Pediatric News

President-Elect: David Hoff

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David Hoff, PharmD is a pharmacy Clinical Leader and member of the Professional Staff at Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota. He holds clinical faculty appointments at the University of Minnesota and Drake University and is an intermittent pharmacist on the Minnesota-1 Disaster Medical Assistance Team, National Disaster Medical System. Dr. Hoff has been a pediatric pharmacy practitioner, leader, and preceptor for nearly 25 years since graduating from the University of Minnesota. He is a member of PPAG and the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP). In service to PPAG, Dr. Hoff was a member of the Board of Directors, pediatric critical care section lead for the board preparatory course, member of the Advocacy Committee, reviewer for the Journal of Pediatric Pharmacology and Therapeutics, and has presented at national meetings. More recently, Dr. Hoff was a participant in the standard setting study for the Board Certified Pediatric Pharmacy Specialist examination, Board of Pharmacy Specialties.

Dr. Hoff is a fellow of PPAG and ACCP. He served on the Community Advisory Panel of the ACCP Practice Based Research Network, is a past Chair of the ACCP Pediatrics Practice and Research Network, and is a past President of the Minnesota College of Clinical Pharmacy. At Children's Minnesota, he served as a member of the Board Quality Committee, Clinical Excellence Strategic Work Group, and Quality and Efficiency Strategic Work Group, and manager of the Medication Safety Value Stream. Dr. Hoff has consulted in pediatric pharmacy to the pharmaceutical industry, Children's HeartLink (Bangalore, India), and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In 2008, he was the recipient of the Health Care Hero Award by Twin Cities Business magazine. He has published book chapters, original research, and abstracts and presented lectures locally, nationally, and internationally on a variety of pediatric drug topics. He also served as a reviewer of pediatric manuscripts in several medical journals. His main areas of professional interest are pediatric and neonatal critical care and drug safety.

Dr. Hoff states, “I am honored to be elected as PPAG President. I wil bring my diverse experience to the exciting work of promoting the vision of PPAG as the standard-bearer in pediatric pharmacy. PPAG has done an excellent job in recent years positioning itself as a leader in promoting communication, education, and research in pediatric pharmacy. Through its efforts and with others, PPAG formed the basis for the argument of pediatrics as a specialty in pharmacy, lead toward the development of board certification in pediatric pharmacy, and proactively developed a novel pediatric pharmacy board preparatory training program. We are well positioned now to not only follow through on our mission of educating pharmacists about pediatrics on a high level, but also to continue to move forward, providing value for our members by becoming the authority in pediatric pharmacy with the development and establishment of practice standards such as standardized oral and intravenous drug concentrations, therapeutic protocols, collaborative practice agreements, training competencies, and reference materials that collectively promote improved safety and effectiveness of drugs in pediatrics.”

Secretary: Kimberly Novak

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Kimberly J. Novak, PharmD, BCPS, BCPPS is Advanced Patient Care Pharmacist-Pediatric and Adult Cystic Fibrosis and Residency Program Director of the PGY2 Pediatric Pharmacy Residency at Nationwide Children's Hospital. She received her Doctor of Pharmacy Degree from West Virginia University and completed her PGY1 Pharmacy Practice and PGY2 Pediatric Pharmacy Practice residencies at the University of Kentucky.

Dr. Novak has been re-elected as Secretary. She expresses her gratitude in the following statement: “Thank you very much for re-electing me as Secretary for 2016–2017. Being a Board member has been very rewarding, and I have been able to learn about and contribute to the inner workings of PPAG as we embark upon advancing our profession in the pediatric board certification era. I am very proud of my fellow pediatric pharmacists' accomplishments around the nation, and I am thrilled to be amongst the inaugural BCPPS class. What exciting times for our PPAG membership! This wonderful new opportunity also brings more challenges: exam preparation, competency development, pharmacist privileging and credentialing, expansion of rigorous pediatric pharmacy residency programs, advancing research and scholarship, provider status and reimbursement for services, and doing more with less in an ever-changing health care environment. As the only dedicated pediatric pharmacy organization, PPAG sets forth its mission to represent the interests of pediatric pharmacists and their patients. It is imperative that PPAG leads pediatric pharmacists through these challenges and becomes the primary voice in advancing pediatric pharmacy practice.”

“As a clinician, I have benefitted from the strong clinical content and continuing education provided by the annual meeting and webinars offered throughout the year. With the establishment of the new board certification exam, PPAG must continue to provide its members quality test preparation materials and, subsequently, opportunities to earn recertification credit that are integrated within PPAG educational programming. As a residency director, I have been pleased with the showcase of our residents' research projects at the annual meeting. We need to look for even more ways to facilitate resident collaboration in research and patient and professional advocacy. As a pediatric pharmacy leader, I look to PPAG to drive best practices in pediatric pharmacy drug policy, competency development, privileging and credentialing, reimbursement for services, and practice models. Lastly, the value of publication outlets and student engagement are undeniable and must be an ongoing effort for our organization.”

Treasurer: Jeffrey Low

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Jeffrey Low, PharmD is the Clinical Pharmacist Lead-Pediatrics at the Children's Hospital at Dartmouth. Dr. Low has served on the Board of Directors since 2006, and served as Chair from 2008–2009. Dr. Low has participated on the research & member services committees. From 2003–2005, he served as the Vice-President for Member Services, where he has worked on projects such as the PPAG website upgrades, membership survey, PPAG newsletter, and launching online CE.

Jeff is currently serving as Treasurer of PPAG. In this role, he oversees the internal audit, budget development, and fiscal evaluation of programs. Jeff comments, “It has been an honor to serve as the Treasurer for PPAG. We have fine-tuned our budget process and strategically built up a cash reserve to allow for an investment in our educational programming, membership infrastructure, and human resources. As your Treasurer, I will remain committed to making sure we stay on budget and that our resources align with our Annual Goals.”

Shannon Manzi

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Shannon Manzi, PharmD is a regular speaker at PPAG Conference. She has practiced pediatric pharmacy for more than 17 years and is currently the Director of the Clinical Pharmacogenomics Service at Boston Children's Hospital and the Team Leader for Emergency Services. She is an NR-EMT and has served as a pediatric expert for the Strategic National Stockpile, the National Advisory Committee on Children and Terrorism, the CDC and MADPH. In addition, she is also the Chief Pharmacist for the Massachusetts–1 Disaster Medical Assistance Team and has deployed eleven times, including responses to major hurricanes, the Haitian earthquake and the Unaccompanied Minor Border Crossing mission. She has been a simulation instructor at BCH for 5 years and runs several unique programs related to disaster, emergency and pre-hospital pediatric medicine.

She holds clinical adjunct faculty positions at Northeastern University, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Sciences, and the University of Connecticut. She has authored numerous articles and book chapters, as well as presented many national and local workshops and lectures on pediatrics, simulation, emergency medicine and disaster related topics.

Dr. Manzi states, “I am honored to be elected to the Board of Directors. Many, many years ago I attended my first PPAG meeting at the behest of a former PPAG board member and I was hooked. The honest comradery, fellowship and professional network that I have gained from being a member of PPAG is unmatched by any other organization or institution to which I have belonged. I look forward to helping keep this support alive and well for all those who are members now and those who have yet to join.”

Kathy Pham

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Kathy Pham, PharmD is the NICU Clinical Specialist at Children's National Medical Center as well as the Residency Program Director of the PGY1 Pharmacy and PGY2 Pediatric Pharmacy Residency programs. She graduated with a BSPharm and a Pharm.D from Rutgers, the State University of NJ. She then completed a Pharmacy Practice Residency with Emphasis in Pediatrics at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She went on to teach as Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice at Long Island University and became Board Certified in Pharmacotherapy in 2006. She then became a Pediatric Clinical Pharmacist at St Joseph's Children's Hospital before coming to Children's National in 2008. She has served as President in her local ASHP chapter and is a practitioner surveyor for ASHP as well. In 2011, she volunteered as a pharmacist in Haiti at the Hospital Bernard Mevs with Project Medishare. Also in 2011, she was appointed to the BPS practice analysis task force for pediatric pharmacy.

Her active contribution and service to PPAG has been primarily through the Advocacy committee, starting as a contributor for position statements. She currently chairs the Legislative Affairs and Public Policy Subcommittee of PPAG and has served as Chair-Elect and Chair from 2014–2016. She has provided educational summaries of active legislation impacting pediatric pharmacy practice and health care and serves as a PPAG liaison with legislative affairs representatives from other stakeholder organizations. Also in 2014, she was recognized with the Spirit of PPAG award. She serves as a peer reviewer for the Journal of Pediatric Pharmacology and Therapeutics and has presented at multiple annual PPAG meetings. At the 2015 Pediatric Pharmacy Conference, she helped coordinate the first PPAG 5k, combining her two passions of pediatric pharmacy and running.

Kathy states, “Over 10 years ago I was encouraged by my mentor to join PPAG. A decade later, PPAG goes far beyond the expectation of a professional organization or network of colleagues. It has offered countless opportunities for me to contribute back to pharmacy practice as well as pediatric public health initiatives. PPAG empowers me to think big and to believe anything is possible when you have the right personal and professional support. From getting involved in legislative efforts and advisory committees on a national level to coordinating the first 5k at the annual meeting, PPAG has always given me numerous ways to make a difference and leave a lasting legacy. I am honored to be elected as a board member to further contribute to the organization I consider my professional home.”