Union University

Union University School of Pharmacy

Faculty & Staff News


Ashley PughNew Faculty

The Department of Pharmacy Practice welcomes new faculty member and UUSOP alumnus Ashley Pugh (2014) as Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice. Dr. Pugh completed her pharmacy practice residency with an emphasis in community practice and pedagogy with Union University.

Promotions & Tenure:

  • Kimberly Lindsey-GoodrichKimberly Lindsey-Goodrich, Director of Interprofessional Education and Associate Professor of Pharmacy Practice, was awarded tenure in April.
  • Ashok PhilipAshok Philip, Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences, was awarded tenure in April.
  • Jodi TaylorJodi Taylor has been appointed as Chair of the Department of Pharmacy Practice. She continues to serve as an Associate Professor of Pharmacy Practice and maintains her practice site in the surgical ICU at Jackson-Madison County General Hospital. Dr. Taylor was also awarded tenure in April.
  • Blake WatkinsBlake Watkins, Associate Professor and Chair of Pharmaceutical Sciences, was promoted to Full Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Offices, Certifications, Honors & Awards

  • Jennifer Byrd, PharmD, BCPS, has been appointed as Chair-Elect of the TN Society of Pharmacists. She was installed as an officer at the Tennessee Pharmacists Association Annual Meeting held in July.
  • Kim M. Jones, PharmD, BCPS, was re-appointed to the AACP Leadership Development Special Interest Group's Scholarship Task Force and Nominations Committee.
  • Lauren Peyton is President-Elect for the Mid-South College of Clinical Pharmacy for 2015.
  • Ashley Pugh (2014) was elected to the office of Tennessee Society of Chain Pharmacists (TSCP) Secretary/Treasurer-Elect.
  • Mark Stephens has been recognized as a certified Tobacco Treatment Specialist (TTS) by the Council for Tobacco Treatment Training Programs (CTTTS) and the Association for the Treatment of Tobacco Use and Dependence.
  • Jodi Taylor was selected as the Preceptor of the Year by the 2014-2015 graduating residents from Jackson Madison County General Hospital. She was also appointed to the Council on Therapeutics for the American Society of Health-Systems Pharmacists.

Book Contributions

  • Richard Addo, Associate Professor of Pharmaceutics, recently contributed to the book Nanoparticulate Vaccine Delivery Systems, Pan Stanford Publishing. Former UUSOP post doctorate fellow, Dr. Ruhi Ubale, also contributed to the book. The book is available on Amazon. ISBNs 13: 978-9814613309 and 10: 9814613304.

Journal Articles

  • Luna Bennett: Bennett LL and Megan Chalk. "Review of Mipomersen Sodium (Kynamro®) for Familial Hypercholesterolemia." Journal of Clinical Medicine Research Updates 2014; 1:1-10.
  • Deidra Easley and Sheena LeClerc (2014): LeClerc S and Easley D. "Pharmacological Therapies for Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review" Pharmacy & Therapeutics 2015 June; 40(6):389-97.
  • Co-authored by Lauren Peyton: Peyton L and Greene J. "Irritable Bowel Syndrome: Current and Emerging Treatment Options" Pharmacy & Therapeutics 2014 August; 39(8):567-78.
  • Authored by Ashok Philip, Mark Stephens, Sheila Mitchell, and Blake Watkins: Philip A, Stephens MA, Mitchell SL, Watkins B. "Design and implementation of a laboratory-based drug design and synthesis advanced pharmacy practice experience" American Journal of Pharmacy Education 2015;79:Article 43.

Presentations

  • Luna Bennett, session chair and presenter: Bit's 8th Annual World Cancer Congress, May 2015, Beijing, China. "Cancer and Antioxidants: Good or Bad"
  • Lauren Peyton presented Diabetes Management in 2015: New Drugs, New Guidelines, and New Clinical Questions to the West Tennessee Department of Health Advanced Nurse Practitioners/Medical Doctors Primary Care Group.
  • Mark Stephens presented New PSCK9 Inhibitor on the Horizon for Hyperlipidemia at the MidSouth College of Clinical Pharmacy Meeting in Memphis, TN in June 2015.

Poster Presentations

  • Luna Bennet with students from the Class of 2018: Ife Babatunde, Anthony Duong, and Rene Effoe. The Effect of High Dose Vitamin C and Sorafenib on Neuroblastoma, Hepatocarcinoma, and Kidney Cell Lines. Bit's 8th Annual World Cancer Congress, May 2015, Beijing, China.
  • Jennifer Byrd, Mary Day, and Bethany Murphy presented with former UUSOP PGY1 resident Heather Folz. Assessing the Impact of Pharmacist Interventions Versus Standard Care in the Outpatient Management of COPD presented at the APhA Annual Meeting in San Diego, CA.
  • Andrew Castleman (2015), Devipriya Mohan (2014), Neil Hunter (2014), E. Blake Watkins, Ashok Philip. A Virtual screening protocol to identify potential small molecule inhibitors of PKnG. Presented at the 42nd Annual MALTO Medicinal Chemistry & Pharmacognosy Meeting-in-Miniature. The University of Mississippi, May 17-19, 2015.
  • Sean King with Erica Rogers (2012) and Allison Todd (2015). The influence of functional health literacy on adherence to heart health medications. Presented on three occasions at the American Association of Pharmacy (APhA) Annual Meeting. San Diego, CA. March 2015.
  • Sean King with Kelsey Turcotte (2017), Erica Rogers (2012), and Cindy Jayne. An Educational Strategy to Enhance the Intercultural Competence and Communication of Pharmacy Students. Presented at the AACP Annual Meeting. National Harbor, MD. July 2015.
  • Lauren Peyton, Andrew Martin and Mark Stephens with Christopher Gore (2017). Survey of Pharmacy Preceptors to Characterize Resources Used to Remain Current. Presented at TSHP MidYear Meeting, Nashville TN, in February 2015
  • Kim M. Jones, Kim A. Lindsey-Goodrich, Ashok Philip, George DeMaagd, and Mark Stephens. Union University School of Pharmacy Innovative Approaches to Standards 2016. Presented at the 2015 AACP Annual Meeting, National Harbor, MD, July 11-15, 2015.
  • Mark Stephens, Sean King, and Andrew Martin with John Puryear (2015). Assessment of the Impact of APPE Scheduling Changes on Preceptors. Presented at the AACP Annual Meeting in National Harbor, MD, July 11-15, 2015.
  • Jodi Taylor and Andrew Martin with Nhung (Nguyen) Dang (UUSOP 2014). Evaluation of hetastarch 6 percent utilization and associated outcomes. Presented at the American Society of Health-Systems Pharmacists Midyear Meeting in Anaheim, CA in December 2014.
  • Jodi Taylor and Andrew Martin with members of the Class of 2015: Michael Light, Samarth Shah, John Puryear, Jeremy Walley, and Lida Thimothy. Evaluation of inferior vena cava filter utilization in patients with thromboembolism. Presented at the American Society of Health-Systems Pharmacists Midyear Meeting in Anaheim, CA in December 2014.

Questions about the Pharmaceutical Sciences Department? Contact Dr. Blake Watkins, Chair of the UUSOP Pharmaceutical Sciences Department, at bwatkins@uu.edu.

Questions about the Pharmacy Practice Department? Contact Dr. Jodi Taylor, Chair of the UUSOP Pharmacy Practice Department, at jltaylor@uu.edu.