School News

Assistant Professor, Jacinda Abdul-Mutakabbir, PharmD, AAHIVP, has been elected chair of the Health Equity Practice and Research Network by the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP), for a two-year executive board term. The ACCP is a professional and scientific society that provides leadership, education, advocacy, and resources enabling clinical pharmacists to achieve excellence in practice, research, and education.

This summer, 23 LLUSP faculty, students and alumni volunteered as medical staff at Camp Conrad Chinnock, helping young people living with diabetes. The volunteers worked with campers to dose insulin before meals and at bedtime, checked campers’ blood sugars at midnight and 3 a.m., and provided first aid for cuts and minor injuries. Located in the San Bernardino mountains, this three-week summer camp included a young adult session, two teen sessions and two children’s sessions. Dr.

Students at LLUSP voted in the spring for their favorite pharmacy practice experience preceptors by completing evaluations of their rotations. In the category of alumni preceptors, Scott Fitter, PharmD, BCCCP, Class of 2015, received the highest scores on evaluations of the rotations he offered. Dr. Fitter’s practice site is the Loma Linda University Medical Center (LLUMC) Emergency Department, where he has mentored students since 2017. During rotations at this site, students are exposed to extreme cases of medical emergencies including trauma, cardiac, and cerebrovascular accidents.

Paul Gavaza, PhD, associate professor, Loma Linda University School of Pharmacy, has been selected to participate in AACP’s 2021-2022 Academic Leadership Fellows Program. Gavaza joins the 18th cohort of 30 individuals who represent some of academic pharmacy’s brightest future leaders from around the country. The Academic Leadership Fellows Program supports and contributes to the development of leaders in academic pharmacy and higher education.

Student Faculty Mentor Research Project Mariana Boica Dr. Olivia Frances Boyle Combination of Anti-PD-1 Therapy and Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocytes for the Treatment of Acute Myeloid Leukemia Meriel Elmalih Dr. Jody Gonzalez Assessing the knowledge about COVID-19 mRNA vaccines among healthcare professionals and students Natalie Thomas Dr.

Loma Linda University School of Pharmacy has been recognized nationally for the school’s community outreach during the pandemic, receiving the “Rookie Award” at the 10th annual 2021 Medication Adherence Team Challenge. The award is part of the national Script Your Future public awareness campaign coordinated by the National Consumers League (NCL) with support from its partners and the Challenge sponsors — the American Pharmacists Association (APhA), National Association of Chain Drug Store Foundation, and the National Community Pharmacists Association.

Loma Linda University School of Pharmacy participated in the largest premier conference for pharmacy professionals on the West Coast — the Western Pharmacy Exchange 2021, held in Palm Springs this summer. At this year's first in-person conference, faculty and students presented research posters and our student team competed in the event's Quiz Bowl — coming in second.

Jonathan Mamahit became the School of Pharmacy’s milestone 1,000th graduate. Mamahit is part of the School’s dual degree program. In addition to receiving his doctorate of pharmacy degree (PharmD), he graduated with a master of science degree in health informatics. Mamahit said the dual degree program allowed him to get extra education without additional years in school. “These degrees will put me at the forefront of change as technology becomes more prevalent in pharmacy care,” he said.

Eight one-day popup vaccine clinics delivered 373 COVID-19 vaccines to San Bernardino County’s Black and Latinx populations.