Eight outstanding leaders will be recognized at the 2024 USC Mann School’s Alumni Awards Gala on Sunday, February 25, 2024 at the Westdrift Manhattan Beach.
The honorees are:
Robert Popovian, PharmD ’93, MS ’97, will be presented with the Dean’s Medallion Award. He founded the strategic consulting firm Conquest Advisors and serves as chief science policy officer for the Global Healthy Living Foundation. He is also senior health policy fellow at the Progressive Policy Institute and visiting health policy fellow at the Pioneer Institute. He previously served as vice president, U.S. government relations, at Pfizer.
Steven Dohi, PharmD ’84, will be presented with the Distinguished Alumni Award. He has been director of pharmacy services for L.A. General Medical Center since 2018. Prior to that, he held the same title at San Gabriel Valley Medical Center and has also served as pharmacy director for City of Hope.
Michael Pazirandeh, PharmD ’11, will receive the Young Alumni Award. He is principal medical scientist for managed care and government accounts at Gilead Sciences, where he conducts health economics and outcomes research. He has also held key roles in the field at Seagen, Bristol Myers Squibb and Blue Shield of California.
Raffi Svadjian, PharmD ’03, MBA, will be honored with the Community Service Award. As executive director of community pharmacies, he heads operations for USC Mann’s pharmacies. He is also an assistant professor of clinical pharmacy at the school and previously served as senior director of the Keck Medicine of USC Specialty Pharmacy.
Ramesh Upadhyayula, PharmD, will receive the Honorary Alumni Award. He is the founder, CEO and director of pharmacy for Desert Hospital Outpatient Pharmacy Ambulatory Health, where he led development of its first accredited PGY1 ambulatory care residency program. He is also a pain management practitioner at the Comprehensive Cancer Center at Desert Regional Hospital in Palm Springs, Calif.
Annie Ogostalick, PharmD ’97, MS ’00, will receive the Pharmaceutical Health Economics Award. She serves as field director of Medical Outcomes Science Liaisons at AbbVie. She is also a national clinical executive for Abbott Labs. Her previous experience included being team leader of Outcomes Liaisons at Eli Lilly.
Eric Forssen, PharmD ’77, PhD ’81, will be presented with the Research Achievement Award. An expert in drug development and biotechnology, he serves as principal scientist for Allergan. He previously served as director of pharmaceutics at Gilead Sciences.
Mary Ellen Cosenza, PhD, MS ’08, will receive the Regulatory Science Award. She is president of MEC Regulatory & Toxicology Consulting LLC. During a 20-year tenure at Amgen, she led its U.S. Regulatory Department and International Emerging Markets Regulatory Department and was an executive director of Global Regulatory Affairs and Safety. She also served as Amgen’s senior director of toxicology.
Tickets can be purchased by clicking here. For more information about the alumni gala, visit the event website or contact Cheryl Stanovich, chief development officer, at stanovic@usc.edu.