LETTER FROM THE DEAN

At the time most of you are reading this year’s Dean’s Letter, some transitions will have occurred at LLUSP. Our School of Pharmacy is poised for great success in the coming years, and even though I will have moved on to the American Pharmacists Association, I will look with great anticipation as the team here at Loma Linda accomplishes great things!

Research and extramural grant funding of faculty has been one of the most remarkable areas of growth for the school. In the past year, Drs. Jacobson and Migliozzi have been highly engaged in our clinical trials center providing collaborative research support for several industryfunded trials. Dr. Willie Davis has led a team to execute the first year of our HRSA Hispanic Center of Excellence in Pharmacy grant, including bringing on board a new staff lead to enhance our offerings to Hispanic students. Dr. Ike de la Pena has hosted a visiting scholar from our sister institution in the Philippines, Sahmyook University, and has worked with Manila Adventist College (MAC) in his home country of the Philippines to set up a new research lab funded by MAC and the Philippines government. And even more is on the horizon as the University continues to move forward the comprehensive cancer center, with plans to break ground on a new state-of-the-art research facility and theranostics patient care space very near Shryock Hall. The school is also making bold moves to re-write the PharmD curriculum, moving towards a competency-based model which will validate through innovative teaching and assessing our students’ achievement of competency in clinical patient care prior to graduation. This change, to be implemented in fall of 2025, will be coupled with an effort to reduce the time to degree completion from 4 years down to 3.5 years to meet market demand and expectations. Change is never comfortable, but it is a necessary part of the life of a University. The faculty and staff at Loma Linda University are among the very best in the world, and I have no doubt that under the leadership of Acting Dean Kyle Sousa even greater things are yet to be done here!

My blessings and good wishes are with each member of the Loma Linda family today and every day!

Carpe Diem!

Dean Michael Hogue PharmD, FAPhA, FNAP