The New York State Council of Health-System Pharmacists
Research and Education Foundation

NYSCHP REF Board of Directors 2021- 2022
NYSCHP REF Award Process and Application
REF Research Awards
REF Award Recipients

NYSCHP REF Board of Directors 2021 - 2022

John Manzo, PharmD, FASHP, Chair
New York University Langone Health

Bruce A. Pleskow, BS, Treasurer

Shaun Flynn, Secretary
NYSCHP

Kimberly Zammit, PharmD, BCPS, FASHP
Kaleida Health/Buffalo General Hospital

Frank Sosnowski, BS, MS
Montefiore Medical Center

Deborah A. Wible, PharmD
Pharmatechno Consulting

Marcia Gutfeld, PharmD, MBA

Philip Manning, MScPharm, BS
Montefiore Medical Center

Gerry Meglio, BS
Lilly USA

Rosario (Russ) Lazzaro, MS, RPh
NYU Langone Health/Perlmutter Cancer Center

Lisa Phillips, B.S., PharmD, CACP ,BAAP
St. John Fisher College (SJFC) and Wegmans School of Pharmacy

Darren Culshaw, PharmD
Global Center for Scientific Affairs, Merck Research Labs

Lou Diorio, RPh, FAPhA
LDT Health Solutions, Inc.

Angela Cheng, PharmD, BCPS
Montefiore Medical Center

Melissa Porricelli, BS
Novo Nordisk

Kanika Ballani, PharmD

Joseph Pinto, RPh, MS, MHA, DPLA
Mount Sinai Health

Christopher Jadoch, RPh, JD
D'Youville College, School of Pharmacy

Albert A. Volkl, PharmD, BS, BCPS, RPh
Janssen Pharmaceuticals

Terry E. Dunn, Pharm.D.
State University of New York at Buffalo, School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences

Heide Christensen
Good Samaritan Hospital, CHSLI
NYSCHP BOD Liaison

REF CONSTITUTION & BYLAWS

Contribute to the REF or register for an event. - NEW!
Award Interim Report

REF 2019-2020 Industry Partners - Gold Contributors 

• Acel RX
• AMAG Pharmaceuticals
• Astellas Pharma
• AstraZeneca
• Boehringer-Ingelheim
• Bristol Meyers Squibb
• CLS Behring
• Daiichi-Sanko
• Fresenius Kabi
• Relypsa
• Sandoz Biopharmaceuticals
• Teva Pharmaceuticals 

REF 2019-2020 Industry Partners

• Abbvie
• Allergan
• Amgen
• AmerisourceBergen
• Athenex
• Consortiex
• Equashield
• First Databank
• FFF Enterprises
• Grifols

REF 2018-2019 Industry Partners - Gold Contributors 

• Acel RX
• AMAG Pharmaceuticals
• Astellas Pharma
• AstraZeneca
• Boehringer-Ingelheim
• Bristol Meyers Squibb
• CLS Behring
• Daiichi-Sanko
• Fresenius Kabi
• Relypsa
• Sandoz Biopharmaceuticals
• Teva Pharmaceuticals 

NYSCHP REF Award Application

 Submission

The completed application of the project proposal in Microsoft Word or PDF format should be submitted to: Kim Zammit c/o Shaun Flynn at [email protected]

To be accepted, the completed application must be submitted by February 15th, 2021. Deadline Passed

NYSCHP REF Award Recipients

1988 

Dr. Henry Cohen
Glaxo Award: Comparison of Intermittent Infusion vs. Continuous Infusion of Cefuroxime in the Treatment of Lower Respiratory Infections

Geriatric Award: Alteration in Theophylline Protein Binding in Critically Ill Patients

Steven Benkert, RPh
Merck Award: Impact of Monitoring Peak and Trough Plasma Vancomycin Levels Versus Trough Plasma Levels Only on Prescribing Habits and Patient Care: An Outcomes Analysis

Rashella Minsteris
Pfizer Award: Knowledge of Preventive Behavior of Osteoporosis in Women of Various Age Groups: A survey

Dr. Damary Castanheira
Robert Wood Johnson Ortho Award: The Effects of Antimicrobial Drug Therapy on Acid Fast Bacilli Smear Negative, Culture Positive Mycobacteria Screening in HIV Positive Patients

Dr. Laurie Briceland
Demonstration Project Grant: Facilitation and Documentation of PharmD Clerkship Students’ Provision of Pharmaceutical Care by Palmtop Computerization

2000

Dr. Darren Culshaw
Pfizer Award: The Impact of MHG Automatic Conversion Program: Atorvastain, Fluvastatin and Pravastatin to Simvastatin

Dr. Roy Guharoy
Lederle Research Award: National Survey of Therapeutic Substitution Policies and Practices in Academic and Non-academic Hospitals

Xue-Min Huang
UpJohn Research Award: ThePrevalence of Using an ACE-1 in the Diabetic Patient

2001

Dr. Roy Guharoy
Seymour and Elizabeth Katz Award: Non-punitive Medication Error Reporting Systems

2002 

Eric Hopson and Nancy Waite
Demonstration Project Grant: Refining a Pharmacy-Managed Adult Pnuemococcal Vaccination Model

2003 

Dr. Jeanne Marraffa
Pfizer Award: TheSsignificance of CYP 2D6 Inhibition by Propoxyphene

Dr. Patrick Smith
UpJohn Award: Effect of St. John’s Wort on the Pharmacokinetics of Imatinib in Health Volunteers

Dr. Bishoy Luka
Merck Award: Cost-Effectiveness of Fomepizole Versus Ethanol in the Management of Acute Ethylene Glycol Toxicity

Dr. Stephanie Seyse
Geriatric Award: Assessment of Digoxin Prescribing for Patient Over 75 Years of Age

Dr. Adrienne Smith-McGough 
Amgen NYSCHP REF Oncology Leadership Award: The Effect of Selected Cytochrome P450 Inhibitors on the Effectiveness of Tamoxifen in patients with Estrogen Receptor Positive Breast Cancer

2004 

Dr. Danielle Blais
Pfizer Award: Comparison of Nursing Assessment of Sedation in Bispectral Analysis in ICU Patients, A Pilot Study

Dr. Lisa Charneski
Glaxo Research Award: Penicillin Allergy May Be Hazardous to Your Health: Implementation of an Evidence Based Detection Process of True Allergy in a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital

Marvin Knoeck, Jr
Merck Award: Single Dose Rasburicase Plus Oral Allopurinol: An Effective Alternative in the Management of Tumor Lysis Syndrome

Dr. Robert DiCenzo
Amgen NYSCHP REF Oncology Leadership Award: Optimal Breast Cancer Adjuvant Chemotherapy Dosing in Obese and Overweight Women

2005 

Dr. Roy Guharoy
Lederle Research Award: Prevalence and Cost Savings of Therapeutic Interchange Among US Hospitals

Glaxo Research Award: National Surgical Infection Prevention Guideline: Practice Analysis and Identification of Areas for Improvement in a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital

UpJohn Award: A Comparison of Patient Medication Knowledge with and without Pharmacists Discharge Consultations

Karl Williams
Pfizer Award: CDTM Boot Camp

Royston Browne
Amgen NYSCHP REF Oncology Leadership Award: A Randomized, Open Label Study for Comparing the efficacy of Gelchair® versus Mucositis Cocktail in Reducing chemotherapy Induced oral Mucositis Pain

2006 

Dr Roy Guharoy
Clinical Pharmacy Services Award: Impact of Adverse Drug Reaction Events (ADRE’s) on Hospital Readmission

Seymour & Elizabeth Katz Award: Benchmarking Impact of Multidisciplinary Team Initiated Computerized Physician Order Entry System on System Efficiency, Cost Containment and Improved Patient Outcome

Dr. Adrienne Smith-McGough
Medication Use Evaluation Award: Factor VIIa and Development of Institutional Prescribing Guidelines at a University Hospital

Dr. John Noviasky
Infectious Disease Research Award: Onychomycosis Treatment Using Topcial Menthol and Camphor (Aka Vick’s Vapor Rub) or Terbinafine Cream: A Perspective Study

2007

Dr Roy Guharoy
Infectious Disease Pharmacy Research Award: Beta-Lactam Allergy-A Myth? A Multi-disciplinary Team Initiated Prospective Intervention Program in Addressing the Challenge

Dr. Adrienne Smith-McGough
Clinical Pharmacy Services Award: Project title, “Determining the Optimal Dose of Warfarin in Patients with Thyroid Disorders

NYSCHP Southern Tier Chapter
Demonstration Project Grant: Leadership Development and Membership Recruitment

Dr. Cindy Ippoliti
Amgen NYSCHP REF Oncology Leadership Award: Study to Evaluate the Efficacy of Palfermin in HighRisk Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation Recipients

2008

Dr. Elizabeth Phillips
The Medication Use Evaluation Research Award: Evaluation of a Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE) Scheme for Deep Vein Thrombosis (DV) Prevention

Dr. John Noviasky
The Geriatric Pharmacy Research Award: Impact of a Geriatric Team on the Outcomes of the Hospitalized Elderly Patient

Dr. Reetu Gupta
The Clinical Pharmacy Award: Correlation Between MDRD4 or Cockcrofy-Gault Equation and Gentamicin Clearance

NYSCHP 50th Anniversary
Demonstration Grant: Understanding the Millennial Mind

Dr. Jeffrey Steele
Amgen NYSCHP REF Oncology Leadership Award: Rasburicase, a recombinant urate oxidase, n reduction of uric acid and prevention of acute renal failure associated with tumor lysis syndrome

2009

Dr. Kelly Jacobs
The Pediatric Research Award: Characterization of Sedation Practices in Pediatric Intensive Care Units

Dr. Brianne Hefty
The Geratric Pharmacy Research Award: Correlation of Gentamicin Clearance with Variations of the Cockcroft-Gualt Equation and Modification of Diet in Renal Disease Equation for the Purpose of Characterizing Renal Function in Older Adults

Dr. Ester Kim
The Clinical Pharmacy Award: Utilization of Proton Pump Inhibitors at a Tertiary Care Teaching Institution: Consequences of Over-Prescribing

Dr Alice Ceacareanu
Amgen NYSCHP REF Oncology Leadership Award: Diabetes Pharmacology in Breast Cancer: Quo Vadis?

2010

Dr Alice Ceacareanu
The Clinical Pharmacy Award: Evaluating the prognostic value of adiponectin levels in diabetics with breast cancer - Role of insulin sensitizers

Dr Ashley Wieldon-Woodruff
The Infectious Disease Pharmacy Research Award: Development of a vancomycin dosing nomogram to target trough levels of 15-20 mg/L in a tertiary care teaching hospital

Dr Amber Ng
Amgen NYSCHP REF Oncology Leadership Award: Evaluation of safety and efficacy of collapsed-dose palifermin (Kepivance®) for oral mucositis prophylaxis in patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation at The Mount Sinai Medical Center (MSMC)

2012 

Dr Tiffany Bias
The Infectious Disease Research Award: Impact of Pharmacy Driven Intervention to Reduce Time to Initiation of Empiric Antibiotic Therapy.
 
Dr. Rachael Aletti
 The Pharmacy Administration Research Award: A Comparison of Pharmacists and Technicians in checking automatic unit dose medications in an academic teaching hospital. “Tech check Tech”
 
Dr. Angela Cheng
 The Clinical Pharmacy Services Research Award: Prospective Study to Evaluate the Impact of Direct Pharmacist Care on the Clinical Outcomes of Heart Failure Patients in a Collaborative Care Setting
 
Dr. Ashley Richardson
 The Seymour and Elizabeth Katz Award: Optimizing Patient Care Through Interprofessional Education

2013 

2014

Roopali Sharma
The Infectious Disease Pharmacy Research Award: Gram Negative Bacteremia: Are Short courses of Antimicrobial Therapy Feasible?

Jason Chheda
The Clinical Pharmacy (CPS)Services Research Award: Comparing Overall Congestive Heart Failure 30 Day Readmission Rates In Patients Utilizing the eMedonline Telephone System versus a Historical Control Group

Eric Sidman
The Clinical Pharmacy (CPS)Services Research Award: Transitions of care of anticoagulated patients: are current practice enough?

Rebecca Cope
The HIV Pharmacy Research Award: Evaluating the Effects of an Interdisciplinary Practice Model with Pharmacist Collaboration on HIV Patients Co-morbidities

2015

Amy L. Dzierba
The Critical Care Pharmacotherapy Award: Pharmacokinetics of midazolam in adults undergoing extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

Corey M. Hale
The Infectious Diseases Pharmacy Research Award: Comparison of AUC:MIC calculations with vancomycin trough serum concentrations in patients with confirmed MRSA infection

Maria A. Sorbera
The Infectious Diseases Pharmacy Research Award: Evaluation of sofosbuvir and simeprevir combination therapy in an HCV/HIV co-infected population
 
Martin Strait
The Infectious Diseases Pharmacy Research Award: Outcomes in community acquired pneumonia with a doxycycline containing regimen versus traditional regimens

2016

Peter J. Aiello
The Pediatric Pharmacy Research Award:  Implementation of a Pharmacist Led Medication Management Program in a Pediatric Sickle Cell Ambulatory Care Clinic

Victor Chen
The Pediatric Pharmacy Research Award: Clinical Outcomes of NICU Patients with Staphylococcus epidermis Treated with Vancomycin

Pavel Goriacko
The Medication Use Evaluation Award: Safety of Dabigatran versus Warfarin in Chronic Liver Disease
 
Jason Babby
The Geriatric Pharmacy Research Award: A Basic Approach to Reduce Inappropriate Dosing of High Risk Drugs in Elderly Patients
 
Cory Hale
The Infectious Diseases Pharmacy Research Award:  Characterization of Drug-Related Problems in Patients Receiving Outpatient Antimicrobial Therapy

Demetra Tsapepas
The Clinical Pharmacy Services Research Award: Innovating in Pharmacy Practice, Virtual Medication Education for Organ Transplant Recipients

2017

Danielle R. Longo
The David Adelman Pharmacovigilance Award: Integrating an ambulatory care pharmacist into the transitions of care process at an academic medical center for patients on high risk medications.

Joshua V. Schrader
The Geriatric Pharmacy Research Award: Readmission Rates Associated with High-Risk Medication Prescribing in Elderly Patients.

Bejoy Maniara
The Infectious Diseases Pharmacy Research Award: Assessing the risk of nephrotoxicity associated with non-renally adjusted intravenous polymyxin B compared to traditional dosing.

Victoria Huang
The Infectious Diseases Pharmacy Research Award: Risk factors for readmission in patients with outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy.

Nikki Bhogal
The Clinical Pharmacy Services Research Award: Pharmacy-Led Interventional Bundle to Reduce Readmissions: COPD Medication Management, Disease State Education and Discharge Phone Calls.

Nikki Bhogal
The Seymour & Elizabeth Katz Memorial Fund Award: Improving Patient Satisfaction Scores and Reducing Readmissions: A Pharmacy and Nursing Collaboration.

2018

Billy Sin
The Clinical Pharmacy Services Research Award: Implementation of a novel practice model to mitigate opioid utilization in the emergency department.

Grace Shyh
The Clinical Pharmacy Services Research Award: Opioid stewardship: Establishing best practices in acute pain management to promote safe and effective opioid use.

Brian T. Mogle
The David Adelman Pharmacovigilance Award: Optimizing vancomycin therapeutic drug monitoring by identifying area under the concentration-time curve thresholds for efficacy and nephrotoxicity in a real-world population of adults patients with MRSA bacteremia: a retrospective cohert analysis.

 Bejoy Maniara
The Infectious Diseases Pharmacy Research Award: Assessment of dual-carbapenem treatment efficacy in patients with infections caused by carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae or Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Julia Sessa
The Infectious Diseases Pharmacy Research Award: The Impact of the Duration of Antibiotic Therapy in Community-Onset Pneumonia Patients on Readmission Rates: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Matthew Li
The Medication Use Award: Impact of Home Psychotropic Medication Reinitiation of Intensive Care Unit Delirium.

Bejoy Maniara
The Joseph Pinto Resident Essay Award

2019

Clinical Pharmacy Service Research Award (completed research) Impact of tyrosine kinase inhibitor starting dose on outcomes in patients with non small cell lung cancer

Chung-Shien Lee, PharmD, BCPS, BCOP
Assistant Professor, Clinical Health Professions
St Johns University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Queens, New York

Clinical Pharmacy Services Research Award (research in progress)

Project PACT-Stroke: Pharmacists Act on Care Transition in Stroke

Jenna Fancher, PharmD
PGY2 Ambulatory Care Resident
Upstate University Hospital, Syracuse, New York and St. John Fisher College/Wegmans School of Pharmacy

Critical Care Pharmacotherapy Research Award (research in progress)

Impact of combination antibiotic bag (CAB) utilization on clinical outcomes among patients presenting to the emergency department with severe sepsis

Curtis Blow, PharmD
PGY1 Pharmacy Practice Resident
Upstate University Hospital, Syracuse, New York  

Infectious Diseases Pharmacy Research Award (research in progress)

Effect of Oral Step-down Therapy on Readmission Rates in Escherichia coli Bacteremia

Julia Sessa, PharmD
Infectious Disease Clinical Specialist
St. Joseph's Hospital, Syracuse, New York

 Clinical Pharmacy Service Research Award (research in progress)

Evaluation of a pharmacist’s impact on antimicrobial prescribing in an urgent care center

Amy Fabian, PharmD
PGY2 Infectious Disease Resident
St. Joseph's Hospital, Syracuse, New York and
St. Johns Fisher College/Wegmans School of Pharmacy

Infectious Disease Pharmacy Research Award (research in progress)

Efficacy of dual-carbapenem therapy versus polymyxin-based therapies against infections caused by carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae or pseudomonas aeruginosa

Bejoy Maniara, PharmD, BCPS
Clinical Coordinator of Infectious Diseases Pharmacotherapy
Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center, Brooklyn, New York

REF Residency Essay Contest Winner

Essay Topic:   Define and Describe an Innovative Approach for Pharmacists in Improving Medication Adherence

Chrissy Vu, PharmD
PGY2 Infectious Diseases Resident, Instructor of Pharmacy Practice
Mount Sinai Health System/Touro College of Pharmacy 

2020

Infectious Disease Pharmacy Research Award (completed research) Impact of a collaborative drug therapy management program for culture follow-up by pharmacists in an emergency department

Christine Ciaramella, PharmD
The Brooklyn Hospital, Brooklyn, New York 

Clinical Pharmacy Services Research Award (research in progress) A retrospective study to evaluate the impact of direct pharmacist care on the readmission rates of heart failure patients in a collaborative drug therapy management clinic

Jessica Cacace, PharmD
Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York

Infectious Disease Pharmacy Research Award (research in progress) Impact of Pharmacist-Driven Azithromycin De-Escalation in Community-Acquired Pneumonia

Pegah Shakeraneh, PharmD
Upstate University Hospital, Syracuse, New York

David Adelman Pharmacovigilance Research Award (research in progress) Retrospective analysis of the safety and efficacy of andexanet alfa versus four-factor prothrombin complex concentrate in the setting of apixaban or rivaroxaban associated intracranial hemorrhage

Katie Parsels, PharmD
Upstate University Hospital, Syracuse, New York

Infectious Disease Pharmacy Research Award (research in progress) Evaluation of Deferred Renal Dose Adjustment of Beta-lactam Antibiotics in Patients with Acute Kidney Injury Secondary to Sepsis

Sumeet Jain, PharmD
Long Island Jewish Medical Center, Northwell Health, New Hyde Park, New York

Medication Use Evaluation Research Award (research in progress) project Identifying Patients Inappropriately Prescribed Aspirin for Primary Prevention in a Primary Care Clinic

Amanda Mogul, PharmD
Binghamton University School of Pharmacy, Binghamton, New York

2021

Justin Andrade, PharmD, BCIDP
Infectious Diseases Pharmacy Fellow The Brooklyn Hospital Center/Arnold & Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (LIU Pharmacy)

Evaluating pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamics (PK/PD) target attainment of beta-lactam antibiotics in critically ill patients

Justin Andrade, PharmD, BCIDP
Infectious Diseases Pharmacy Fellow The Brooklyn Hospital Center/Arnold & Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (LIU Pharmacy)

Impact of a pharmacist-led prospective culture follow-up program for critical microbiology results in an emergency department

You Jin Chang, Pharm. D.
PGY2 Ambulatory Care Pharmacy Resident, Mount Sinai Health System

Effectiveness of Pharmacist-Led Remote Patient Monitoring in Management of Uncontrolled Hypertension in Adult Ambulatory Care Patients.

Rebecca Rainess
PGY2 Internal Medicine Pharmacy Resident, New York-Presbyterian Hospital

The Impact of Clinical Pharmacy Diabetes Management in a Transitions of Care Model.

Sara Belz, PharmD
PGY1 Pharmacy Resident, Upstate University Hospital

Comparison of Estimates of Vancomycin AUC Accuracy of Four Free Online Adaptive Vancomycin Dosing Calculators versus the Linear Log Trapezoidal Rule and Two Post-distributional Vancomycin Concentrations.

Ashley Shtoyko, PharmD
PGY2 Ambulatory Care Pharmacy Resident, Upstate University Hospital

Identifying Prescribing Patterns of Diabetes Medications Among Pharmacists and Primary Care Providers: A Focus on GLP-1 Agonists and SGLT-2 Inhibitors.