Looking Sharp in Round Rock

UHCOP Students, Alumni and Staff Reap Leadership, Competition and Scholarship Honors at TSHP Annual Seminar

April 26 — University of Houston College of Pharmacy students, alumni, staff and faculty drew several top honors for leadership, service, and competitive presentations at the Texas Society of Health-System Pharmacists Annual Seminar April 5-7 in Round Rock. 

Student Achievements

Among the college's professional and graduate program students receiving recognition were: 

For a third consecutive year, a UHCOP team has won the case-based Leadership Challenge. Pharm.D. candidate Adam Siddique and third-year Pharm.D. students Gia Tran, Julia White and Emmanuel Iruru secured the title this year. Siddique has been on the winning team all three years, while Iruru is making his triumphant return from 2022. Fellow UHCOP students Abhishek Singh, Van Vo, Kotoko Ai and Valerie Nguyen were among the finalist teams in the competition.

UHCOP alumna Lamees Loubani, Pharm.D. ('22), THP Texas Children’s Hospital PGY2 resident/UHCOP M.S. candidate, received an Honorable Mention in the Resident/Fellow/PGY2 Category of the TSHP Research & Education Foundation Research Poster Competition. Loubani’s project was on "Exceeding the Infusion Rate: Evaluation of Adverse Events Associated with Voriconazole in Children."

THP Houston Methodist Hospital (HMH) residents Atra Mouser, Pharm.D. ('22), PGY2/UHCOP alumna and current M.S. candidate, and Alexis Hyman, Pharm.D., MBA, current PGY1/M.S. student, were sworn in as Chair-Elect and Member At-Large, respectively, of the New Practitioners Section. Mouser succeeds 2023-24 Chair and THP alumna Niaz Deyhim, Pharm.D., M.S. ('20), BCPS, HMH pharmacy administrative specialist and system director of the Longitudinal APPE Program.

Siddique received the John Peyton Hudlow and Mark Tamble Memorial Scholarship, while alumnus and current THP Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center PGY1 resident/UHCOP M.S. student Michael Toraño, Pharm.D. ('23), MBA, received the Richard Cadle Mentoring Scholarship for Pharmacy Leadership Award.

Alumni, Faculty Recognition

Several UHCOP alumni and a faculty member also were among the top award winners and honorees.   

Thomas Roduta, Pharm.D., M.S. ('18), BCPS, pharmacy operations manager at Memorial Hermann Memorial City Medical Center and immediate past president of the Gulf Coast Society of Health-System Pharmacy (GCSHP), received the Pharmacy Leadership Award. 

Mallory Gessner-Wharton, Pharm.D. ('11), M.S. ('13), BCPS, director of pharmacy at HCA Houston Healthcare Kingwood, earned TSHP Fellow status and the Joyce Tipton Leadership Lecture Award. As part of the Tipton Award, Gessner-Wharton also presented "Lessons from a Recovering Perfectionist." 

Rodney Cox, Pharm.D., M.S. ('11), a member of the inaugural THP class and director of pharmacy and respiratory services at Memorial Hermann Memorial City Medical Center, wrapped up his leadership of the organization as 2023-24 TSHP President and received an Award of Appreciation from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacy.

In turn, Cox recognized some TSHP leaders with UHCOP ties for their contributions to the organization's success. Among those honored with the Cuellar Star Awards were:

• Joshua Blackwell, Pharm.D., M.S. ('17), clinical pharmacy manager for ambulatory services at UT Southwestern Medical Center, who served as 2023-24 chair of the Public Affairs and Advocacy Council.
• Sarah Lake-Wallace, M.S., Pharm.D. ('00), FTSHP, director of medication safety at Memorial Hermann Health System, who chaired TSHP's 75th Anniversary Task Force 
• Kimberly Putney, Pharm.D. ('00), MPH, pharmacy manager – clinical pharmacy, policy, research and education, director of pharmacy residency programs, and director of the THP at Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center, who wrapped up her three-year term as TSHP Research & Education Foundation President.
• Divya Varkey, Pharm.D., M.S., UHCOP clinical associate professor and director of the THP M.S. program, who completed ended her term as 2023-24 chair of the Communications Council.

Staff Honor

UHCOP Instructional Lab Manager Sherrie Myers, RCPhT, was honored with the Mike Knapp Pharmacy Technician Award. Co-chair of the 2023-24 GCSHP Technician Section, Myers was installed as the 2024-25 chair of the TSHP Technician Section at the meeting.