Annual Pharmacy Gala goes virtual, honors outstanding pharmacy Buckeyes
The College of Pharmacy honored a slate of tremendous alumni, preceptors and friends of the college during the annual Pharmacy Gala & Alumni Awards Ceremony, held virtually on Nov. 19. You can watch the ceremony here.
Pharmacy Alumni Society president Brice Love '00 served as the master of ceremonies, with opening remarks by Dean Henry J. Mann, PharmD, FCCP, FCCM, FASHP.
In addition to the alumni awards, the Friend of the College Award was given to Andrew M. Dahlem, BS ’82, PhD, DVM, and Neeraj H. Tayal, BA, MD.
The college also presented its annual Preceptor of the Year Awards, honors that are typically given during the Hooding Ceremony but were postponed due to the coronavirus. Those recipients include:
- Mallary L. Biros, PharmD, BCPS
- Cory Coffey, PharmD, BCACP, BCPP
- Jennifer Hockings, PharmD, PhD
- Allen Nichol, PharmD
- Valerie Rosenthal, PharmD, BCP
Brigid K. Groves, BS, PharmD ’12, MS ’14, received The Josephine Sitterle Failer Alumni Award. Named in honor of Josephine Sitterle Failer, BS '39, the award recognizes an alumnus who has received a professional degree or completed post-graduate training from the College of Pharmacy within the past ten years and has made an outstanding contribution to community or professional service.
Dr. Groves is a clinical pharmacist for Population Health at Partners For Kids (PFK), a pediatric accountable care organization affiliated with Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. Before her current role at PFK, she served as a clinical and pharmacy practice coordinator at a large grocery store-based community pharmacy chain. Dr. Groves is currently president of the Ohio Pharmacists Association (OPA) Board of Trustees and is past chair of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) Ambulatory Care Medication Management Section Advisory Group.
She is an active member of The Ohio State University College of Pharmacy Alumni Society, American Pharmacists Association, OPA and ASHP. She was a recipient of OPA’s 2018 UNDER 40 Award and the 2017 recipient of OPA’s Distinguished Young Pharmacist Award. In addition to her PharmD and master’s, Dr. Groves completed a combined PGY1 and PGY2 residency through the College of Pharmacy in community care pharmacy administration at Kroger Pharmacy in 2014. Prior to coming to Ohio State, Dr. Groves earned her Bachelor of Science in chemistry in 2006 from John Carroll University.
Robert H. McClanahan, BS, PhD ’85, received the Jack L. Beal Post-Baccalaureate Award. Named in honor of Jack L. Beal, PhD ’52, professor emeritus of medicinal chemistry and pharmacognosy at The Ohio State University. The recipient of the Beal Award must have a post-baccalaureate degree from the College of Pharmacy and have contributed significantly to research and scholarship in the pharmaceutical sciences and/or contributed outstanding service to the professional practice of pharmacy.
Dr. McClanahan is the director of the Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics Division of Frontage Laboratories, a full-service contract research organization in Concord, Ohio, serving pharmaceutical, animal health and agrochemical companies worldwide. Prior to working with Frontage Laboratories, Dr. McClanahan worked for the Agricultural Group of Monsanto Company, where he conducted EPA-guideline environmental fate, plant and animal metabolism studies on a herbicide candidate, resulting in full EPA acceptance of these studies.
He received his BS in biology from Xavier University in 1980 and completed his PhD in Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy under the direction of Larry Robertson in 1985. Dr. McClanahan also completed a postdoctoral research fellowship in the Department of Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Washington from 1985 to 1987. Throughout his career, he has authored or coauthored numerous refereed publications and hundreds of technical reports on the metabolism and pharmacokinetics of human drugs, animal health drugs, pesticides and industrial chemicals. He also received a Monsanto Achievement Award and Technical Excellence Award for outstanding technical achievement.
Christina M. Barnes, BS ’97, PharmD, and Emmanuel C. Ezirim, BS ’90, BS ’92, RPh, each received the Distinguished Alumni Award. Recipients must have a degree from the College of Pharmacy or completed postgraduate training; have made distinguished contributions in the fields of public health and public service; have performed outstanding activities in the interest of the college and its students; and have an outstanding record in the profession of pharmacy.
Dr. Barnes is the director of pharmacy services for Avita Health System – Bucyrus, Galion and Ontario Hospitals. Her distinguished career in pharmacy has spanned 25 years and a variety of practice settings. Beginning in independent community pharmacy while earning her BS in pharmacy from The Ohio State University, she shifted her focus to ambulatory care while completing her PharmD program at the University of Cincinnati. The early years of her career focused on developing reimbursable ambulatory pharmacy services in hospitals and physician practice settings. These programs were the first of their kind in their communities and remain to this day.
After transitioning from ambulatory care to inpatient pharmacy practice, she quickly rose to a leadership role. Over the years, she has led her team through the rapid growth from a single, critical access hospital to a diverse, multi-hospital system with an expansion of pharmacy services. Dr. Barnes is extremely passionate about patient safety and innovative pharmacy practice.
Emmanuel (E-Doggy) Ezirim is the CEO and owner of Central Point Pharmacy in Columbus, Ohio, a community pharmacy that provides services to the local Franklinton area and is an experiential site for Ohio State PharmD students. Ezirim has more than 27 years of experience in pharmacy, including roles such as staff pharmacist, pharmacist-in-charge, director of pharmacy and independent pharmacy owner. He is also an accomplished athlete, author, actor, bodybuilder and philanthropist. Ezirim is a two-term board member and lifetime member of The Ohio State University College of Pharmacy Alumni Society and a lifetime and presidential club member of The Ohio State University Alumni Association.
He is committed to Ohio State and to the doctrine of “paying it forward.” He and his wife are the sponsors of the E-Doggy Dog and Chichi Ezirim Endowed Scholarship at the College of Pharmacy. Ezirim is co-founder of the Nigerian Association of Pharmacists and Pharmaceutical Scientists in the Americas (NAPPSA) and created an NGO-system that provides life sustenance and pharmacy care for many villagers in his hometown of Owerre-Nkworji in Imo State, Nigeria. He authored his first children’s book, Jet-Black & the Ebony Knights in 2010.
Jennifer L. Seifert, BS, MS ’99, received the Outstanding Community Engagement Award. This award recognizes an alumnus from any training or academic program of the College of Pharmacy for outstanding accomplishments in the community. Recipients have been involved in outreach and engagement that includes collaboration with one or more community partners who may be public and/or private sector, local to global and external to the university. This work must have provided valuable learning experiences for students and/or demonstrated impact that addresses an important need.
Seifert is the executive director of the Charitable Pharmacy of Central Ohio and the residency program director for the PGY1 Community-based Pharmacy residency program at The Ohio State University. Seifert has an extensive background as a community-based pharmacist practitioner. She has a deep interest in understanding and reducing the barriers that people living in poverty must overcome in improving their health, and to this end she advocates at all levels for access to critically-needed medications for our most vulnerable neighbors.
For her work at Charitable, Seifert received the Distinguished Alumni Award from The Ohio State University College of Pharmacy and the Clinical Site of the Year Award at the Charitable Pharmacy for excellence in experiential teaching. The Charitable Pharmacy of Central Ohio received the 2018 Community Pharmacy Innovations in Quality Award from the Pharmacy Quality Alliance and Community Pharmacy Foundation, and the 2018 Excellence in Outreach Engagement Community Partner Award by The Ohio State University. Seifert is board certified
in geriatric pharmacy and holds a Bachelor of Science from Ohio Northern University and a Master of Science in the field of pharmacology from The Ohio State University.
Harold N. Godwin, BS, MS ’66, RPh, FASHP, FAPhA, received the Lifetime Achievement Award. This award was established for outstanding lifelong accomplishments in pharmacy, pharmaceutical sciences or public service. The impact of the candidate’s stellar contributions to the professional, scientific and/or educational communities is judged by biographical data, including published work and previous honors. Recipients must have completed a degree or post-graduate training at the College of Pharmacy. This award is not given in any regular, repeating time period, but only when truly outstanding candidates are identified.
Dr. Godwin is a professor emeritus at the University of Kansas School of Pharmacy, and has had a 50-year career in pharmacy as a practitioner and faculty educator. Godwin earned a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy from the University of Kansas and a master’s degree in health system pharmacy administration from The Ohio State University. He also completed a two-year accredited residency in hospital pharmacy at The Ohio State University Hospitals – during which time he met his mentor, Clifton J. Latiolais.
Godwin served 34 years as director of pharmacy at the Kansas University Medical Center and 20 years as chair of the Department of Pharmacy Practice. Being involved in pharmacy organizations throughout his career, Godwin has served as president of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP), president of the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and president of the American Pharmacists Association (APhA). He also recently completed a six-year term with the Board of Pharmacy Specialists (BPS) and served as chairperson in 2017.