PHARMACY - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Training Coordinator
Alexis Gaggini received her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Duquesne University, completed a Postgraduate Year One (PGY-1) residency in pharmacy practice at St. Louis College of Pharmacy and Mercy Hospital, St. Louis, and a Postgraduate Year Two Ambulatory Care residency with Mercy Health in Toledo, Ohio. Prior to joining the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy, she provided direct patient care and chronic disease state management as a clinical specialist in ambulatory care and quality coordinator for the Diabetes Self-Management Education program at Kingman Regional Medical Center in Kingman, Arizona where she was actively engaged in PGY-1 Pharmacy Practice residency serving in a variety of roles from preceptor to program director.
Dr. Gaggini is passionate about immersing pharmacy students in the interdisciplinary team at her rural practice site with UPMC Horizon in Farrell, Pennsylvania. At her site, she is engaged with the pharmacy department, serves as faculty within the Family Medicine Residency Program, participates in regional and health system committees, and sees patients in the Shenango Valley Family Medicine clinic. Her practice focuses on increasing accessibility to healthcare resources with an emphasis on the under-represented, rural patient population. Dr. Gaggini is dedicated to leveraging lifestyle medicine to manage and prevent chronic disease states like diabetes, dyslipidemia, and hypertension.
Dr. Gaggini believes the application of knowledge is empowering and that the process of problem solving, clinical application, and arriving at an answer unique to each patient is the most meaningful indicator of didactic success. When learners are equipped with the tools to problem solve rather than recite from memory, they are better prepared to help patients succeed in an ever-changing healthcare environment. Dr. Gaggini precepts the Community Health " Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experience (IPPE) in the first professional year, the Health-System Direct Patient Care " IPPE in the third professional year, and Acute Care and Ambulatory Care Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPE) in the fourth professional year. She is the course coordinator for Professional and Career Development 1 in the first professional year, and lectures in Endocrinology in the third professional year.
Committed to authentic connection, Dr. Gaggini believes that communication, understanding, and mutual respect are essential to positive relationships with learners, patients, and other healthcare providers. She is dedicated to continued personal growth and has a wide array of practice and research interests spanning health equity, behavior change, lifestyle medicine, quality improvement, and chronic disease state prevention and management.
Alison is a program administrator in the School of Pharmacy Office of the Dean. She is responsible for planning our annual Graduation & Hooding Ceremony, White Coat Ceremony, Tucci and Koch Lecture Series, and other various educational and celebrational programs. Alison has been with the University of Pittsburgh since 2011. She is also a Pitt Alumni, and earned her Master of Science degree from the School of Education in 2015. Alison lives in Greensburg with her husband and cat and enjoys running, cooking, and baking.
Job Titles:
- Investigator or Co - Investigator
- Member of the American Diabetes Association
- Member of the UPMC Diabetes Patient Safety Committee
- Professor and Clinical Pharmacy Specialist
Amy Donihi, PharmD, is a Professor and Clinical Pharmacy Specialist in the Department of Pharmacy and Therapeutics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy (PittPharmacy) and a Diabetes Care and Education Specialist with the Division of Endocrinology. Dr. Donihi is a Board Certified Pharmacotherapy Specialist (BCPS) and a fellow of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP). Her clinical practice and research interests focus on inpatient diabetes management, diabetes education, and facilitation of safe transitions for patients from hospital to home.
Dr. Donihi received her BS in pharmacy from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, College of Pharmacy and her PharmD from the State University at Buffalo. She completed a pharmacy practice residency at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Presbyterian. She has been a faculty member at PittPharmacy since 1999.
Dr. Donihi has been a member of the UPMC Diabetes Patient Safety Committee (DPSC) since its inception in 2001, and she has served as co-chair of this system-wide committee since 2010. Through her work with the DPSC, she has collaborated with physicians, nurses, and other healthcare providers to develop, implement, and assess hospital-wide standardized protocols that target inpatient diabetes and hyperglycemia management. In addition, she has worked directly with other hospitals within the health system and beyond to aid in their implementation of the standardized protocols developed by her in collaboration with the DPSC. Eight of the hyperglycemia management protocols that Dr. Donihi designed and tested at UPMC are currently posted to the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) Inpatient Diabetes Resource Center (http://inpatient.aace.com/protocols-and-order-sets).
Dr. Donihi has been an investigator or co-investigator on seven research grants, published more than 20 peer-reviewed papers and presented over 25 abstracts at national meetings describing the development and outcomes of diabetes protocols and programs. Her work has been cited within the American Diabetes Association Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes as well as the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists and American Diabetes Association Consensus Statements on Inpatient Glycemic Control.
Dr. Donihi has been recognized by the leadership of UPMC for her work to improve the quality of diabetes care in the hospital. She was on the winning team at the UPMC Quality Fair five times for five different diabetes-related projects between 2004 and 2013. In 2015, she was awarded the Richard L. Simmons, MD, Speak Up for Patient Safety Award in recognition of 15 years of work as a member of the DPSC to improve the glycemic management and safety of people with diabetes or newly recognized hyperglycemia in the hospital setting.
Dr. Donihi is a member of the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP). Among her other roles, she served as the Chair of the ACCP Endocrine & Metabolism Practice and Research Network (PRN) from 2015-2016.
Job Titles:
- Coordinator of Pharmacy Business Programs
Amy is the program coordinator for the Master of Pharmacy Business Administration program (MPBA). She also participates as the Clinic and Volunteer manager at the Vaccination and Health Connection HUB.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Director of Experietial Learning
- Associate Degree
Anna received her Associate Degree in Business Data Processing from the Community College of Allegheny County in 1986. She joined the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy in April 1990. In her early years, Anna was course support for eight faculty members, including formatting handouts and assisting with class preparation; answering the main School of Pharmacy phone line, copying the student externship manual on the dreaded mimeograph machine, and directing staff, faculty, students, and families to their destinations. Anna was once said to have the œpulse of pharmacy in her hands.
In 1995, Anna was promoted from Secretary III to an Administrator I and became the liaison to all students, preceptors, and faculty within the Experiential Learning (EL) Program. She coordinated rotation placements for students in all years of the B.S., and eventually the PharmD Program. Anna was responsible for handling day-to-day operations of the EL Program.
Maintain student immunizations and CPR certifications for acceptance to learning sites.
Ensure student criminal background checks and clearances are up to date prior to students starting rotations.
Job Titles:
- Director for Systems Transformation Support
- Director of System Transformation Support
Annette Mich, MS, is Director of System Transformation Support across all PERU projects. Annette earned a Master of Science from Rush University and a Bachelor of Science from The Pennsylvania State University. Annette has devoted her career to system design and improvement as a means to helping people succeed at work that has meaning to them. Annette met her husband at and sent her children to Penn State. She Hails to Pitt except when the Nittany Lions take on the Pitt Panthers in football. Pronouns: She/Her
Job Titles:
- Instructional Designer
- Instructional Designer for the School
As instructional designer for the School of Pharmacy, Dr. Stewart develops eLearning programs, particularly in pharmacogenomics. She also shares her work in the field of instructional design through publications and professional presentations, focusing on emerging educational technologies. She previously worked as a language teacher and technology integration specialist in a public school district.
Job Titles:
- Associate Director of Experiential Learning, Assistant Professor
Dr. Yarabinec is a Brother in Kappa Psi Pharmaceutical Fraternity and is a member of AACP and PPA. While living in Texas, she worked with her Kappa Psi Brothers to establish two new chapters: Zeta Lambda student chapter, and Dallas-Fort Worth graduate chapter. Dr. Yarabinec enjoys gardening, hiking, Pitt Football, cooking, anything Pittsburgh, and visiting U.S. National Parks with her husband and two children. She is currently pursuing a Doctor of Education in Higher Education at Pitt.
Job Titles:
- Associate Program Evaluation Specialist
Job Titles:
- Director of Graduate Programs
Bailey Tobias earned a Bachelor of Multidisciplinary Studies from West Virginia University in 2012, a Masters in Education in Student Affairs in Higher Education, and a graduate certificate in Higher Education Leadership. She served as an Academic Advisor at Lamar University in Beaumont, Tx and at the University of Cincinnati prior to coming to Pitt to be a Pre-Health Advisor which is the position she held until starting in the School of Pharmacy. She was born and raised in Latrobe, Pa (site of Steeler Training Camp) so she considers herself home again!
Job Titles:
- Lab Manager
- Research Specialist
Bjoern attended the Naturwissenschaftliches Technikum Kuenkele (Landau, Germany) to become a chemical-technical assistant. He then joined the contract laboratory CBA (Chemische Beratung und Analyse) in Kirkel-Limbach (Germany) where he received vast experience in GC-MS, GC-FID and various other instruments for environmental analysis and food/consumer goods.
After transitioning to the US, he joined Bureau Veritas North America (Novi, MI) as a Laboratory Analyst and supervisor. He then joined the group of Dr. Edward Zellers (University of Michigan) to develop micro-GC systems. Bjoern then transitioned to Dr. Adina Turcu ™s lab (Michigan Medicine) to train in the analysis of steroids in human serum samples and the operation of LC-MS systems. In January 2022 Bjoern started in the Brixius Lab as Research Specialist and Lab Manager.
Brian A. Potoski received his Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Pittsburgh. He then pursued post-graduate training at The Ohio State University Medical Center by completing both an ASHP accredited pharmacy practice residency and a specialty practice residency in infectious diseases.
Upon completion of his training, he joined the clinical faculty and collaboratively established the Antimicrobial Stewardship Program at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Presbyterian campus. This program, now in its 20th year, is a recognized Antimicrobial Stewardship Center of Excellence as designated by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA). Dr. Potoski holds an appointment as Associate Professor, with a secondary appointment at the same rank in the School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases.
In 2017, Potoski was elected the inaugural Infectious Diseases Council Chair for the Board of Pharmaceutical Specialties (BPS) and currently serves BPS as a non-specialty Emergency Medicine Council member. In 2021 Potoski was elected to serve on the Executive Committee of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) Section of Clinical Specialists and Scientists as Director-at-Large through 2024. Potoski was the 2022 recipient of the Rho Chi Innovation in Teaching Award through his work in incorporating Twitter into the School's Infectious Diseases Curriculum.
Dr. Potoski was recently presented the 2023 Stanford I. Cohen Teacher of the Year Award by this year's University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy Graduating Class.l meetings with over 180 invited presentations and 200 abstract presentations. She has published 250 articles and book chapters related to critical care and patient safety. Her endeavors include editing published books on the use of high-risk intravenous medications in special patient populations and drug induced complications in critically ill patients. She is on the editorial board for Critical Care Medicine and Annals of Pharmacotherapy. Dr. Kane-Gill is an active member of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP), and Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM). She is a faculty member of the Research and Scholarship Academy of ACCP. She holds the elected position of President (2022) on the Executive Committee for the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM), which is the decision-making body regarding the governance of SCCM. She is a fellow in the American College of Critical Care Medicine and the American College of Clinical Pharmacy.
Job Titles:
- Director of Finance
- Director of Finance for the University of Pittsburgh School
Brian Zalar serves as the Director of Finance for the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy. Brian has over 15 years of experience working at the University in a financial capacity. Brian facilitates the administration of all aspects of the School of Pharmacy's financial operations and assists in strategic and long-term planning. Brian has earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and a Master of Business Administration at the University.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor
- RPh, Is the Director of Pharmacy Business Programs and Assistant Professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy
Bridget T. Regan, MBA, RPh, is the Director of Pharmacy Business Programs and Assistant Professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy.
Bridget received her Bachelor of Science in 1995 from the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy. After receiving her pharmacy degree, Bridget spent 3 years in the Community Pharmacy sector as a staff pharmacist. She then spent 8 years at Armstrong County Memorial Hospital, serving in the roles of Pharmacy Supervisor, Director of Pharmacy, and ultimately Pharmacy and Imaging Services Administrator. Bridget most recently served as the System Director of Pharmaceutical Care for Heritage Valley Health System. She was responsible for operational budgets for two full service acute care hospital pharmacies, two out-patient, community pharmacies, and a long term care pharmacy.
During her time at Heritage Valley Health System, Bridget obtained her Black Belt in Lean Six Sigma methodology for eliminating defects and improving quality. In 2014, she completed the Executive Masters of Business Administration program at the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh. Bridget was selected to join Beta Gamma Sigma, a distinguished honorary society for business excellence.
Throughout her career, Bridget has been instrumental in streamlining, expanding, and restructuring pharmacy operations, including growth and development of staff and fellow co-workers. Her responsibilities included pharmacy management, strategic planning, contract analysis and negotiation, clinical protocol development, formulary management, automation technologies, and regulatory compliance. She was the driving force behind several successful clinical, financial, and operational programs. Attuned to the dynamic and evolving healthcare landscape, Bridget is an experienced leader and an accomplished professional. an College of Clinical Pharmacy.
Amy L. Seybert, PharmD, is Professor and Dean of the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy. Prior to her selection as Dean, she served as chair of the Department of Pharmacy and Therapeutics for 12 years. Additionally, she was the Associate Director of Pharmacy Programs at the Peter M. Winter Institute for Simulation, Education, and Research (WISER) and served as the Pharmacy Residency Administrator at UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh, the largest pharmacy residency program in the country.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor
- Program Director
Dean Seybert is an accomplished faculty member who has been honored as a fellow of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy and of the American Society of Health System Pharmacists. In 2009, she received the American Society of Health System Pharmacists Research and Education Foundation Pharmacy Residency Excellence Preceptor Award. She was also named as 2021 AACP Distinguished Teaching Scholar. She has earned distinction on the University of Pittsburgh campus as well, having been recognized with the prestigious University of Pittsburgh Chancellor ™s Distinguished Teaching Award in 2006. Currently, Dean Seybert is President of the Board of Directors for the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (which is responsible for accrediting all PharmD programs in the United States).
Dean Seybert has developed a record of outstanding patient care and of creating programs that enhance patient-centered care in cardiovascular disease. She is recognized as an international leader in simulation education in pharmacy and, in 2013, became a certified healthcare simulation educator through the Society for Simulation in Healthcare. Additionally, she established the cardiovascular specialty residency program at the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy which incorporates high-fidelity human patient simulation to advance pharmacotherapy knowledge, clinical decision making and medication safety skills in health care professionals. To date, she has trained over 100 pharmacy residents. An accomplished researcher, Dean Seybert has published over 85 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals and has served as principal investigator on 14 grants in addition to being co-investigator on another 20 grants. Dean Seybert received her BS in pharmacy and her PharmD degree from the University of Pittsburgh. She completed her pharmacy residency in cardiovascular critical care at Tampa General Hospital before returning to Pitt Pharmacy.
Job Titles:
- Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
Dr. Aaron Devanathan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmacy and Therapeutics. He received his PharmD from the University of Pittsburgh and completed PGY1 Pharmacy Practice Residency at UNC Hospitals. He earned a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences and completed the UNC-Duke Collaborative Clinical Pharmacology T32 Postdoctoral Training Program at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy before accepting a faculty position at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Devanathan leads the Certara Academic Center of Excellence program at PittPharmacy.
The Devanathan laboratory focuses on the clinical pharmacology of antiretrovirals and their disposition into biological matrices with the goal of understanding how antiretroviral pharmacology affects inflammatory processes related to HIV-associated comorbidities and vice versa.
Job Titles:
- Senior Program Implementation Specialist
Job Titles:
- Senior Program Implementation Specialist
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor
- Program Director
Job Titles:
- Associate Program Implementation Specialist
Job Titles:
- Executive Assistant
- Executive Assistant to the Dean
Job Titles:
- Executive Director of PERU, Professor
Job Titles:
- Senior Training Coordinator
Job Titles:
- Manager of Technical Writing & Communications
Job Titles:
- Endowed Chair of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Professor
Job Titles:
- Associate Program Implementation Specialist
Job Titles:
- Clinical Pharmacogenomics Fellow
Job Titles:
- Senior Project Implementation Specialist
Job Titles:
- Clinical Pharmacogenomic Fellow
Job Titles:
- Executive Director of Strategic Initiatives
Job Titles:
- Pharmacist
- Senior Program Manager
Job Titles:
- Associate Dean for Graduate and Post Doctoral Programs
- Associate Dean of Graduate & Postdoctoral Programs
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor
- Program Director
Job Titles:
- Director, Training & Communications
Job Titles:
- Director
- Director, John P. and Constance a. Curran Student Center
- Student Services
Job Titles:
- Associate Dean for Equity, Engagement, and Justice, Associate Professor
Job Titles:
- Senior Program Implementation Specialist
Job Titles:
- Senior Training Coordinator
Job Titles:
- Director
- Associate Dean for Community Partnerships, Professor
Job Titles:
- Director of Facilities & Personnel Administration
Job Titles:
- Pharmacist - Comprehensive Medication Management Benefit
Job Titles:
- Assistant Dean of Business and Operations
Job Titles:
- Dean Emeritus, Distinguished Service Professor
Job Titles:
- Senior Program Implementation Specialist
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor
- Director
Job Titles:
- Manager, Evaluation & Quality Improvement
Job Titles:
- Dean
- Senior Associate
- Senior Associate Dean, Professor
Job Titles:
- Dean Emeritus, Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor
- Director of Communications
Job Titles:
- Assistant Informatics Analyst
Job Titles:
- Vice Chair for Education, Professor
Job Titles:
- Program Director
- Clinical Pharmacist, Outpatient Family Medicine
Pitt Pharmacy is located in Salk Hall on the University of Pittsburgh campus in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Salk Hall is home to the School of Pharmacy and the School of Dental Medicine. The building was named after Jonas Salk, the University of Pittsburgh professor who developed the first polio vaccine. Great work continues to take place in Salk Hall several decades after Salk's revolutionary research.
Job Titles:
- Interim Chair, Department of Pharmacy and Therapeutics
- Professor & Interim Chair
Job Titles:
- Associate Program Implementation Specialist, IHSI
Seybert AL. History of Simulation Based Learning and Vision of Future. (Pharmacy 2018, August; 6(2), Pharmacy Simulation Themed Issue, Seybert Editor)
Seybert AL, Kobulinsky LR. Simulation Based Learning: Development, Preparation, and Implementation. (November 2018, Pharmacy Special Issue "Simulation in Pharmacy Education and Beyond, Seybert Editor)
Seybert AL. National Clinical Skills Competition Case: Acute Cardiovascular Disease. American Society of Health-System Pharmacists Clinical Skills Competition 2003.
Seybert AL, Coons JC, Kobulinsky LR. Simulated Electronic Health Record Spotlight. Lippincott Wolters Kluwer, 2017.
Seybert AL. ASHP Pharmacy Residency Excellence Award: Use of Simulation Training: Altering the Environment. Published in: Letters from Pharmacy Preceptors: Pearls for Success. American Society of Health System Pharmacists, 2020. https://doi.org/10.37573/9781585286461
Seybert AL. Bivalirudin administration during percutaneous coronary intervention: Emphasis on high-risk patients. Pharmacotherapy 2002, 22(6):112S-118S. PMID: 12064568
Seybert AL and Coons JC*. Bivalirudin combined with provisional GP IIb/IIIa blockade is safer than heparin plus planned GP IIb/IIIa blockade during percutaneous coronary intervention. J Evid Card Med 2003, 7:173-175.
Seybert AL, Coons JC, Zerumsky K*. Treatment of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia: Is there a role for bivalirudin? Pharmacotherapy 2006, 26(2): 229-41. PMID: 16466327
Job Titles:
- Assistant Dean of Students
- Dean for Students
Job Titles:
- Associate Program Implementation Specialist
Job Titles:
- Director of Experiential Learning & Continuing Professional Development, Professor
Job Titles:
- Director of Experiential Learning
- Director of Experiential Learning and Continuing Professional Development
Job Titles:
- Student Program Administrator
Job Titles:
- Associate Dean for Research & Sponsored Programs, Associate Professor
Job Titles:
- Chairman
- Chairman, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Job Titles:
- Director
- Associate Dean for PharmacoAnalytics
- Associate Dean of PharmacoAnaltyics, Professor