SPOKANE, Wash.—Julie Akers, Pharm.D., has been selected for the National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) Foundation Faculty Scholars program.
Akers will receive a $2,500 research grant from NACDS and is currently working on a research proposal. According to the program outline, each faculty scholar will design and implement a patient-focused research project conducted in a community pharmacy setting during the next year.
“Community pharmacy patient-care focused research will lead to better access to care and health outcomes for our patients, which is always my primary focus,” Akers said.
Akers is a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Pharmacotherapy and is the second faculty member from the Washington State University College of Pharmacy to be selected for the program. She will be working with former NACDS scholar Kimberly McKeirnan as her onsite faculty mentor in Spokane. McKeirnan is also a clinical faculty member at the College of Pharmacy.
Akers is from Lewiston, Idaho, and joined the faculty at WSU in 2013 after working as a pharmacy district manager for Bartell’s in the Seattle area and then as the retail pharmacies manager for the Everett Clinic. Akers is a past president of the Washington State Pharmacy Association (WSPA), is currently serving her 10th year on the WSPA board of directors, serves on the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) government affairs committee, and has served as a delegate to APhA representing the State of Washington for several years.
The NACDS Foundation focuses on community pharmacy and public health research that contributes to improving patient outcomes. The Faculty Scholars program helps new faculty members to get research in this field off the ground.
“Coming from a community pharmacy background, research methodology and publication were not something I had spent time on after graduating pharmacy school,” Akers said. “Through this program I hope to better understand different research methodologies as well as learn strategies to systematically progress through a project.”
Details on the NACDS Foundation Faculty Scholars Program: https://www.nacdsfoundation.org/
More information on Dr. Julie Akers: https://pharmacy.wsu.edu/directory/julie-akers/