Pharmacy Practice & Advancement

Through her fellowship, Dr. Blankenship instructs undergraduate and PharmD students on health advocacy and policy. She serves as a government affairs liaison between The Ohio State University’s College of Pharmacy and Wexner Medical Center. Through this work, she has been able to collaborate with key stakeholders and legislators to advocate for healthcare equality and access for patients. Dr. Blankenship is passionate about advancing the practice of pharmacy in Ohio and across the country.

Dr. Casper’s areas of focus include teaching nonprescription medications and foundational patient care concepts, post-graduate mentoring to prepare trainees for future teaching experiences, and faculty development with an emphasis on recognizing and rewarding teaching innovation and excellence. Her scholarly contributions and interests align with these areas of focus and are enhanced by her earlier work related to advancing patient care pharmacy services in community-based settings.

Dr. Gerlach is a clinical pharmacist in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center with over 25 years of experience. Besides an active clinical practice, he is an active educator and researcher. His research focuses on critical care pharmacotherapy and focus areas include sedation with a focus on dexmedetomidine, necrotizing soft tissue infections and augmented renal clearance. He is also an active member of many professional societies and currently serves as an elected council (board) member of The Society of Critical Care Medicine.

Dr. Hernandez’s area of focus is underserved populations. His current practice site is a federally qualified health center in central Ohio, where he provides experiential education in the ambulatory care setting to students in the PharmD program. His passion lies in preparing students to provide holistic, patient-centered care to the most vulnerable populations.

Dr. Jordan's professional goals have centered on improving patient care outcomes by creating advanced pharmacy practice models to improve the safety and efficacy in medication use. Her research focuses on pharmacy services and their effect on quality, safety, and cost in addition to the impact of the changing role of the pharmacist in health-systems. She is actively involved in professional pharmacy organizations and dedicates time to advocacy efforts at the state and national level.

Dr. Lahrman’s area of focus is rural pharmacy practice with a current practice site at an independent community pharmacy where she works to implement clinical services. She has a passion for sharing rural healthcare with both pharmacy students and medical students and bridging the gap for patients and the value of living in a rural community.

Dr. Matthews is passionate about developing innovative and effective teaching methods and measuring the impact of educational interventions through scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL). His specific areas of interest within SoTL include interventions that promote metacognition and retention.

Dr. Casey Combs May, an Associate Professor – Clinical at the Ohio State University College of Pharmacy, is a multifaceted professional excelling in practice, teaching, research, and professional leadership. Practicing as a neurocritical care pharmacist at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, she delivers innovative patient-centered care, specializing in neurologic injuries. Dr. May actively contributes to the academic realm by co-coordinating a key pharmacotherapy course, leading a Critical Care Elective, and engaging in scholarship related to teaching clinicians. Additionally, she holds leadership roles in professional organizations, advocating for pharmacist integration and contributing to committees shaping critical care guidelines. Her research pursuits focus on anticoagulation reversal, optimizing pharmacotherapy, and evaluating pharmacokinetic variations in neurocritically ill patients.

Dr. Mehta's areas of focus include development and implementation of innovative pharmacy practices in community-based settings, self-care/integrative medicines and training student pharmacists and post-graduate trainees to be the future change agents in pharmacy practice. Her scholarship centers on practice advancement, scholarship of teaching and learning and well-being and resiliency in the workplace. Dr. Mehta's leadership focuses on supporting faculty, staff and trainees, encouraging them to achieve their personal and professional goals that are moving the profession forward and lead the collective effort that envisions OSU as the model leader in pharmacy practice.

Dr. Rodis' areas of focus include advancing pharmacy practice through empowering current and future pharmacists to develop and sustain patient care services, advocacy and partnership engagement to influence patient access to pharmacist-provided care, and leadership of the college’s outreach and engagement efforts aligned with the Land Grant mission of The Ohio State University.

Dr. Schmuhl’s primary professional interest is caring for patients with substance use disorders (SUD) and implementing harm reduction strategies both on and off campus. She actively works to educate healthcare professional students across Ohio to care for patients with SUD in a collaborative and effective way. Her research focuses on medication use for SUD, SUD education, harm reduction, and innovative pharmacy practice. Dr. Schmuhl is also passionate about mentoring undergraduates, professional students, and pharmacy residents and serving as a resource for students during their educational and professional journeys.

Jennifer Seifert’s professional interests include advancing continuing professional development (CPD) programming for pharmacists and instilling CPD values in students. She has a passion for community-based pharmacy practice with an emphasis on the care of older adults. Her scholarship has focused on health equity with a focus on access to pharmacy services for people living in poverty.

Dr. Valentino's areas of focus include developing, implementing, and demonstrating impact of innovative pharmacist services in federally qualified health centers. She has a passion for preparing student pharmacists and pharmacists to provide care within interprofessional teams that advances health equity for culturally and socioeconomically diverse patient populations. Her scholarship also focuses on interprofessional practice and education.