USC Mann has hired a sports pharmacy specialist, Alexis Nicole Brown, PharmD ’25, who will work as a member of the interprofessional USC Athletics health care team.
A 2025 graduate of the USC PharmD program with a concentration in sports pharmacy, Brown has long been interested in the field. A former track and field athlete during her undergraduate years at USC, she holds a master of professional studies degree in sports industry management from Georgetown University.
Here, she discusses her new role at USC and the importance of sports pharmacy.
What are some of the activities you’ll be doing as a sports pharmacist at USC?
I will be integrated into the athletic medicine team and will be involved in activities such as providing individual athlete consultations, monitoring athletes in the vitamin D and ferritin supplementation program, and providing drug information and intake evaluation services. I also see a lot of potential for direct athlete education on topics like dietary supplements, over-the-counter medications, and the risks of doping with various product use.
In addition to supporting student-athletes, I will also be working in partnership with the USC Pharmacy supplement clinic to open up these services to all levels of athletes (recreational and senior) from the greater USC community. The clinic is held at the USC Pharmacy in King Hall on the University Park Campus on Tuesdays.
As a pharmacist and former athlete, what drew you to the field, and what do you find especially exciting about sports pharmacy as a growing specialty? What would you like people to know about the roles pharmacists are playing in this area?
I started playing sports competitively at a young age and continued through college. Being an athlete was and still is a big part of my identity. After finishing undergrad, I completed a sports management program at Georgetown University and spent some time working in college athletic departments, including here at USC, in various roles. When I made the decision to pursue pharmacy, I wanted to find a way to blend my background and professional interests.
The thing that excites me most about sports pharmacy is the fact that it is a growing specialty and there is an opportunity to make meaningful contributions, even as a new practitioner. I hope to see more college athletic departments follow USC’s lead and bring pharmacists onto their athletic medicine teams.
I think people can expect to see more pharmacists applying their clinical knowledge to factors that impact performance, like optimizing health, hydration and electrolytes, nutrition, energy systems, and sleep. The sports pharmacy program at USC Mann is leading the way in providing training for the care of athletes as a specialized population. It’s an excellent way for students and pharmacists to explore the roles available to them in this field.
As an undergraduate student-athlete at USC, you ran the 400 meter sprint—one of track and field’s most demanding sprint events. Are there lessons from that experience that you’ll draw on when working with patients?
The 400m is as mentally challenging as it is physically. My approach was to create a race plan: get out of the blocks strong, maintain my momentum in the middle of the race, and dig deep to push through the last 100m to the finish line. This required me to really pay attention and listen to my body to understand how different factors can impact my performance. In a sport like track where photo finishes are common, the slightest deviation may be the difference between first and second place.
I hope to communicate a similar message to my patients, especially when it comes to medications and dietary supplements. In sports pharmacy, we combine pharmacology and physiology to understand how different drugs affect our body’s systems. It is my goal to use my medication expertise to make clinical recommendations that prioritize my patients’ health and safety and align with their performance goals.
What else would you like for people to know about you?
I was born into the Trojan Family. My mom is also a USC Mann alum (PharmD Class of 1977), so I’m really excited to be back here at USC! It’s also an exciting time to be here in L.A. with so many upcoming major sports events (FIFA 2026, NBA All-Star 2026, LA 2028). This is a time to bring awareness to sports pharmacy and advocate for the inclusion of pharmacists in sports medicine teams. Lastly, I just want to acknowledge all those who have supported and encouraged me along my journey; every coach, professor, mentor, teammate, classmate, my friends and family, and of course, my parents. I may have competed in my last race, but I am honored to once again represent USC. Fight on!