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Michele Keller
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USC Mann School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
1985 Zonal Avenue – PSC 700 Los Angeles CA 90089-9121
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323-442-3497
MANN.USC.EDU
DEAN
Vassilios Papadopoulos, DPharm, PhD, DSc (hon)
BOARD OF COUNCILORS
David Neu, Chair
Edward Abrahamian
Anil “Neil” Badlani
Melvin F. Baron
Gale Bensussen
Penny Cai
Danielle C. Colayco
Daniel Gil
Debrina Johnson
Dong Koo (D. K.) Kim
Dianne Kwock
Ann Young Lee
Vinson Lee
Sohail Masood
David Meek
Kimberly Moore
Shushma Patel
Chao Peng
William Pih
Robert Popovian
Denis Portaro
Raymond Risman
Jacque J. Sokolov
Khanh-Long (Ken) Thai
Kelly Wilder
William A. Heeres, Chair Emeritus
One of the top pharmacy schools nationwide and the highest-ranked private school, the USC Mann School continues its century-long reputation for innovative programming, practice and collaboration. Founded in 1905 as the USC College of Pharmacy, the school was known as the USC School of Pharmacy from the mid-20th century until 2022, when it received a $50 million endowment and was renamed on behalf of inventor and entrepreneur Alfred E. Mann.
The school created the nation’s first Doctor of Pharmacy program, the first clinical pharmacy program, the first clinical clerkships, the first doctorates in pharmaceutical economics and regulatory science,
and the first PharmD/MBA dual-degree program, among other innovations in education, research and practice. The USC Mann School is the only private pharmacy school on a major health sciences campus, which facilitates partnerships with other health professionals as well as new breakthroughs in care. Uniquely, it owns and operates several community pharmacies.
The school is home to the D. K. Kim International Center for Regulatory Science at USC, the Titus Center for Medication Safety and Population Health, and the Center for Quantitative Drug and Disease Modeling, and is a partner in the USC Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics, the USC Institute for
Addiction Science, the USC Ginsburg Institute for Biomedical Therapeutics, the Southern California Clinical and Translational Science Institute, the USC Center for Neuronal Longevity, and the USC Center for Drug Discovery, Delivery and Development. The Mann School pioneered a national model of clinical pharmacy care through work in safety-net clinics throughout Southern California and is a leader in comprehensive medication management.
Results magazine, published semi-annually, highlights some of the school’s latest advances and achievements, as well as the faculty, students, alumni and donors who make this work possible.
Winning Team
Athletes and pharmacists have much in common—from intensive training to skills including discipline, focus, teamwork and the adaptability to overcome new challenges. In some ways, it is remarkable that these vocations have not come together sooner. Yet while sports physicians have a history dating back to the earliest Olympics, sports pharmacy is still evolving as a specialty.
In this issue, you will read about how we are accelerating the pace of that evolution by integrating sports pharmacy into our school’s curriculum. The results will develop practitioners able to address the unique pharmacy-related concerns of athletes at all levels—from professional to amateur. We also expect to take first place in establishing an executive certificate for the field to promote safer, healthier athletes and reduce doping. Appropriately, our Sports Pharmacy Program will fully come into play well before the 2028 Summer Olympics here in Los Angeles.
I am privileged to be on the Sports Pharmacy Program’s growing team of experts, which is coached by Kari Franson, senior associate dean for academic and student affairs. In our cover story, you’ll meet some of the other players on our sports pharmacy team, including clinical sports pharmacy pioneer Ashley Anderson and Michael Kessler, PharmD ’21, who serves on the USC Athletics interprofessional medical team and previously worked with the Los Angeles Chargers.
This issue also highlights a number of our extraordinary faculty, including Tien M. H. Ng, new chair of the Titus Family Department of Clinical Pharmacy; Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs Steve Chen, who has been named the California Pharmacists Association’s 2024 Pharmacist of the Year; and Gauri Rao, who has been awarded a nearly $4 million grant from the National Institutes of Health for her research on an innovative treatment for antibiotic-resistant bacterial infection. We also celebrate the achievements of Jean Shih—University Professor and the Boyd P. and Elsie D. Welin Professor of Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences—who retired in July after a long and storied career.
In addition, these pages share the exciting announcement of an $8.2 million grant from the National Institute on Aging for a USC-wide research effort to develop a model for more accurately determining the costs of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. The project aims to inform treatment and caregiving options while shaping healthcare policy to address this rapidly growing crisis.
We were delighted to welcome actor and philanthropist Sean Penn as our commencement speaker this year. Read some of his comments and see images from the ceremony on pages 28–29. Meanwhile, we continue gathering additional recipes for the second edition of our Community Cookbook, with proceeds to benefit student scholarships (see page 18).
As we begin the new academic year, it’s a pleasure to share just a few of the latest developments at USC Mann. It promises to be a rewarding year ahead for everyone in the USC Mann community.
Thank you for your support as members of our team in pushing the pharmacy field forward and coaching students toward reaching their goals.
Papadopoulos, DPharm, PhD, DSc (hon) Dean, USC Mann School
John Stauffer Decanal Chair in Pharmaceutical Sciences
Human cell illustration. Research led by USC Mann Dean Vassilios Papadopoulos represents a potential breakthrough in combating metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis—a form of fatty liver disease that threatens to become the country’s leading cause of liver transplantation by 2025 (see page 27).
Vassilios
Broad
4 / NEW COLLABORATIVE STUDY ON ALZHEIMER’S COSTS RECEIVES $8M NIH GRANT
5 / IMPACT OF DOBBS ON USE OF BIRTH CONTROL
6 / TIEN NG: FROM THE HEART
8 / CRMC SELECTED FOR MAJOR NATIONAL PROJECT
9 / USC GARNERS $2M FEDERAL SUSTAINABILITY GRANT
9 / RX REVOLUTION PODCAST
10 / GAURI RAO AWARDED $3.86M NIH GRANT
11 / FOCUSING ON PHARMACY BENEFIT MANAGERS
/ COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE: NEW SPORTS PHARMACY PROGRAM
18 / PHARM TO TABLE: NEW USC MANN COOKBOOK
19 / DOUBLE IMPACT: GIFT SUPPORTS BOTH CANCER AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
19 / QSAD GOLF TOURNEY: SAVE THE DATE
Alumni
20 / VOLUNTEER SPIRIT: JESSICA LIN
21 / PHARMACY LEADERS MEET IN HAWAII
22 / CLASS NOTES
24 / DISTINGUISHED SCIENTIST JEAN SHIH RETIRES
26 / TAKING AIM AT ALZHEIMER’S RISK
26 / FACULTY HONORS
27 / STUDY EXPLORES TREATMENT FOR FATTY LIVER DISEASE
27 / NEW FACES
Students
28 / CLASS OF 2024: FROM DREAMS TO DEGREES
30 / NEW PHARMACY OPENS AT UNIVERSITY PARK CAMPUS
31 / USC MANN LAUNCHES MS IN CLINICAL TRIAL MANAGEMENT
31 / RECENT GRADUATE EARNS CPHA RECOGNITION
32 / PHOTO SHOP
IBC / ONE SHARED GOAL: SUPPORTING STUDENTS
Michael Kessler, PharmD ’21, joined USC Mann as a sports pharmacist in February 2024 and serves on the USC Athletics interprofessional medical team. He holds a master’s in kinesiology and exercise science and previously worked with the Los Angeles Chargers.
MODELING DEMENTIA COSTS
The expense of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) can devastate families and—with annual costs threatening to reach $1.5 trillion by 2050—is draining vital healthcare resources nationwide. To help grapple with this burden, top researchers from across USC are collaborating to build a model for generating comprehensive annual estimates of ADRD costs across the United States. The project has earned a five-year, $8.2 million grant from the National Institute on Aging.
Once completed, the cost model could aid families living with ADRD in planning their budgets and support needs. “Everything about this disease affects the family’s pocketbook,” says Julie Zissimopoulos, leader of the project and co-director of the Aging and Cognition Research Program at the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics. The center is a partnership of the Mann School and the USC Price School of Public Policy.
USC Mann faculty teaming on the project include Geoffrey Joyce—chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical and Health Economics at USC Mann and director of health policy at the Schaeffer Center—and Dana Goldman, University Professor of Public Policy, Pharmacy and Economics; Leonard D. Schaeffer Director of the USC Schaeffer Institute for Public Policy & Government Service; founding director of the Schaeffer Center; and co-leader of the project’s research team.
The ADRD cost-modeling project also aims to inform treatment and caregiving options and, on a larger scale, help shape healthcare policy. “We currently have estimates for a particular set of costs, but we’ve learned those estimates don’t encompass nearly all the costs to the person with dementia, their family and society,” Zissimopoulos notes.
The tool, known as a dynamic microsimulation model, will incorporate multiple data sets that include information from
the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and national surveys on aging Americans such as the Health and Retirement Study. The model will account for costs spanning a range of disease stages—not just for those living with dementia but also their care partners and caregivers, and even their payers. In addition, the model’s estimates will adjust for prevention and treatment innovations.
It will also be available to the public. “For the model to have real impact, it has to be a freely available resource,” Joyce says. “This is also why we’re working to make it user-friendly.”
Beyond providing up-to-date and comprehensive annual estimates, researchers will be able to calculate such factors as the social and economic impact of drugs that treat the neuropsychiatric symptoms associated with advanced dementia—and keep patients out of hospitals and emergency rooms. For instance, the tool might measure cost savings provided by a new drug with modest benefit but that delays by two months the expense of 24-hour care.
In addition to the Mann School and Schaeffer Center, the project unites experts from the Keck School of Medicine of USC, the USC Davis School of Gerontology, the USC Dworak-Peck School of Social Work and the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, which is designing the model’s interface. The work is also gathering input from patients and caregivers. Other participants include the Alzheimer’s Association, UCLA, University of Pennsylvania, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health and SCAN Health Plan.
“Once you factor in the social costs of Alzheimer’s—how it affects family, caregivers and others—you quickly realize it is not just an illness but also a social epidemic,” Goldman says. “This project will help amplify the importance of finding treatments that forestall the devastation.”
STUDYING THE IMPACT OF DOBBS ON USE OF BIRTH CONTROL AND EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTIVES
Women residing in states with the most restrictive abortion policies after the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade also experienced declines in the use of birth control pills and emergency contraceptives, according to a new USC study evaluating the impact of the court’s decision.
The findings, which appeared in late June in JAMA Network Open, suggest that the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case has had even wider ramifications for women’s reproductive health than previously thought.
The analysis found that states that became the most restrictive after Dobbs, implementing a full ban on abortion, saw significant declines in the number of prescriptions filled for birth control pills and emergency contraceptives at retail pharmacies. These reductions weren’t observed in restrictive states whose policies were unchanged after the Dobbs decision.
Many family planning clinics with abortion services closed immediately after the Roe reversal—particularly in the most restrictive states, according to lead author Dima M. Qato, senior scholar at the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics.
“Because 11% of women rely on such clinics for the provision of prescriptions for contraceptives—many of which are filled at outside pharmacies—these closures may have reduced access to oral and emergency contraceptives,” says Qato, who is also the Hygeia Centennial Chair at USC Mann.
What’s more, the Supreme Court decision may also have contributed to declines in the use of emergency contraceptives due to misunderstandings about their legality. A January 2023 survey by KFF found that half of women in full-ban states believed Plan B was illegal in their state.
This is the first national study to evaluate the impact of the court’s June 24, 2022, Dobbs decision on prescription fills for oral and emergency contraceptives in the United States.
Efforts needed to protect access
Qato led a team that examined changes in the use of prescription birth control pills and emergency contraceptives before and after the Dobbs decision. During the time period analyzed—March 2021 to October 2023—142.8 million prescriptions for oral contraceptive pills and 904,269 prescriptions for emergency contraceptives were dispensed at U.S. retail pharmacies.
Before Roe’s reversal, trends in monthly prescription rates for oral and emergency contraception were similar between the most restrictive and least restrictive states. Then, while the Dobbs case was being reviewed, more highly restrictive states saw a spike in emergency contraceptive prescriptions.
After the decision, however, the researchers found that states becoming the most restrictive experienced a 24% total decline in oral contraceptive prescriptions filled. Fills for emergency contraceptives declined by 65% in the most restrictive states compared to less restrictive ones.
“In states such as Texas and Mississippi where women now don’t even have the option to have an abortion, their access to contraception is also becoming more difficult,” Qato notes. “More efforts to improve and protect access to oral contraceptives are needed, especially for emergency contraceptives in states where abortion is no longer an option.”
It’s important to show that restrictive environments around reproductive health and, in this case Dobbs , impact access to contraception and threaten a woman’s right to reproductive choice.”
Dima Qato—director of USC Mann’s Program on Medicines and Public Health, the Hygeia Centennial Chair and a senior scholar at the USC Schaeffer Center—speaking to NBC News in June. Qato has also been quoted about access to emergency contraception and other reproductive health issues by NPR, U.S. News & World Report, and media throughout the country.
From the Heart
The Mann School appointed Tien M. H. Ng chair of the Titus Family Department of Clinical Pharmacy in April 2024. A nationally recognized expert in heart-failure management, Ng had served as interim chair of the department since 2022 and was vice chair before that. A native of Toronto, he earned his BS from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and then moved back to Ontario. He commuted across the international border from Windsor, Ontario, to Detroit for his PharmD at Wayne State University. Ng’s distinctions include being one of only two pharmacists admitted into the inaugural group of Heart Failure Society of America fellows. Here he discusses his leadership goals, what drew him to cardiology and the importance of role models.
Your leadership of the Titus Family Department has expanded its faculty and added professional development and mentoring programs. What’s next on your agenda as chair?
After several years of being interim chair, I feel like I’ve learned what our department and individual faculty need. One of my biggest goals is to ensure that the diversity of our expertise continues growing, even as we remain integrated as a single departmental unit. For example, we’ve invested a lot in education and clinical practice, but we still need to more fully integrate research scholarship—from the biological to the computational—into what our department does.
Why did you choose cardiology as your subspecialty?
I wanted to go into a field that applies to everyone, and the heart impacts every organ system in our bodies. Everyone either has or knows someone who has cardiovascular problems. Even if you’re healthy, you’re trying to stay healthy from a cardiovascular standpoint to keep everything else working well.
What is your advice for students?
During my pharmacy training, my intent was to stay in community practice for a few months and then transition to hospital-based practice. I remember telling a friend that I would never want to be a university professor. But then different doors of opportunity opened for me over time. So now I tell students that they have to be very open-minded because you never know where your career path is actually going. Make sure you leave doors open and continue to explore. Sometimes life makes you pivot, since you may not be getting career satisfaction from a particular type of work. So look for other paths in the pharmacy profession instead of leaving the field, because there are so many avenues to pursue.
How important is it to have role models and mentors who challenge you?
When I made full professor, I thanked four people who especially influenced my career: one of my BS pharmacy professors, whom I thanked for being a role model; two PharmD professors, one in cardiology and one focused on stroke, who really helped me along; and my fellowship boss in cardiovascular pharmacotherapy at the University of Utah. They all pushed me to think about not taking the easy path—and the academic path is definitely not easy.
What do you enjoy most about being part of the Mann School?
Our department and the school are unique because we strive to excel in multiple areas. I think that’s why I’m still here. Basically, I’m in this role because I like our dean. He really empowers his team and delivers on his promises.
USC-Led Collaborative Selected for National Project
The American Pharmacists Association (APhA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have selected the USC-led California Right Meds Collaborative (CRMC) as one of six Community of Practice Teams working on a national project to advance health equity and prevent heart disease and stroke.
The project, Advancing Health Equity with Pharmacy-Based Strategies, Pharmacists Patient Care Services and Support Services, aims to accelerate implementation of pharmacy-led strategies to advance health equity through initiatives that address racial and ethnic disparities in cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors, prevalence or outcomes.
Founded and led by Steven Chen— associate dean for clinical affairs and the William A. Heeres and Josephine A. Heeres Chair in Community Pharmacy at USC Mann—CRMC includes L.A. Care Health Plan, the California Department of Public Health, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, American Heart Association, California Pharmacists Association and California Chronic Care Coalition.
“Pharmacists are natural collaborators,” notes Michael D. Hogue, APhA executive vice president and CEO. “We are excited to see the models the [teams] employ to tackle CVD, including financial sustainability as a part of the model, to optimize public health and pharmacy partnerships to address the needs of local communities.”
“Public health epitomizes a team sport, and pharmacists stand as vital members of this dynamic team,” says Janet Wright, director of the CDC’s Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention.
“Collaboration across public health and clinical sectors is key in preventing and managing heart disease and stroke, addressing health disparities in our communities and advancing health equity.”
Team Healing
Mary Mayfield had long felt that the medication prescribed for her congestive heart failure was draining her stamina, but she could never get any caregivers to hear her concerns. Fortunately, the California Right Meds Collaborative changed that by matching the mother of three with pharmacist Nini Hoang and the team at Acton Vale Pharmacy in Lancaster, Calif.
“They started going through each medication and its side effects,” Mayfield says. Hoang also gave her a blood pressure medication and asked her to make a daily record of its results.
Then, after checking the findings, Hoang “contacted my primary care physician about the meds that made me feel bad or tired and said, ‘Let’s see if we can switch this out,’” Mayfield recalls. “My pharmacist did everything I could not do. She was working as a team member on my behalf.”
Now, thanks to a pharmacist who heard her concerns, Mayfield says she has her energy back and can “start life all over again.”
Watch Mary Mayfield tell her story and learn more about California Right Meds Collaborative and its network of health plans, pharmacies and organizations at calrightmeds.org.
They started going through each medication and its side effects. My pharmacist did everything I could not do. She was working as a team member on my behalf.”
Mary Mayfield
USC GARNERS $2M FEDERAL SUSTAINABILITY GRANT
Up to 10 million metric tons of plastic end up in oceans every year, adding up to one of the most urgent environmental challenges of the 21st century. To address the issue, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has granted $1,999,255 to research co-led by Clay C. C. Wang, chair of the Department of Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the Mann School.
The funding, awarded to the USC Sea Grant project, leverages a method developed by Wang and colleagues that transforms plastic waste into products such as medications, laundry detergent and fabric dyes. The process can even be used to generate potential therapies for cancer.
Wang is heading the collection and conversion of these ocean-clogging pollutants with Professors Travis J. Williams in the Department of Chemistry at USC Dornsife and Richard W. Roberts in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at USC Viterbi.
“We’re harnessing the power of nature to convert trash accumulating in our world’s oceans, such as microplastics and fishing lines, into useful products,” Wang says. After a pilot period, the work will be scaled up for commercial-level production with industry partners, he adds.
“We need to identify approaches that will keep marine debris from entering the ecosystem in the future,” notes Joe Árvai, director of the USC Wrigley Institute, which houses the USC Sea Grant project. “And we need to simultaneously develop approaches that make the existing debris a value-added resource.”
The endeavor will also examine social barriers to the marketplace adoption of trash-derived products and familiarize the public with the benefits of such emerging technologies. USC Sea Grant Director Karla Heidelberg will lead outreach and educational initiatives on environmental plastics by providing resources and strategic partnerships with local municipalities and nonprofits such as Heal the Bay.
The award marks the first federal grant USC has received since launching its sustainability initiative. It was bestowed through the Marine Debris Challenge and Community Action Coalitions competition, a $27 million investment from NOAA in the prevention and removal of waste from coastal, marine and Great Lakes environments throughout the U.S. The initiative receives support through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act.
RX Revolution
From cannabis to sports pharmacy to the rising costs of healthcare, RxRevolution—a limited-series podcast by the USC Mann School—explores disruptive forces in the rapidly changing fields of pharmacy, the pharmaceutical industry and healthcare.
Episodes are distributed through Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube, or visit mann.usc.edu/podcast.
RAO AWARDED $3.86M NIH GRANT
Gauri Rao, director of the Quantitative Drug and Disease Modeling Center at USC Mann, has received a five-year, $3.86 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The funding supports her project on in vivo assessment and optimization of an innovative treatment for pulmonary Mycobacterium abscessus (Mabs) infection.
Mabs is an opportunistic pathogen that can cause a variety of infections, especially in people with underlying respiratory diseases. Highly drug-resistant, it is the most difficult nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) to treat.
The increasing antimicrobial resistance globally to currently available antibiotics has led to exploring bacteriophages, or “phages”—viruses that infect bacteria—as
a source of potential therapies to combat Mabs and other bacterial infections. Meanwhile, interest is growing in the use of in vivo infection models to generate robust and informative data to accelerate the clinical translation of phage treatment regimens.
“There have been reports about compassionate-use cases where NTM disease was treated with phages, highlighting the potential for phages as a viable therapeutic option for Mabs infection,” Rao says. “But these recent cases made us realize the need to better understand and improve the approach of using phages to treat these infections.”
The project is a partnership with Miriam S. Braunstein of Colorado State University, an expert in the pathogenesis of mycobacteria.
“Miriam and I have had a very successful collaboration focused on using our complementary expertise to address a question of high clinical relevance,” Rao says. “This is our third grant together, and I look forward to working with Miriam and Graham Hatfull of the University of Pittsburgh, who has been very supportive. I feel fortunate to have received funding from the NIH to support our innovative research.”
An expert in quantitative modeling approaches, Rao leads a research program at USC Mann that focuses on employing a quantitative, systems-based approach to rationally design and optimize clinically relevant antibiotic dosing strategies to treat infections caused by highly resistant gram-negative organisms.
Focusing on Pharmacy Benefit Managers
Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) negotiate the prices that insurers pay for pharmaceutical products. But as shown by Erin Trish, USC Mann associate professor and co-director of the Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics, PBMs distort the marketplace to cost patients more money. She and Schaeffer Center colleagues have shared their research findings through testimony before U.S. House and Senate committees, helping prompt scrutiny of PBMs by legislators and journalists alike. Here, Trish discusses what regulators can do to bring transparency to the PBM process so consumers can get more value for their money.
How do PBMs affect what patients pay?
PBMs basically sit in the middle of three prongs of a negotiation. They negotiate with branded drug manufacturers on the rebate—the afterthe-fact discount off the list price—as well as patients’ access to drugs. Separately, PBMs negotiate with pharmacies about how much they’ll get paid for dispensing a drug. And they negotiate with insurers and employers about how much the PBM will charge them when an enrollee obtains a drug. So PBMs are very influential in determining what costs patients will actually face when they fill their prescriptions. Nothing dictates that these different prongs must be equal. That means PBMs can reimburse a pharmacy one price for a drug and then turn around and charge a health plan something else. It was a surprise to many of us who study this just how big of a gap that can be and how frequently this happens, especially on generic drugs. That ultimately affects insurance premiums, too.
Drug costs have been a big concern for a long time. Why are PBMs now getting so much attention from policymakers and the media? Policymakers, researchers and others have really gotten a better understanding of just how important PBMs are in determining prices and affecting access to drugs. The big three PBMs capture the vast majority of prescription drug claims, and they’ve become vertically integrated with pharmacies and/or insurers and other entities. Going back several years, the attention on drug prices was largely focused on manufacturers. I don’t think the typical consumer, policymakers
or even researchers necessarily understood the complicated market dynamics at play. We’ve seen a growing gap between drugs’ list prices and the net prices that manufacturers receive after the discounts they provide.
A USC Schaeffer Center white paper from 2017 was one of the first major reports to shed light on how big of a role these middlemen have. We found that 41 cents of every dollar we spend on drugs doesn’t actually go to the manufacturer but to other entities in the distribution system—like PBMs. If we’re going to have a meaningful policy discussion about drug prices, we have to consider these other factors.
What solutions are congressional lawmakers considering?
We’ve been fortunate to be a part of these conversations. Multiple scholars from the USC
Schaeffer Center have testified at congressional hearings with different committees and shared our work with them.
We have seen interest in expanding transparency in the market and in changing some of the rules, like not allowing PBM compensation to be tied to a drug’s list price—a practice that essentially encourages higher and higher list prices. There’s also a discussion about policies that would ensure patients benefit from discounts by linking what they pay out of pocket to the negotiated price for at least certain drugs.
There’s clearly momentum and a multitude of policy packages out there. It’s hard to predict what might get across the finish line, but I think there’s a clear understanding that solving issues in the PBM market is an important component of making meaningful differences in what patients pay for drugs.
THE MANN SCHOOL’S NEW SPORTS PHARMACY PROGRAM PROVIDES THE IDEAL PRESCRIPTION FOR HEALTHIER ATHLETES.
The 2028 Summer Olympics will bring many of the world’s finest athletes to Los Angeles. Much will be demanded of these champions—as is true of all athletes, whether they compete as amateurs, students or professionally. But one ability that should not be expected is detailed knowledge of how drugs and supplements can harm their performance, cause disqualification—and even harm their health.
So the USC Mann School is improving athletic safety by integrating sports pharmacy into the school’s curriculum. This includes development of a executive certificate for currently practicing pharmacists that is anticipated to be the first in the specialty.
The new Sports Pharmacy Program fills a significant educational gap, since this new yet burgeoning specialty lacks practitioners fully trained to address athletes’ unique pharmacy-related health concerns. These issues range from avoiding adverse drug events and inadvertent doping to complementing the physician’s role in healing injuries.
For example, “imagine you’re a cyclist. It’s the day before a big race, and you fall and land in poison ivy,” says Senior Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs Kari Franson. “If you use prednisone, you could potentially test positive for steroids.” A trained pharmacist, she says, could assess the situation and direct the athlete to use calamine lotion.
Franson took the lead in developing the Mann School’s sports pharmacy playbook. “We’re looking into the future and meeting a need,” she says. The program builds upon recommendations from the World Health Organization and National
Academy of Medicine that sports organizations employ an interprofessional healthcare team—to which pharmacists are essential.
She recruited Ashley Anderson, a pioneer in clinical sports pharmacy, an expert in antidoping and founder of the International Sports Pharmacists Network (ISPN), which was created to develop sports pharmacy as a specialty practice. In addition, Anderson served as lead author of the influential 2022 report Sports Pharmacy Practice and Education: A Global Overview, published by the International Pharmaceutical Federation. ISPN is partnering with the Mann School in modeling clinical sports pharmacy opportunities for athletic departments and the training needed for pharmacists to be effective in this role.
“Sports pharmacists are advocates for athletes’ long-term health, optimizing medications for performance today and thinking of their future beyond the athletic career,” Anderson says. “We often act as the goalie on the team—the final check before an athlete takes a medication.”
To bolster the Sports Pharmacy Program’s winning lineup, the school hired Michael Kessler, PharmD ’21, who augments his pharmacy expertise with a master’s in kinesiology and exercise science. In addition to teaching in the program, he now serves on the USC Athletics interprofessional medical team.
“This is a dream job come true,” says Kessler, whose experience includes working with the Los Angeles Chargers. “It became clear to me when previously working with athletes that the expertise of a pharmacist was sorely needed, and
Sports pharmacists are advocates for athletes’ longterm health, optimizing medications for performance today and thinking of their future beyond the athletic career. We often act as the goalie on the team—the final check before an athlete takes a medication.”
Ashley Anderson
Number of Olympic medals won by Trojans
539
I chose to become a pharmacist to meet this need.”
The area of concentration and executive certificate build on the success of the school’s elective Sports Pharmacy course designed and co-taught by Anderson. Offered since January 2023, the class connects students with industry professionals to explore the opportunities offered by the field.
“It’s a general therapeutics course covering how to manage medications for athletes and understanding anti-doping regulations,” Franson says.
A course on Focused Sports Physical Assessment and Drug Management “provides training on how to assess an athlete’s response to treatment and how to measure the physical impact of medications,” Franson explains. And a third offering, Sports and Dietary Supplements, prepares students in best practices for helping ensure that competitors avoid inadvertent doping.
The program also allows future and current pharmacists to gain additional knowledge and experience in a variety of settings. Learners can work with Kessler or in innovative settings such as exploring leading-edge technologies, digital therapeutics and machine learning to
measure drug responses. “We’ve created an important consortium of expertise to lend to this certificate program that students can tap into and learn how to excel in the area of sports pharmacy,” Franson says.
Kessler notes the program’s interprofessional nature and pharmacists’ role as crucial members of the healthcare team. He also emphasizes the important information bridge provided by pharmacists to both fellow caregivers and patients. “We know the drug mechanism, interactions and side effects and can educate the patient and staff or providers,” he says. “We can serve as an independent voice to close the gap on what the medication is and how it will affect the athletes.”
This is vital, Kessler adds, because “the provider may not know everything on the prohibited list. We can step in with our familiarity with what can cause a positive drug test. We can help ensure athlete safety, efficacy of treatment and what that looks like for different sports.”
The Mann School’s Sports Pharmacy Program also leverages the status of USC Athletics as a major incubator of Olympic talent. USC has produced more Olympians, overall medalists and gold medalists than any other university in the U.S., and the Mann School has maintained a longtime partnership in supporting this tradition.
Kari Trotter Wall—director of pharmacy at the USC Pharmacy—has teamed with USC Athletics since 2004. Learners on her rotation are providing vaccinations, helping staff maintain over-the-counter medications, serving on site for every home football game and consulting with athletes at the pharmacy.
We’ve created an important consortium of expertise to lend to this certificate program that students can tap into and learn how to excel in the area of sports pharmacy.”
Kari Franson
Number of Trojans who have competed in the Olympics
GAME PLAN
The elective course Sports Pharmacy (PHRD 599) forms the foundation of the new, same-named program. With course coordinator Kari Franson and Ashley Anderson as primary instructors, the class combines online modules with inperson sessions to provide a firm grounding in pharmaceutical strategies for athletes’ health issues so that performance is optimized while side effects are avoided. The course also focuses on anti-doping and how to counsel athletes about prohibited substances. All modules are delivered through the lens of being supportive of athletes amid the pressures they face.
For the module on sports-related trauma and acute illness, Assistant Professor of Clinical Pharmacy Brian Ma shares his experience as an acute care provider. Like other faculty members, Ma is spreading the word about sports pharmacy beyond campus as well. The California Pharmacists Association has invited him to show pharmacists how to better work with athletes.
Because diet is a vital concern to athletes, Adjunct Professor Roger Clemens, co-founder and executive vice president of the medical nutrition firm Polyscience Consulting, adds his knowledge about how to provide advice on supplements.
Dean Vassilios Papadopoulos, meanwhile, contributes his expertise on steroids to the class. Substance use is also covered, including cannabis safety, a special area of Franson’s psychopharmacology expertise.
The course also brings in outside professionals with a range of experiences and perspectives on sports pharmacy. It culminates in students teaming up to devise strategies advocating for technological, regulatory, financial and medicationuse policies to improve health and wellness for athletes.
ecutive certificate in sports pharmacy while e with the growing global movement,”
“Our athletic department is an interprofessional group already, and they embrace the expertise that the pharmacist brings to the table,” Franson adds.
The program also takes students beyond the classroom to engage in experiencebuilding rotations. These opportunities range from working with communitybased pharmacies to support for USC Athletics or professional teams.
“The new Sports Pharmacy Program combines the Mann School’s top-ranked excellence in pharmacy education and innovation with the experiential opportunities presented by USC’s championship Trojan athletics teams,” says Dean Vassilios Papadopoulos, who is contributing his expertise on steroids to the curriculum.
“Community pharmacies are a fantastic place to put this training into practice,” Franson notes. “They have injury-support products in the aisles about which the pharmacist should be able to counsel the athlete, they can optimize utilization of something like a nonsteroidal therapeutic— or on understanding how something like CBD could be problematic, and knowing that supplements may contain steroids.”
Having such knowledge, Franson says, “makes the pharmacist such an asset to their community.”
Meanwhile, benefits to the entire field will accrue from collaborative research by faculty and students that optimize athletes’ performance and well-being. This work could generate new knowledge about methods to recognize and deter doping, the actions and interactions of medications and supplements, preserving mental health, enhancing nutrition and food safety, the impact of drugs on exertion, the effects of steroids on reproductivity and the results of cannabis use.
“We have an opportunity to have scientists and clinicians work together to generate more expertise,” Franson says. “Our school will ultimately become a global hub for training sports pharmacy specialists.”
USC Mann’s sports pharmacy initiative will be a community resource as well, educating the public and raising awareness about the risk of recreational use of performance-enhancement products and how best to maintain health.
“We plan to make an all-out push to ensure every athlete in the Los Angeles region is able to locate and consult with a qualified sports pharmacist,” notes Franson of the program’s impact. But as the Mann School keeps building sports pharmacy expertise in current and future pharmacists, the program’s benefits will be felt among athletes everywhere. This is because the school’s sports pharmacy curriculum and initiatives provide a game plan for other institutions to follow.
“Combining the education, the clinical work and the research from the pharmacy perspective will be a growth area for universities moving forward,” Franson adds.
We know the drug mechanism, interactions and side effects and … can serve as an independent voice to close the gap on what the medication is and how it will affect the athletes.”
Michael Kessler
Number of Trojans who have won an Olympic gold medal
Pharm to Table
USC Mann recognizes the parallels between pharmacy’s meticulous measurements and the culinary arts’ careful ingredient mixing. Just as pharmacists compound medications to promote health and remedy illness, chefs and cooks combine flavors to produce nourishing and delightful meals.
For the second edition of the USC Mann Community Cookbook, the school will showcase recipes that offer insights into the therapeutic properties of ingredients and their potential health benefits— from antioxidant-rich spices to fiberpacked grains.
The first edition featuring treasured recipes and reflections from USC Mann alumni, faculty, staff, students and friends was published in fall 2020 and raised money for student scholarships.
Learn more about how to submit a recipe for the volume at mann.usc.edu/cookbook.
SEEKING MENTORS
The USC Mann Alumni Mentor Program, now in its fourth year, matches first-year PharmD students with alumni mentors.
Mentors help encourage and guide students, welcome them to the Trojan Family, share stories from their own experiences in the program, and connect mentees with resources and knowledge to help advance their careers.
Participants commit to check in with their mentees monthly and meet in person at least once during the year. Non-alumni pharmacists are also welcome to serve as mentors.
“I am a big supporter of the mentorship program,” says William Heeres, PharmD ’63, who has served as a mentor to USC Mann students for years. “It is a great way for alums to get connected with the school and the current students. Speaking for myself, I think I probably get more out of it than the students do.”
For more information, contact Noemi Ortega, assistant director of annual giving and alumni relations, at noemiort@usc.edu.
William Heeres with mentee Bella Do, PharmD ’25, at their first in-person meeting in November 2021
Double Impact
The Sharon L. and William Cockrell Cancer Research Fund supports Mann School drug design and development of new therapeutics while also cleansing the oceans of plastic waste.
Bill Cockrell and his late wife, Sharon, grew up in Southern California and spent many happy hours in and on the ocean, before and during their 41 years of marriage.
“Our earliest years together found us surfing up and down the coast,” he recalls. The couple then became avid scuba divers in the mid-1970s after he accepted a contract to work in Guam. However, they soon became alarmed by the proliferation of plastic waste and its impact on Guam’s coral reefs.
“Plastic was in the beginning stages of permeating our society, yet it was already being dumped in the ocean,” he notes. Today, 12 million tons of plastic enter the oceans each year.
A USC accounting graduate who still maintains his CPA license and practice in Santa Fe, N.M., Cockrell has been a longtime supporter of the USC Mann School’s cancer research. Both of the Cockrells had lost loved ones to the disease and were intrigued by the school’s work in drug design and development
of novel cancer therapeutics. Then Sharon was diagnosed with breast cancer. She eventually lost her life to an ovarian sarcoma in 2008. Her legacy lives on through the Sharon L. and William Cockrell Cancer Research Fund, an endowment that bolsters the Mann School’s efforts to save future patients from the disease’s many forms.
So when Cockrell learned of an innovative new technique developed by Clay C. C. Wang, chair of the Department of Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences, and colleagues that transforms ocean-clogging plastics into vital medications, including new treatments for cancer, he was excited that his support could address two of his passions simultaneously (see related story on page 9). He then heard from Bangyan Stiles, a leading cancer researcher at the school, who detailed how the team in her laboratory breaks down the plastic into carbon isotopes, which are fed to fungi to create potential cancer inhibitors. Stiles is the Boyd P. and Elsie D. Welin Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
This current project by Wang and Stiles may ultimately provide cancer patients with new hope while helping save the oceans’ ecosystems, which
are crucial to all life on the planet. “Doctors Wang and Stiles’ research is double manna from heaven in addressing my goals,” Cockrell says.
Cockrell’s latest gift was established through a charitable annuity, which provides a fixed stream of income as well as a tax deduction to the donor—all while supporting an important project at the Mann School. Learn more by contacting Cheryl Stanovich, chief development officer, at stanovic@usc.edu.
A hundred golfers participated in the 2024 QSAD Golf Tournament at the Hacienda Golf Club in La Habra Heights on April 15, 2024. All funds raised from the event support scholarships. This year’s sponsors were 986 Pharmacy, Sam Lee, Duane Saikami, David Neu, California Pharmacy Lawyers and Rx Relief.
Save the date for the next QSAD Golf Tournament: Industry Hills Golf Club, City of Industry, April 14, 2025.
The QSAD Centurion Annual Giving Society is a leadership giving club for alumni, parents and friends who donate a minimum of $1,000 annually to any USC Mann scholarship fund during the fiscal year. For the inaugural year, members receive exclusive benefits, including a North Face jacket, as well as special invitations to receptions, lectures and school events, depending on membership level.
For more information, visit mann.usc.edu/qsad.
Daniel Rim, Steven Grant, Sean Aceto and Ryan Smith at the 2024 QSAD Golf Tourney
Bill Cockrell with his mother-in-law, Lois Gerrie
Volunteer Spirit
Jessica Lin ’09, PharmD ’13, has been honored with a 2024 Widney Alumni House Volunteer Award. Lin is one of 11 USC alumni receiving the award, which was presented at this year’s USC Volunteer Recognition Dinner, held on September 6 at Town and Gown.
Lin is an oncology pharmacist at Los Angeles General Medical Center, fulfilling a vital role on that institution’s cancer care team. Her duties include assessing chemotherapy regimens and other medications to maximize effectiveness and minimize side effects. She also engages in supportive care consultations with patients and provides bedside medication management.
Her vital roles in supporting her alma mater include serving as Mann School representative on the USC Alumni Association Board of Governors as well as on the USC Mann Alumni Engagement Board.
But perhaps what gives Lin the greatest joy as a Trojan volunteer is mentoring USC Mann students as an acute care
preceptor, which she has done for more than six years. Lin also volunteers as a health fair preceptor at community events throughout Los Angeles County.
In 2023, the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy acknowledged the difference Lin makes in the lives of future pharmacists by granting her its Preceptor of the Year Award.
Lin considers precepting a way of giving back. “I had amazing preceptors and mentors when I was a student, and they definitely had an impact on how I practice as a pharmacist to this day,” she says. “Like all careers in healthcare, pharmacy is an apprenticeship profession. You can sit in a classroom or listen to as many recorded lectures as available, but nothing will replace learning by doing with the guidance of an experienced pharmacist.”
She encourages her fellow alumni to consider sharing their expertise as preceptors. “Precepting covers many different areas, from distribution basics to advanced
clinical practice and patient counseling skills to general career mentorship,” Lin says. “If you think students could be better trained in any of those, consider helping the next generation of pharmacists learn from your experience.”
Lin also joined with other alumni to hold a phone-a-thon on behalf of Alpha Iota Pi, the Mann School’s diverse professional organization devoted to career development and community impact. The effort raised over $90,000 for the USC Mann Alpha Iota Pi Alumni Endowed Scholarship Fund.
Lin also takes part in alumni panel discussions and lends her time to recruitment activities, sharing her pharmacy journey and welcoming new members of the Trojan Family. This includes gathering peers to join her in writing letters to incoming pharmacy students.
“It’s very refreshing to reconnect with the joy and wonder of students who are at the beginning of their careers,” Lin says.
Sunday, February 23, 2025 The Langham Huntington, Pasadena mann.usc.edu/gala
PHARMACY LEADERS MEET IN HAWAII
Pioneers, experts and enthusiasts from around the world will converge in Hawaii to hear a diverse lineup of industry-leading speakers at the 2024 Advancing Pharmacy Practice: Leveraging Innovation, Evidence and Safety (APPLIES) Conference in Hawaii from October 21–24.
This dynamic four-day event—jointly hosted by USC Mann and the University of Hawaii Hilo’s Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy—will explore groundbreaking solutions in pharmacy and healthcare, as well as ideas that leverage the current healthcare landscape for developing pharmacist roles. The APPLIES Conference is a distinctive forum, offering a unique blend of innovation, evidence and social justice in pharmacy with real-world examples, actionable insights and a global perspective. It is designed to share best practices and other population health programs impacting high-risk, vulnerable populations through pharmacy partnerships.
“The need for disruptive change in how we deliver healthcare is greater than ever,” says Steven Chen, professor and associate dean for clinical affairs at USC Mann and the William A. Heeres and Josephine A. Heeres Chair in Community Pharmacy. “We developed the APPLIES Conference to accelerate the adoption of best practices and technologies proven to dramatically improve health outcomes for people with physical and mental conditions, particularly vulnerable populations who have limited access to healthcare that works for them.”
The Queen’s Health System, speaking about managing social needs and remote physiologic monitoring for Native Hawaiians and Asian Pacific Islanders
» Alex Kang , chief pharmacy executive at L.A. Care Health Plan, addressing challenges and opportunities in healthcare
Sessions will cover comprehensive medication management, health equity, digital health innovations, sustainable models for pharmacy services and legislative efforts to advance pharmacy practice, among other topics.
Keynote speakers will include:
» Clayton Chau, chief strategy and innovation officer at National Healthcare & Housing Advisors, discussing health disparities
» Edward Jai, system director for quality improvement and safety engineering at
» Corrie Sanders, president of the Hawaii Pharmacists Association and founder of Huna Health, discussing legislative efforts to advance pharmacy practice in Hawaii
Breakout sessions and clinical training series on the management of patients with diabetes, hypertension and heart failure will round out the conference.
Vassilios Papadopoulos, dean of USC Mann, and Rae Matsumoto, dean of the Inouye College of Pharmacy, will welcome conference participants.
Learn more at mann.usc.edu/program/ continuing-education.
The need for disruptive change in how we deliver healthcare is greater than ever.”
Steven Chen
class notes
We want to hear from you! Submit your updates and career news to mann.usc.edu/class-notes to be included in the next edition of Class Notes.
1980 s
De’Bora White , PharmD ’83 , has retired from the California State Board of Pharmacy after 32 years of service.
Gail Orum-Alexander, PharmD ’88 , has been named dean of the Marshall B. Ketchum University College of Pharmacy.
Stephanie Seawright , PharmD ’89 , practiced and managed community chain pharmacies in Texas until 2021 and now works part time for a nonprofit hospice pharmacy.
1990 s
Sepideh Soleimani , PharmD ’96 , has started a new position as medical science liaison director at Novartis.
Samy Shalaby, PharmD ’97, is pharmacy manager at The Medicine Cabinet Pharmacy in South Gate, Calif.
2000 s
Hooman Milani , PharmD ’02 , is pharmacy clinical services manager at Keck Hospital of USC.
Diana Arouchanova , PharmD ’04 , received the 2024 Excellence in Innovation Award from the California Pharmacists Association (CPhA).
Ashutosh Kulkarni , PhD Pharmaceutical Sciences ’04 , is a project director at AbbVie.
Duc Bach , PharmD ’05 , is the new president of the San Gabriel Valley Society of Health-System Pharmacists.
Alex Jawharjian , PharmD ’06 , MPH, MBA, is chief operating officer of California Rehabilitation Institute.
Valerie San Luis , PharmD ’06 , is a medical science liaison at AstraZeneca.
Jackie Jaskowiak , PharmD ’08 , was appointed vice chair of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists Section of Inpatient Care Practitioners Compounding Advisory Group, chair-elect of the House of Delegates for the California Society of Health-System Pharmacists and board member for the San Diego Society of Health-System Pharmacists.
2010 s
Gary Low, MS Regulatory Science ’12, is associate director, regulatory affairs CMC, at Ultragenyx Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Jorge Farias , PharmD ’13 , MS ’16 , is oncology operational excellence director and director of oncology, medical outcomes and analytics at Pfizer. He recently earned an MBA from the University of Rhode Island College of Business.
Laressa Bethishou , PharmD ’14 , was named CPhA’s 2024 New Practitioner of the Year.
Martha Pastuszka , PhD’ 14 , MS Management of Drug Development ’13 , has been promoted to principal scientist at Vividion Therapeutics Inc.
Karey Kowalski , PharmD ’16 , is director of clinical pharmacology/ pharmacometrics at Pfizer.
Yilong Li , PhD Pharmaceutical Sciences ’16 , is executive director of medicinal chemistry at PepLib.
Shawn Feldman , PharmD and MS Healthcare Decision Analysis ’17, is business strategy and operations director and chief of staff at Kite Pharma, and an adjunct professor in the Mann School’s biopharmaceutical marketing program. Until March 2023, he was a senior product manager at Amgen.
Flavius Baiesc , PharmD ’18 , is clinical pharmacy director at Kaiser Permanente Antelope Valley/ Panorama City, Calif.
2020 s
Junqing (Samantha) Tang , MS Healthcare Decision Analysis ’21 , is a data programmer analyst at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
Tina Gholami , PharmD ’22 , is a medical science liaison, respiratory and immunology, at Sanofi.
Donna Heikali , PharmD ’22 , is a clinical pharmacist at Cedars-Sinai.
Ani Rupenian , PharmD ’22 , is a pharmacovigilance scientist at Sanofi.
Michael Seung, PharmD ’22 , is manager of regulatory affairs at Kyverna Therapeutics.
Janelle Francisco, PharmD ’23 , is a postdoctoral fellow at Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine.
Zahra Arsalan , PharmD ’24 , is a postdoctoral fellow at Alexion Pharmaceuticals.
Joseph Carey, PharmD ’24 , is a postdoctoral fellow at Agios Pharmaceuticals.
Chioma Friday, PharmD ’24 , is a postdoctoral fellow at MannKind Corporation.
Ammar Mirza , PharmD ’24 , is a postdoctoral fellow at Eli Lilly and Company.
Kao “Tang” Ying Moua , PharmD ’24 , is a postdoctoral fellow at Merck.
Ginika Nwokeabia , PharmD ’24 , is a postdoctoral fellow at Genentech.
Kali Pendleton , PharmD ’24 , is a postdoctoral fellow at Neurocrine Biosciences.
Kathryn Perkins , PharmD ’24 , is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Washington’s Comparative Health Outcomes, Policy and Economics (CHOICE) Institute and Seagen Inc.
Alvin Phan , PhD Pharmaceutical Sciences ’24 , presented a poster at the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists’ National Biotechnology Conference on his project to develop antibody-based nanoparticles for treating Sjogren’s syndrome.
Julia Wang, PharmD ’24 , is a postdoctoral fellow at Novo Nordisk.
IN MEMORIAM
Lyle E. Christensen , PharmD ’56 , died on April 22 at age 91.
Kenneth Larry Virgin , PharmD ’62 , died in June 2023 at age 87.
Eddie Jew Jr., PharmD ’78 , died on May 7 at age 70.
Maria Kalondu Nduati , PharmD ’16 , died of cancer in August in Nairobi, Kenya.
Distinguished Scientist Jean Shih Retires
After five decades of service to USC students and the global scientific community, University Professor Jean Chen Shih has retired from the Mann School. Shih, who was also the Boyd P. and Elsie D. Welin Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences, is known internationally for her innovations in neuroscience and molecular biology.
Shih’s areas of expertise include brain development, autism spectrum disorder, and repurposing antidepressants for brain and prostate cancer. Her discoveries have not only expanded our knowledge about the mechanisms driving such behaviors
as aggression and anxiety, but also opened pathways in using MAO inhibitors to treat malignancies.
She was the founding director of the USC-Taiwan Center for Translational Research and past president of the Society of Chinese Bioscientists in America, a leader in global interdisciplinary and translational research.
In recognition of Shih’s distinguished career, she has been designated a University Professor Emerita and Professor Emerita of Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Integrative Anatomical Sciences, effective July 1, 2024.
CAREER TIMELINE
1974
Joins the USC faculty after earning a PhD in biochemistry from a joint program at UCLA and UC Riverside, and working as a postdoctoral fellow at UCLA. Previously, she earned a BS in biochemistry from National Taiwan University, where she graduated at the top of the class.
1988
Discovers that MAO A and MAO B are coded by two different genes unequivocally based on entire DNA sequences. This milestone resolves controversial questions that had puzzled the field for decades, advancing future studies and clinical applications of MAO.
Wins a National Institutes of Health (NIH) MERIT (Method to Extend Research in Time) Award. Fewer than 3% of researchers who apply are chosen for the award, which provides five years of grant support. She becomes the first USC faculty member to receive the honor.
1998
Receives a second NIH MERIT Award.
2000
Becomes the first woman to win the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Volwiler Research Achievement Award, the nation’s highest research honor in pharmacy. She is also named a fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology.
2001
Named a USC University Professor for her multidisciplinary interests and accomplishments in numerous fields. Also becomes a member of Taiwan’s Academia Sinica—that nation’s equivalent to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.
2004
Organizes the 10th Annual Society of Chinese Bioscientists in America International Symposium in Beijing.
2005
Featured on the cover of USC Trojan Family Magazine
2007
Becomes a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
2009
Appointed to the review committee for the NIH Director’s Pioneer Award. Receives the Lifetime Achievement Award from Society for Chinese Bioscientists in America.
2012
Becomes director of the USC-Taiwan Center for Translational Research, a post she holds until 2018.
2014
Becomes a research advisor and consultant to Buddhist Tzu Chi General Hospital and University in Taiwan.
2015
Awarded two patents for cancer therapy and diagnosis. Named a Distinguished Professor in Translational Research at Taipei Medical University in Taiwan. Becomes a fellow of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi.
2016
Named an honorary professor at Southwest Jiaotong University in Chengdu, China.
2020
Co-leads the first clinical trial of an MAO inhibitor in prostate cancer patients.
2023
Named a Trojan Title IX Trailblazer.
2024
Receives the USC Faculty Lifetime Achievement Award, noting her pioneering legacy as one of the world’s most eminent molecular neuroscientists.
Opposite page: Jean Shih in 2024. Above: Shih in 1974, the year she joined the USC Mann faculty, and earlier this year with a MAO replica.
TAKING AIM AT ALZHEIMER’S RISK
Socioeconomically disadvantaged communities face higher risks of Alzheimer’s and dementia than other groups. To help ease this disproportionate burden, Tatyana Gurvich, associate professor of clinical pharmacy at the Mann School, heads a recently launched pilot program providing pharmacist-led medication reviews for these vulnerable populations.
“A careful medication review by a geriatric clinical pharmacist can be helpful in eliminating high-risk medications that can contribute to cognitive decline—as well as those medications and supplements that increase the risk of bleeding and other adverse events,” says Gurvich, a clinician-educator who has been appointed to the Board of Pharmacy Specialties Geriatric Pharmacy Specialty Council for the 2025–27 term.
Gurvich and a team including USC Mann PharmD students and residents carefully review medication lists to facilitate early detection and interventions for forestalling dementia. Such screening is vital, Gurvich notes, because, as patients age, polypharmacy— the use of five or more medications—increases. And so does the rate of adverse events related to inappropriate prescribing.
“Our goal is to identify patients whose cognitive decline is at least in part attributable to medications that can be discontinued, substituted or adjusted—resulting in improved or resolved cognition,” Gurvich says. “One of the reversible causes of cognitive slippage is high-risk medications such as those with an anticholinergic profile, as well as some sedative hypnotic meds. Pharmacists should work with prescribers to deprescribe those medications so that a more accurate diagnosis is made.”
The program is sponsored by the California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) Enhanced Care Management program through a partnership with Alzheimer’s Los Angeles. CalAIM is an initiative of the California Department of Health Care Services.
Faculty Honors
CPhA Pharmacist of the Year
Steven Chen—associate dean for clinical affairs and the William A. Heeres and Josephine A. Heeres Chair in Community Pharmacy—has been named the California Pharmacists Association’s (CPhA) 2024 pharmacist of the year. The award recognizes a CPhA member pharmacist for outstanding activities in the profession. Recipients are “energetic leaders who have stimulated others to actively participate in the profession, advocacy and community affairs related to the practice of pharmacy,” according to CPhA.
In addition to his role as associate dean, Chen founded the California Right Meds Collaborative—a partnership between health plans, community pharmacies and medical clinics providing comprehensive medication management supported by value-based payments. He also directs the USC Titus Center for Medication Safety and Population Health and has served as principal investigator or co-PI for more than $20 million in grant-funded research.
Gubernatorial Appointment
Martine Culty, associate professor of pharmacology and pharmaceutical sciences, has been appointed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom to the state’s Developmental and Reproductive Toxicant Identification Committee. Culty is a member of the Society of Toxicology, American Society of Andrology, Society for the Study of Reproduction and the Endocrine Society. Her research focuses on identifying the mechanisms controlling the proliferation and differentiation of neonatal gonocytes, precursors of male germline stem cells, and the effects of environmental chemicals on testis development.
Safety Net Innovation Award
David Dadiomov, assistant professor of clinical pharmacy, has received a 2024 Safety Net Innovation Award along with $125,000 in grant funding for a project that uses a multidisciplinary approach to transforming chronic pain management for patients with sickle cell disease. The condition disproportionately affects Black people.
Sponsored by the Southern California Clinical and Translational Science Institute and the Southern California Healthcare Delivery Science Center, the Safety Net Innovation Award Program aims to fill the research-policy-practice gap and improve healthcare for underserved populations.
Dadiomov’s project at the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services aims to develop and implement comprehensive guidelines that integrate buprenorphine, nonopioid treatments and nonpharmacological treatments. It will also establish standardized pain management protocols, educate healthcare providers and patients, and monitor healthcare utilization and patient outcomes to ensure effective implementation.
David Dadiomov
Steven Chen Martine Culty
STUDY EXPLORES FIRST-IN-CLASS TREATMENT FOR FORM OF FATTY LIVER DISEASE
Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) is on the rise around the globe, threatening to become the country’s leading cause of liver transplantation by 2025.
Affecting 5% of adults nationwide, MASH is a subtype of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease—a spectrum of conditions marked by a buildup of fat in the liver unrelated to alcohol use. In the United States alone, where two in five adults have obesity, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of cases is projected to hit 27 million in 2030.
Until recently, the only treatment options were diet and lifestyle changes. Even the first drug for MASH approved by the Food and Drug Administration, resmetirom (Rezdiffra), just targets one aspect of the disease by activating a thyroid hormone receptor that reduces liver fat accumulation.
However, research led by USC Mann Dean Vassilios Papadopoulos represents a potential breakthrough in stopping MASH by shutting down multiple pathways of progression, so the liver can heal and regenerate.
The research, first published online in Metabolism in June, describes the laboratory testing of this possible first-inclass therapy and its unique mechanism of action. Rats fed a fatty diet reflective of what causes MASH in humans were treated with Atriol, a protein important to binding cholesterol. Previous work by Papadopoulos and colleagues demonstrated that Atriol may be effective against MASH. The current study bears out that
hypothesis, as Atriol significantly eased the disease in the rats treated.
The Atriol therapy reduced the size of their livers relative to their body weight, lowered their blood cholesterol and fat levels, and decreased liver scarring and inflammation. The likely reason for these improvements is that Atriol reduces the activity of a protein called TSPO, which is found in mitochondria—the energyproducing parts of cells.
“These in vivo studies revealed that Atriol treatment effectively mitigated MASH,” Papadopoulos says.
The USC scientists’ discovery comes at a time when there are several types of MASH medications in late-stage clinical trials and a surge in GLP-1-based weightloss drugs that have been shown to reduce weight, improve metabolic health and remove liver fat.
“Our study suggests that Atriol is a promising therapeutic candidate with multiple benefits, effectively reducing liver steatosis, fibrosis, inflammation and cell death and restoring mitochondrial function in MASH,” Papadopoulos says.
New Faces
Michael Jakowec, PhD, has joined USC Mann’s Titus Family Department of Clinical Pharmacy as a professor of clinical pharmacy. Previously, he was a professor of research neurology at Keck School of Medicine of USC. He has taught in USC Mann’s undergraduate program since 2017 and helped develop several popular courses. He will develop graduate-level courses in the clinical and experimental therapeutics program. Jakowec earned a PhD in molecular biology from USC and completed postdoctoral fellowships at Yale University and Columbia University.
Boshen Jiao, PhD, MPH, has joined the USC Mann School as assistant professor of pharmaceutical and health economics. Previously, he was a postdoctoral research fellow in health economics at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. In 2023, his research project on value-based pricing for drugs received the Best General Research Podium Presentation Award from ISPOR. Previous experience includes roles at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle and the Washington Research Foundation. Jiao holds a PhD in health economics and outcomes research from the University of Washington and a Master of Public Health from École des hautes études en santé publique (French School of Public Health).
Tony Succar, PhD, MScMed , has joined USC Mann as an assistant professor in the Department of Regulatory and Quality Sciences. Previously, he was a principal instructor at Northeastern University’s College of Professional Studies in Boston and was a clinical research project manager at Harvard Medical School’s Mass Eye and Ear. Succar earned a master’s degree in medicine (ophthalmic science), a graduate certificate in educational studies (higher education) and a PhD from the University of Sydney.
CLASS OF 2024: From Dreams to Degrees
The 117th USC Mann commencement ceremony on May 11 was a time for joy and celebration as graduating students—surrounded by family and friends—gathered at the USC University Park Campus to reflect on the past, honor their academic accomplishments and consider what lies ahead.
Welcoming the graduates to the ranks of USC alumni, the ceremony charged the Class of 2024 with using their hard-earned degrees for the greater good.
“Welcome to the mission of changing the world for the better,” said Vassilios Papadopoulos, dean of the USC Mann School, who presided over the ceremony.
“No matter which aspect of our varied but related fields you are entering—whether you are graduating with a BS, PharmD, master’s degree, PhD or doctorate in regulatory science—you will be involved in the most important endeavor: improving human health.”
Papadopoulos encouraged graduates to innovate and not be afraid to change course. “Charting new paths is part of what defines leadership,” he said. “It’s what makes a pioneer. And the world needs pioneers who can map new territories of healing— in the lab, at the patient’s side, and in policy and regulation.”
Many of the USC Mann graduates missed their high school or college graduation ceremonies in spring 2020 due to COVID-19, so the ceremony served as an opportunity to reflect on the challenges they overcame while pursuing their degrees, and all those who helped them along the way.
“You learned to be resilient in the face of disappointment and uncertainty,” Papadopoulos said. “You experienced the incredible power of interprofessional collaboration to improve human health. You demonstrated tenacity, courage and innovation in countless other ways.”
Academy Award-winning actor, filmmaker and philanthropist Sean Penn delivered the keynote address. “You have all chosen a field so full of purpose,” he told the graduates. “No matter how tough things get, this world you’re inheriting is one awesome and mysterious, beautiful place. And the journey you’re about to take is perfect, if you let it be.”
After the catastrophic Haiti earthquake in 2010, Penn co-founded the nonprofit Community Organized Relief Effort (CORE), which later played a key role in vaccine distribution during the COVID-19 pandemic, working with volunteers from the USC Mann School, Los Angeles Mayor’s Office, Los Angeles Fire Department, Carbon Health, and numerous other organizations and agencies.
PharmD Class President Pooja Singh, who earned her bachelor’s degree in pharmacology and drug development from USC Mann, shared how inspired she was by her classmates’ focus and grit, and encouraged them to remember that they inspire others even in mundane, day-to-day interactions.
“We are torchbearers of inspiration and agents of change,” Singh said (see related story on page 31). “Let us never underestimate the power of our actions to inspire greatness in others, to leave a legacy that transcends time and to shape the future of our profession for generations to come.”
Graduate James Turner, BS Pharmacology and Drug Development, shared his story as a student who spent his first year at USC learning remotely from a small town in Texas. “Despite the odds, we fought on,” said Turner, an aspiring psychiatric pharmacist who is starting the doctor of pharmacy program at USC Mann in the fall.
Graduate Student Government Vice President Elisa Stephens, PhD Pharmaceutical Sciences, spoke on behalf of the PhD and master’s degree graduates, and noted that research efforts are needed now more than ever.
“We are at the forefront of knowledge in the field and, without our efforts, there would be no vaccines or medications for the doctors, nurses and pharmacists to administer,” Stephens said. “We work behind the scenes to ensure that these modern-day heroes have the most potent and specific artillery to fight the war with disease and sickness.”
At the conclusion of the ceremony, the 163 PharmD graduates joined other pharmacists in attendance in reciting the Oath of a Pharmacist, led by Melissa Durham, associate professor of clinical pharmacy and associate dean for organizational success and well-being.
NEW PHARMACY OPENS AT UNIVERSITY PARK CAMPUS
The Mann School has opened its newest pharmacy at King Hall, near Engemann Student Health Center on USC’s University Park Campus. At over 3,200 square feet, the facility more than doubles the space of the former location in Gwynn Wilson Student Union.
Staffed by four full-time pharmacists, the pharmacy features two state-of-the art clinical rooms to aid more patients and widen experiential opportunities for students. With a ScriptPro robotics system that automates prescription filling,
pharmacists will have more time to focus on consultations and services.
“This new facility exemplifies the increasingly important role played by pharmacists in community health,” says Dean Vassilios Papadopoulos.
Services and products provided include vaccinations, smoking cessation programs, hormonal contraception and HIV prevention services, as well as distribution of the opioid-reversal drug naloxone.
In addition, a reception area will enable patients to wait for these services in more
comfort than in the previous location— which offered only windowsills as seating.
USC Mann has had a community pharmacy presence on the University Park Campus since 1952.
“This new location offers an opportunity to continue the service of our pharmacy team for members of the USC community for many years to come,” notes Raffi Svadjian, executive director of USC community pharmacies.
USC MANN LAUNCHES MS IN CLINICAL TRIAL MANAGEMENT
The hybrid program, housed in the Mann School’s Department of Regulatory and Quality Sciences, caters to full-time students as well as working professionals.
The worldwide market for clinical trial management is expected to reach more than $52 billion by 2030. This rapid expansion has led to a growing need for clinical trial professionals who can shepherd potential therapies through the testing necessary to ensure safety and effectiveness.
To meet this need, USC Mann has launched a Master of Science in Clinical Trial Management, starting in spring 2025, with courses provided through the school’s pioneering Department of Regulatory and Quality Sciences.
“The demand for clinical trial professionals is substantial, driven by advances in science and technology that have led to the emergence of new molecules and potential therapies,” says Eunjoo Pacifici, chair of the Department of Regulatory and Quality Sciences. “Our newly developed master’s program is designed to cultivate highly skilled clinical trial personnel for elevating research standards and facilitating therapeutic advancements.”
Online classes with on-site labs will be combined with experiential learning opportunities, guest lectures from top professionals in the field and networking events with industry leaders. The curriculum includes courses in regulatory sciences
along with a variety of electives. Students will further hone their skills in specially designed classes such as Clinical Trial Writing and Document Management.
“We prioritize practical application and hands-on expertise for effective learning and skill development,” Pacifici says. “The program aims to strengthen the competency of individuals who are aspiring to pursue a career in conducting clinical trials, as well as for seasoned clinical trial professionals looking to advance their careers.”
The MS is designed with working professionals in mind. Students can register for evening and weekend classes and can pick electives based on their specific interests and preferences. The virtual courses will enable students from around the world to earn their Clinical Trial Management MS from USC Mann.
“The Mann School has always been at the forefront of advancing excellence and opportunity in the pharmaceutical sciences,” says USC Mann Dean Vassilios Papadopoulos. “The new Master of Science in Clinical Trial Management is another example of our leadership, which not only stays ahead of the curve in preparing pharmacy experts but is also shaping the future of such vital areas as the regulatory sciences.”
For more information about USC Mann’s innovative MS in Clinical Trial Management, contact regsci@usc.edu.
Recent Mann School Graduate Earns CPhA Recognition
Pooja Singh, BS Pharmacology and Drug Development ’20, PharmD ’24, was named the 2024 Student Pharmacist of the Year by the California Pharmacists Association (CPhA).
The award recognizes a student pharmacist who is active in their local CPhA chapter and demonstrates willingness to become involved in the future of the profession as evidenced by involvement in CPhA professional activities.
As a fourth-year pharmacy student in 20232024, Singh was a CPhA student trustee and president of the CPhA Academy of Student Pharmacists (CPhA-ASP). She served on the CPhA Board of Trustees, representing student pharmacists from all 14 California pharmacy schools, and chaired the CPhA-ASP Board of Directors.
Singh’s passion for the field of pharmacy began in fifth grade, spurred by her father’s commitment to caring for the underserved at his independent pharmacy. Throughout pharmacy school, she sought opportunities to contribute to the profession and serve her fellow students. She was class president for the PharmD Class of 2024 and was selected as the student speaker for USC Mann School’s 2024 commencement ceremony in May (see also page 29).
Singh is now preparing for a postdoctoral fellowship in regulatory affairs and global value and access at Amgen in partnership with the Rutgers Pharmaceutical Industry Fellowship Program.
“This recognition means the world to me,” she says. “I’m grateful to CPhA for believing in the potential in students like myself and for providing opportunities for growth and development within the profession.”
PHOTO SHOP
ONE SHARED GOAL: SUPPORTING STUDENTS
Providing scholarship and fellowship support to USC Mann students helps the school attract and train new generations of leaders who will change the face of pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences. Your gift will support access to quality education and student services for USC Mann students while demonstrating our extraordinary Trojan spirit.
In addition to sharing time, in the form of mentorship, and talent as preceptors and guest speakers, supporting scholarships helps enrich students’ access to USC for generations to come, strengthening our Trojan Family and network. Let’s all come together to give back with our time, talent and treasure.
Vinson Lee, PharmD ’06, MS
Senior Vice President of Market Access at Coherus BioSciences
USC Mann Board of Councilors Member and Adjunct Lecturer
Past President, California Pharmacists Association
Support USC Mann students and invest in their future. Make a gift online at mann.usc.edu/alumni.
USC Mann School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
Health Sciences Campus
University of Southern California 1985 Zonal Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90089-9121 mann.usc.edu
The 176 members of the USC Mann PharmD Class of 2028 took the Oath of the Pharmacist at the school’s annual White Coat Ceremony in August. The largest feeder schools this year were UCLA (representing 15% of the incoming class) and UC Irvine (representing 14%).
