Meet the newest members of your
Alumni Society Board of Governors

In June 2007, the College welcomed six new members to the Pharmacy Alumni Society Board of Governors. Elected by their fellow Michigan Pharmacy graduates, these members have pledged to represent the broad base of College alumni; to take a leadership role in supporting College activities; to serve as a communications liaison between the College and its constituents; and to provide counsel to assure that our College’s traditions of excellence remain strong.

In December, John Coombs became director of health outcomes and regulatory strategy in the health solutions group of RTI International. A non-profit firm based in North Carolina, RTI uses research and technical solutions to improve the human condition around the world. Coombs will work out of RTI’s new Ann Arbor office.

For the first six years of his career, Coombs was an associate director of worldwide outcomes research at Pfizer’s Ann Arbor laboratories. His last assignments there focused on health economic and patient reported outcomes assessments for patients with rheumatic diseases.

Coombs says he was inspired to pursue a career in industry as a result of his PharmD research project guided by then-Professor of Social and Administrative Sciences (now Dean) Frank J. Ascione. The project included an examination of hospital pharmacy and therapeutics committees’ decision-making processes and outcomes with respect to formulary management.

After earning his PharmD, Coombs completed a two-year pharmacoeconomics and outcomes research fellowship co-sponsored by the U-M School of Public Health and Parke-Davis. He then joined Pfizer’s outcomes research department.

His decision to seek Board membership came at the urging of former Pfizer associates and current Board members, Tom Macek, PharmD’94, PhD’99, and Kevin Townsend, PharmD’87.

“They were very positive about their own experiences and felt that I would bring a different perspective,” Coombs remarks.

He believes that one role of a pharmacy education should be to “prepare pharmacists to be leaders and innovators, helping to solve pressing problems, such as those resulting from government shortfa lls in healthcare spending,” he explains. “I hope to engage students and alumni in discussions about the cost-effective provision of healthcare goods and services, beyond pharmaceuticals. Pharmacists need to be more directly involved in developing disease-management programs and in shaping health policy.”

John, who recently received his MBA from MSU, is married to Rebecca (Blech) Coombs, PharmD’99, who is a clinical home-infusion pharmacist with OptionCare in Ann Arbor. They have two children, Rachel, four, and Jake, two.

Following graduation, Laurie Greenberg completed a general practice pharmacy residency at The Methodist Hospital (TMH) in Houston, Tex. She then joined Harris County Hospital District in Houston, as an internal medicine clinical pharmacist, doubling as a PharmD preceptor and a lecturer at the University of Houston and Texas Southern University pharmacy schools.

A few years later, Greenberg returned to Ann Arbor, and in 2002, became an editorial board member of Pharmacy Practice News (PPN). As part of her PPN commitment, Greenberg reviews and publishes many articles and advises the journal’s editors on various pharmacy issues.

For the past four years, she has worked at an independent pharmacy, where she precepts third-year Michigan PharmD students. “The students teach me about new laws, and the mechanisms of new medications to treat diabetes, heart disease, and smoking cessation — and I provide them with insights gained from real-life pharmacy practice experiences,” explains Greenberg.

Greenberg also has established an independent consultant pharmacist business. Her clients include community practice sites and contract work with University of Michigan Health System. One of her clients hired her to act as a monthly medication coordinator for assisted-living facilities in the Ann Arbor area.

Through her Board membership, Greenberg hopes to give something back to the College in return for the quality education she received as a PharmD student.

“My Michigan Pharmacy education prepared me for any career path I chose,” she explains. “My top priorities as a Board member are to mentor our students, help alumni/ae become more involved in College activities, and do whatever I can to strengthen our already strong reputation for academic, research, and service excellence.”

When she’s not working as a pharmacist, Greenberg’s favorite pleasures are spending time with her husband, Jayson, and children, Sam, six, and Gracie, four. She also enjoys reading, yoga, running, decorating, and other home-centered pursuits.

Although Kurt Hammond has been at CVS’s Saline location since graduation, his affiliation with the company goes back to his days as a PharmD student when he worked at a CVS store on Ann Arbor’s northeast side.

The greatest reward of being a CVS pharmacist, Hammond says, is working hard for patients and being thanked by them for caring so much. He remarks that his Michigan Pharmacy education prepared him to be accountable for his patient-care activities in the CVS stores where he’s been working.

Hammond precepts third-year Michigan PharmD students as well as P-4 students from the University of Toledo. “I see myself in all of my students,” he says. “I give them the best advice I can and teach by example. You realize you’ve made an impact when you hear them give the same recommendations in the same way you would; talk to other health professionals the same way you do.”

His decision to seek election to the Pharmacy Alumni Board of Governors was a means to stay connected to the College and the University, explains Hammond.

As a Board member, his main interest is to help keep a Michigan Pharmacy education affordable. A non-traditional student and single father for most of his college years, Hammond worked year around to help make ends meet. Despite his diligence and receiving the Elise Katz-Rouhier Memorial Scholarship, the Plough Scholarship, and the Joseph Williams Scholarship, Hammond still accumulated considerable education-related debt.

His own financial struggles were one reason he volunteered to serve as a chair of his class pledge drive committee. The PharmD Class of 2004 set a record (since eclipsed) with $43,000 in pledges, all of it earmarked for PharmD student support.

Hammond’s fondest College memories are those spent with classmates: studying together, socializing at Goodtime Charlie’s just down the street from the College, and talking about sports.

Kurt and Laura Hammond have been married for seven years and have four children: Blake, 18; Luke, three; and twins Grace and Jacob, one year.

Sarah Nordbeck has been employed by William Beaumont Hospital since she graduated in 2001. After completing a general pharmacy practice residency at Beaumont in June 2002, she worked as a staff-clinical pharmacist for 15 months. She became a nutrition support pharmacist in October 2003, and was certified in nutrition support in December 2005. Her major job responsibilities include direct patient care as part of a multi-disciplinary adult total parenteral nutrition (TPN) team of nurses and physicians.

Nordbeck precepts PGY-1 pharmacy residents as well as PharmD students from Wayne State University. Nordbeck hopes to begin precepting Michigan PharmD students this year.

“I appreciate eagerness and a willingness to learn in my students,” she explains. “I try to cultivate a positive and fun learning environment.”

A member of Beaumont’s PGY-1 residency recruitment committee, Nordbeck has been a consistent participant in the College’s annual Career Gateway event.

“We have recruited a number of U-M graduates over the years, and several have stayed on at Beaumont once their training is complete,” she observes. “The College’s Career Gateway event provides an excellent opportunity to sell our residency program while students are still exploring their options.”

Nordbeck remarks that she was pleasantly surprised to be nominated for Board membership, and then elected to a three-year term. Now that she’s a member, she’s thrown herself into the task.

“I have such wonderful memories of U-M and look forward to giving back in whatever ways I can,” she says. “One of the biggest issues in pharmacy education today is having enough preceptors for P-4 clerkships. P-4 clerkships are crucial for training students.”

Her favorite Michigan student memories include membership in Phi Delta Chi; the support of Assistant Dean Valener Perry; and the lasting friendships she’s built, especially with Lisa Hackbarth and Mark Lutz, both PharmD’00, and Marisa Mendez, PharmD’01.

Her proudest professional achievement to date?

“Becoming a Board Certified Nutrition Support Pharmacist on my first attempt,” Nordbeck states. “The 50 percent failure rate was all the motivation I needed to study hard!”

Having grown up in a small town where close personal relationships are the norm, Doneka Scott thrived in the College’s family atmosphere. For Scott, no one epitomized that more than Assistant Dean Valener Perry.

“How she knew every student by name and if they missed class that day, I will never know!” remarks Scott. “I will also always feel indebted to Eddie Boyd, PharmD, and Sally Guthrie, PharmD, for being such great mentors.”

Scott’s Michigan Pharmacy years were rich with memories: fun times with classmates, and bountiful opportunities for extracurricular involvement and leadership development. One of her most cherished experiences was as the graduate student representative on the Presidential Search Advisory Committee, which advised the U-M Regents on their selection of Lee Bollinger, Michigan’s 12th president.

Asked what prompted her to seek a position on the College’s Alumni Board, Scott replies: “I am truly indebted to the College. I received so many benefits vis-à-vis a stellar education, student financial support, leadership opportunities, etc. I wanted to give something back.”

At the University of Minnesota, Scott teaches, conducts educational research, and mentors and interacts with PharmD students. “I’m part of preparing our next generation of leaders. It doesn’t get better than that,” Scott says.

After graduation from Michigan, Scott completed a residency/ fellowship in toxicology and emergency medicine at the University Medical Center in Jacksonville, Fla. She then joined the faculty in the Departments of Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics at Wayne State University School of Medicine and served as the associate director of the Children’s Hospital of Michigan Regional Poison Control Center.

Always interested in student development and, more specifically, access, retention, and progression of students in postsecondary education, Scott returned to the U-M in 2004. Here, she earned a master’s degree in higher and postsecondary education. She, her husband, Cedric Skillon, MD, and their infant daughter, Erin, now four, then moved to Minnesota. Scott is currently pursuing a PhD in education policy and administration with an emphasis in higher education at U-Minn.

Prior to his current term, Stephen Smith also served on the College’s Alumni Board of Governors from 1984 to 1990, and completed a one-year relief term on the current Board leading up to his June 2007 election. Smith sought election to a new, three-year term in order to have a direct hand in how the next generation of pharmacy professionals is educated and mentored. “I strongly believe that new pharmacists need to have role models to emulate, so mentoring is crucial,” he says. “When I was a Michigan Pharmacy student, my role models were Eddie Boyd, PharmD; Rosemary Berardi, PharmD’68; Leslie Shimp, BSPharm’74, PharmD’76; and Jim Richards, BSPharm’55. Their example and passion for their profession continue to influence the way I practice today.”

As director of pharmacy services at Karmanos Cancer Center, Smith is responsible for setting the overall vision and direction of the pharmacy department within the growing Cancer Center.

“Working with physicians, nurses, and other professionals in designing and setting up contemporary pharmaceutical practice in our new hospital is a daunting task,” Smith notes. “However, my colleagues understand the value a pharmacist brings to direct patient care and want to help me maximize pharmaceutical-care services for our patients.”

Following graduation in 1979, he worked as the bone marrow transplant pharmacist at Harper Hospital in Detroit. Over the past 28 years, he’s held various positions in pharmacy and information services within the Detroit Medical Center (DMC) and St. John Health systems. He returned to DMC in 2004 specifically to transition oncology pharmacy services out of Harper Hospital and into an independent cancer hospital: the Karmanos Cancer Center, which began operations in December 2005.

“It’s a rare opportunity to build an operation from the ground up,” Smith says. “To be able to do it at one of the nation’s 39 comprehensive cancer centers is a challenge and an opportunity too good to pass up.”

Through residency and preceptor programs Smith has mentored many Wayne State University and U-M students. It’s a role he relishes. “Students keep me on my toes professionally because they force me to rethink my views on a variety of pharmacy issues. I count many former residents and students among my closest colleagues.”

Smith is a member of the American Society of Health Systems Pharmacists, the Michigan Pharmacists Association, Michigan Society of Health Systems Pharmacists, and the Southeastern Michigan Society of Health Systems Pharmacists. In 2000, he was elected an ASHP Fellow. He currently serves as the 2008 President of the Michigan Society of Health Systems Pharmacists.

A Pharmacy Alumni Board member since 2002, Sandy Goel’s fellow Board members elected her Board president in spring 2007.

“To be chosen Board president by so accomplished a group of fellow alumni is a great honor,” states Goel. “During my five-plus years on the Board, I’ve noticed an intensified commitment in the areas of student mentoring, fundraising, leadership, and other activities of strategic importance to the College. My goal as Board president is to build upon the progress we’ve made.”

In 2007, Goel joined Arbor Communications, Inc. (ACI), a subsidiary of Philadelphia-based JK Associates, Inc. At ACI, she is responsible for strategic publication planning and medical writing for scientific journals. Goel’s first job was at Janssen Pharmaceutica in Titusville, N.J. There, she was an assistant director in medical affairs involved in sales training, marketing support, and medical communications, primarily in the area of Alzheimer’s disease. Between ACI and Janssen, Goel was a freelance medical writer.

Helping launch a new Alzheimer’s treatment while at Janssen remains one of her most satisfying career achievements.

“It was gratifying to provide medical education to healthcare professionals treating a devastating disease, and to know that my contributions made a difference,” Goel explains.

College service is nothing new for Goel. As a Michigan PharmD student, she held several leadership positions including APhA-ASP chapter president.

“My student leadership experiences helped me hone my organizational and people skills, which in turn segued into some of the professional and networking successes I’ve enjoyed since graduating,” Goel remarks. “I encourage our students to make the most of the many leadership opportunities our College offers.”

Last year, Goel took part in a three-week group excursion to the Himalayas in Nepal.

“It was the culmination of a lifelong dream,” she says. Goel visited Hindu and Buddhist temples in Katmandu, and then trekked to Mt. Everest Base Camp at 17,600 ft. As part of the trip, she and her traveling companions donated time, talent, money, and possessions to help the people of Nepal. Goel’s contributions included clothing and fundraising. She notes, with pride, that some of her most generous supporters included fellow Michigan Pharmacy alumni.