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Previous Faculty Spotlights
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July 2020
Micheal Kenes August 2020
Jasmine Luzum September 2020
Emily Ashjian October 2020
Michael Dorsch November 2020
Michael Smith December 2020
Amy Pasternak February 2021
Antoinette Cole March 2021
Dan Hertz April 2021
Shawna Kraft May 2021
Corey Lester June 2021
Heidi Diez July 2021
Bernard Marini August 2021
Lydia Benitez |
Faculty Spotlight  Dr. Lydia Benitez is a Hematology/Oncology pharmacy specialist at Michigan Medicine and Clinical Assistant Professor at University of Michigan College of Pharmacy. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Dr. Benitez earned her Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Michigan in 2009 and her PharmD from the University of Michigan, College of Pharmacy in 2014. She went on to complete a PGY-1 Pharmacy Practice Residency and PGY-2 Hematology/Oncology Pharmacy Residency at University of Michigan where she served as Chief Resident during PGY-1 year. After completion of post-graduate training in 2016, she practiced at the University of Kentucky Healthcare as a malignant hematology/hematopoietic cell transplant pharmacy specialist and adjunct professor at the UKY College of Pharmacy obtaining her board certification in oncology in 2017. Dr. Benitez returned to University of Michigan in 2018 where she started practicing as the Outpatient Leukemia Clinical Specialist. She transitioned to the College of Pharmacy faculty as Clinical Assistant Professor in 2020. Dr. Benitez currently practices in the acute and chronic leukemia space. She also works with patients who have aplastic anemia, myeloproliferative disorders and other hematologic malignancies. She precepts learners ranging from P2 IPPE students to PGY2 Oncology residents. Dr. Benitez served in the Residency Advisory Committee from 2019-2021 and currently serves as a member of the Residency Preceptor Appointment workgroup and is co-coordinator of the Michigan Medicine Residency Teaching Certificate Program alongside Dr. Kraft and Dr. Ashjian. Her research interests include the appropriate use of new medications in the leukemia, building a framework for oncology stewardship, and the treatment of infections in immunocompromised patients. Recent research projects and publications in the realm of oncology stewardship include:
Faculty Spotlight  Bernard Marini earned his Bachelor of Science in Anthropology-Zoology at the University of Michigan and his Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of Michigan College of Pharmacy. He completed his PGY1 Pharmacy Practice Residency and PGY2 Oncology Residency at the University of Michigan. Dr. Marini is Board Certified in Oncology Pharmacy and also serves as the residency program director for the PGY2 Oncology Residency program at the University of Michigan. He has been a Clinical Pharmacist Specialist in inpatient hematology since 2014 and recently joined the Department of Clinical Pharmacy as a Clinical Associate Professor in 2020. Dr. Marini’s clinical practice primarily focuses on the care of patients with hematologic malignancies. His research focuses on improving clinical outcomes in hematology patients, oncology stewardship, and immunocompromised infectious diseases. He is passionate about expanding high-level hematology/oncology pharmacy research and is helping spearhead a multi-institutional hematology pharmacy research consortium. Dr. Marini also works with the neuro-oncology group to optimize the use and selection of precision medicine therapies. To this end, he helped create the CNS Targeted Agent Prediction (CNS TAP, http://www.cnstap.org/#/) tool, a decision-making algorithm for optimizing the selection of precision medicine therapies in patients with pediatric brain tumors. The CNS TAP tool is currently being utilized by the Pacific Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Consortium (PNOC) as a tumor board decision aid in their latest precision medicine trials. His research has been funded by a grant from the Hematology/Oncology Pharmacy Association (HOPA) and the Chad Carr Pediatric Brain Tumor Center. Dr. Marini is also passionate about pharmacy resident and student training and was awarded the PGY2 Oncology Pharmacy Preceptor of the Year Award in 2019. Faculty Spotlight  Dr. Heidi Diez completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Michigan and earned her PharmD from the University of Michigan, College of Pharmacy in 2004. She completed a PGY1 community pharmacy practice residency in 2005 at the University of Washington and Kelley-Ross Pharmacy. In 2007, Dr. Diez was recruited back to the University of Michigan as the first Community Pharmacy based faculty, charged with revamping how community pharmacy was taught along with bringing immunization training to the College of Pharmacy, a longtime dream of hers. In 2012, Dr. Diez transitioned into her current clinical role from Community practice by establishing clinical practice at two Family Medicine sites within Michigan Medicine. In that same year, Dr. Diez became board certified in Ambulatory Care Pharmacy. Dr. Diez currently provides clinical care, with an emphasis on diabetes management at Briarwood Family Medicine and Domino Farms Family Medicine as part of the patient centered medical home model. Dr. Diez is passionate about training learners as well as sharing the impact of clinical pharmacy in Family Medicine. She precepts learners across the pharmacy training continuum and medical discipline, ranging from second year PharmD students’ Ambulatory Care IPPE, fourth year PharmD students’ APPE rotations, PGY1 Pharmacy Practice residents, PGY2 Ambulatory Care residents, as well as second year medical students. In 2020, Dr. Diez was named Director of Vaccine Implementation at the College of Pharmacy, eleven years after organizing and leading the first immunization clinic at the College of Pharmacy for the H1N1 vaccine. Dr. Diez is also committed to giving back to the profession as state immunization trainer for the Michigan Pharmacists Association since 2011. This year alone, she has co-led five virtual trainings sessions reaching pharmacists as far as Washington, DC to meet the needs for delivering the COVID-19 vaccine. Beyond immunizations, Dr. Diez is inspired by patients in her clinical practice where she provides personalized, evidence-based care to help patients manage diabetes. She carries this enthusiasm and experience into educating pharmacy, nurse practitioner and medical students about diabetes. In 2020, she was awarded the Department of Clinical Pharmacy Preceptor of the Year Award and in 2021, received the PDC Faculty Appreciation Award for her work in the classroom from the Class of 2023. Dr. Diez’s research interests and recent publications focus around diabetes management such as insulin barriers and dietary strategies, promotion of ambulatory care through experiential education, vaccine implementation, and novel teaching pedagogies. She also has interests in the impact of interdisciplinary layered learning in diabetes education for medical students as well as evaluation of immunization services and safety. Faculty Spotlight  Corey A. Lester is a Research Assistant Professor who joined Michigan in 2018. He is a medication safety expert using pharmacy informatics tools to improve the delivery of healthcare. Dr. Lester received a PharmD from the University of Rhode Island in 2012 and completed a PGY-1 Community Practice Residency at Virginia Commonwealth University. He received an MS and PhD in social and administrative sciences from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, School of Pharmacy with a Minor in Industrial and Systems Engineering. He leads the Medication Data Science (MeDS) lab in the College of Pharmacy. The MeDS lab studies the effect of machine learning and other forms of artificial intelligence on provider well-being, health outcomes, patient experience, and costs (i.e., Quadruple Aim) in medication use systems. Dr. Lester partners with engineers, information scientists, statisticians, and clinicians from academia and industry in order to foster creative and disruptive innovations that improve human health. An informatics supported approach to the quadruple aim of medication use systems, when combined with domain knowledge expertise, leads to significant breakthroughs in both theoretical and applied research. His current work investigates how human-machine learning teams perform tasks together so that we can achieve routine, reliable, and resilient improvements with electronic prescriptions and medication verification. Faculty Spotlight  Dr. Shawna Kraft earned her Bachelor of Science from the University of Michigan in 2002 and her PharmD from the University of Michigan, College of Pharmacy in 2006. joined the University of Michigan in 2005 as a Clinical Pharmacist Specialist in Cardiology. She completed a PGY1 pharmacy practice residency as well as a PGY2 oncology specialty residency at University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers. Dr. Kraft began practicing inpatient malignant hematology/oncology at University of Michigan Health Center in 2006 as adjunct faculty and clinical specialist. She became board certified in oncology in 2009. In 2012, Dr. Kraft transitioned to College of Pharmacy faculty as Clinical Assistant Professor and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2020. Additionally in 2012, she transitioned to ambulatory oncology, focusing on operationalizing an oral oncolytic program at the Rogel Cancer Center which she oversaw and expanded from 2012-2016. Dr. Kraft currently provides care for patients at the Rogel Cancer Center in the areas of genitourinary cancers, melanoma and breast cancers. She precepts learners ranging from P2 IPPE students to PGY2 Oncology residents within these specialty clinics. Dr. Kraft is passionate about pharmacy residency training, serving as the PGY2 Oncology Program Director from 2012-2020 and is co-coordinator of the Michigan Medicine Residency Teaching Certificate Program. Dr. Kraft is also enthusiastic about active involvement within our pharmacy organizations and is president-elect for the Michigan Society of Healthy System Pharmacists as well as chair for Hematology Oncology Pharmacists Association BCOP Updates committee. Dr. Kraft’s research interests and recent publications focus on interdisciplinary oncology training, student health and wellness, and immunotherapy related side effects. She also has an interest in innovative practices including utilizing technology to monitor adherence and impact patient reported symptom outcomes as well as student fulfilling unique roles within an on call program providing patient services such as herbal supplement reviews and medication appeal letter drafting. Faculty Spotlight  Dr. Hertz joined the Department of Clinical Pharmacy at the University of Michigan College of Pharmacy in April 2013. Prior to joining the UM faculty Dr. Hertz received his PharmD from the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy at Rutgers University and a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. Dr. Hertz’s dissertation research focused on discovery and validation of pharmacogenetic predictors of taxane-induced neuropathy. Dr. Hertz’s current research is interested in developing tools for individualizing treatment in patients with cancer and translating them into clinical practice. He has a particular interest in optimal use of paclitaxel for women with breast cancer, including identification of an ideal exposure target to maximize efficacy while avoiding unnecessary toxicity. Dr. Hertz has several other ongoing projects to discover and validate the effect of common genetic variants on cancer drug exposure or patient sensitivity to toxicity. He also conducts prospective studies to implement pharmacogenetic or drug-drug interaction screening in patients with cancer to prevent treatment-related side effects. Much of this work is conducted in collaboration with medical oncologists at the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center and within the SWOG cancer research cooperative group. Faculty Spotlight  Dr. Antoinette (Toni) B. Coe joined the University of Michigan in 2016 as a Research Assistant Professor. She received her PharmD magna cum laude from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in 2009. In 2010, she completed a PGY-1 Community-Based Pharmacy Practice Residency with VCU School of Pharmacy/Martin’s Pharmacy. She then received her PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences from VCU in 2015. She completed post-doctoral training as a 2016-2018 Clinician Scholar in the University of Michigan Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation (IHPI) Clinician Scholars program. In 2018, she transitioned to an Assistant Professor position. Dr. Coe is a pharmacist-health services researcher devoted to improving transitions of care and ensuring safe and effective medication use in older adults, especially those who are vulnerable, cognitively impaired, and with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. Her research focuses on improving medication use through pharmacist-provided comprehensive medication reviews and medication management, identifying strategies and interprofessional models of care to prevent medication-related problems during care transitions, and examining the impact of policy on health outcomes. Her work aims to implement and disseminate evidence-based interventions to improve health and medication use in older adults that address health disparities. Dr. Coe’s work has been funded by the American Foundation for Pharmaceutical Education, Michigan Institute for Clinical and Health Research KL2 award, Michigan Region VII Area Agency on Aging, and the University of Michigan NIH NIA-funded Center to Accelerate Population Research in Alzheimer’s. Faculty Spotlight  Amy Pasternak earned her PharmD from the Raabe College of Pharmacy at Ohio Northern University. She completed a PGY1 Pharmacy Practice Residency at Cleveland Clinic Hillcrest Hospital, a PGY2 residency in Clinical Pharmacogenetics at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and the Clinical Pharmacy and Translational Science Fellowship at the University of Michigan College of Pharmacy. She is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the UMCOP and a clinical pharmacist in pharmacogenetics at Michigan Medicine. Her clinical practice is focused on the implementation of pharmacogenetics into the Michigan Medicine medical record and she works closely with the Department of Pharmacy, University of Michigan Precision Health Initiative, and other genetics specialists to advance these efforts. Examples of implemented or ongoing projects include the deployment of advisory alerts to identify high-risk prescriptions based on a genetic result, monitoring of duplicate pharmacogenetic testing to decrease testing costs, and establishing institutional guidance for medications with recommendations for pharmacogenetic testing. She is also working to establish a pharmacogenetics clinic to increase accessibility of result interpretation for patients and providers. Faculty Spotlight  Michael Smith earned his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry with a Bioscience Option and his Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of Pittsburgh. He completed his PGY1 Pharmacy Residency and PGY2 Internal Medicine Residency at the University of Pittsburgh and UPMC. He is a Clinical Associate Professor at the UMCOP and a clinical pharmacist specialist in Pain and Palliative Care at Michigan Medicine and is the Residency Program Director for the PGY2 Pain Management and Palliative Care Pharmacy Residency. His clinical practice includes inpatient and outpatient palliative care and outpatient chronic pain. Michael's research interests focus on the safe use of symptom management medications in vulnerable patients, namely analgesics for patients with and who survive cancer. His methodological interests lie within mixed methods and large datasets. His ultimate goal is to support providers who care for vulnerable patients with real time support, emulating that of his clinical practice. Faculty Spotlight  Dr. Michael Dorsch joined the University of Michigan in 2005 as a Clinical Pharmacist Specialist in Cardiology. Dr. Dorsch received his PharmD from Ohio Northern University and completed a PGY1 pharmacy practice residency at Riverside Methodist Hospital, in Columbus, Ohio, as well as a PGY2 cardiology specialty residency at University of North Carolina Hospitals, in Chapel Hill. He earned a Master of Science in clinical research design and statistical analysis from the University of Michigan School of Public Health and completed an institutional K30 award from the Michigan Institute for Clinical & Health Research. In 2012, Dr. Dorsch transitioned to College of Pharmacy faculty as Clinical Assistant Professor and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2014. After several externally funded research grants, he moved to the tenure track in 2018 as an Assistant Professor. Dr. Dorsch is a clinical researcher who studies the effects of health information technology (IT) on health outcomes in patients with cardiovascular disease. He studies the development, implementation and outcomes associated with patient- and provider-centered clinical decision support (CDS). Specifically, providing the right health information to the right individual at the right time. Provider-centered CDS uses electronic health record (EHR) or health information exchange infrastructure to facilitate providers prescribing the most appropriate medications. Patient-centered CDS uses mobile or web applications to effortlessly assist in monitoring health status, promote health behavior modifications, and/or provide actionable health information. Dr. Dorsch’s research has been funded by the American Heart Association (AHA), National Institutes of Health, and Agency for Health Research and Quality. He is also a Board Certified Cardiology Pharmacy Specialist and named a Fellow of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) and AHA. Most recently, he has received the 2016 Professional Practice Award from the Michigan Society of Health-System Pharmacists and the 2019 Mentoring Award from the ACCP Cardiology Practice and Research Network. Faculty Spotlight  Emily Ashjian earned her Bachelor of Science in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology at the University of Washington and her Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of North Carolina Eshelman School of Pharmacy with highest honors and highest distinction. She completed her PGY1 Pharmacy Residency and PGY2 Ambulatory Care Pharmacy Residency at the University of Michigan, serving as Chief Resident both years. Dr. Ashjian is Board Certified in Pharmacotherapy and Ambulatory Care Pharmacy and is a Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist. Emily provides care for patients in internal medicine at Briarwood Medical Group, a Michigan Medicine patient centered medical home, and with the Multidisciplinary Chronic Kidney Disease team at Michigan Medicine. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic she has transitioned her clinical practice from in person visits to a telehealth model. She has continued to precept learners ranging from P2 IPPE students to PGY2 Ambulatory Care residents virtually using a synchronous format and will be introducing this year’s class of third year pharmacy students to telehealth in the ambulatory care environment as she coordinates the conversion of Pharmacy Practice Skills III to a virtual, synchronous format this fall. Emily is passionate about pharmacy residency training, serving as the PGY2 Ambulatory Care Residency Program Coordinator and co-coordinator of the Michigan Medicine Residency Teaching Certificate Program. Emily’s research interests and recent publications focus on the impact of innovative clinical pharmacy services on patient outcomes, cardiovascular risk reduction, diabetes, and chronic kidney disease. She also has interests in experiential education and the scholarship of teaching and learning. She aims to empower patients to implement evidence-based medication changes and recommendations made for their chronic disease states in both primary care and specialty settings, and envisions a role for interprofessional student teams to provide education and support, a project she is currently pursuing through her participation in the 2020 University of Michigan Interprofessional Leadership Fellows Program. Faculty Spotlight  Dr. Jasmine Luzum (formerly Talameh), PharmD, PhD, BCPS joined the Department of Clinical Pharmacy in July 2016. She received her PharmD summa cum laude from the University of Pittsburgh in 2008 and her PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Eshelman School of Pharmacy in 2013. She completed a Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the Ohio State University College of Medicine and Center for Pharmacogenomics in 2016. She became a Board-Certified Pharmacotherapy Specialist by the Board of Pharmacy Specialties in 2015 and an Applied Pharmacologist by the American Board of Clinical Pharmacology in 2015. Dr. Luzum runs a clinical and translational research lab focused on cardiovascular precision medicine. You can check out her lab website here. The long-term goal of Dr. Luzum’s research is to improve cardiovascular medication outcomes with precision medicine. She is especially interested in differences in cardiovascular drug response by race and genomics. Her lab uses a variety of research approaches, including genetics/genomics, electronic health records, and bioinformatics. Her research has been funded by the most prestigious sponsors (e.g., NIH, American Heart Association, and American Foundation for Pharmaceutical Education), published in top journals (e.g., Cell Metabolism, Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics, Journal of the American Heart Association), and presented at major conferences (e.g., American College of Cardiology Scientific Sessions and the NIH Pharmacogenomics Research Network). Faculty Spotlight  Michael Kenes received his Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of Illinois Chicago and completed his Pharmacy Practice Residency at the Cleveland Clinic and his Critical Care Pharmacy Residency at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Dr. Kenes has also served as a Clinical Pharmacy Specialist in the medical intensive care unit at Wake Forest Baptist Health prior to joining our College. His clinical practice site is the critical care medicine unit at Michigan Medicine. Since his start date in February of this year, he has led clinical pharmacy services in the newly opened (and since closed!) 50-bed RICU or COVID ICU at Michigan Medicine. He helped to streamline and standardized care for these challenging patients and educate the many volunteer providers that rotated through the unit. He has led or assisted in several ongoing research projects including:
Michael looks forward to returning to the critical care medicine unit to further establish his practice and educate our student and resident learners. |
