Karen Farris

Clinical Pharmacy

Karen Farris, PhD

Senior Associate Dean, Charles R. Walgreen III Professor of Pharmacy Administration and Professor of Social and Administrative Sciences

College of Pharmacy
428 Church St
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1065

3569 NUB

Role Overview and Bio

Karen Farris received her BS in pharmacy from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and her doctorate from U-M, with training in pharmacy, social psychology, and health behavior. Her research and teaching focus on social theories to examine how individuals manage medications and how pharmacists in oncology and primary care settings influence medication use. She studies individuals’ medication adherence, managing adverse effects, and how pharmacists may impact these behaviors. She has quantified the impact of pharmacists’ care on medication adherence and health outcomes.

Highlights

  • Trained at the University of Michigan 1990-1993, and returned in 2011 as the Charles R. Walgreen III Professor in Pharmacy

  • Working with researchers to improve medication adherence in oncology and primary care

  • Named Executive Vice President of The Rho Chi Society in 2019

  • Fellow, American Pharmacists Association

Research Interests

  • Pharmacists’ roles and models in primary care to improve medication use and health outcomes

  • Helping oncology practices educate and routinely monitor oral anti-cancer medications to improve patients’ symptom experience

  • Working with inter-professional students to reduce health disparities

Awards

  • 2016 Univ of Michigan IPE Leadership Fellow, University of Michigan

  • 2016 MICHR Distinguished Clinical & Translational Research Mentor Award, Michigan Institute for Clincial and Health Research

  • 2020 Awardees for IPE Innovation and Excellence - 2020 (given to IPE 101 Task Force, of which I have been a member since its inception), Center for IPE

  • 2023 Tyler Prize for Stimulation of Research, American Pharmacists Association

Selected Publications

Rizvi-Toner A, Coe AB, Friese CR, Manojlovich M, Wallner L, Farris KB. Patient symptoms, self-management, and unscheduled healthcare use during the first 6 moths of targeted oral anticancer agent therapy: protocol for a mixed-methods US study. BMJ Open 2024;14:e081375. PMID: 38355181. (Rizvi-Toner is my trainee)

Eze CE, Dorsch MP, Coe AB, Lester CA, Buis LR, Farris KB. Facilitators and barriers to blood pressure telemonitoring: A mixed-methods study. Digit Health 2023;9: 20552076231187585, eCollection 2023. PMID: 37529536.

Chamipa Phanudulkitti, Chinwe E Eze, Karen B Farris. Student Pharmacists’ Attitude Changes Toward Interprofessional Education Following an Introductory Interprofessional Course. Am J Pharm Educ. 2023 Apr;87(4):ajpe8979. Epub 2022 Nov 1.PMID: 36319074

Emily R Mackler, Michelle K Azar, Emily Johengen, Karen B Farris, Amy N Thompson. Feasibility of a comprehensive medication review to improve medication use for patients with cancer and comorbid conditions. Support Care Cancer. 2022 Dec;30(12):10111-10116. Epub 2022 Oct 20. PMID: 36264359

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