ACCP members Emily Kosirog, Diana M. Sobieraj, and Maria M. Thurston were selected by the 2017 ACCP Awards Committee to receive the College’s prestigious 2017 New Clinical Practitioner, New Investigator, and New Educator awards, respectively. The awards will be presented Sunday, October 8, 2017, in Phoenix during the Awards Ceremony of the 2017 ACCP Annual Meeting.
The New Clinical Practitioner Award honors a new clinical practitioner who has made outstanding contributions to the health of patients and/or the practice of clinical pharmacy. The awardee must have been a Full Member of ACCP at the time of nomination as well as a member at any level for a minimum of 3 years; in addition, the awardee must have completed his or her terminal training or degree less than 6 years previously. Emily Kosirog, Pharm.D., BCACP, is a clinical pharmacist at Salud Family Health Centers and an assistant professor of clinical pharmacy at the University of Colorado Skaggs School of Pharmacy. Dr. Tillman Farley, chief medical officer for Salud Family Health Centers, wrote in his letter of support,
Salud Family Health Centers is a large federally qualified health center with 12 sites across most of northeastern Colorado…. This is a very impoverished and vulnerable population with little other access to care. We continually strive towards the triple aim of improved outcomes, higher patient satisfaction, and lower costs. Dr. Kosirog began work at Salud Family Health Centers several years ago as our first clinical pharmacist. We engaged her specifically to develop our clinical pharmacy services. Initially, she was funded through a time limited grant from the Colorado Health Foundation. Based on the strength of her work, we were able to secure indefinite funding through the state Regional Care Collaboratives (RCCOs). As you know, the hardest part of any grant program is figuring out how to make it sustainable. During Dr. Kosirog’s first three years at Salud, she was able not only to build a substantial clinical pharmacy service, but she built it so effectively and with such good data-supported-outcomes that we had no problem demonstrating its value to the RCCOs. Because of Dr. Kosirog’s excellent work, Salud Family Health Centers now has a clinical pharmacy program consisting of 6 clinical pharmacists operating out of 5 Salud sites across northeastern Colorado.
Dr. Dennis K. Helling, executive director emeritus of Pharmacy Operations & Therapeutics at Kaiser Permanente Colorado, commented in his letter of nomination,
Dr. Kosirog is committed to patient care and educating future pharmacists. Since completing residency training, she has provided care for hundreds of Coloradans who never would have had the opportunity to interact with a clinical pharmacist. Dr. Kosirog provides compassionate care in both English and Spanish, treating many patients who are uninsured or under-insured. She has precepted more than a dozen pharmacy students, and serves as a core preceptor for the University of Colorado PGY2 Ambulatory Care Residency. She teaches students and residents to provide compassionate care, as well as culturally sensitive care, for each individual patient to understand and overcome barriers to optimal health. As a result of the expanded Salud funding, the 2016-2017 residency will grow to include a “FQHC” Track, which will annually train two future ambulatory care practitioners to provide care in the unique FQHC environment.
Kosirog has also been actively involved in ACCP, having served as a member of the Ambulatory Care PRN Advocacy Committee and as a reviewer for the College’s On-Demand CV Review Service. She is the founder and moderator of the FQHC Clinical Pharmacy Listserv, a service with more than 50 FQHC pharmacist-subscribers who share ideas and best practices. Also engaged in scholarship, Kosirog at the time of her nomination had published in peer-reviewed journals and contributed to a 2015 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation white paper titled “Lessons from the Field: Promising Interprofessional Collaboration Practices.” Her work has been presented at national meetings, including those of ACCP, the National Association of Community Health Centers, and the College of Psychiatric & Neurologic Pharmacists.
The New Investigator Award recognizes an ACCP member who has made a significant impact on an aspect of clinical pharmaceutical science. The awardee must have been a member of ACCP for more than 3 years, must have completed his or her terminal training or degree less than 6 years previously, and must have a research program with a substantial publication record that includes a programmatic theme or an especially noteworthy single publication. Diana M. Sobieraj, Pharm.D., BCPS, is a tenure-track assistant professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice at the University of Connecticut School of Pharmacy in Hartford, Connecticut. She received her Pharm.D. degree from the University of Rhode Island and completed PGY1 residency training at Hartford Hospital/University of Connecticut followed by a 2-year fellowship in cardiovascular pharmacology and outcomes at the UConn/Hartford Hospital Evidence-Based Practice Center. Sobieraj’s research is in comparative effectiveness and health outcomes. She has published more than 40 papers in peer-reviewed literature for journals such as Annals of Internal Medicine, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, and International Journal of Cardiology. Dr. Margie Snyder, associate professor of pharmacy practice at Purdue University College of Pharmacy, commented on Sobieraj’s qualifications for the New Investigator Award in the letter supporting Sobieraj’s nomination:
I have known Diana for approximately two years. We became acquainted through our service to the ACCP PBRN Community Advisory Panel and the Health Outcomes PRN. I have come to know Diana as an incredibly organized, hard-working, thoughtful, team player. It is a privilege to work with her. Most relevant to this award, Diana is an excellent scientist with a truly impressive track record…. Clearly, Diana has distinguished herself as an outstanding new investigator who has emerged not only as a leader in her field of research but also as a dedicated member of ACCP. In particular, she is clearly a leading scholar in the conduct of rigorous systematic reviews and meta-analyses pertaining to clinical pharmacy practice. In addition to her early success in securing research funding and publishing her work in high-impact journals, Diana has received numerous accolades for her scholarship.
Dr. Craig Coleman, professor of pharmacy practice at the University of Connecticut School of Pharmacy, added in his letter of nomination:
Dr. Sobieraj’s accomplishments as a scholar have been nothing short of remarkable. She has demonstrated an ability to have her work published in highly‐regarded peer‐reviewed journals and to attract significant extramural funding…. To date, Dr. Sobieraj has been awarded grants in excess of $2 million to support her research program. This includes a recent award as PI from the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (through the AHRQ Evidence‐Based Practice Center program) to perform evidence synthesis tasks related to the pharmacologic management of asthma. These evidence synthesis reports will be used to support the forthcoming update of the Expert Panel Report Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Asthma.
Sobieraj will deliver the annual New Investigator Award lecture during the October 8 Awards Ceremony at the ACCP Annual Meeting in Phoenix.
The ACCP New Educator Award is given to recognize and honor a new educator for outstanding contributions to the discipline of teaching and to the education of health care practitioners. The awardee must have been a Full Member of ACCP at the time of nomination and a member at any level for a minimum of 3 years; in addition, the awardee must have completed his or her terminal training or degree less than 6 years previously. Maria M. Thurston, Pharm.D., BCPS, is a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice at Mercer University College of Pharmacy and an ambulatory care clinical pharmacy specialist at WellStar Atlanta Medical Center in Atlanta, Georgia. Thurston received her Pharm.D. degree from the University of Georgia College of Pharmacy and completed PGY1 residency training at the Atlanta VA Medical Center and PGY2 residency training at the University of Georgia College of Pharmacy in collaboration with the Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center and Athens Community-Based Outpatient Clinic. At Mercer, she has been instrumental in developing and implementing a professional engagement program across the curriculum and working to advance interprofessional education. Mercer University associate professor and vice chair Kathryn Momary wrote in her letter of nomination,
As chair of our Professionalism Committee, Dr. Thurston led the College’s effort to develop an innovative co-curricular “Professional Engagement Program,” in accordance with [ACPE] Standards 2016. The program places student pharmacists into Professional Development Networks (PDNs) that consist of approximately 30 students across all four professional years, teamed with two faculty members, and two alumni members for the purpose of professional guidance and mentorship…. When the students were surveyed regarding the program, 83% of students were satisfied or very satisfied with PDN overall, and 90% were satisfied or very satisfied with the professional development resources provided through the program…. Dr. Thurston has also been significantly involved in Mercer’s inter-professional education efforts since her first semester with the University in fall, 2012. As part of the course she co-coordinated at the time, she helped to develop and organize two university-wide activities, one on ethics and the other on professionalism. The learning experiences involved multidisciplinary, case-based vignettes that allowed students to explore similarities and differences in ethical decision-making and professional styles between occupations. Students from all health care professions on Mercer’s Atlanta campus were involved including pharmacy, nursing, clinical psychology, physician assistant, and physical therapy.
In addition to being honored as the 2012 Outstanding Young Health-System Pharmacist by the Georgia Society of Health-System Pharmacists, Thurston received the ACCP Ambulatory Care PRN member Recognition Award in 2016. She is also actively engaged in research and scholarship and has presented her work at national professional and scientific meetings. Thurston has cowritten two textbook chapters and published her research in peer-reviewed journals, including the American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, Annals of Pharmacotherapy, Clinical Diabetes, and Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics.
Members of the 2017 ACCP Awards Committee were Krystal Edwards (chair), Brad Phillips (vice chair), Miranda Andrus, Jessica Cottreau, Michael Ernst, Leslie Hamilton, Brent Reed, and Nancy Yunker.