Growing up, Makenna Fox, PharmD ’26, witnessed firsthand the impact healthcare providers can make on someone’s life.
“I had really good physicians and pharmacists growing up,” Fox says. “I wanted to be that for somebody else.” She is now doing just that. In May, Fox is graduating with a PharmD degree from USC Mann and will soon be the first resident in the school’s PGY-1 geriatrics pharmacy residency program.
Fox was born in West Hills and raised in Simi Valley. During her junior year at the University of California, Santa Barbara, she reached out to the USC Mann School’s admissions team, looking to make a connection. She was already determined to be a pharmacist and found a fit with USC Mann by connecting with the school’s admissions team.
“I chose USC specifically because it’s a four-year program,” Fox says. “I wanted the opportunity to apply the knowledge in a clinical setting during the summers. I wanted to take on leadership roles and have time to pursue a research area of concentration.”
Throughout her four years at Mann, Fox commuted from Simi Valley to the USC Health Sciences Campus every day, spending some three hours traveling every day. She found some advantages to the commute, though. Living at home allowed her to save money and stay close to a supportive family. It also taught her a lesson she is carrying into her career.
“It made me think of this as a job,” she notes. “You don’t always work 10 minutes from where you live.”
During her second year, Fox took an Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experience (IPPE) in geriatrics pharmacy with Tatyana Gurvich, associate professor of clinical pharmacy.
Her interest in geriatrics pharmacy took off from there. She shadowed Gurvich through an internship in the geriatrics assessment pharmacy clinic and the UC Irvine SeniorHealth Center in Orange—a two-hour drive from Simi Valley. “Geriatrics is like a puzzle,” Fox says. “How do you get the best outcome for your patients based on their goals and treatment plans? How do I safely monitor their medications?” After graduation, Fox will once again train under Gurvich during her residency program.
“Geriatrics is a very complex and nuanced field, and relatively few students are interested in it because of its complexity. I loved teaching Makenna. She was intellectually curious and was willing to work hard alongside me, taking care of my patients,” Gurvich says. “She is developing into an excellent clinician who will be ready to take care of the next generation of older adults.”
At USC Mann, Fox collaborated closely with Kari Franson, senior associate dean for academic and student affairs and professor of clinical pharmacy, investigating pharmacy intern licensure laws across the United States. Their paper, “Evaluation of Pharmacy Intern Licensure and Leave of Absence Laws and Regulations,” was published in the winter 2026 edition of the journal California Pharmacist.
Through their research, they advocated for state boards and legislators to extend the intern licensure window in California. Their goal is to provide students with the flexibility to address personal circumstances, such as medical or family issues, and the ability to continue working as an intern during a leave of absence from the pharmacy school—one of the most important parts of pharmacy education, in her words.
Fox also served on the Student Admissions Committee and later as the vice president of admissions and recruitment for USC Mann’s Associated Student Pharmacists. Additionally, as a John and Margaret Biles Student Ambassador, she led orientation and represented the school at numerous high-impact events.
“My participation in on-campus roles provided me the opportunity to help recruit the next generation of pharmacy students. I’ve been given all this assistance,” Fox says. “How can I pass it forward?”
“It really does demonstrate the impact of the Trojan network,” she explains. At every rotation site, she found USC Mann alumni. Every mentor, whether faculty or preceptor, offered her not just instruction but also opportunity.
“I’ve been mentored by so many and want to offer the same to others in the future, whether as faculty or preceptor,” she says.
During her residency, Fox will train at Los Angeles Jewish Health in the San Fernando Valley and the UCI SeniorHealth Center in Irvine. She will also spend one day a week teaching at the Mann School.
She is considering a PGY-2 residency program in ambulatory care or geriatrics, with a long-term goal of earning board certification in geriatrics pharmacy. Eventually, she hopes to combine clinical practice with a faculty appointment, following the model set by mentors who shaped her path.
“What was passed on to me, it’s my duty to pass on to others,” she says. “I look forward to a career that encompasses my geriatric practice with continuing research and a commitment to service.”