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Alumni News
ALUMNI NEWS
Ask an Alumnus: An Agent of Change
Denise Scarpelli, PharmD ’96
Denise is the Executive Director of Ambulatory Pharmacy and Business Development at the University of Chicago. She is responsible for leading all Ambulatory pharmacy services for the University of Chicago.
Scarpelli, a 25-year retail pharmacy veteran, joined Walgreens in 1993. During her tenure at Walgreens, she held various leadership positions, ascending from pharmacist to pharmacy director in Chicago. She was promoted into pharmacy leadership in 2001 and joined the University of Chicago in her current role in 2017.
Scarpelli earned a Doctorate of Pharmacy from the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Pharmacy in 1996.
Scarpelli is a member of Illinois Board of Pharmacy.
Scarpelli is a former member of the Dean’s Advisory Board for University of Illinois at Chicago College of Pharmacy and currently a member of the Midwestern College of Pharmacy Dean’s Advisory Board.
Q: As a pharmacist, how can I best prepare to adapt to the inevitable changes ahead in the next 20 years?
A: Healthcare is an ever-changing landscape including Pharmacy. Pharmacy has changed so much over my 25-year career; my best advice is to stay current with all the changes. Embrace the changes and learn how to make the changes relevant to your practice. Be innovative and develop new practice models that support the change. Stay involved in local and national pharmacy organizations and always be the voice for pharmacy. Depending on your practice area you should subscribe to relevant journals or publications that will help you stay up to date with all the changes.
Q: What excites you about the profession of pharmacy?
A: What excites me are all the changes happening in pharmacy from some states changing their practiceact to give pharmacists the ability to practice at the top of their license to possible achieving provider status at the federal level. New automation being developed to free up the pharmacist to spend more time with patients and automation and technology helping patients stay adherent to their drug regimen. Also, all the new residency programs being developed to prepare the future pharmacist for either clinical or administration roles.
Q: What are you working on right now and what have you learned from it?
A: Currently I am working on remodeling the Outpatient Pharmacy, growing our Specialty Pharmacy, and learning home infusion. What I have learned is to continue to help our patients and stay relevant in the healthcare space; we need to expand our services, improve our automation and technology, and offer more ambulatory services to help keep patients at home. I have also learned that networking within the industry has helped me make informed decisions on which companies and vendors to work with and learn the best practices.
Q: How does your pharmacy degree inform your leadership style?
A: When I went to pharmacy school there were not many courses on leadership, however, Pharmacy has taught me to be disciplined, a self-starter, innovator, compassionate, and a teacher. My degree has helped me develop ways to improve patient care and lead a team that is compassionate to our patients. The experiences of my pharmacy career have taught me the leadership skills to be fair and consistent with my team and to help my team through all the changes that have occurred in pharmacy over the last 25 years. My pharmacy degree has taught me we are in a profession that is always learning; so as a leader I stay current learning all the new items hitting healthcare, read a few leadership books a year, and sharing that knowledge with my team.
Q: What words of wisdom would you share with current students?
A: My words of wisdom are you are always learning in Pharmacy, stay current and always have continuouslearning in mind. Be involved in pharmacy organizations; this is the best way to learn and share best practices across the industry. Read, read, and read! Reading has helped me stay current and on top of the ever-changing healthcare landscape.
Q: What does it mean to you to be an alumnus of the UIC College of Pharmacy?
A: I am proud to be an alumnus of UIC College of Pharmacy; we all come from a highly recognized and top college of Pharmacy, this is definitely something to be proud of. I dedicate my time to the college since they have given me great knowledge and an amazing life in the Pharmacy World!
Q: What motivates you to support the College?
A: My motivation is that I want to give back to the college and help shape future pharmacists.
DR. DENISE SCARPELLI
Babies
Nick Burge, PharmD ’11, and wife Bethany welcomed twin daughters, Evelyn and Blair on May 7.
Flor Cortés, PharmD ’15, and husband Steven Hogan welcomed their second child, daughter Tsïtsïki Nefertari Hogan Cortés, on July 27 at 8:10 a.m. She weighed in at 6 lbs 13 oz and 19” long. Tsïtsïki joins big sister Xochitl, 2. (NO PHOTO)
Beatrice Drambarean, PharmD ’07, and husband Cristian Cioflanc welcomed twins, Beatrice and Bogdan on July 16.
Mike Gannon, PharmD ’15, and his wife, Amanda, welcomed their first child, daughter Reese Elizabeth, on August 29. Reese weighed 7 lbs 5 oz and measured 20.5” long.
Sarah (Matias) Cullen, PharmD ’12, and her husband Mike welcomed their second child, son Theodore Robert Cullen, on July 24. Theodore weighed 8 lbs 8 oz and measured 20” long. He joins big brother Lucas, 2.
Nicole (Sinsabaugh) Joyce, PharmD ’14, and husband Josh welcomed their first child, son Isley Doyle, on March 25. He weighed 7 lbs 2 oz.
Ann (Opalka) Livorsi, PharmD ’12, and husband Jeff welcomed their first child on August 22. Daughter Josephine Rose weighed 6 lb 14 oz and measured 19” long.
Avery Spunt, BS ’70, and wife Jan welcomed their third grandchild. Avery and Jan’s daughter Kate and her husband Ryan Franck welcomed son, Riley Louis, on July 5. Riley joins big brother Keegan, age two, and cousin, Mia, who is 11 years old.
Scott Meyers, BS ’76, and his wife Lana became grandparents for the third time on July 27 when daughter Brittany Freiberg and husband Tim welcomed daughter Kensington. Kensington joins cousins Nash, age four, and Mason, who is 14 months old. (NO PHOTO)
Nanette (Gamazon) Masangcay, PharmD ’10, and husband Jeff welcomed their second child, Iverson Rockwell, on June 25. He joins big brother Lincoln, age two.
Gabriela Ziccarelli, PharmD ’12, and her husband Tom Guerrero welcomed their first child, daughter Antonella Guerrero, on July 29. Antonella weighed 8 lbs 5 oz and measured 20.5” long.
Jifang Zhou, PhD candidate, and his wife welcomed a baby girl on August 10. Manru Iris weighed 6 lbs and 10 oz.
Kudos
Brenton Bialik, PharmD ’14, started a new position as Assistant Scientific Director, Medical Affairs Immunology, Cross-Franchise & BioTherapeutics at AbbVie.
Wei-Han (Wendy) Cheng, MS ’14, is now Health Economics Manager at Amgen in Thousand Oaks, California.
Stephanie (Williams) Crosby, PharmD ’10, is now an Emergency Department Pharmacist at Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughter in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Suchi Gandhi, PharmD ’12, started a new position as Hematology/Oncology Pharmacist at Providence St. Joseph Health in Orange, California.
Emily Kalusetsky, PharmD ’17, married Jacob Schanks on August 11, 2018. The newlyweds honeymooned in British Columbia.
Quyen Nguyen, PharmD ’15, and Hien Pham, PharmD ’14, got married on May 5, 2018 in San Jose, California.
Numera Quraishi, PharmD ’16, married Khuram Ali on July 15, 2018. The happy couple honeymooned in London, Paris, Venice and Rome.
Katherine Sencion, PharmD ’17, got engaged to Alexander DeSanctis on August 12.
Renee Petzel Gimbar, PharmD ’04, was promoted to Clinical Associate Professor at the UIC College of Pharmacy.
Tom Karagiannis, PharmD ’13, started a new position at AbbVie as Senior Manager – Global Market Access & Pricing.
Colleen Murray, PharmD ’12, is now a Clinical Pharmacist at IlliniHealth
Brianne Parra, PharmD ’13, is now a Psychiatric Clinical Pharmacist at William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital in Madison, WI and well as at their clinic in Rockford, IL. In addition, Brianne received her board certification in Psychiatric Pharmacy (BCPP).
Kripa Patel, PharmD ’16, is now a Critical Care Pharmacist at WVU Medicine in Morgantown, West Virgina.
Bethany Perez White, PhD ’12, started a new position at Loyola University Chicago as an Adjunct Instructor.
Sherry (Maher) Siegert, PharmD ’09, started a new position as Director, Medical Strategies and Operations at La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company.
Alexandra Terry, PharmD ’16, started a new position at AbbVie as Associate Safety Data Scientist.
Nishant Thakar, PharmD ’12, started a new position as Assistant Professor at Roosevelt University College of Pharmacy.
Yeran Vayvayan, PharmD ’16, started a new position as Medical Affairs Consultant at 1798 Consultants in Woodland Hills, California.
OBITUARIES
Agnes M. Rimando, PhD ’93, passed away on July 12, 2018. Dr. Rimando worked as a research chemist for the USDA Agricultural Research Service from 1994 until her passing. In 1996, she moved to Oxford and was working with the Natural Products Utilization Research Unit. Dr. Rimando authored nearly 200 scientific papers and served as editor of several books on the chemistry of plants. She was the recipient of many prestigious awards, including: Fellow of the American Chemical Society, Fellow of the Agricultural and Food Division of the American Chemical Society, the Kenneth A. Spencer Award for outstanding achievements in food and agricultural chemistry, the Federal Laboratory Consortium Excellence in Technology Transfer Award, the USDA ARS Mid South Area Technology Award, and the USDA ARS Mid South Area Senior Scientist of the Year award. She was elected to the Philippine American Academy of Science and Engineering. She served as President of the American Council for Medicinally Active Plants.
Lillian E. Bruha, PHC ’35, passed away in 2014 at the age of 100.
Charles “Chuck” J. Demory, BS ’63, passed away on March 31, 2017
Raymond Sylva, BS ’72, passed away on May 9, 2018. Mr. Sylva worked at retail pharmacies and Michael Reese Hospital for 29 years.
Donald J. Lussman, BS ’48, MS ’52, passed away on June 18, 2018. Mr. Lussman worked as a pharmacist for Harris Pharmacy in Arlington Heights for nearly 50 years.
Roy A. Peloquin, BS ’55, passed away on July 24, 2018.
Glenn A. Stangland, BS ’71, passed away on August 21, 2018
Marianne Miller, PharmD ’99, former faculty member, passed away on September 16, 2018.
