UB SPPS strengthens academic pharmacy through research, education and service at AACP Annual Meeting

Ashley Woodruff, PharmD, associate dean of professional education and clinical associate professor of pharmacy practice, co-presented a session titled, “A Catalyst for Innovating Integration: Collaborative Café on Assessment, Design, and Oversight of Integrated Courses.” The session explored different institutional strategies for the delivery and improvement of integrated pharmacotherapy coursework. Woodruff also co-presented a session with Nicole Albanese, PharmD, assistant dean for student success and engagement and clinical professor of pharmacy practice, titled, “From Coddling to Capability: Reframing Student Support for Resilience and Wellbeing.” Their session shared strategies to integrate growth mindset principles and "de-coddling" concepts from The Coddling of the American Mind into student advising and wellbeing initiatives in schools of pharmacy.

Niki Pizzutelli, MS, director for student success and engagement, co-presented several sessions. The first session, “Supporting, Not Stigmatizing: Managing Suspected Substance Use Disorder (SUD) in Academic Pharmacy,” explored compassionate strategies for addressing suspected substance use concerns in academic pharmacy. She also co-presented the session, “Owning Your Growth: Empowering Staff to Write Their Own Professional Prescription,” which empowered professional staff to drive their own learning, growth and professional development opportunities using “crucial conversations” and artificial intelligence tools. 

Jaime Maerten-Rivera, PhD, assistant dean of accreditation and analytics compliance, co-presented the session, “Preparing for NAPLEX Success: Insights from Recent Pharmacy Graduates Using Multi-Institutional Survey and Focus Groups.” The session shared findings from two multi-institution studies examining pharmacy graduates’ preparation for the North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination (NAPLEX) exam and explored study habits, preferred resources and strategies for improving student preparation and readiness.

Emily Polischuk, PharmD, director of practice labs and clinical assistant professor of pharmacy practice, presented the session, “Innovating Academic Rotations: How Large APPE Cohorts Enhance Instructional Support and Educator Development.” It highlighted an innovative academic Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience (APPE) model that leverages students as near-peer educators to support skills labs, collaborative testing and service-learning while expanding instructional capacity and reducing preceptor workload. She also co-presented a session titled, “Small Patients, Big Impact: Integrating Pediatrics into Pharmacy Skills Labs,” which provided pharmacy educators with advocacy tools, integration strategies and inventive activities to enhance student competency in pediatric care.

Nicholas Fusco, PharmD, head, Division of Education and Teaching Innovation and clinical associate professor of pharmacy practice, participated in a roundtable discussion titled, “Designing Longitudinal Interprofessional Education Across the Curriculum,” which explored longitudinal interprofessional education experiences that promote collaboration among learners in health professions.

UB SPPS faculty and staff presented multiple abstracts and posters sharing innovative research during conference exhibitions.

• Reconsidering Medical Terminology Requirements as a Strategy for Curricular Unloading in PharmD Programs
• Development and Assessment of Custom Generative Pre-trained Transformers to Prepare Student-Pharmacists to Address Vaccine Hesitancy
• Impact of Honors/Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory Grading on Student-pharmacist Stress, Cohesion, Collaboration, and Time for Professional Engagement
• Faculty Perspectives on Pharmacy Resident Roles and Impact in Skills Laboratory Education
• Alternate Pathways into Pharmacy: A Multi‑Institutional Study of Student Satisfaction and Career Intentions
• Development and Validation of a Sensitive Search Strategy for Research in Pharmacy Education
• Preparing for Accreditation: A National Survey of Self-Study Practices in Doctor of Pharmacy Programs
• National Survey of Motivators and Barriers to Precepting Introductory and Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences

Fusco was appointed to the Editorial Board of the American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education (AJPE).

Pizzutelli was nominated as a candidate for the AACP Council of Faculties Administrative Board election.

Mary Riedy, PharmD, Margaret Hempling McGlynn Endowed Chair in Clinical Pharmacy and clinical assistant professor of pharmacy practice, was appointed Chair-Elect of the Pediatric Pharmacy Special Interest Group (SIG).

“Serving as the AACP Pediatric SIG Chair-elect represents an opportunity to lead a community of educators who share a passion for improving pediatric pharmacy education,” Riedy said. “I am committed to fostering collaboration among members, promoting innovative teaching strategies, and creating opportunities for engagement to strengthen our collective impact.”

Gayle Brazeau, PhD '89, MS, adjunct professor, received the AACP Distinguished Service Award, recognizing more than two decades of meaningful contributions to scholarship in education and her systematic, sustained influence on the advancement of the academy of pharmacy.

Kyle Shapcott, PharmD, clinical assistant professor of pharmacy practice, was recognized as one of AJPE’s Top Peer Reviewers for the past year.

Adia Vazquez, PharmD ’27, completed the 2025 AACP Aspiring Academics Program, a yearlong program that introduces pharmacy students to career opportunities in academic pharmacy.

Riedy was honored with the AACP Pediatric SIG Excellence in Teaching in Pediatric Pharmacy Award for her innovative course that explores the use and impact of patient-teachers in a pediatric rare genetic disorders elective course.