Vibhuti Arya, PharmD, MPH, is a Professor at St. John's University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and Clinical Advisor to the New York City Health Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYC DOHMH). In her role, she works to integrate pharmacists into public health initiatives, particularly among high-risk, medically underserved areas in NYC, and advises on legislation. To date, Dr. Arya has been engaged with several efforts including public health detailing, policy planning, expanding naloxone access through community pharmacies, syndromic surveillance, correctional health services, and emergency preparedness. She also serves on the Health Department’s Institutional Review Board. Dr. Arya has demonstrated exemplary leadership across professional bodies and non-profits throughout her career. Within APhA, she is a former APhA-ASP National President and New Practitioner leader, helps lead the APhA-APPM Public Health SIG, and serves on the APhA Taskforce on Systemic Racism. Dr. Arya is also a Global Lead for Equity Workforce Development for the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP). Most recently, she received the Sustained Contributor Award from the American Public Health Association Pharmacy Section, and led a team to win the MIT Hacking Racism Challenge in Social Justice & Policy. Dr. Arya engages students and colleagues to examine programs and policies through the lens of equity, applying social justice principles to reduce inequities in care. She recently gave a TEDx talk on structural racism. Dr. Arya completed the Pharmaceutical Care Leadership Residency at the University of Minnesota, and MPH from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
What unique attributes and skills would you bring to the APhA Board to support the advancement of the Association's priorities?
Advocacy, Community, and Equity are central to my experience in understanding and advancing pharmacists’ role in improving community health. Throughout my career, I have worked to intentionally bridge the gap between pharmacy and public health, with a focus on mentoring students and new practitioners to see themselves as key contributors and future leaders in advancing pharmacists’ role in public health. I have increased the visibility of pharmacists as partners in public health, serving as the subject matter expert to the Deputy General Counsel at the NYC Health Department, and forming advisory groups that put pharmacists at the decision-making table. Focusing on meaningful community engagement and grassroots advocacy, I have developed innovative projects, bringing together technology, public health, pharmacists, and local community partners. One such project included mapping NYC pharmacies with social determinants of health, and provided data driven insights that continue to guide strategic priorities, helped close the equity gap among high-poverty neighborhoods, and brought access to medications for patients who were displaced by Hurricane Maria. Equity continues to be the common thread that weaves throughout my career. As an experienced facilitator of racial justice work, I create tools and resources that integrate equity into strategic planning, project management, and education; I am now bringing this work to the international sphere as Global Lead for Equity Workforce Development for the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP). I will bring this lens to the APhA Board of Trustees and further the conversation on equity, both for patient care and our profession. By increasing advocacy efforts for improved patient care demonstrating pharmacists as key community partners, mentoring students and new practitioners to lead our profession, and holding equity as a priority, APhA will be better positioned to serve our members, our future leaders, our profession, and ultimately our patients.
Sean Jeffery, PharmD, BCGP, FASCP, AGSF, is Director of Clinical Pharmacy Services at Integrated Care Partners, an accountable care organization responsible for Hartford HealthCare’s value-based practice transformation. He leveraged his training in geriatrics and time as a consultant pharmacist within the VA system into leading pharmacy population health efforts within this ACO. Dr. Jeffery works with providers and payers to create novel pharmacist services. He is a tireless advocate for recognition of pharmacists as health care providers. Dr. Jeffery is responsible for the ACO's pharmacy network development, performance and strategy. Dr. Jeffery is also a Clinical Professor at the University of Connecticut School of Pharmacy. Dr. Jeffery earned his bachelor of science from the University of Connecticut and his PharmD from The Ohio State University and completed a specialty residency in geriatrics at the Durham VA and Duke Center for Aging. While at VA Connecticut, Jeffery started a PGY2 Geriatrics Residency. In addition to APhA, Jeffery co-chairs the State of CT's HIE Medication Reconciliation Committee, served as President and Chairman of the Board of Directors for ASCP from 2012–2014 and chaired the AACP’s Geriatrics SIG in 2007–2008. He also chaired the Polypharmacy Special Interest Group for the American Geriatrics Society (AGS). He was recognized as a Fellow of the AGS and an Ohio State University Distinguished Alumni and received the Elan Biopharmaceuticals Innovative Pharmacy Practice Award. Jeffery is completing his first term as an APhA Trustee. He is inspired by APhA members and would be honored to be re-elected.
What unique attributes and skills would you bring to the APhA Board to support the advancement of the Association's priorities?
I’m excited to be a pharmacist practicing at this pivotal moment in our profession! The pandemic has opened opportunities for us to rethink how healthcare is delivered. Pharmacists will show the nation our incredible capacity to vaccinate every community from this virus. Like many others during the pandemic, I've found myself helping out in new and unexpected ways, such as entering COVID orders in our clinical command center. Being able to adapt to circumstances and embrace change is a skill I've worked hard to develop. I'm also very fortunate to have served in various leadership roles in APhA, ASCP, AGS and AACP. Additionally, I am co-chair of a multi-stakeholder group of technologists, informaticians, providers, pharmacists and patient advocates on a medication reconciliation committee in Connecticut. Each of these experiences has helped me be a more effective leader. Working with colleagues with different backgrounds has given me a unique perspective that I bring to APhA. In serving as president of the ASCP, I gained invaluable experience in how organizations work, collaborate, and expand members resources & how pharmacy associations can advance our profession, especially when working together. Now more than ever, our profession needs a unified voice, clarity of purpose, and strong leadership. APhA must continue to cultivate inclusivity and speak on behalf of all pharmacists in advocating for the future of pharmacy practice. My years of committee service have prepared me to be an effective Trustee at APhA. One of my strengths is being a good listener. It helps ensure I hear diverse opinions. Eventually the pandemic will pass and in its wake will be new opportunities for pharmacists to deliver value based healthcare. I helped create APhA's current strategic plan and would be honored to help implement it over the next 3-years if reelected.