2020 Highlights

• $5M — Jie Du ’90, ’93, PhD donated $5 million to Pacific to launch the Jie Du Center for Innovation and Excellence for Drug Development
• 811 — Beneficiaries were served at a virtual Medicare Part D Outreach Clinics
• 196 — First-year PharmD students received immunization training and certification, readying them to assist in administration of the flu vaccine and the COVID-19 vaccine
• 55 — Class of 2020 PharmD graduates were accepted to a post-graduate academic program, matched with a residency or awarded a fellowship
• 36+ — Publications by faculty in peer reviewed journals
• 30+ — Students presented at national conferences
• 19+ — Alumni presented at national conferences
• 15+ — Faculty presented at national conferences
• 5 — New faculty members joined the School, three of whom are alumni
• Pacific partnered with the United States Air Force to establish a new fellowship.
• Reflecting the support of our generous donors, the School was able to name the following spaces: the Jonathan Chan and Megan Chan Auditorium (Rotunda auditorium, R103), the Guadalupe Chang Café and the Clark and Pamela Gustafson Auditorium (large lecture hall, room 115).
• Alumni Sundeep S. Gill ’00, PharmD and Elaine Gill ’98, JD established the Powell-matched Pacific Pharmacy Alumni Association Endowed Scholarship.

Student Highlights

• Phi Delta Chi, Alpha Psi chapter, received the 2020 Emory W. Thurston Grand President’s Award. This is the fifth time Alpha Psi has received this national award, the fraternity’s highest honor.
• Pacific’s Black Barbershop Health Outreach Program hosted a virtual health fair in coordination with the 52nd annual Stockton Black Family Day and was featured on Good Day Sacramento and in The Record.
• Zizhao Xu ’20, MS received a 2020 American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists Best Abstract Award.
• Sandra Le ’21 was named one of the top 10 recipients of the 2020 U.S. Public Health Service Excellence in Public Health Pharmacy Award and a recipient of the California Society of Health-System Pharmacists 2020 Student Leadership Award.
• Taylor Chan ’21 was selected for a rotation in the Office of Surveillance and Epidemiology at the Food and Drug Administration, starting February 2021.
• Rahatullah Razan ’21 was awarded the American Society of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET) Mentoring Network travel award to participate in the ASPET Mentoring Network: Coaching for Career Development program in April, in San Diego.
• Pharmaceutical and Chemical Sciences Program students Yuntao Zhang ’21 received Pacific's Graduate Seminarian of the Year Award, Peter Weidner ’20 was named the Graduate Seminarian of the Year Runner-up and Tre Andang ’21 received the Graduate Seminar Series Award of Merit.

Faculty Highlights

• Stephanie Luu ’20, PharmD, assistant clinical professor, joined the Department of Pharmaceutics and Medicinal Chemistry.
• Andrew L. Haydon ’12, PharmD, associate clinical professor and director of professional programs, Cynthia Lee ’19, PharmD, MS, BCPS, assistant clinical professor, and Martha Ndung’u, PharmD, assistant clinical professor, joined the Department of Pharmacy Practice.
• Atefeh Rabiee, PhD, assistant professor, joined the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology.
• Bhaskara R. Jasti ’95, MPharm, PhD, professor of pharmaceutics and medicinal chemistry, was appointed the inaugural executive director of the Jie Du Center for Innovation and Excellence for Drug Development. Dr. Jasti established the Jasti Lecture Series in Biopharmaceutical Sciences and in February Dr. Du served as the guest speaker at the inaugural lecture.
• Pacific pharmacy faculty were awarded a $105,000 contract as San Joaquin County Opioid Safety Program Consultant to support local efforts to reduce the number of opioid- and drug-related overdoses and deaths.
• The School co-hosted Pacific’s COVID-19 and Your Health series. Speakers included Mark P. Walberg ’06, ’09, PharmD, PhD, CTH and Robert F. Halliwell, PhD, professor of physiology and pharmacology. Each week the featured topic was followed by CDC updates presented by Neel Prasad ’96, PharmD, assistant clinical professor of pharmacy practice and regional coordinator for East Bay – Modesto/Sonora.
• Melanie A. Felmlee, PhD, assistant professor of pharmaceutics and medicinal chemistry received a four-year $1.15 million grant from the National Institutes of Health Support of Competitive Research (SCORE) Program for research focused on the differences in the way males and females process GHB.
• Carlos A. Villalba-Galea, PhD, assistant professor of physiology and pharmacology, was awarded a $337,647 NIH grant for the proposal “Identification of Structural Determinants in Kv7 Open Channel Stabilization.”
• Rajul A. Patel ’01, ’06, PharmD, PhD, professor of pharmacy practice, on behalf of the Medicare Part D Outreach Clinics, received a $10,000 grant in February and a $43,500 grant in August from the Human Services Agency of San Joaquin County. Patel and Dr. Halliwell received a $35,000 grant from Kaiser Permanente on behalf of the Medicare Part D Outreach Clinics to support improving opioid and prescription drug management with mental health assessment in Medicare beneficiaries. 
• Rajkumar Sevak, PhD, RPh, assistant professor of pharmacy practice, and Dr. Patel received a $9,300 grant from the Pacific Technology in Education Committee to support delivering of Part D and MTM interventions via telehealth.
• Mamoun M. Alhamadsheh, PhD, associate professor of pharmaceutics and medicinal chemistry, received Pacific’s 2020 Faculty Research Lecturer Award.
• Patel was named a recipient of Pacific’s 2020 Faculty Mentor Award and the Pacific Pharmacy Alumni Association’s Alumnus of the Year.
• Sachin A. Shah, PharmD, FACC, FAHA, professor of pharmacy practice and regional coordinator, director of pharmacy research and education at Travis Air Force Base, became a fellow of the American College of Cardiology.
• Clifford A. Young, RPh, CGP, associate clinical professor of pharmacy practice and regional coordinator for Fresno, was elected president of the California Pharmacists Association. His term began Sept. 13, 2020.
• Sevak received the College of Psychiatric and Neurologic Pharmacist Foundation Strategic Goals Award for his research on mental health stigma.
• William K. Chan, PharmD, PhD, professor, chair of the Department of Pharmaceutics and Medicinal Chemistry, received the 2019-20 Pacific Faculty Research Lecturer Award.