UB Pharmacy announces 2020 alumni award winners

John A. Pieper, PharmD ’79, FCCP, FAPhA, is the recipient of the 2020 Willis G. Gregory Memorial Award. The award is the most prestigious given by the school, honoring an outstanding alumnus who personifies the ideals of service, integrity and profession of pharmacy in the eyes of his colleagues.

Pieper is currently president and professor at St. Louis College of Pharmacy. He previously served as professor and dean of the College of Pharmacy at University of New Mexico (UNM), with concurrent appointments as vice president for research and deputy executive vice president at UNM Health Sciences Center in Albuquerque, as well as senior fellow at the Robert Wood Johnson Center for Health Policy.

Prior to his appointment at UNM, Pieper served as professor and chairman of the Division of Pharmacotherapy at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Pharmacy and as associate dean for clinical programs and founding chair of the Department of Pharmacy Practice at University of Colorado School of Pharmacy. Pieper was an adjunct professor, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, Cuernavaca, Mexico. He has also held faculty positions in the colleges of pharmacy at University of Tennessee and at University of Florida.

He is a past president of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy, past honorary President of the Missouri Pharmacy Association, past Speaker of the House of Delegates of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy and was recognized by the American Pharmacists Association Academy of Student Pharmacists as the Outstanding Pharmacy Dean in the United States in 2006. In 2015, he served as Chair of the Board of Pharmacy Specialties (BPS). He was elected President of the Academic Pharmacy Section of the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) in 2017, representing pharmacy faculty members globally. He is a fellow of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy, the American Pharmacists Association and the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP). In 2018, Pieper was named a Distinguished Alumnus of the University of Wyoming.

Pieper has more than 80 peer-reviewed research publications and approximately 100 published research abstracts in the areas of cardiovascular pharmacotherapy, pharmacokinetics and drug metabolism.

Andrew DiLuca, BS ‘81, is the recipient of the 2020 Orville C. Baxter Memorial Professional Practice Award. The award acknowledges leadership within the profession of pharmacy, career innovation and dedication to the school and students.

DiLuca began his career as a Pharmacy Technician at Buffalo General Hospital. After graduation and a PGY-1 residency, he was promoted to Clinical Pharmacy Specialist for the Deaconess Hospital of Buffalo. During his tenure at Buffalo General and Kaleida Health he has worked in various administrative roles, including staff pharmacist, satellite coordinator and pharmacy manager.

DiLuca is currently Senior Director of Pharmacy for Kaleida Health, where he oversees the pharmacy operations for the 950-bed, four-hospital system. He serves on numerous decision-making committees for the health system including Pharmacy and Therapeutics, Electronic Medical Record Steering, Quality Leadership and Patient Safety Council, and the Medical/Dental Staff Executive Committee.

As a preceptor for the school, he has helped implement hospital/health-system pharmacy rotations at Buffalo General Medical Center for many pharmacy students. DiLuca is also an SPPS adjunct assistant professor, teaching a course on medication safety. He is a longtime Dean’s Alumni Ambassador and serves on a number of school-based committees, with remarkable participation on the Clinical Practice Committee, the driving force behind Transitions of Care initiatives.

DiLuca is highly active in pharmacy professional organizations. He is a member of the American Society of Health System Pharmacists and is on the Professional Affairs Committee for the New York State Council of Health System Pharmacists. He is also a member of the Western New York Society of Health System Pharmacists, where he has served as a presidential officer and a New York State delegate.