It's been a successful 2024 at CU Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences! As we look back on what we've accomplished, we've collected the most read stories of the year. From new accreditations to a a new department chair and everything in between, this year was one for the books.
As the admissions manager at CU Pharmacy, it’s Bri Maestas’ job to know who has applied; where they are in the process and if they are qualified; set up the interviews; and finally, extend offers of acceptance. Maestas isn't your typical admissions manager. She's also the creative mind behind one of Bronco Country’s most popular podcasts, Let’s Talk Broncos (LTB), which airs five Broncos-focused shows a week, as well as a University of Colorado Buffs show and film breakdown contributors/videos; the host of Zero 2 Sixty; guest host of Broncos Country Tonight on KOA 850 AM and 941 FM; she’s appeared on Mile High Sports radio; and she is one of the only female personalities in the Broncos fandom.
When are you reading this? Maybe it’s Wednesday, just after lunch. Maybe it is Saturday morning, and you have some free time. Wherever you are, or whenever it is, at this very moment, the CU Pharmacy class of 2024 is creating change. They started CU Pharmacy in the fall of 2020, the same year the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. It would have been easy to change their mind, to stay in their comfort zone, and to just not. Instead, they showed up because the class of 2024 believes in something bigger than themselves.
It’s February, it’s cold and flu season, and by now you know the drill and you’ve got your go-to feeling-ick over-the-counter (OTC) medication. But what about supplements and herbal prevention remedies? Monika Nuffer, PharmD, Certified Clinical Aromatherapist, is a clinical pharmacist with expertise in Whole Person Health. Dr. Nuffer holds faculty appointments at the University of Colorado at both CU Pharmacy and the School of Medicine, and is the course coordinator and instructor of the hybrid and online Integrative Health and Medicine electives.
Each year, CU Pharmacy shines a spotlight on high-achieving students with the annual Awards Convocation Ceremony. You can watch the full event, click through the photos, and see the full list of award and scholarship winners.
To have one faculty-student pair accepted into the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) Aspiring Academic Program is a point of pride. To have two pairs is unprecedented. That’s exactly what happened this August, when third year pharmacy student Kiri Carmody and Dana Hammer, PhD, RPh, Senior Instructor and Co-Curriculum Faculty Lead at CU Pharmacy, became the second consecutive pair from the school accepted into the prestigious national program.
As a child in a north Denver suburb, Angelica Garcia did not realize that a healthcare career could be in her future. Now a fourth-year pharmacy student, Garcia is on a mission to create space for students like her. One year ago, she approached Chandler Follett, PharmD, Pharmacy Outreach Specialist and Clinical Instructor at CU Pharmacy, with an idea. Garcia wanted to build a pharmacy high school outreach program unique to first-generation students. She wanted the program to address not only navigating a school system not built for them, but to understand their additional daily concerns – such as, worry over a family member being deported, racial violence, and living in a multi-generational household. Garcia strongly believes that these programs work, and that introducing students to careers they never thought possible, such as pharmacy, will increase people of color working in healthcare.
“Think Health, Think Pharmacy” is a new global campaign launched by the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP). It aims to raise awareness of pharmacies as places of primary health care provision, and to advocate for pharmacists as healthcare professionals, primarily in the minds of policymakers but also of several other target groups.
CU Pharmacy Dean, Ralph Altiere, serves as FIP's Education Chair, and sees this move as an opportunity to advance the field of pharmacy.
CU Pharmacy is thrilled to introduce Blake Hill, PhD, as Chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences (DOPS). Dr. Hill’s passion for making a difference in health, coupled with an eagerness to face the challenges posed by environmental and climate-induced changes, will propel the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences to new heights at CU Pharmacy.
CU Pharmacy is ranked as the 15th top school of pharmacy out of the 141 ranked programs comprising the “2024 Best Pharmacy Schools” by US News and World Report. This recognition secures CU Pharmacy’s position in the top 10% of all such schools in the nation.
The Rocky Mountain Remote PharmD pathway at CU Pharmacy is now fully accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), three years after its initial launch.