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Indian American Pharmacists at the Helm of AACP, APhA, and ASHP

AACP Article

For Immediate Release

Contact: Maureen Thielemans, 703-739-2330, ext. 1022

 

Arlington, Va. — For the first time, Indian Americans are serving concurrent terms as presidential officers at three of the leading U.S. pharmacy organizations. Anandi Law, BPharm, PhD, MS, FAPhA, is president-elect of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP); Nishaminy (Nish) Kasbekar, PharmD, BSPharm, FASHP, is president of ASHP (American Society of Health-System Pharmacists); and Alex C. Varkey, PharmD, MS, FAPhA, is president of the American Pharmacists Association (APhA).

Law is a professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice and Administration and associate dean for assessment in the College of Pharmacy at Western University of Health Sciences. Law, who joined WesternU in July 1999, earned her bachelor’s degree in pharmacy from the University of Mumbai, India and her Master of Science in Pharmaceutics and PhD in Pharmaceutical Administration from The Ohio State University. She served a three-year term on AACP’s Board of Directors as the chair of the Council of Faculties. Her term as president begins in July 2024. 

Law maintains an active research profile focused on practice and payment transformation, health outcomes measurement, and pharmacist roles in improving medication use outcomes. She has several grants, more than 80 peer-reviewed articles, >100 peer-reviewed abstracts and eight book chapters in her areas of interest and several invited talks across the globe.

“I am deeply honored to be the incoming President of AACP. I have been very fortunate to reach this juncture, which I believe has been a synergy of the strong educational foundations I received in India, the values and work ethics instituted by my parents, as well as the excellent graduate school training and a nurturing and innovative culture provided in the U.S. It has been both a joyous journey and a fulfilling experience as a pharmacy educator, as I can pay it forward with mentoring future generations of student pharmacists. I am very excited to be contemporaries with Nish and Alex, who inspire me with their leadership and kindness. Along with our shared culture, we also share a common passion in elevating our profession, and I look forward to continuing to work with them beyond our presidential terms.”

Anandi Law

Kasbekar is vice president and chief pharmacy officer at the University of Pennsylvania Health System in Philadelphia. She earned her Bachelor of Science in pharmacy and Doctor of Pharmacy degrees from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science and completed residencies in pharmacy practice and infectious diseases at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. The first Indian American to serve as ASHP president, Kasbekar was elected in 2022, after decades of service to national and state pharmacy organizations. She is a fellow of ASHP and a past president of the Pennsylvania Society of Health-System Pharmacists and the Delaware Valley Society of Health-System Pharmacists.

Varkey is director of pharmacy at Houston Methodist Hospital. He received his Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of Houston and Master of Science in health-system pharmacy administration from The Ohio State University. He completed a two-year health-system pharmacy administration residency at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. He served as national president of the APhA-Academy of Student Pharmacists, elected positions in the APhA Academy of Pharmaceutical Research and Science, Academy of Pharmacy Practice and Management, and Board of Trustees before his election as APhA president. He also served ASHP and the Texas Society of Health-System Pharmacists in appointed positions. 

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