School Welcomes New Faculty

The School welcomes new faculty members Amanda Burkhardt, Daniel Tomaszewski and Jennica Zaro.

Amanda Burkhardt, PhD, has joined the faculty of the Titus Department of Clinical Pharmacy as assistant professor of clinical pharmacy. (Photo courtesy of Amanda Burkhardt)

Amanda Burkhardt, PhD, has joined the faculty of the Titus Department of Clinical Pharmacy as assistant professor of clinical pharmacy.

She comes to USC Mann from the UC Irvine School of Medicine, where she served as adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics. She was also a lecturer in the Department of Biological Sciences at California State University, Long Beach.

A PhD graduate in immunology from UC Irvine, Burkhardt’s research career has focused on the development of novel vaccines and adjuvants, discovery of cytokines and chemokines, and tuning immune responses to vaccine formulations using adjuvants based on Toll-like receptors and nanoparticles. Burkhardt has lectured and mentored doctoral, undergraduate and medical students, developed engaging course curriculum, and authored multiple patents and journal articles based on her findings.

Daniel Tomaszewski, PharmD, PhD, has joined the faculty of the Department of Pharmaceutical and Health Economics as associate professor of pharmaceutical and health economics. (Photo courtesy of Daniel Tomaszewski)

Daniel Tomaszewski, PharmD, PhD, has joined the faculty of the Department of Pharmaceutical and Health Economics as associate professor of pharmaceutical and health economics.

He joins USC Mann from Chapman University, where he served as assistant professor of pharmacy administration since 2014.

A PhD and PharmD graduate of the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy, Tomaszewski’s expertise includes working directly with payers and healthcare decision makers to optimize medication use and ensure cost effective implementation of pharmacy and health benefits. In addition, Tomaszewski has taught a wide variety of courses within doctorate of pharmacy and graduate programs with a focus on managed care and global perspectives on medication use within the U.S. healthcare system.

Jennica Zaro, PhD, has joined the faculty of the Department of Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences as associate professor of pharmacology and pharmaceutical sciences. (Photo courtesy of Jennica Zaro)

Jennica Zaro, PhD, has joined the faculty of the Department of Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences as associate professor of pharmacology and pharmaceutical sciences. She also serves as the assistant dean for assessment of the Office of Research and Graduate Education.

She comes to USC Mann from West Coast University School of Pharmacy, where she served as assistant dean of assessment and scholarship and associate professor of pharmaceutical sciences. Prior to that, she was research assistant professor and a core director of the Translational Research and Histology Laboratories here at USC Mann. A PhD graduate in pharmaceutical sciences from USC Mann, Zaro has held several roles in the pharmaceutical industry, where she has developed formulations for aerosol products and designed and validated analytical methods for protein drugs.

Zaro’s research is focused on targeted drug delivery applications utilizing protein-drug conjugates or recombinant fusion proteins, for which she has been awarded numerous grants and has published more than 30 peer-reviewed research articles and book chapters. She has recently completed the AACP Academic Leadership Fellows Program, serves on the Board of Grants for the American Foundation for Pharmaceutical Education (AFPE), and has served on several other national and international grant review panels including the National Institutes of Health and the United Kingdom Medical Research Council.