The National Academy of Medicine (NAM) has chosen University of Colorado Anschutz researcher Andrea Sikora, PharmD, MSCR, for its 2026-2028 NAM Fellowship in Pharmacy, part of the NAM Fellowships for Health Sciences Scholars program.
The 2026 class of NAM fellows were selected for their professional qualifications, reputations, and accomplishments. Sikora, an associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Informatics (DBMI) at the CU Anschutz School of Medicine, is one of seven fellows at NAM who will collaborate with eminent researchers, policy experts, and clinicians from across the country during the two-year post.
“They will also participate in initiatives convened by the National Academies to provide nonpartisan, evidence-based guidance to policymakers, academic leaders, health care administrators, and the public,” NAM said in its fellowship announcement.
Sikora, a pharmacist who has previously worked in intensive care units (ICUs), joined DBMI faculty in 2024 to strengthen research relevant to clinical pharmacists. Her work focuses on using data-driven comprehensive medication management, a framework that utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) and clinical decision support systems to improve decision-making and clinical care at the patient’s bedside.
“So much of my work right now has to do with large language models and a big question is how to keep pace and vet this technology to make sure it’s safe in clinical settings, so there’s a lot of stakeholder involvement to better understand AI’s role in clinical pharmacy settings,” Sikora says. “Setting safety and performance benchmarks are important in this space, so this fellowship really lends itself to diving deeper and improving technology, processes, and, ultimately, patient care.”
During her career, Sikora has received several federal grants evaluating applications of AI for optimized medication use in the ICU including a $1.86 million R01 Grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to investigate data-driven optimal pharmacotherapeutic care for critically ill patients and develop tools that visualize AI-informed predictions for critical care pharmacists who are tasked with preventing adverse drug events.
The NAM Fellow in Pharmacy is also awarded a $25,000 flexible research grant to advance their professional and academic career.
The NAM Fellowship, supported through an endowment from the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy and the American College of Clinical Pharmacy, allows fellows to engage in robust discussions with health care and research leaders and participate in the work of an expert study committee or roundtable, including reports or studies.
Fellows will be introduced to a variety of experts and perspectives, including legislators, government officials, and industry leaders.
“This NAM fellowship is an opportunity to take my work to the next level,” Sikora said. “I will learn more about how policy becomes policy and how you can inform policy with research. I’m excited to get started and work with others to go even further on this journey.”
.png)