Kroon named CSHP Pharmacist of the Year

Lisa Kroon, PharmD, was awarded the 2019 Pharmacist of the Year Award, the most prestigious award offered by the California Society of Health System Pharmacists (CSHP), on October 19 in Anaheim.

CSHP annually awards one member who has made significant and sustained contributions to pharmacy practice in California.

“Thousands of PharmD students have benefited from her teaching contributions,” said UCSF School of Pharmacy dean B. Joseph Guglielmo, PharmD, in a letter supporting Kroon’s nomination. “The School of Pharmacy could not have a better chair for its pharmacy practice department.”

Kroon, who leads the School’s Department of Clinical Pharmacy, researches diabetes and tobacco cessation. As a pharmacist patient care provider in the UCSF Medical Center’s Diabetes Clinic and Diabetes Teaching Center, she cares for patients with diabetes and other chronic illnesses. In 2004, she co-developed Rx for Change, a comprehensive tobacco cessation training program for health professionals who help patients quit.

She is also instrumental in expanding the scope of practice for California pharmacists. Kroon chaired the California Pharmacists Association task force during the rollout of SB 493, a state law that established provider status for pharmacists and allows pharmacists to furnish hormonal contraception, provide smoking cessation services and furnish nicotine replacement therapy, furnish certain travel medications, administer vaccinations, and order tests. A recent paper by Kroon examined the impact of the hormonal contraception portion of the law and found that pharmacists and community pharmacies were a good access point for patients seeking hormonal contraception.

Previous UCSF School of Pharmacy faculty members who received the award include Peter Ambrose, PharmD (2012); Michael Winter, PharmD (2004); Kenneth Schell, PharmD (2002); Betty Dong, PharmD (2001); Mary Anne Koda-Kimble, PharmD (1991); and Donald Kishi, PharmD (1989).