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2020
FRO M T H E P R ESI DENT
FIRST THINGS FIRST in the TIME OF COVID To ACPHS Alumni, The 2020 pandemic is a time of pressure. In addition to its public health impact, it has wrought dramatic social and economic changes across the country. In this time of pressure, the cracks and flaws in our systems become all too apparent. The overheated boiler room has steam coming out of every little leak or loose valve. During these times, it is easy to focus on the negatives. This issue of the Alumni News is about resilience and adaptability. It is about individual alumni that fought though the challenges of the pandemic and made
changes that benefited their world. In each of our cases, the individuals did not focus on the negatives. They focused on those things that are most important to them. They put first things first. By doing this, they were able to overcome the stress and pressure of the situation and move themselves and their enterprise into a new place. In this issue you can read four stories describing these efforts: Zarina Jalal and John Croce, both pharmacists in Albany, put first things first when they realized that customer delivery was what really mattered and they adjusted Covid work schedules to focus on better customer service.
THANK YOU TO DONORS OF THE STUDENT EMERGENCY FUND You are essential. Not only do you care for your families and your patients, but you care for our students too.
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When The Collaboratory shut down in March, Naomi Pickett had to adapt. Her number one priority was serving the people in South Albany. She transitioned her operations to telemedicine to ensure continuity of service. The pandemic created a supply chain crisis in viral transport media. Eric MacLaughlin creatively addressed this shortage by focusing the efforts of an interdisciplinary team. They locally produced the media with in-house materials and prevented the interruption of the supply chain. Sema Hart saw family pediatric support at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester severely restricted by COVID related access issues. This put a strain on the system. Sema stepped up and took on a greatly expanded and demanding case load that meant she was responsible for all of the babies coming through the hospital. She threw her energies into one thing, the health and safety of all these newborns. As our alumni have rose to the occasion, so have our faculty and staff. They have focused on the thing we value most–the students. Faculty have worked diligently to create a blended
curriculum this fall to enable students to either take classes in person or remotely. Our staff rose to the occasion and created safe, social distancing residence hall space and have maintained vital campus services to students remotely including library services, tutoring, advising and counseling. I have never been prouder of our ACPHS family. We have pulled together to support both our students and our broader community. I applaud the collective efforts of our alumni, faculty, and staff who have shown persistence, tenacity and good judgment as we navigate these unsettling times. ACPHS has always been about community and collaboration. We have not focused on the negatives, but on those things we have truly valued. We put first things first. That has allowed us to push through in the time of Covid. Stay safe,
Greg Dewey ACPHS President
ACPHS alumni have a special blend of compassion and competence that helps them rise to every challenge. In March, we all faced the COVID-19 pandemic together. Our community rallied around our students who had urgent needs for food, housing, transportation and technology as a result of the spread of coronavirus. We set an ambitious goal of raising $100,000 and you rose to the occasion, giving to the newly-established Student Emergency Fund. We met—and exceeded the goal, raising over $100,000 for 183 students with gifts from alumni, staff, faculty, students and parents. Your forward-thinking has ensured that our students have the resources, opportunity and hope they need to move ahead in their journeys. The current crisis underscores a growing need for the skills and expertise of our graduates. It’s clear that health care professionals will light the way to a new future. Thanks to you they are well-prepared to meet these challenges head-on.
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NOT E S Quick-thinking ACPHS Alum Saves Life
Michael Golec ’16
Jessica Farrell ’07
Neil Kubik ’13, an ACPHS alum was in the right place at the right time earlier this year. A customer at the Walmart where he works had overdosed, and Neil was able to quickly administer Narcan and saved the patient’s life after being alerted to the situation by emergency personnel on the scene.
ACPHS Alumni Lead with Care, Make Headlines We were thrilled to see many ACPHS alumni making headlines for their selfless work in the face of COVID-19. In March, Vinny Chiffy ’94 made news about the early actions he took to address his patients’ concerns, and he detailed ways that expanding the scope of practice could help both communities and pharmacists. Alumna Holly Shishik ’94 transformed her distillery in Saratoga, NY to produce hand sanitizer which she donated to local emergency medical services and fire departments. Her efforts were lauded by the Glens Falls Post Star. The TimesHerald Record highlighted the patientcentered efforts of Alfonso J. Squitieri ’86 in the early days of the pandemic as part of a larger piece about pharmacists’ role in health care. Michael Golec ’16, a staff member at Albany Medical Center was also chronicled for his efforts as a researcher by the Daily Gazette in Schenectady. Jessica Farrell ’07 an alumna and faculty member at the College has shared her expertise with several news outlets relating to shortages of hydroxychloroquine due to its potential to treat COVID-19. Dr. Farrell is an associate professor at the Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, and a clinical pharmacist at The Center for Rheumatology.
Alumni Guide CBET Program Launch ACPHS recently created a new program to offer alternate career pathways for students (and alumni) who are interested in putting their talents to work in an industry setting. CBET will be the home of the new Professional Science Master’s program. The Center for Biopharmaceutical Education and Training (CBET) is led by Dr. Kamal Rashid and relies on 4
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the expertise of knowledgeable alumni from around the country. Nancy Barbour ’82, Christopher Dadas ’01, Jaclyn Grimaldi ’12 and Jay Marshall ’87 are working alongside Dr. Rashid, the CBET staff and faculty, and an esteemed committee of advisors to guide the Center toward its 2021 opening.
Alumni Share Advice and Stories with Students In February 2020, ACPHS hosted the 2nd annual IPhO Northeast Regional Meeting. Alumni Jeffrey McDonald ’19, Nirvana Prashad ’19 and Angela Dominelli ’78 shared their expertise as panelists and speakers. We also welcomed Stephen Ziter ’11 who chatted with students and offered advice. Several alums also served as speakers at a Women in Pharmacy Leadership Conference in February of 2020. They included Jane K. Boyd ’82, Dr. Angela C. Dominelli ’78, Dr. Chelsea Enbawe ’12 and Dr. Alyssa Hopsicker ’18. Dr. Rebecca B. Blanchard ’90 and Lieutenant Gavin O’Brien ’17 also took part in our regular weekly Industry Insights webinar series that introduced students to a variety of career pathways in health care. ACPHS alumni also shared their stories on the Occupation Station, an ACPHS podcast that is a deep dive into the careers of alumni who have leveraged their degrees in new and interesting ways. This year, we’re grateful to Dr. Mina Tadrous ’08, William G. Shields ’84, Dr. James Notaro ’84, Dr. William Gallo ’14 and Dr. Stephen R. Esker ’08 for sharing their stories.
Kathleen Frisbee Finalist for Award for Technology and Will Speak at Commencement ACPHS alumna Kathleen Frisbee ’82, PhD was recently nominated for a Service to America medal for her work alongside Drs. Neil Evans and Kevin Galpin for developing vital telehealth options for veterans to receive health care virtually. Kathleen currently serves as the executive director of Connected Health under VHA’s Office of Connected Care. She will be the speaker for ACPHS’ 2020 virtual commencement ceremony on November 1.
REMEMBERING
R A LPH’S “ Oh, what happy times were spent at Ralph’s!!” – Lisa K. Bresney-Reynolds ‘76
Ralph’s was the unofficial campus center — a place where friendships were made, ceiling tiles signed, and a beer or two shared among friends! Now, this beloved space is being re-created — ceiling tiles and all — on campus at ACPHS! We have removed the bar and other original fixtures from Ralph’s to be refurbished and installed in our re-creation. Current and future students can look forward to many “Friday Nights at Ralph’s,” where they’ll be able to have fun with open mic, karaoke, and late night dining — all within the security of being on campus. And during alumni events, the bar will be stocked so it will feel like old times again!
“ My favorite memory is meeting my wife, Sara Powers (now Del Vecchio), at Ralph’s on Valentine’s Day. I knew she was the “one” the moment I saw her walk in. That was in 1987. She was a first year and I was in my 4th year. We have been together ever since!” – Christopher Del Vecchio ‘88
“ I lived with 3 upper classmen during my freshman year and the first place they took me after I moved in was Ralph’s. We sat in a booth and when I tried to order a 7 and 7 they stopped me right there and told me I was getting a beer. So I did. It was the first of many beers I would enjoy at Ralph’s.” – Michael McEntarfer ‘73
“ Happy Hours at Ralph’s and Tuesday night are amazing. We used to have a $5.00 pitchers and amazing wings. It was a great experience. Still miss the dart game there!” – Michael Nashat ‘08
To find out more or share your own Ralph’s Memories, go to acphs.edu/Ralphs. 2020 | ALUMNI NEWS
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P RACT I CI N G P H ARM ACY I N A SH UT D OW N AG E Community pharmacy has always come with a unique set of challenges. And then 2020 brought a pandemic. Zarina Jalal ’12 had her staff on alternating shifts to limit exposure. John Croce ’84 worked one shift with half his staff, while the rest worked the other. They didn’t see each other for eight weeks. Programs were postponed, floor plans changed, all of it quickly. The fact that their pharmacies survived—and served their customers with distinction—bears witness to the creativity and flexibility of Croce, Jalal, and all who work for them.
The People Challenge Like so many businesses, Lincoln Pharmacy in Albany, where Jalal works as a pharmacist, was forced to rapidly adjust to new standards and physically distance themselves from their customers. As if that weren’t enough, employees couldn’t all work together. “At one point we had an A team and a B team,” Jalal recalled. “They worked in shifts to reduce transmission. Not having full staffing for alternating schedules was a challenge.” Among the biggest challenges was communication. “For issues that carry from day to day, they had to
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learn how to communicate when they weren’t face to face,” Jalal said. “We made heavy use of our secure messaging service and lots of Post-Its as well.” Croce, co-owner along with Paul Pagnotta ’92 at Four Corners Pharmacy in Delmar, NY, also used A and B shifts. “That way there was no crossover, and the whole staff didn’t have to go to quarantine if there was an exposure,” he explained. “But being cut off from coworkers was the hardest part of the whole experience.” Both had high praise for their staffs’ response. “No one complained about the changes,” Jalal said. “Everyone understood the gravity of the situation and worked together. They are phenomenal.” As for Four Corners, “the staff really responded to the situation,” Croce said. “They tried to be a sense of calm and strength for their patients”—an attitude that won them nomination for WMHT’s Extraordinary Neighbors program.
Changing Procedures Both pharmacies had to make minor shifts in their popular delivery services to maintain social distancing. Four Corners expanded delivery from five to seven days a week. “Under the new regimen, the driver would call ahead, knock on the door, and step
back six feet as the patient signed for the medication,” he explained. “An advanced practice student would call before delivery to offer a videoconference.” Meanwhile, for Lincoln Pharmacy, “the majority of our business has always been delivery,” Jalal said. They suspended the practice of having customers sign for prescriptions, using a COVID-19 placeholder signature instead. Perhaps the most inventive change for Croce’s team made use of their building’s history. “The pharmacy building was previously a bank,” Croce said, “so we were able to go to contactless pickup, using the pneumatic tubes. Everything came through the drawer, with no airborne exposure.”
ZARINA JAL
Changes to Come As both pharmacies prepared to reopen in June, Jalal used her observations during the shutdown as an inspiration for changes. “The pandemic made me realize that our retail space takes up too much room,” she said. “We don’t do a lot of frontend business, after all. So I’m planning a remodel to add a classroom and bigger offices to meet with patients one-on-one.” Croce can relate to the one-on-one aspect: “I’m excited to have time to talk to customers again,” he said. For them as for so many pharmacists, it’s part of what makes them essential workers.
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SERVING WHERE MOST NEEDED: THE COLLABORATORY AMID COVID-19 When this type of crisis happens, it’s the only time light is shed on all the things public health professionals do, Naomi Pickett ’17 is an extrovert, so of course she doesn’t care for the isolation required by COVID-19. She does, however, appreciate how the pandemic has focused attention on public health. “When this type of crisis happens, it’s the only time light is shed on all the things public health professionals do,” said the coordinator of The Collaboratory in the South End of Albany. “Take infrastructure: many of our people are living in apartments that aren’t well-ventilated, with no access to healthy food or transportation. Those are public health concerns.” Founded in 2018, The Collaboratory (a venture initiated by ACPHS and operated in collaboration with Trinity Alliance) delivers health care and support services to one of Albany’s underserved neighborhoods. Students from the ACPHS B.S.
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in Public Health program and PharmD program, together with faculty, pharmacists, community health workers, and others, deliver such services as assistance with prescription renewals and receiving refills, medication reviews, health literacy, and help securing health insurance, all to reduce health disparities in the neighborhood. While the facility shut down on March 13 in response to the pandemic, Pickett and her staff were able to continue all services, even if some came in a different guise. “The pharmacy and public health teams transitioned quickly to telehealth,” she explained. “We typically see a lot of walk-ins, but many are recurring clients with established relationships, so we could still contact them by phone and serve them. To inform others, we’ve distributed flyers and letters that said, ‘We’re closing the site but you can still reach us and here’s how.’” At press time, Pickett was envisioning the services a reopened Collaboratory might offer and the protocols they will need to follow. “It’s been eye-opening to dive into telehealth,” she said, “and we might
start integrating it into our other services. In terms of COVID-19 protection, if we require people to wear masks in the building, we’re going to have to supply them, so we need to find sources.” For Pickett, the most fulfilling aspect of the crisis involved her team’s response. “They transitioned so quickly,” she said. “When it all started coming to a head, we had decisions to make. Are we going to close, work remotely, what? In less than a week we wrote up procedures and the staff dove into work at home—without any disruptions in the continuity of care.”
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FIXING THE TEXAS TESTING CHAIN Sometime in the mid-1990s Eric MacLaughlin ’96 took a sterile compounding course at the Albany College of Pharmacy. He could not possibly have known how important it would become a quarter century later. “The skills I learned in that class— how to prepare medications using aseptic techniques—turned out to be essential in my work on the VTM project,” said MacLaughlin ’96, the chair of the Department of Pharmacy Practice at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC). A shortage of VTM—viral transport media—proved a major obstacle to widespread COVID-19 testing throughout Texas. Containing a broad-spectrum antibiotic and an antifungal agent, each VTM vial maintains the integrity of virus samples on their way to test
processing. No VTM, no reliable test. As the first COVID-19 cases hit the U.S., MacLaughlin formed a team with the array of skills needed to address the VTM shortage in West Texas. Drawing from three departments at TTUHSC, he recruited experts in sterile compounding, sterility testing, manufacturing, inventory supply and management, and contracting. Results came quickly. A literature review revealed that VTM could be prepared in-house from materials on campus. On March 22, the team produced its first batch—346 vials— using a protocol recommended by the World Health Organization. “Our initial plan was to produce VTM for approximately four to six weeks, until the initial critical shortage
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had been addressed,” MacLaughlin recalled. “But the demand has been much more than we expected.” And they have met it. Through early July, the VTM team had produced some 190,000 vials in the pharmacy school’s parenterals lab. “One person can prepare approximately 350 vials of VTM in an hour,” MacLaughlin said. “During the summer, when classes are not in session, we can make about 20,000 vials per week.” Despite the project’s focus, MacLaughlin has no background in virology or sterile products manufacturing. He sees a lesson there.
MacLaughlin, who served as the only pharmacist on the guideline writing committee for the 2017 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association guideline for management of high blood pressure. “However, when a critical need develops, and we as pharmacists can do something about it, I would encourage us to step out of our comfort zone and try. By assembling the right team with the right knowhow, it is incredible what we can accomplish.”
...when a critical need develops, and we as pharmacists can do something about it, I would encourage us to step out of our comfort zone and try.
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“My background is as a clinical pharmacist in an outpatient family medicine clinic, and my expertise is in the management of chronic cardiovascular disease,” said
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A STEA DY H AND I N P E D IAT RI CS You’re about to become a mom, in a shutdown, in a hospital that’s also a COVID-19 treatment center. On top of all that, your own pediatrician can’t visit to check the baby. That’s when you want Sema Hart ’83 by your side. This past spring, Hart’s warmth and calm demeanor—to say nothing of her expertise—guided mothers through the early days of their babies’ lives. During the shutdown for COVID-19, she saw every healthy baby that passed through Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, NY, where she serves as hospitalist and associate professor of pediatrics.
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Pediatricians were not the only people barred from entering. According to Hart, no visitors were allowed in the birth center—just the mother and one support person. That policy would have merit anytime, not just during a pandemic, she said. “Even though the babies and mothers aren’t sick, to have all these people in contact with them isn’t a good idea,” she explained. “But that goes against human nature. Everyone wants to share the happy time with their loved ones.”
“Normally having a baby is a happy time, but right now everyone’s anxiety is magnified,” Hart noted during an interview in June. “Parents are scared.”
Patients who came under Hart’s care during the shutdown may not have seen how it affected her personally. Given her work with vulnerable newborns, she spent much of the pandemic quarantined from her family.
The shutdown was directly responsible for the spike in her caseload. “The hospital asked private pediatricians not to come in,” Hart explained. “So I went from seeing 80 percent to 100 percent of the babies.”
“The environment is getting cleaner, since people aren’t traveling,” she said. “More parents worked from home during the pandemic, so they spent more time with their children,
Even so, she was grateful to find silver linings in the difficult news of 2020.
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which is lovely. One new father was telling me they have a five-year-old at home, and every day at 5:00 he puts his computer away and they go for a walk or play ball in the yard.” Hart’s teaching of residents and medical students went virtual during the height of the COVID outbreak. Once they came back, they needed
some care and tending themselves. “Students are funny,” she laughed. “They are so eager to touch a patient. They are amped up to 11. So I try to protect them as well as our patients.”
Occupation Station is a collection of interviews with prominent alumni and friends of the College who hold careers across the pharmacy and health sciences industry. Our experts detail pivotal points in their careers and discuss what led them to where they are today. Part of the Pharmacy Podcast Network. Listen now at acphs.edu/Podcast.
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STU D E N T S P OTLI GHT
HABIB MUHTASEB ’21 DOCTOR OF PHARMACY Everyone has their favorite piece of advice. Forgive and forget. Never stop learning. Fall three times, get up four. But for Habib Muhtaseb ’21, the best advice he has is about advice. “Everyone wants to be helpful, but sometimes when giving out advice people can be idealistic instead of pragmatic,” he says. “So, I’m cautious about the advice I take. Who’s giving the advice? Where are they in life? Do they follow it themselves?”
Who’s giving the advice? Where are they in life? Do they follow it themselves? To take his own advice, he seeks out those who have been there and done that, building relationships with professors, alumni, and classmates. He discovered upon entering ACPHS that the older students were the best resource for tips on how to study, what not to do, or how to schedule his time. Since he had done his undergrad while still living at home, ACPHS was a whole new experience for him. Looking back, Muhtaseb is glad he chose that path. It allowed him to develop the discipline needed for the coursework at ACPHS. For him, those
undergrad years were bootcamp, preparing him for what came next. “There was no application, but then coming here, everything I learned was being applied. It isn’t just data in a textbook,” he says. “How the human body can be manipulated using drugs is so mind boggling.” And he’s looking forward to being able to apply what he has learned in the real world. Muhtaseb was originally scheduled to start a rotation at Eli Lilly in May, but it moved to November/December due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s an exciting opportunity, and the pride and anticipation he feels are obvious when he talks about it. “It’s called Global Labelling. I’ll be dealing with every sector of the industry, be in a center hub where I get to interact with everyone. Only two students in the school get it, 75 in the country.” Over the summer, Muhtaseb became involved in the College’s Bridges to Industry initiative. The goal is to provide future students with rotations at pharmaceutical companies, bridging the gap between industry and the students.
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F RI E N D S WE ’LL MI SS
1944 Louis J. Fratto, Sr. February 11, 2020 1949 Marie (Robert) Hare November 20, 2019 Edmond A. Robert June 2, 2020 1950 Greta (Schell) Bakuzonis June 5, 2019 1951 Ronald W. McLean April 22, 2020 1952 Walter Cherniak August 22, 2019 Lisa Jane (Teakle) Klippel February 20, 2020 1953 Gilbert S. Banker February 16, 2020 Carmine M. Gijanto June 18, 2020 1954 Lorraine (Purcell) Godson March 9, 2020 1956 Joseph F. Guerra October 8, 2019 1957 Alan White January 15, 2020 William R. Steed January 24, 2020
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John E. Boylan August 25, 2020 1958 Donald J. Jordan October 30, 2019 William D. Stilwell March 14, 2020 Rocco F. Giruzzi, Jr. May 10, 2020 1959 Robert V. Bull November 5, 2019 Kenneth W. Hunter May 1, 2020 Lester R. Kleinman May 9, 2020 Donald F. Hall May 12, 2020 Selig D. Corman June 26, 2020 1960 Francis J. Damis March 28, 2020 1961 Robert A. Huber June 5, 2019 Celia (Feiner) Epstein August 31, 2019 Robert M. Santimaw March 1, 2020 1962 David E. Talarico March 11, 2020 Herbert D. Randall, III March 16, 2020 George S. Devernoe March 31, 2020
1963 William J. Donohue, Jr. August 13, 2019 Donald N. Vitello March 26, 2020 1965 Paul D. Cramer, Sr. January 18, 2016 Leonard Rosen April 20, 2019 Douglas C. Linstruth August 3, 2019 1966 Robert C. Hartz, Jr. April 7, 2020 1967 Douglas K. Schoolcraft May 12, 2018 1968 Jane (Wells) Fox July 16, 2019 Reeder D. Gates October 10, 2019 Andrew R. Allen March 11, 2020 1969 James M. Urtz July 13, 2020 1973 Timothy D. Suenram March 27, 2020 1974 John F. Naioti, Jr. December 26, 2019 Stephen L. St. Joseph July 18, 2020
1975 Ethel (Downey) Frost June 20, 2019
Victor S. Giannini January 6, 2019
1978 William A. Gladstone July 3, 2019
1989 Raymond D. Matthews February 26, 2019
Walter E. Dunham May 28, 2020
Mary Louise Floyd November 16, 2019
1981 Monika A. (Oesterlin) Wiltshire December 31, 2013
2002 Diana (Cerminaro) Frederick July 25, 2019
2003 Jeffrey J. Forkey May 4, 2019 2011 Michael Stuart April 4, 2020
Dean O’Brien, and a lasting legacy with ACPHS As an alum of ACPHS, you know how intertwined our school’s community and history is with the memory of Dean Francis J. O’Brien. From giving up his salary to support the College, to ensuring further access and opportunities for pharmacists, Dean O’Brien represented the selflessness and compassion central to our College. His legacy lives on in the ACPHS alumni who have joined the Francis J. O’Brien Society, a group of forward-thinking supporters who have included a legacy gift to the College in their wills. Now, ACPHS wants to make it easier than ever to create your own legacy. We have a free resource to help you write a legally valid will, protect the people you love, and create a powerful, lasting gift to support future students. It takes 20 minutes or less and costs you nothing today. You can get started at FreeWill.com/ACPHS.
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