Kirby Lee, PharmD

Kirby Lee, PharmD, MA, MAS is Associate Professor of Clinical Pharmacy in the Department of Clinical Pharmacy at UC San Francisco. He received his Doctorate of Pharmacy, Pharmacy Practice Residency Training, Health Policy Fellowship and Masters in Clinical Research Methods from UCSF. He has completed programs in mobile health design from Tufts University and the National Institutes of Health.

Dr. Lee’s clinical practice focuses on medication management and drug therapy in older adults with a particular focus in patients with cognitive impairment, memory and behavioral changes. At UCSF, he works in the Memory and Aging Center where he serves as the Director of the Medication Management Module for the Care Ecosystem Project funded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. This project uses innovative technology to screen for medication related problems and provides education and counseling with medication management for patients with dementia and their caregivers in conjunction with an interdisciplinary team of navigators, nurses, social workers, physicians and pharmacists. He also serves on the Complex Care Support Team at the UCSF Medical Center consulting patients and providers on medication issues arising at home and during transitions in care.

Dr. Lee’s research focuses on improving the quality and safety of medication use for patients with chronic disease. He leads projects using quantitative and qualitative research methods to understand barriers and solutions to optimal medication use by patient, provider and system level factors. Dr. Lee is designing patient-centered health information technology interventions to improve medication safety and health outcomes using dashboards, web portals and mobile applications. In 2011, he established and directs the Patient Health Information Technology Lab for demonstrating and testing website and mobile applications for medication management. This approach provides valuable feedback from end users (e.g., patients, providers) on refining the design, functionality, and usability of various mHealth interventions.

Dr. Lee teaches geriatric pharmacotherapy and advanced topics in clinical care for third year pharmacy students. He is developing practical and applied teaching methods for simulating real world clinical practice to advance students’ problem solving skills and interprofessional teamwork. He is a member of the Interprofessional Education Curriculum Development Working Group at UCSF and teaches pharmacy, medical, nursing, dental, and physical therapy students in the classroom and clinic.