News

At the UCSF School of Pharmacy, innovation in patient care often starts beyond clinic walls. Through programs like Cut Hypertension, Director of Community-Based Practice Innovation, Crystal Zhou, PharmD, is closing gaps in access to care and improving health outcomes while shaping the next generation of pharmacists. 

Six years apart on their parallel paths, the Bulla sisters share a first-generation experience from becoming pharmacy technicians to patient care in clinical pharmacy.

From her early specialization in oncology to her transition into industry, Melissa Montez, PharmD ’00, built a career rooted in patient impact and now mentors UCSF pharmacy students to imagine broader futures.

First-year pharmacy students officially entered the profession with white coats, words of inspiration, and a warm welcome from the UCSF School of Pharmacy community.

As a neurodivergent, genderqueer, and transmasculine faculty member in the Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences (BTS), Tristan Storm, PharmD ’21, is bridging research and practice while reminding us all: patients are people first.

Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences Professor Joanne Chun, PharmD ’93, PhD ’96 leads the MS in AICD3 program — the first of its kind in the nation focused on AI’s transformation of drug discovery and development. Learn more about how AI-based research benefit patients and how the program is developing leaders who can think across disciplines.

Congratulations to these PharmD students who are among the 2025 scholarship recipients. Scholarships are a key part of financial support students receive to ensure that finances are not a barrier to their success.

World No Tobacco Day is an occasion to reflect on UCSF’s national leadership and innovation in tobacco education — with limitless potential to directly reach patients. Department of Clinical Pharmacy Professor Robin Corelli, PharmD, has been taking on nicotine addiction for more than two decades.

On May 27, UCSF School of Pharmacy proudly celebrated the commencement of the PharmD Class of 2025 at Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco. The moment marked more than the culmination of academic achievement, with cheering family, friends, faculty, and mentors celebrating the achievements of a new cohort of Doctor of Pharmacy graduates.

Lubna Khan, a first-gen graduate in the Class of 2025, has managed to balance the demands of grad school with the challenges of motherhood (she welcomed her third child during final exams) thanks to her family support system and relentless determination.

Her transformative, positive contribution to the human condition through health care and science as a community pharmacy pioneer laid the groundwork for her responses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In honor of National Preceptor Appreciation Month, we hear from preceptors who play an essential role in these educational experiences, guiding students as they refine their skills, gain confidence and prepare for future roles as pharmacists.

Through hands-on workshops, direct community service, and health care-focused outreach, dedicated learners who volunteer for student-led initiatives extend the school’s mission to expand knowledge and improve the health outcomes of people everywhere.

With call centers in Fresno/Madera, Sacramento, San Francisco and San Diego, the California Poison Control System (CPCS) serves as a crucial safety public health safety net, providing free, confidential and multilingual assistance on over 250,000 calls annually that range from accidental ingestions to occupational and environmental chemical exposures and drug overdoses.

As COVID-19 cases began rising in San Francisco, UCSF Health mobilized to vaccinate thousands of frontline workers; secured and rapidly deployed new therapeutics; and worked with public health and pharmacy leaders nationwide to share protocols and best practices as new therapies emerged, while promoting equitable access.

Energized from a yearlong term as global chair at England’s University of Bath, Fran Aweeka, PharmD, is embracing the challenge of finding new ways to foster international collaboration in pharmaceutical sciences.

As managing director of the California Poison Control System (CPCS) Fresno/Madera division, Serena Huntington, PharmD ’11, DABAT, has dedicated her career to advancing public health by protecting against toxic exposures in her local community.