The PQI Podcast

This week we sit down with Alison Gulbis, PharmD, BCOP, Kamakshi Rao, PharmD, BCOP, FASHP, and Zahra Mahmoudjafari, PharmD, MBA, BCOP, FHOPA to discuss their work on the Oncology Workforce Collaborative. 

Alison is a Clinical Pharmacy Manager at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX. She obtained her PharmD at the University of Florida and completed her PGY1 and PGY2 residencies at the Medical University of South Carolina. She has been in clinical practice for 19 years at MD Anderson and manages a team of clinical pharmacy specialists in pediatric hematology/oncology and adult stem cell transplant.

Kamakshi is an Interim Director of Pharmacy at the University of North Carolina Medical Center in Chapel Hill. She oversees Adult Ambulatory and Acute Clinical Services as well as the hospital’s academic enterprises, including resident and student training programs.  Additionally, she leads the department’s growing efforts around diversity, equity, and inclusion. She spent 20 years in direct patient care, working with patients undergoing bone marrow transplants at the North Carolina Cancer Hospital before moving into her current role.

Zahra is a Clinical Pharmacy Manager in the Division of Hematologic Malignancies and Cellular Therapeutics at the University of Kansas Health System (TUKHS). She earned her PharmD and MBA from the UMKC School of Pharmacy and the Henry W. Bloch School of Management. She completed residency training at The Ohio State University Medical Center and The Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah. She has been a board-certified oncology pharmacist since 2012. In 2022, she was the recipient of the ASTCT Pharmacy Special Interest Group Lifetime Achievement Award and ASCO’s 40 Under 40 in Cancer award.

You can read more here: https://accpjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jac5.1693

This week we sit down with Sotirios-Charalampos (Sotiris) Diamantoudis and Elpida Lytra to discuss the new NCODA Greece PSO Chapter, Oncology in Greece, and the Cancer Prevention Research Group Greece.

Sotirios-Charalampos (Sotiris) Diamantoudis is a 2nd-year Pharmacy student at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. His passion for oncology has led him to take the position of Co-Head of Chemoprevention, Nutritional Supplements, and Cancer at the Cancer Prevention Research Group in Greece. When he first encountered NCODA in Athens during the 18th European Pharmaceutical Students’ Association Autumn Assembly, where he volunteered, he considered the initiative of most interest and immediately joined in. Taking it a step further, Sotiris notified his network to spread NCODA and its values in Greece. 

Elpida Lytra is a 5th-year Pharmacy student at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. She serves as Director of Finances at NCODA Greece.

You can follow NCODA Greece on Instagram @ncodagreece or on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ncodagreece/.

This week we sit down with Sarah Hudson-DiSalle, PharmD, FACCC, and Jeffrey Pilz, PharmD, MPA, MS, BCPS, to discuss drug shortages.

Sarah manages the Reimbursement Services and Medication Assistance Program for infusion services at the James Cancer Hospital and Wexner Medical Center at The Ohio State University. She oversees the reimbursement staff who obtain authorizations for infused medication and files medication denials at the James and Wexner Medical Center. She also oversees, coordinates, and advocates for the award-winning Medication Assistance Program for patients who cannot afford their infusion medications. 

Jeffrey Pilz, PharmD, MPA, MS, BCPS, currently serves as Assistant Director of Pharmacy for Medication Safety and Drug Policy at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center (OSUWMC) in Columbus, Ohio. In this role, he serves as co-chair for the OSUWMC Drug Shortages Committee and coordinates Department of Pharmacy initiatives around managing recent critical shortages.

*This episode is brought to you by Cardinal Health. Cardinal Health™ Medically Integrated Dispensing Solutions helps your care team navigate industry complexities, optimize your processes and expand the amount of patients you serve. To connect with a Cardinal Health team member to learn more, go to cardinalhealth.com/dispensing.

This week we sit down with Oliver Eng, MD, FACS, FSSO to discuss heated intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC). Dr. Eng is a surgical oncologist and an Associate Professor in the Division of Surgical Oncology at the University of California, Irvine, where he is also Associate Director of the Peritoneal Surface Malignancy Program as well as the Complex General Surgical Oncology Fellowship. He is a double board-certified surgeon and surgical oncologist who specializes in the treatment of cancers in the abdomen, particularly cancers that have spread to the peritoneum, the membrane that lines the abdominal cavity. He specializes in complex cytoreductive surgery and heated intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC). 

Dr. Eng has co-authored numerous peer-reviewed manuscripts in journals including Cancer Discovery, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Cancer, and British Journal of Cancer. He has received numerous teaching and research awards and was most recently a recipient of The Lynx Group’s 40 Under 40 in Cancer Award, which recognizes the contributions being made across the field of cancer by emerging leaders nationally.

On this week's episode of The PQI Podcast, we sit down with Ngozi Agwai to discuss cancer care in Nigeria. Ngozi is a Public Health Professional, working as a Patient Support Manager for Run for a cure Africa, which is a non-for-profit organization that provides psychological support to patients diagnosed with breast cancer.  She’s currently listed as one of the 40under40professionals in cancer care 2022 worldwide. 

*This episode of the podcast was recorded prior to World Cancer Day on Saturday, February 4, 2023.

This week we sit down with Sami Mansfield to discuss exercise as it relates to cancer treatment and survivorship. Sami is the founder of Cancer Wellness for Life, which focuses on developing, implementing, and enhancing oncology wellness and exercise resources. Her consulting efforts serve cancer centers, hospital and health care organizations, pharmaceutical companies, non-profits, and individuals impacted by cancer. 

Sami began her career in 2003 and is one of the world's first cancer exercise specialists and wellness experts. Her experience working with countless cancer survivors worldwide and seeing the power of exercise and wellness strategies in their lives is the driving force behind her persistence and passion. 

She is the Director of Oncology Wellness for the Sarah Cannon Cancer Institute at HCA Midwest Health, a program she developed in 2017. She is also a contributing author on the topic of exercise and has provided her knowledge and expertise to many organizations including ASCO as part of their guideline’s implementation team. 

You can find more on Sami here.

This week we sit down with Kyle Bradford Jones, MD, FAAFP to discuss his book Fallible: A Memoir of a Young Physician’s Struggle with Mental Illness and how mental illness and burnout affect clinical teams. Dr. Jones is an Associate (Clinical) Professor in Family and Preventive Medicine at the University of Utah School of Medicine. He graduated from the Medical College of Wisconsin in 2009 and completed his residency in Family Medicine at the University of Utah in 2012. Since then, he has worked at the Neurobehavior HOME Program, a clinical program for individuals with a developmental disability, where he leads the Utilization Management Team. 

He is the author of the award-winning and best-selling book Fallible: A Memoir of a Young Physician’s Struggle with Mental Illness. His most recent book HOSPITAL!: A Medical Satire of Unhealthy Proportions came out in December 2022. Both books are available on Amazon or from your local independent bookstore. You can find Dr. Jones’ website here.

This week we sit down with Maria Vazquez Roque, MD, MSc to discuss screening for colon cancer and cancer disparities in the hispanic population in recognition of Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month.

Dr. Vazquez Roque is from San Juan, Puerto Rico. In 2003, she completed her medical degree at the University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus. In 2008 she finished her internal medicine residency in Puerto Rico. She then pursued a Gastroenterology fellowship in the NIH training grant at Mayo Clinic Rochester, Minnesota. After graduating from GI fellowship, she began to work in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Mayo Clinic Florida in April 2012. 

She is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine, the Associate Chair for the Outpatient Practice for the Department of Medicine, and Medical Director for Accreditation and Supply Chain for Mayo Clinic Florida. She championed and developed the Fecal Microbiota Transplant program at the Mayo Clinic Florida campus for patients who suffer from recurrent episodes of Clostridium difficile infection and to date has conducted over 200 procedures with success. She is actively participating in research studies evaluating the role of the gut microbiome in immunotherapy and immune checkpoint inhibitor colitis.

On this week's episode of The PQI Podcast, we sit down with Brandon Dyson, PharmD, BCOP, BCPS to discuss his role at Texas Oncology, the creation of tl;dr pharmacy, and the importance of mentoring pharmacy students. Brandon is the Area Pharmacy Manager for the Central/South Texas and San Antonio regions of Texas Oncology. He is Co-Founder of the pharmacy education website, tl;dr pharmacy, and serves as the Residency Program Director at Texas Oncology for the NCODA Medically Integrated Oncology Pharmacy (MIOP) Residency Program

You can find more information on tl;dr pharmacy here: https://www.tldrpharmacy.com.

You can find more information on NCODA’s Medically Integrated Oncology Pharmacy Residency Program here: https://www.ncoda.org/miop-residency-program/.

This week we sit down with Christine Pfaff, RPh to discuss community oncology and her role on the Ohio Board of Pharmacy. Christine is regional director of operations for American Oncology Network and a member of the Board of Pharmacy for the State of Ohio. Christine received her degree in Pharmacy from The Ohio State University and has presented programs on oncology medications and medication compliance and drug interactions.