14 minute read
Faculty news
Retirements
Dr. Charles Collins served as Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences. He has been with Gatton since its founding in 2005 and served as the founding Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, as well as senior faculty member in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences. He has made numerous, impactful contributions to the college. Debi Frakes retired as Office Coordinator in the Office of Experiential Education. She has been at ETSU since 2001, serving in ETSU Alumni Services, Human Resources, and then Gatton College of Pharmacy since 2013. Annalisa Mills retired as Director of Experiential Operations. She joined Gatton College of Pharmacy in 2008. She has been with ETSU since 1993, serving as a Program Coordinator in the School of Continuing Studies' Office of Professional Development and in Quillen College of Medicine as both an Admissions Counselor and a Student Programs Coordinator.
Advertisement
Promotions
The ETSU Board of Trustees recently promoted Pharmacy Practice faculty member Dr. John Bossaer to Professor.
Dr. Brian Cross was named the full-time Director of Interprofessional Education in July and stepped down as Vice Chair of Pharmacy Practice. Dr. Nick Hagemeier, Professor of Pharmacy Practice, was named Interim Vice Provost for Research following the retirement of Dr. Bill Duncan at the end of the academic year. Dr. Stacy Brown began serving as Chair of Pharmaceutical Sciences starting July 1. Dr. David Roane, founding Chair and Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences since 2006, stepped down and continues to serve as faculty. During his tenure as Department Chair, he made numerous and impactful contributions to the department and college.
Dr. John Bossaer Dr. Nick Hagemeier Dr. Stacy Brown
Dr. David Roane Dr. Victoria Palau Dr. Larry Calhoun
News
Larry Calhoun, Dean Emeritus Dr. Calhoun was honored with a spot in the Chamber of Commerce (serving Johnson City, Jonesborough, and Washington County) Hall of Fame for his many contributions to the community, ETSU, and the Chamber.
Siva Digavalli, Associate Professor, Pharmaceutical Sciences Ummear Raza, a 3rd year Ph.D. student in Dr. Digavalli's lab, competed and was selected for the Graduate Student Research Grants program. He will receive a $1,000 award going toward his research and will earn recognition at the annual Graduate School Awards ceremony. Additionally, Ummear's original full-length research report that he co-authored with Dr. Digavalli was accepted for publication in the journal Psychopharmacology. KariLynn Dowling-McClay, Assistant Professor, Pharmacy Practice Dr. Dowling-McClay, with others in ETSU’s Center for Cardiovascular Risks Research, collaborated with researchers from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and other key academic partners across the state to create a statewide network to identify, develop and implement patient-centered approaches to improve quality of care and outcomes for people with cardiovascular disease. The UT-led research proposal received a $4.5 million grant over three years from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to lead the Tennessee Heart Health Network. In addition, she was awarded an RDC Major Grant for FY2022 titled “Comparing Knowledge, Attitudes, and Beliefs About Differing Models of Pharmacist-Prescribed Contraception in Central Appalachia." Emily Flores, Associate Professor, Pharmacy Practice Dr. Flores accepted a 2022 American College of Clinical Pharmacology (ACCP) Global Conference on Clinical Pharmacy Program Committee appointment.
Nick Hagemeier, Professor, Pharmacy Practice Dr. Hagemeier was featured in an NPR story, “Former Walmart Pharmacists Say Company Ignored Red Flags as Opioid Sales Boomed,” about the opioid epidemic. In addition, he was chosen from ETSU along with one other individual (Dr. Chassidy Cooper from the Office of Equity and Inclusion) to participate in this year’s EAB Rising Higher Education Leaders Fellowship, a nine-month cohort-based experience which aims to build community, develop a depth of expertise in the topics and issues that matter most to institutional strategy, and provide focused professional skills development from EAB industry experts. David Hurley, Professor, Pharmaceutical Sciences Dr. Hurley has contributed two episodes on pharmacogenomics training at Gatton College of Pharmacy to the PGx for Pharmacists podcast series in the Pharmacy Podcast network. In the first episode, discussion focuses on the novel immersive PGx training in the first year for all students. In the second episode, evaluation of student attitudes about PGx training is discussed to show how the program is successful and adapting to change. Plans for more episodes are being finalized because of the interest in effective PGx education of student pharmacists. Available wherever you find your podcasts. All the links also are available on Dr. Hurley’s webpage at faculty.etsu.edu/hurleyd.
Sarah Melton Brooklyn Nelson Jessica Robinson
Sarah Melton, Professor and Vice-Chair, Pharmacy Practice Dr. Melton was elected to serve as one of three new officers on the 2021-2023 College of Psychiatric and Neurologic Pharmacists (CPNP) Board of Directors. In addition, she was promoted to Vice-Chair in the Department of Pharmacy Practice. Brooklyn Nelson, Clinical Assistant Professor, Pharmacy Practice Dr. Nelson was named among the “40 Under Forty” by the Business Journal of Tri-Cities TN/VA.
Jessica Robinson, Assistant Professor, Pharmacy Practice Dr. Robinson serves as director of the Tennessee CPESN COVID-19 Vaccine Federal Partner Program, one of 21 programs providing COVID-19 vaccines to community pharmacies in the state. In addition, she was featured in the Pharmacy Times for her work at Mac's Pharmacy in Knoxville as part of the national Flip the Pharmacy initiative, which Gatton joined to help expand the pharmacy profession. Peter Panus, Professor Emeritus, Pharmaceutical Sciences Dr. Panus was inducted into the College of Clinical and Rehabilitative Health Sciences Hall of Fame.
Brooks Pond, Professor, Pharmaceutical Sciences Research from Dr. Pond’s laboratory was featured on the cover of June's issue of Neurotoxicity Research. In addition, she was the commencement speaker for the College of Arts and Sciences. David Stewart, Vice Chair and Professor, Pharmacy Practice Dr. Stewart will serve as an associate director of ETSU College of Public Health's Center for Cardiovascular Risks Research. The center aims to reduce cardiovascular disease and associated risk factors in Central Appalachia, while addressing the health disparities and health care inequities experienced by residents of the region Adam Welch, Associate Dean, Assessment and Academic Affairs Dr. Welch was awarded a $1.1 million sub-award contract from the CDC and Tennessee Department of Health to establish a COVID-19 vaccination clinic at the university. He joined his co-investigator, Dr. Leigh Johnson, formerly of Quillen College of Medicine and former Director of ETSU COVID-19 response, in establishing the vaccine point of distribution that has served the university and the region as a whole.
The college welcomes its new Postgraduate Year 2 (PGY2) residents: Dr. Payton Tipton (’20), of Jonesborough, and Dr. Brittney Bright, of Knoxville.
Dr. Sarah Melton, Professor and Vice-Chair of Pharmacy Practice at Gatton College of Pharmacy, was awarded the Harold Love Outstanding Community Service Award by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission. She is one of five faculty/staff recipients across Tennessee’s higher education institutions to earn the service award.
Melton is a dedicated pharmacist, researcher, educator, and community member. She serves as a professor at Gatton College of Pharmacy as well as a clinical pharmacist at the Johnson City Community Health Center, East Tennessee State University’s Center for Excellence for HIV/AIDS, and ETSU Health Internal Medicine. She is a board certified psychiatric and ambulatory care pharmacist and a certified trainer for naloxone education distribution in Virginia and Tennessee.
“It is such an honor for my passion and work with our students and faculty at Gatton College of Pharmacy to be recognized with the Harold Love Outstanding Service Award,” said Melton. “The service we complete is part of our mission to improve health care, focusing on rural, and underserved communities.”
Impact Across the Appalachian Highlands
In all of her roles as a health care provider, Melton has impacted patients and community members alike by seeking to improve the lives of those living with substance use disorders and reducing the prevalence of prescription drug misuse in Appalachia. Because of her experience working with the underserved in Appalachia, she has been appointed by the governors of Virginia and Tennessee to critical statewide commissions including the Virginia Taskforce on Heroin and Prescription Drug Abuse, the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth, and the Tennessee Commission on Pain and Addiction Medicine Education. She served as board chair for One Care of Southwest Virginia for the past decade.
During the past six years, Melton led legislative efforts on several successful prescription drug misuse-related bills. She also led efforts in partnership with the Virginia Department of Health to bring a Prescription Drug Misuse Education forum to 21 sites across the Commonwealth – reaching more than 4,000 prescribers and pharmacists.
In addition, Melton helped write “The Blueprint on Prescription Drug Abuse and Misuse Prevention, Treatment, and Control,” a regional strategic planning document. Melton served on the Southwest Virginia Substance Abuse Treatment Planning Group (part of Virginia’s State Innovation Model planning grant). She developed a proposal for an innovative and ideal treatment provision for patients with chronic pain syndrome. She also led One Care’s efforts as a partner in the naloxone project REVIVE! and developed the Volunteer to Save a Life Naloxone Education and Distribution program in collaboration with the Tennessee Department of Health.
Melton is very active in numerous community service outreach activities in the region including Remote Area Medical (RAM) clinics. Over the past five years, thousands of laypersons and health care providers have been trained in naloxone rescue in the case of opioid overdose at 20 RAM events in the region.
Her community service efforts have been recognized on the state and local levels. In 2014, she was awarded the Cardinal Health Generation Rx Champions Award by the Tennessee Pharmacists Association. This was followed by the Generation Rx Champions Award by the Virginia Pharmacists Association in 2015 and the National Generation Rx award in 2016. In May 2015, she received the Cup of Kindness Healthcare Hero Award in Community Service by the TriCities Business Journal. She was selected to receive the 2014-2015 Faculty Service Award from Gatton College of Pharmacy. In 2019 Melton and Dr. Lynn Williams were honored as Notable Women of ETSU.
The Harold Love Outstanding Community Service Award is named for a prominent Nashville insurance salesman, Representative Harold Love Sr., who was elected to the General Assembly in 1968 and was known for his compassion and good humor.
In 1991 he helped pass legislation to enable community service recognition programs for higher education students and faculty/staff at the campus level and the award was later named in his honor. The Tennessee Higher Education Commission was given the charge to develop rules and regulations by which to implement these programs for public and private two- and four-year institutions. A taskforce of institutional and board representatives is convened each year to review each proposal submitted by the campuses and to select the five student and five faculty/staff recipients. Each recipient receives a $1,000 cash prize.
Love also served on the board of directors for the South Street Center and the Eighteenth Avenue Community Center. He graduated from Tennessee State University and was presented its Distinguished Alumnus Award.
With the welfare of his community as his primary concern, Love would go to any lengths to help a constituent in need, even if it meant giving from his own pocket. That is why, whenever he was present during a session of the House of Representatives, it was said, “Love is in the House.”
Dr. Melton spoke on the "Role of Newer Antidepressants in Social Anxiety Disorder" at the College of Psychiatric and Neurologic Pharmacists 2021 meeting and her lecture was turned into a work of art. Artist Julia Reich of Stone Soup Creative did a live graphical recording of five lectures at the event.
ETSU presented the 2020 Distinguished Faculty Award for Teaching to Dr. Brooks Pond, Professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
The award was presented at the annual Faculty Convocation in 2020, which was delivered in a virtual format due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pond joined Gatton College of Pharmacy as a founding faculty member in 2007. Over the past 13 years at ETSU, she has participated in didactic teaching of students within the College of Pharmacy and the biomedical science Ph.D. program.
Pond’s teaching accomplishments have been recognized by both her students and her peers. For more than a decade, she has instructed and coordinated the Human Physiology course, a major foundational course for pharmacy students. In addition, Pond teaches pharmacology associated with several courses in the second and third years of the pharmacy curriculum. She has been selected four times as the Gatton College of Pharmacy Teacher of the Year and was recognized by her college peers when she was named Outstanding Teacher in 2015.
Each year, the Gatton College of Pharmacy graduating class selects a faculty member who has been most influential on their education to serve as a “faculty hooder” at graduation. Pond has received this honor six times, more than any other faculty member.
Most recently, she was selected as a Teaching and Learning Peer Consultant by the ETSU Center for Teaching Excellence.
“After 31 years in academia, and 17 as a department chair, I have rarely encountered a more gifted, conscientious and effective teacher,” said Dr. David Roane, Professor and former chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences. “Her talent reveals itself in numerous ways, including clear-voiced mastery of content, but most evidently in student engagement, where engagement means enticing students to grapple with complex material and stretch themselves beyond their customary effort.”
In addition to her teaching, Pond contributes to the service and research missions at Gatton. She is an active researcher, opening her research lab to all types of students, including high school, undergraduate, pharmacy, and Ph.D. students.
During her tenure, she has mentored 51 pharmacy students through research projects. The students routinely present at the Appalachian Student Research Forum, and starting in 2012, one of her students has received an award at this event every year. Two students received research fellowships to carry out a major project.
Pond earned a B.S. in biochemistry and molecular biology at Centre College in 2000 and a Ph.D. in pharmacology and certificate in cell molecular biology at Duke University in 2004. She also completed a postdoctoral research fellowship at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Dean awarded AACP honor
In recognition of Dean Debbie Byrd’s years of service to the profession of pharmacy, the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) and the AACP Pharmacy Practice Section awarded her the Pharmacy Practice Section’s Anne Marie Liles Distinguished Service Award.
“This truly is an honor to be recognized by my colleagues, and especially with an award named in memory of Anne Marie Liles,” said Byrd. “Anne Marie was my student, then fellow faculty member at Auburn, and she is missed.”
Leadership transition
Bishop retires after 43-year career at ETSU
tenure and progressed through the faculty ranks, serving in administrative roles including Department Chair, Dean, and Assistant/Associate Vice President prior to becoming a vice president in 2005. While serving in various administrative roles, she continued to be a classroom teacher as well as a mentor for doctoral and graduate students.
Upon Bishop’s retirement, the ETSU Board of Trustees approved a recommendation to name ETSU’s Interprofessional Education and Research Center (Building 60) “Bishop Hall” in her honor. Located on the V.A. campus beside Gatton College of Pharmacy, Bishop Hall is a primary teaching facility for students in ETSU’s health sciences programs and is a hub for the institution's interprofessional education and research activities.
“Nothing is more satisfying to me than to know that at the core of my administrative experiences I am a teacher who understands the responsibilities and challenges that the word ‘professor’ embodies,” Bishop said. “The value I place on the faculty role including teaching, research, and service has guided my decisions and actions these past four decades.”
Dr. Wilsie Bishop, Senior Vice President for Academics and Interim Provost, retired on June 30, 2021, after a 43-year career at East Tennessee State University.
Bishop came to ETSU as a temporary faculty member in the College of Nursing in 1978. Since that time, she earned
McCorkle named Provost, Senior VP for Academics
Following an extensive national search, Kimberly D. McCorkle, J.D. has been named as the new Provost and Senior Vice President for Academics at East Tennessee State University. She assumed this role in July, succeeding Dr. Wilsie S. Bishop. McCorkle comes to ETSU from the University of West Florida, where she spent the past 19 years, most recently as Vice Provost and Professor. She was named Interim Vice Provost in 2017 and assumed the role on a permanent basis the following year.
McCorkle is a graduate of Louisiana State University, where she earned a B.A. degree in English and was selected for Phi Beta Kappa. She later earned her J.D. degree from the University of Florida College of Law. Before joining UWF in a faculty role, she practiced criminal law as a prosecutor and defense attorney.
“I am honored to join ETSU as Provost at such an important time in the university’s history,” McCorkle said. “As we move forward with our strategic visioning process, I am dedicated to supporting our outstanding faculty as we continue to focus on the mission of supporting student success while providing high quality academic programs and advancing our research contributions.”
