News & Announcements

Su Guo, PhD, professor in the Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, is seeking to expand our understanding of the brain to help treat neuropsychiatric disorders.

Professors William DeGrado, PhD, and Tanja Kortemme, PhD, have landed three out of five inaugural awards given by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) that aim to strengthen the bioeconomy by translating advances in AI into real-world biotechnologies that support domestic manufacturing, sustainable materials, and resilient supply chains.

From designing smarter tuberculosis treatments to engineering new therapeutic proteins and decoding the genetic basis of disease, research at the UCSF School of Pharmacy is improving patient care and advancing medicine worldwide.

Jennifer Cocohoba, PharmD ’01, MAS, professor in the school’s Department of Clinical Pharmacy, has been selected to deliver the Last Lecture, an annual tradition in which UCSF students elect one faculty member to answer the question: “If you have but one lecture to give, what would you say?”

Sharon Youmans, PharmD ’85, MPH, executive vice dean and professor in the Department of Clinical Pharmacy, has been named to the California Pharmacists Association (CPhA) Hall of Fame, while alum and volunteer faculty member Maria Lopez, PharmD ’01, has been selected as CPhA’s 2026 Pharmacist of the Year.

Balyn Zaro, PhD, associate professor in the UCSF School of Pharmacy Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, has been named a 2026 Bowes Biomedical Investigator, a highly competitive award that supports scientists pursuing bold, high-impact approaches to biomedical research.  

Having spent nearly 27 years overseeing pharmacy services for John Muir Health before retiring as chief pharmacy officer, Martin Iyoya, PharmD ’83, offers a strategic perspective on how pharmacists have become essential members of health care teams.

Aashish Manglik, MD, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, has been awarded the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in recognition of his transformative work in cellular signaling.

Leaders from the UCSF School of Pharmacy and around the country are working on concrete steps to address pressing workforce challenges and advance the future of pharmacy.

The UCSF School of Pharmacy, through its partnership with Stanford University as the UCSF–Stanford Center of Excellence in Regulatory Science and Innovation (CERSI), convened more than 1,000 leaders from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), academia, and industry for the 7th Annual Innovations in Regulatory Science Summit on Jan. 11, 2026.

UCSF's legacy of global response to HIV continues at the HIV Accessory and Regulatory Complexes (HARC) Center, in based in QBI.

Pharmacogenetics — the use of genetic information to guide medication prescribing decisions — is a foundation of precision medicine, with growing implications for safety, efficacy, and cost savings. At the UCSF School of Pharmacy, Akinyemi Oni-Orisan, PharmD, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Clinical Pharmacy, conducts studies to help ensure that pharmacogenetics will benefit broad patient groups equitably.

George Herbert Pennebaker, PharmD '61, shaped the field of pharmacy through his contributions, including helping to create the Medi-Cal drug program and inventing one of the first pharmacy computer systems.

The staff members are being honored for their project-specific contributions during the first half of the 2025-2026 fiscal year. 

Every year, the UCSF School of Pharmacy welcomes a new class of learners whose paths into the profession reflect the changing landscape of pharmacy. Among the Class of 2028 are a handful of "nontraditional" students who returned to school to pursue a PharmD degree after established careers.

While genomic sequencing promises to revolutionize newborn screening, Kathryn A. Phillips, PhD, a leading health policy researcher in precision medicine, warns that implementation is far from simple.

California is experiencing an unprecedented outbreak of mushroom poisonings, prompting urgent action from the California Poison Control System (CPCS), which is operated by the UCSF School of Pharmacy.

At the UCSF School of Pharmacy, Bo Huang, PhD, a professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, is blending biological discovery with tool-building to reimagine how scientists visualize and understand life inside cells.

Three faculty members — John Irwin, PhD, Aashish Manglik, MD, PhD, and Brian Shoichet, PhD — are named in Clarivate’s 2025 list of Highly Cited Researchers, recognizing their scholarly impact and influence in their fields.

Spanning the HIV epidemic, clinical pharmacy professors Betty Dong, PharmD, and Jennifer Cocohoba, PharmD, represent the role pharmacists have played in UCSF’s dedication to evidence-based, patient-centered innovation. 

A new Nature study co-led by Amelia Deitchman, PharmD, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Clinical Pharmacy, offers one of the most promising signs yet that sustained, antiretroviral therapy (ART)-free viral remission may be possible.

Pharmacy Times interviewed Rita Shane, PharmD, FASHP, FCSHP, vice president, chief pharmacy officer, and professor of medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and associate dean of clinical pharmacy services at UCSF School of Pharmacy, who explained that California’s new patient safety law—effective January 1—requires pharmacists to review discharge medication lists for high-risk patients to prevent harmful and often overlooked medication errors during care transitions. 

Lisa Kroon, PharmD, assistant chief pharmacy officer of clinical innovation, education and research at UCSF Health and a professor in the Department of Clinical Pharmacy, discusses the growing interest in GLP-1 medication and the important role pharmacists play in helping patients and clinicians navigate the clinical, financial, and access challenges of these popular drugs.

New research led by Department of Clinical Pharmacy Chair Jonathan Watanabe reveals the economic and access benefits of biosimilar insulins, offering a model for pharmacist-driven health policy and affordability.