Summary

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, reasons for non-adherence, including concern and necessity beliefs, and self-reporting adverse effects. She has quantified the impact of pharmacists’ care on medication adherence and health outcomes. With colleagues, her most recent work has been with the Michigan Oncology Quality Consortium and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. 

Farris has served on NIH study sections for Small Business Innovation Research; Risk, Prevention and Health Behavior Review; and Healthcare Delivery and Methodologies. She is an active member in the American Pharmacists Association, American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, American College of Clinical Pharmacy, and Hematology/Oncology Pharmacy Association. She received the Michigan Institute for Clinical & Health Research (MICHR) Distinguished Clinical and Translational Research Mentor Award in 2016, was named Outstanding Graduate Student Mentor in Biological and Life Sciences at the University of Iowa in 2007, and APhA Fellow in 2006. She is the Executive Vice-President of The Rho Chi Society, the national honor society for pharmacy. #rhochiforlife

Responsibilities

  • Director, Clinical Pharmacy Translational Sciences Graduate and Fellows Program

  • Faculty Lead, Digital Education, Institute for Healthcare Policy & Innovation

  • Executive Vice-President, The Rho Chi Society

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

  • Pharmacists’ roles in public health (e.g., reducing unintended pregnancy) 

  • Working with inter-professional students to reduce health disparities in Ann Arbor

Awards

  • 2023 Tyler Prize for Stimulation of Research, American Pharmacists Association
  • 2020 2020 Awardees for IPE Innovation and Excellence (given to IPE 101 Task Force, of which I have been a member since its inception), Center for IPE
  • 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

Selected Publications

  • Teresa Salgado, Megan Rosenthal, Antoinette B Coe, TN Kaefer, Dave L Dixon, Karen B Farris. Primary healthcare policy and vision for community pharmacy and pharmacists in the United States. Pharm Pract (Granada). 2020;18:2160, PMID: 33029264

  • Karen B. Farris, Beatriz Mansour Mitrzyk, Peter Batra, Jason Peters, Heidi Diez, Anne Yoo, Kevin McKay, Kayla Friend, Lorna Danko, Rebecca Waber, Vince Marshall, Hae Mi Choe. Linking the patient-centered medical home to community pharmacy via an innovative pharmacist care model. J Am Pharm Assoc 2019;1:70-78.

  • Nada M Farhat^, Karen B Farris, Minal R Patel, Laura Cornish, Hae Mi Choe. Comprehensive medication reviews: Optimal delivery setting and recommendations for quality assessment. J Am Pharm Assoc (2003) 2019;59:642-645. PMID: 31307965.

     

  • Emily Mackler, Gianni B. Scappaticci^, Teresa M. Salgado@, Emily Davis*, Emily Peltier*, Laura Peterson, Jennifer Griggs, Roy T. Sabo, Karen B Farris. Impact of a statewide oral oncolytic initiative on five participating practices. J Oncology Practice 2018;14:e304-e309.