rural areas; a pharmacy distribution system that provides antiretroviral medications to more than 200,000 persons living with HIV at over 500 satellite clinics throughout western Kenya; an anticoagulation monitoring and treatment program for over 4500 patients; and a supply chain system for essential medications at over 76 sites serving a population of more than 8 million people.

Dr. Tina Tran, assistant professor of pharmacy practice at Temple University School of Pharmacy, commented on Pastakia’s impact on the practice of clinical pharmacy in her letter of support:

Not only has he impacted the health of patients for the better through his clinical pharmacy services, Dr. Pastakia has also inspired a generation of young pharmacists, leaders, and policy makers to continue the fight for health equity and to always keep our patients, especially those who are disadvantaged and marginalized, at the forefront and center of our profession. Dr. Pastakia once said: “The primary drivers of our success focus on a unified pursuit toward a singular goal of increasing opportunities for underserved populations. Our approach is not confined by the typical boundaries of pharmacy practice but instead limited only by our creativity and passion for serving populations with limited opportunities.” The products of his work exemplify a selfless dedication to his patients and to the profession of pharmacy.

Pastakia has received numerous awards, including the Albert B. Prescott Pharmacy Leader Award, the Jefferson Science Fellowship Award, and the APhA-APPM Distinguished Achievement in Pharmacy Practice Award. At the time of his nomination, he had published more than 100 publications and received multiple multimillion-dollar grants. Pastakia received ACCP Fellow recognition in 1994.

Pai

Russell R. Miller was the founding editor of the College’s journal Pharmacotherapy. The Russell R. Miller Award is presented in recognition of substantial contributions to the literature of clinical pharmacy, thereby advancing both clinical pharmacy practice and rational pharmacotherapy. Manjunath (Amit) P. Pai, Pharm.D., is a tenured professor and chair of the Department of Clinical Pharmacy at the University of Michigan College of Pharmacy. At the time of his nomination, Pai had written or cowritten more than 181 peer-reviewed publications and three books and was the lead author on two chapters in Mandell, Douglas, and Bennett’s Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseases. Google Scholar (accessed January 11, 2023) notes that his work has resulted in 7290 citations; he has an h-index of 39 and an i10-index of 103.

In his letter of nomination, Dr. Bruce A. Mueller, professor of clinical pharmacy at the University of Michigan College of Pharmacy, remarked on the impact of Pai’s papers for practicing pharmacists and researchers:

Dr. Pai is publishing in the highest-impact clinical journals (Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, Pharmacotherapy, Clinical Cancer Research, Clinical Pharmacokinetics, etc.) and also the best basic science biomedical journals (Molecular Pharmaceutics, AAPS Journal, etc.). His papers have been very impactful to practicing pharmacists. They have influenced FDA guidance and, of course, he has co-authored the latest vancomycin practice guidelines. With respect to my own areas of research and practice, I would say that the most influential papers that he has published in my field are the following:

1) Pai MP. Estimating the glomerular filtration rate in obese adult patients for drug dosing. Adv Chronic Kidney Dis 2010;17:e53-e62.

2) Crass RL, Rodvold KA, Mueller BA, Pai MP. Renal dosing of antibiotics: are we jumping the gun? Clin Infect Dis 2019;68:1596-602.

3) Patel N, Pai MP, Rodvold KA, et al. Vancomycin: we can’t get there from here. Clin Infect Dis 2011;52:969-74.

Dr. Julie Ann Justo, associate professor at the University of South Carolina College of Pharmacy and infectious diseases clinical pharmacy specialist at Prisma Health Richland Hospital, commented on Pai’s ability to simplify complex concepts for real-world bedside application:

He is also one of the absolute best scientific writers when it comes to simplifying complex mathematical concepts and translating them for practical, real-world application by bedside clinicians. I assign my ID physician fellows to read his publication on the Sawchuk-Zaske method versus Bayesian method for vancomycin AUC estimation in order to help them understand how to determine their own vancomycin exposure goals for their patients (Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2014;77:50-7. PMID 24910345). I’ve also used that same publication to teach hundreds of pharmacy students and practicing pharmacists about the merits of AUC estimation for vancomycin dosing from as early as 2014 – years before the final dosing guidelines were published. Dr. Pai continues to advance our field with his current work to remove descriptors of race for predictive models of renal function and other body composition features.

Pai serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, and Pharmacotherapy. He is a frequent manuscript reviewer for Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy and Pharmacotherapy. Pai has previously received prestigious honors and awards, including “Excellence in Achievement” recognition from the American College of Clinical Pharmacology, the Pharmacotherapy Paper of the Year award from the Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists, the Preceptor of the Year and Researcher of the Year awards from the Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, and the Regulatory Science Excellence Award, Renal Drug Dosing Group from the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.

Patterson

Robert M. Elenbaas served as ACCP’s founding executive director from 1986 through 2003. During his 17-year tenure, he exemplified the characteristics of a servant-leader committed to the advancement of clinical pharmacy and ACCP. The Elenbaas Service Award is given only when a particularly noteworthy candidate is identified in recognition of outstanding contributions to the vitality of ACCP or to the advancement of its goals that are well above the usual devotion of time, energy, or material goods. Prior to his retirement, J. Herbert Patterson, Pharm.D., FCCP, was a professor and chair at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Eshelman School of Pharmacy, Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics, and a research professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Division of Cardiology.

Dr. Robert J. DiDomenico, associate professor at the University of Illinois Chicago College of Pharmacy, wrote in his letter of support:

Dr. Patterson’s service to ACCP is noteworthy. Since 1985, Dr. Patterson has been a member of numerous ACCP committees and has displayed the courage to lead – a core value for ACCP – in many of these activities. He has been a member of the Programming Committee (Annual and Spring meetings) on five separate occasions, serving in leadership roles as Vice Chair (1995) and Chair (1996). His service to ACCP also includes membership on both the Awards (1998) and Nominations (2011–2013) Committees, allowing Dr. Patterson to promote and support other members of ACCP, one of his passions.

Dr. Patterson’s leadership within ACCP has been recognized by others, leading to various elected positions and awards. From 1996–1998, Dr. Patterson was elected and served as the Cardiology Practice and Research Network (PRN) Chair-Elect and Chair, serving as recognition for his contributions and leadership among other cardiovascular clinical pharmacy specialists. Between 1999–2002, Dr. Patterson was elected and served as ACCP Secretary, demonstrating his level of recognition and leadership to the entire organization. For his contributions to ACCP, Dr. Patterson was honored as a Fellow of ACCP (FCCP) in 1994. In recognition of his scholarly success and professional leadership, Dr. Patterson was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the ACCP Cardiology PRN in 2020.

Dr. Jo Ellen Rodgers, professor at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, shared in her letter of support:

Dr. Patterson has had a sustained commitment to not only disseminating advancements in the management of patients with heart failure (HF), but also developing the next generation of practitioners and researchers to do the same. He has trained more than 20 fellows and graduate students and maintained a commitment to the development of future practitioners and researchers in HF. His efforts have served as an inspiration to generations of clinical pharmacists and pharmacy researchers, as well as clinicians and researchers in other health care disciplines…. Across all health care disciplines, the number of individuals influenced by Dr. Patterson who have gone on to become leaders in academic or pharmaceutical industry truly cannot be counted. Truly, he planted to seed, in the minds of pharmacists and other clinician-scientists, that pharmacists should be at the table leading clinical research initiatives. The ultimate impact of his role in advancing clinical research in this manner and the subsequent impact on patient care is immeasurable.

At the time of his nomination, Patterson had published over 200 peer-reviewed publications, abstracts, and book chapters within well-respected, high-impact cardiovascular journals, including the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, American Heart Journal, Circulation, Circulation: Heart Failure, Journal of Cardiac Failure, and Pharmacogenetics and Genomics. He has served as a series editor for CardSAP since its initial release in 2019. Patterson received ACCP Fellow recognition in 1994.

Members of the 2023 ACCP Awards Committee were Kristi Kelley (chair), Nancy Shapiro (vice chair), Brian Hemstreet (secretary), Scott Bolesta, Alexandre Chan, Melanie Claborn, Patrick Dougherty, Amy Fabian, Christine Groth, Paul Gubbins, Young Lee, Cynthia Nguyen, Tanvi Patil, Golden Peters, Ann Philbrick, Jennifer Phillips, Chasity Shelton, Paul Stranges, Stephanie Tchen, and Kathleen Vest.