News

Watch a recording of the June 3, 2026 Town Hall.

A study authored by Jonathan Watanabe, PharmD, MS, PhD, chair of the UCSF Department of Clinical Pharmacy, shows that aligning approval across countries could make it easier for biosimilars to reach the market — and hopefully lower costs for all patients, just like generics.

For many aspiring pharmacists, the path to a PharmD begins with a moment of realization: They need more time, more preparation, or more confidence before taking the next step. For Jay Samson, PharmD ’26, Mariah Foley, PharmD ’21, RPh, and Sara Shaikh, PharmD ’21, that turning point was the UCSF School of Pharmacy’s Post-Baccalaureate Program.

On May 19, the UCSF School of Pharmacy celebrated 118 new pharmacists at San Francisco’s Davies Symphony Hall, honoring a class defined by perseverance, leadership, and a commitment to advancing patient care across every corner of the profession.

Scholarships play a vital role in supporting PharmD students, helping to remove financial barriers so students can flourish in their academic journeys and in their professional goals after graduation. See this year's list of scholarship recipients.

Leslie Benet, PhD ’65, professor emeritus in the UCSF School of Pharmacy Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, spent 61 years reshaping how medicines are dosed worldwide and mentoring budding scholars. Yet in a career marked by nearly every major award in pharmaceutical science, he's most excited about what he's doing today.

Dallon Barfield, PharmD candidate in the Class of 2026, was working in his family’s construction business while taking classes when a visiting emergency department pharmacist at Sonoma State University changed his trajectory. What had been a general interest in medicine became a clear career path that many pharmacy students never consider: the Indian Health Service (IHS).

Bani Tamraz, PharmD, PhD, associate professor in the UCSF School of Pharmacy’s Department of Clinical Pharmacy, played a key role in the launch of the UCSF Clinical Pharmacogenomics Program, California’s first program to test gene-drug interactions launched in 2023. 

A UCSF research team led by Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences Chair and Professor James Fraser, PhD and Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry Professor William DeGrado, PhD, has pioneered a breakthrough approach to designing proteins with targeted functions, which could lead to simpler ways to improve enzymes and medications, among other uses, according to a new study published in Nature Chemistry. 

Selected by students to deliver UCSF’s 14th annual Sumner and Hermine Marshall Endowed Last Lecture, Jennifer Cocohoba, PharmD ’01, MAS, professor in the UCSF School of Pharmacy’s Department of Clinical Pharmacy, reflected on how the meaning of time evolves over the course of a career, and offered a message about the power of connection.

Michelle Arkin, PhD, professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the UCSF School of Pharmacy, has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the nation’s oldest and most influential learned societies.

For Liseli Mulala, RPh, PhD, MPH, being a preceptor is more than teaching clinical skills. It’s about shaping how future pharmacists see and serve their patients.

New research led by Kathryn Phillips, PhD, professor of health economics and health services research in the Department of Clinical Pharmacy, is drawing attention to a critical but often overlooked gap in modern health care: without the right diagnostic tests, even the most advanced therapies can’t reach their full potential.

Michelle Arkin, PhD, professor in the UCSF School of Pharmacy’s Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and a globally recognized scientist in drug discovery, has been inducted into the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE)’s College of Fellows — one of the highest professional honors in the field.

The UCSF School of Pharmacy and its PharmD program have again earned top honors, ranking No. 1 in the West and No. 2 nationwide in the U.S. News & World Report’s 2026 list of best pharmacy schools.

A team of experts, including Tram Cat, PharmD, BCPS, associate dean of student affairs at the UCSF School of Pharmacy, has developed “The Preceptors’ Toolkit for Working with Struggling Pharmacy Students” — published in the international, peer-reviewed, open-access journal Pharmacy — that offers a structured path forward for supporting underperforming learners while upholding professional standards.

Seven forward-thinking projects poised to advance the mission of the UCSF School of Pharmacy have been selected to receive support through the 2026 Mary Anne Koda-Kimble Seed Award for Innovation.

Learn about the School of Pharmacy's March 25, 2026 Town Hall and watch the recording.

A study co-authored by professor Jonathan Watanabe, PharmD, MS, PhD, is driving federal changes in how pharmacists nationwide are counted, a shift that would more accurately reflect their increasingly diverse roles.

Rada Savic, PhD, has been awarded a $30.6M grant over five years from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) for a cooperative agreement establishing a global consortium of tuberculosis (TB) preclinical and clinical experts to research the most effective treatment and testing options.