Leadership Profile

A Conversation with ASPET IDEA Chair

Ashim Malhotra, PharmBS, MS, PhD, FAPE

Ashim Malhotra, PhD is currently ASPET’s Chair of the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility (IDEA). He is Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs and Accreditation; Professor, University Distinguished Teacher; and Fellow, American Academy of Pharmacology Educators College of Pharmacy at the California Northstate University. He is also Founding Senior Director of the university’s Institute of Teaching and Learning Excellence & Academic Affairs and Director of the university’s Interprofessional Education Program. Dr. Malhotra has been an ASPET member since 2015.

How did you get started in pharmacology?

My academic journey is one of struggles and economic hardship. My professional identity as a scientist has been sculpted by international experiences, minoritized personal identity, and sometimes challenging access to top-notch programs due to a paucity of resources. Nevertheless, I feel fortunate that I earned a Bachelor of Pharmacy degree with a “gold medal” for academic achievement from the top-ranked pharmacy school in India due to government-subsidized education. I came to the United States for further studies in 2000. Around this time, monoclonal antibodies were being used for various molecular targeting techniques for the first time. I remember attending a seminar at the NYU School of Medicine, which was in proximity to my alma mater, St. John’s University. I was drawn to the colorful antibody-based microscopy images which made me realize the power of the molecular revolution occurring in pharmacology at the time. I think the very next day, I changed my major from a Master of Cosmetic Sciences in pharmacy to degree pathways in Life Sciences which eventually led to a pharmacology-based PhD thesis. A lifetime commitment to pharmacology came during my postdoctoral career at the NYU School of Medicine under Dr. Michael Schlame, a renowned scholar in cardiolipin research.

How did you first get involved with ASPET?

I have been a member of FASEB, ASBMB, and ASEPT for more than two decades! As a graduate student, I first presented work at the Experimental Biology meeting in 2003, 20 years ago! My academic journey and work in mitochondrial molecular pharmacology encouraged me to become an ASPET member. I was also the Chair of the Graduate Student Organization at my PhD program at St. John’s University and thus a representative from my college to ASPET in the early years. Another deeply impactful career-changing moment came from ASPET, when as a graduate student, I was selected for ASPET’s competitive podium presentations alongside prominent national scholars. I am grateful to ASPET for encouraging young scientists through this inclusive approach. This early national-level recognition galvanized my intent as a minority individual in the sciences to continue to conduct good science.

What do you want the ASPET membership to know about you and your ideas on how to move the organization forward during your term?

I am a servant leader who is committed to inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility (IDEA) principles. Two decades of IDEA work in science education, policy, bench research, the scholarship of teaching and learning, assessment, accreditation, and organizational health and vitality have chiseled my personal and professional identity. My experience includes service as a national accreditor of US Doctor of Pharmacy programs, national Chair of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy’s (AACP) Global Education, leader of AACP’s international delegation to Cuba, and scholar and advocate for embedding service-learning medical, pharmacy, and dental medicine experiences for our most vulnerable BIPOC, migrant, unsheltered, and LGBTQIA+ communities. I am committed to working with ASPET, listening carefully for a needs assessment as occurring with the Nova initiative, followed by imbibing what we learn into enhancing an inclusive and positive organizational culture within ASPET. As Chair of the IDEA Committee and a member of the ASPET Council, I will foster collaborative approaches to build IDEA principles into the warp and weft of ASPET’s organizational framework. For this, working with the IDEA Committee, I will establish strategies, create programming, and support initiatives embedding IDEA into five initial focus areas of education, advocacy, industry pharmacology, scholarship, and organizational health and vitality.

What has been your proudest accomplishment in your career so far?

I feel that the biggest achievement of my career has been the trust my colleagues, fellow scientists, senior university leadership, national organizations, and international partners have placed me in over the years. I am equally proud of the trust and affection I have received from my undergraduate, graduate, and professional degree program students in pharmacology in Doctor of Pharmacy and Doctor of Audiology programs. National recognition for junior faculty and postdoctoral fellows whom I have mentored, especially those from minority and/or underrepresented backgrounds in pharmacology gives me a lot of satisfaction. For instance, I am most proud that my postdoctoral fellow, Dr. Adeleke Badejo, a Nigerian-Canadian, won first prize in the prestigious Dolores Schockley Poster Competition in 2017 at the ASPET meeting in Chicago. This is another shining example of ASPET’s longtime commitment to inclusion and diversity and encouraging young scientists from a minority background to make strides in pharmacology research. Of course, my induction by ASPET’s Division for Pharmacology Education as a Fellow of the Academy of Pharmacology Educators was a career milestone for recognition of a lifetime of service in pharmacology education, especially for underrepresented students.

What advice would you give young scientists who are just starting out in their careers?

Stay “hungry” cultivates a deep and insatiable passion for your work and allow this “hunger” for excellence to drive all your decision-making. Listen carefully to perspectives different from your own and invest in building relationships. Work hard and strive to be the best but stay mentally and emotionally flexible throughout your career. Only those prepared for opportunities can make the most of them.

What do you want your legacy to be as the first Chair of the IDEA Committee for ASPET?

As ASPET’s inaugural IDEA Chair, I want to enhance and foster positive organizational culture and ASPET’s organizational health and vitality. IDEA work can be challenging and should be approached with cultural, intellectual, and philosophical humility. I would like to foster sustainable and cooperative strategies that ensure that all pharmacologists regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, gender expression, sexual identity, US or international status, socio-economic status, or the field of practice within pharmacology feel welcome and supported at ASPET. I will strive to enhance visibility for minority and minoritized lived experiences, including for indigenous cultures in pharmacology to build a better, more aspirational future for all pharmacologists.