Advanced Clinical Pharmacology Course for Prescribers

Nicole Pezzino PharmD, BCACP, CDCES, received her Doctor of Pharmacy Degree from University of Pittsburgh and completed post-graduate residency training at University of North Carolina, Eshelman School of Pharmacy in Asheville, NC. She is currently an associate professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice and serves as the Director of Community Outreach & Innovation. She is a board-certified pharmacist in ambulatory care (BCACP) and a Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist (CDCES) who consistently challenges the status quo of pharmacy. Dr. Pezzino’s clinical responsibilities at her community practice site, Weis Markets, involve the implantation of various clinical services and serving as the Director of the PGY-1 Community-based Pharmacy. She is considered a leader in the state and nation regarding the implementation of her diabetes services and mentors other pharmacies in being successful in each. To date, she has mentored 59 pharmacies in implementing DSMES and/or DPP in their pharmacy. In addition, she serves as a Flip the Pharmacy coach, mentoring 23 pharmacies in community pharmacy transformation and the state’s lead trainer for PPCN. Her clinical focus includes employee wellness and disease state management-specifically with diabetes self-management and diabetes prevention, wellness and preventative care services, immunizations and other medication and disease state therapy management.

Peter Buch, MD, AGAF, FACP, is a double board-certified clinical gastroenterologist, currently leading a team that treats all GI conditions. Dr. Buch sits on editorial boards for numerous professional journals and is a highly sought-after international presenter. Dr. Buch has a passion for teaching. His style is case-based, practical, very interactive and evidence supported. Dr. Buch’s expertise has been shared with experienced clinicians and advanced-level students. He teaches at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine, the Frank H Netter School of Medicine/Quinnipiac University and the University of Connecticut APRN School.

Stephanie L. Shafer, MSN, ANP-BC, PMHNP-BC, works in a large private practice in Lansing, MI, providing clinical services to children, adolescents, and adults with psychiatric disorders, including ADHD, Bipolar Disorder, Depression, Anxiety, Obsessive-compulsive tendencies, Schizophrenia, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Traumatic Brain Injury, PTSD, and Personality Disorders. She has achieved considerable success treating these conditions. This success has largely resulted from the development of a structured model of care that includes a significant focus on clinical and background histories, identifying psychosocial stressors, and evaluating prior medical and psychiatric diagnoses (and treatment regimens associated with these conditions). This approach and model of medical management is essential to the effective delivery of psychiatric medications to this population.

Steven Rubin, MD, specializes in adult and geriatric neurocognitive and behavioral health care. He is certified by The American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and has been in private practice for 30 years in Reno, Nevada. Dr. Rubin earned his medical degree from Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, completed his internship at Duke University and finished his psychiatry residency at the University of Virginia. He has been a clinical associate professor with the University of Reno School of Medicine and a member of the Nevada Medicaid Drug Utilization Review Board. He currently serves as a peer reviewer for the Nevada State Board of Medical Examiners and provides forensic capacity assessments and expertise consultations. He is the author of the book Autumn Leaves and other writings on dementia and aging. Dr. Rubin provides presentations on geriatric care to various health and civic groups across the nation. His professional mission is to deliver quality health care and education to geriatric patients, their families, and the community.

Eric Wombwell, PharmD is a Clinical Professor for the Department of Pharmacy Practice and Administration at the University of Missouri - Kansas City, School of Pharmacy. Wombwell is responsible for developing clinical and educational initiatives designed to optimize student learning. He is active in lecturing, research and hospital pharmacy practice. Dr. Wombwell completed his PharmD degree at the University of Missouri Kansas City, followed by an ASHP accredited pharmacy practice residency at the Kansas City VA Medical Center. Upon residency completion, Wombwell accepted a full-time non-tenured clinical faculty position at the University of Missouri – Kansas City, School of Pharmacy. His responsibilities include teaching Doctor of Pharmacy students in a variety of courses predominately in the area of infectious diseases. As part of this position, Wombwell serves as a Clinical Pharmacy Specialist, working as part of the multidisciplinary team, providing care to acutely ill patients at Centerpoint Medical Center in Independence, Missouri. In addition, Wombwell functions in an adjunct faculty capacity with the University of Missouri – Kansas City, School of Dentistry where he is responsible for teaching infectious diseases curricular content to dental students in the Pharmacology and Therapeutics course series. Dr. Wombwell has more than 30 peer-reviewed publications on pharmacy and medication-related topics, and has delivered more than 100 invited presentations locally and nationally for continuing education to various health-professional audiences. He has been named Teacher-of-the-year in various capacities 15-times, “Missouri Pharmacist Association - UMKC Faculty Member of the Year” in 2016, and received the “UMKC Provost’s Award for Excellence in Teaching” in 2014.

Paul Langlois, APN, PhD, CCRN, CCNS, is a critical care clinical specialist in the surgical, medical, neurologic, burn, CCU, and trauma ICUs of Cook County Hospital, Chicago. Drawing on over 40 years of experience assessing and managing patients with life-threatening diseases, Dr. Langlois provides advanced-level training to nurses, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, respiratory therapists, and physicians. Dr. Langlois is committed to providing the highest quality of care to patients through advanced education. His presentations are evidence-based, timely, and provide participants with numerous case studies to facilitate critical thinking. As a bedside clinical nurse specialist, he has developed several institution-wide protocols for the multidisciplinary assessment and management of infectious disease and multi-system organ failure patients. His presentations are enthusiastically delivered and offer highly practical tips that help make the most challenging concepts easy to understand. Linking knowledge to clinical practice is the goal of every educational program.

Karen LeRoy is a family nurse practitioner specializing in primary care. She has 20+ years of nursing experience in a wide variety of settings, including telemetry, medical-surgical, primary care, physical rehabilitation and behavioral health research. As a current primary care provider, she strives to motivate and empower her patients to make healthy lifestyle choices to improve their health and reduce their risk of illness, injury and disease. NP LeRoy is also an independent motivational interviewing trainer and has been a member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT) since 2020. In her 15+ years of experience with behavioral health research, she utilized motivational interviewing to help clients with behavior change in areas such as weight management, smoking cessation, and substance misuse. NP LeRoy grew up in a military family and is also an Air Force Veteran. She spent most of her growing up years in San Antonio, TX where she resides today. When not working in the clinic or training MI, she can be found hanging out with her husband and two teenagers serving in ministries together, watching movies, and enjoying an occasional sweet treat from Sonic.