ACCP members Kelly A. Cochran, Ninh (Irene) M. La-Beck, and Mate Michael Soric were selected by the 2016 ACCP Awards Committee to receive the College’s prestigious 2016 New Educator, New Investigator, and New Clinical Practitioner awards, respectively. The awards will be presented in Hollywood, Florida, on Sunday, October 23, 2016, during the Opening General Session of the 2016 ACCP Annual Meeting.

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. Kelly A. Cochran, Pharm.D., BCPS, is a clinical assistant professor in the Division of Pharmacy Practice and Administration at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) School of Pharmacy and an adjunct assistant professor of medicine in the Division of General Internal Medicine at the University of Missouri School of Medicine. Cochran received her Pharm.D. degree from Butler University College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences and completed PGY1 residency training at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and PGY2 residency training at the University of Illinois at Chicago Medical Center. At UMKC, she has been instrumental in developing new coursework, including improving interprofessional learning, implementing objective structured clinical examinations, and pursuing novel work in patient simulation. As noted by Dr. Roger Sommi, UMKC associate dean and vice chair, in his letter of support:

Dr. Cochran is an inspiration to our students here at UMKC School of Pharmacy. She has created a teaching environment that values curiosity, humility, humanity, putting the patient first, and cultivates the notion that students should become their own teachers…. Students love to learn from Dr. Cochran. In her student evaluations, time and again you see the comments from students about how they appreciate an insight into clinical situations, how she reframes a concept to provide clarity, provides a structure from which to approach a given topic or has tailored a teachable moment to the student’s needs and desires. She has a passion for teaching that pulls through to the student experience…. Dr. Cochran has been developing a truly innovative and unique program she calls Pharm to Farm. It is a program in collaboration with the AgrAbility program at the University of Missouri School of Agriculture. Dr. Cochran has expanded her reach as a practitioner and teacher by providing medication reviews and consultation to farmers and ranchers directly on their farms and ranches. As part of the project, she drives to the farms and does medication and health assessments. Naturally her advanced clerkship students are there with her, learning hand in hand, and providing care to these patients. Several students with rural roots themselves have had the opportunity to expand their career horizons and see that through this model, … they can develop a practice that impacts a community they feel a special connection to.

In addition to being honored as the 2014 Faculty Member of the Year by the Missouri Pharmacy Association, Cochran has been recognized as a University of Missouri Faculty Scholar. She is also actively engaged in pedagogical research and scholarship and has presented her work at national professional and scientific meetings.

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. Ninh (Irene) M. La-Beck, Pharm.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Immunotherapeutics and Biotechnology at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Pharmacy in Abilene, Texas. She received her Pharm.D. degree from the University of North Carolina (UNC) Eshelman School of Pharmacy and completed an oncology fellowship in the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics at UNC. La-Beck’s research is in the area of oncology therapeutics with a focus on immune modulation by lipid nanoparticles. At the time of her nomination, La-Beck had already published highly cited peer-reviewed research papers, review articles, book chapters, and research abstracts. Her work has been published in leading cancer, pharmacology, and nanomedicine journals, including Cancer Medicine, Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics, Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, and Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology, and Medicine.

Dr. Howard McLeod, medical director at the DeBartolo Family Personalized Medicine Institute, summed up La-Beck’s qualifications for the New Investigator Award in his letter supporting her nomination:

Her work focuses on the interactions between anticancer drugs, particularly carrier-mediated drugs, and the immune system. This work led to the discovery of new immune modulatory properties of a class of lipid nanoparticle carriers which she presented at a podium presentation at the European Summit for Clinical Nanomedicine in Basel, Switzerland and for which she also received the European Foundation for Clinical Nanomedicine Fellowship Award. Her paper on these findings was selected for the cover of Nanomedicine! The clinical significance of her body of work is further highlighted in another study evaluating the efficacy and toxicity of liposomal doxorubicin in ovarian cancer patients which was cited in the National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines for ovarian cancer, a resource that is broadly utilized by clinical oncologists. Other testaments to her emerging role as a leader in cancer drug pharmacology include serving as a reviewer on the Developmental Therapeutics study section of the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Center for Scientific Review, coauthoring a chapter in the National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Nanotechnology Plan 2015, and an invitation to speak at the upcoming “Mechanisms and Barriers in Nanomedicine Conference,” at the Colorado Center for Nanomedicine and Nanosafety.

La-Beck will deliver the annual New Investigator Award lecture during the October 23 opening session in Hollywood.

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. Mate Michael Soric, Pharm.D., BCPS, is an associate professor of pharmacy practice at Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED) College of Pharmacy in Rootstown, Ohio. He also serves as director of the PGY2 internal medicine pharmacy residency program at University Hospitals Geauga Medical Center in Chardon, Ohio. Soric received his Pharm.D. degree from the University of Toledo College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and completed PGY1 pharmacy residency training at the Toledo Hospital. Dr. Susan Bruce, chair and professor at NEOMED, wrote in her letter of support:

Dr. Soric’s achievements in service are unrivaled! In his short time as a faculty member, he is making an incredibly positive impact on students, patients, and the practice of pharmacy…. Pharmacy patient care services at Geauga Medical Center are thriving, thanks to Mate’s leadership. When he arrived at the site, there were limited clinical services due to the relatively small staff in the pharmacy and limited clinical services throughout the University Hospital system…. Mate established inpatient rounds, a consult service, pain management services, an outpatient clinic, and a structured patient education program. The establishment of residency programs and strong APPE rotations provides an opportunity for residents and students to be extenders of Mate and reach more patients at the hospital. As a result of Mate’s work at Geauga Medical Center, services are being replicated throughout the system.

Steven R. Smith, manager of the Jobst Anticoagulation Service at ProMedica Toledo Hospital, wrote in his letter of nomination:

I think one word sums up Mate’s young career: SERVICE. Mate serves his patients in his role of clinical pharmacist at University Hospitals Geauga Medical Center. Mate serves his hospital and health system in committees and innovations to expand pharmacy services to patients. Mate serves his university with his lectures in a variety of topics, in committee work, as an evaluator in skills labs, and precepting students. Mate serves his profession by actively participating in national, state, and local pharmacy organizations, initiating and directing residencies, by sharing his knowledge and experience in publications and presentations. Mate serves students in pharmacy by serving as a role model of what such a young professional can achieve in a short period of time, lecturing in the classroom, precepting at his practice site, and guiding students interested in residency.

Soric has also been very involved in ACCP-related activities, having served as a member of the College’s Practice-Based Research Network and an active member of the Adult Medicine, Ambulatory Care, and Education and Training PRNs. Also engaged in scholarship, Soric had published six papers in peer-reviewed journals and written or cowritten nine book chapters at the time of his nomination. His work has been presented at national meetings, including those of ACCP, the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, and the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.

Members of the 2016 ACCP Awards Committee were M. Shawn McFarland (chair), Krystal Edwards (vice chair), Kelly Caudle, Sandra Chase, Kylee Funk, Candice Garwood, Vanthida Huang, Brad Phillips, Nancy Shapiro, and Zachary Stacy.