SCHOOL OF PHARMACY FACULTY TEACH DIABETES MANAGEMENT, INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OF THE CLASSROOM

By Jen Mathew, MA

Two LLUSP students-turned-alumni-turnedresidents have now turned into LLUSP faculty members dedicated to helping patients with diabetes.

Assistant Professor Dr. CJ Jacobson (Class of 2015) and Clinical Pharmacist Dr. Brittney Migliozzi (Class of 2020) are integral members of a team of healthcare workers at the Loma Linda University Health (LLUH) Faculty Medical Office (FMO) and Diabetes Treatment Center. At the FMO, they meet with patients individually to check on their diabetes management, discuss challenges and struggles, and make therapeutic recommendations. Drs. Jacobson and Migliozzi are essentially accountability partners for diabetic patients.

At the same time, Jacobson and Migliozzi are running multiple industry-sponsored research studies at the Loma Linda University Health (LLUH) Diabetes Treatment Center. These studies also include monitoring and counseling for patients with diabetes and clinical trials for future diabetes technology and treatment options. Diabetes advances such as inhaled insulin and next generation insulin pumps are currently the subject of some of the trials.

After he completed his residency training and began serving as a faculty member for LLUSP, Dr. Jacobson, PharmD, APh, BC-ADM, CDCES initiated an insulin pump training program for LLUH. Shortly thereafter, Dr. Jacobson began managing clinical trials. As the program and clinical studies grew exponentially, the decision was made to add another pharmacist to work alongside Dr. Jacobson. Dr. Migliozzi, PharmD, was the first to complete a Diabetes Management Fellowship at Loma Linda University School of Pharmacy (LLUSP), which was coordinated by Dr. Jacobson; so, when it was time for Dr. Jacobson to find a colleague to join him at the FMO and Diabetes Treatment Center, it was natural for him to select Dr. Migliozzi, who was hired full-time last summer.

In addition to her work at the Center, Dr. Migliozzi is expanding diabetes services in LLUH primary care and endocrine departments. She also serves as a precepting faculty member for LLUSP students and lectures on endocrine topics in LLUSP courses on occasion. Dr. Migliozzi’s position was piloted as a new kind of pharmacy practice faculty. Based on her productivity, both for LLUSP and LLUH, other similar positions may be developed.