ASHP Announces 2021 Award Recipients

Board of Directors Awards Honor Practice Excellence, Outstanding Contributions to Healthcare

ASHP is pleased to announce the recipients of its 2021 Board of Directors awards. The awards program includes two new awards – the Pharmacy Champion Award and Board of Directors’ Pharmacy Technician Excellence Award.

Honorary Membership

The ASHP Board of Directors’ Honorary Membership Award recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions to pharmacy practice. Honorary members are elected for life by unanimous vote of the ASHP Board of Directors.

Recipients:

• Johnnie L. Early II, R.Ph., Ph.D., FNPhA, Dean, Florida A&M University College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Institute of Public Health, Tallahassee, FL

  Dr. Early is a distinguished educator and visionary leader in pharmacy. He has been instrumental in addressing racial disparities in healthcare, expanding opportunities for BIPOC youth to explore careers in pharmacy practice and the pharmaceutical sciences, and developing a more diverse and culturally competent healthcare workforce.

• Peter H. Vlasses, Pharm.D., DSc (Hon.), FCCP, Executive Director Emeritus, Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), Chicago, IL

  Dr. Vlasses is a prominent leader in pharmacy who was a significant ASHP partner in developing the ASHP/ACPE national accreditation standards for pharmacy technician education and training programs. His vision, commitment, and collaborative leadership have helped strengthen the foundation of excellence in accreditation of the education of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians in the United States and around the world.

Award of Honor

The ASHP Board of Directors’ Award of Honor recognizes individuals outside the pharmacy discipline who have made extraordinary national or worldwide contributions to the health field.

Recipient:

• Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Bethesda, MD

  Dr. Fauci is an internationally acclaimed research leader and scientist whose work has improved health and healthcare in the United States and globally. He is an advocate for the engagement of pharmacists in critical public health initiatives, including on COVID-19 rapid response teams, and champions their role in the successful and equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.

Distinguished Leadership Award

The ASHP Board of Directors’ Distinguished Leadership Award recognizes contributions to excellence in pharmacy practice leadership in acute and ambulatory care settings.

Recipients:

• John E. Clark, Pharm.D., M.S., FASHP, Director, Experiential Education and Pharmacy Residency Programs; Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacotherapeutics and Clinical Research at the University of South Florida Health Taneja College of Pharmacy, Tampa, FL

  Dr. Clark is a long-standing champion for racial equity in healthcare and a vocal advocate for the creation of culturally competent systems of care. His contributions to ASHP and the profession have elevated pharmacy practice in countless ways, including identifying best practices to meet the unique needs of vulnerable patient groups, expanding healthcare access to the medically underserved, and enhancing ethnic and cultural diversity in the pharmacy workforce.

• M. Lynn Crismon, Pharm.D., FCCP, DABCP, BCCP, Behrens Centennial Professor in the College of Pharmacy; Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Dell Medical School, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX

  Dr. Crismon is a nationally esteemed and prolific pharmacy scholar, educator, and leader with more than 45 years of practice and research experience related to the development and evaluation of strategies to improve psychiatric pharmacotherapy and health outcomes of adults and children with severe mental disorders.

Donald E. Francke Medal

The ASHP Board of Directors’ Donald E. Francke Medal honors pharmacists who have made significant international contributions to advance pharmacy practice.

Recipient:

• Lijian “Leo” Cai, Pharm.D., Chief Pharmacy Officer, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, NY

  Dr. Cai is a highly respected and accomplished leader in international pharmacy. His steadfast commitment to shepherding advancements in pharmacy education, training, and practice have led to lasting improvements in the United States and China, particularly in the areas of medication safety, residency training, and patient-centered pharmacy services.

Board of Directors’ Pharmacy Champion Award

The ASHP Board of Directors Pharmacy Champion Award recognizes leadership in advocacy and public policy that contributes to significant improvements in patient care, drug safety, medication-use outcomes, and advances the vital roles pharmacists play as patient care providers.

Recipients:

• ADM Brett P. Giroir, M.D., 16th Assistant Secretary for Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Washington, D.C.

  ADM Giroir played a significant role in facilitating efforts to expand the authority of pharmacists across all practice settings. His ongoing support of pharmacists as medication experts and critical members of inteprofessional healthcare teams served as a catalyst for impactful, profession-wide change and advancement.

• Coalition of New Mexico pharmacy professionals involved in the passage of H.B. 42, Pharmaceutical Services Reimbursement Parity

  Representatives of the New Mexico Society of Health-System Pharmacists, the New Mexico Pharmacists Association, and the University of New Mexico College of Pharmacy forged a coalition to secure passage of legislation that allows pharmacist clinicians and pharmacists with independent prescriptive authority to be reimbursed by Medicaid and commercial insurance plans for primary care and specialty care services with parity to physicians. This group of dedicated pharmacy leaders executed a concerted, highly organized, and effective effort to improve patient access to primary care and add to the growing list of states expanding patient access to pharmacists’ services.

Board of Directors’ Pharmacy Technician Excellence Award

The ASHP Board of Directors Pharmacy Technician Excellence Award recognizes contributions to excellence in the role of pharmacy technicians, advancement of the pharmacy technician workforce, and advancement of pharmacy practice.

Recipients:

• Glen J. Gard, CPhT, CSPT, Director, Sterile Compounding Compliance, Option Care Health, Chicago, IL

  Mr. Gard is a nationally recognized expert in sterile compounding and a champion for the advancement of pharmacy technician roles. He is responsible for innovative and progressive technician development programs that have enhanced professionalization of pharmacy technicians and elevated the pharmacy technician workforce through his work with ASHP, the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board, and others.

• Matthew A. Rewald, CPhT, Pharmacy Technician Program Director and Assistant Professor of Pharmacy, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science; Pharmacy Technician Education Coordinator, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN

Mr. Rewald is a respected pharmacy technician, educator, and leader with an exceptional record of spearheading the development of nationally accredited pharmacy technician education and training programs. His innovative vision and unyielding commitment to training the pharmacy technician workforce continues to elevate the role of pharmacy technicians and advance the pharmacy profession.