The power of community is felt every day here in USC Mann. Our dedicated faculty, tight-knit student body, deeply involved alumni and generous donors are united in our mission to improve human health through innovation, compassion and collaboration. Perhaps no project exemplifies the strength of our school’s community as much as our new USC South Los Angeles Pharmacy. It will become our sixth pharmacy when it opens in fall 2023.
The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the rise of pharmacy deserts—urban and rural neighborhoods throughout the U.S. in which residents cannot fill medical prescriptions within an easy distance of home. Our own Dima Qato, the Hygeia Centennial Chair, coined the term pharmacy desert, and her research shines much-needed light on this growing crisis. USC recognized her work as one of the university’s most memorable research studies of 2021.
The South L.A. Pharmacy will help eliminate a pharmacy desert in our community and will serve as a model nationally. The facility will become a hub for our California Right Meds Collaborative, led by Associate Dean Steve Chen, the William A. and Josephine A. Heeres Chair in Community Pharmacy. It will give our students new opportunities for experiential learning and outreach, and will benefit greatly from our volunteer alumni and industry partners.
Our Spring 2022 newsletter—as well as the Spring 2022 issue of Results Magazine, our biannual publication—helps illustrate how the school opens new paths forward in clinical care, pharmaceutical science and education. We highlight new research, welcome incoming faculty and staff, and celebrate eight exceptional leaders, who were honored at the USC School of Pharmacy Alumni Awards last month after a two-year delay due to the pandemic. We also look ahead to the 115th USC School of Pharmacy Commencement on May 13, where we are pleased to welcome George Scangos, president and CEO of Vir Biotechnology, Inc., as the distinguished keynote speaker.
Thank you for your support, which helps make it all possible.
Best regards,
Vassilios Papadopoulos, DPharm, PhD, DSc (hon)
Dean, USC School of Pharmacy
John Stauffer Decanal Chair in Pharmaceutical Sciences