NAMOur WorkHealth Policy Fellowships and Leadership ProgramsNAM Fellowship in Pharmacy

NAM Fellowship in Pharmacy

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Upcoming Nominations

2028 Call for Nominations

The next call for nominations will open in March 2028.

Online nomination system

About the Fellowship

The overall purpose of the NAM Fellowship in Pharmacy is to enable talented, early-career health science scholars to participate actively in health- and medicine-related work of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (the National Academies) and to further their careers as future leaders in the field. This program is supported through an endowment from the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) and the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP). The NAM Fellowship in Pharmacy is part of the NAM Fellowships for Health Science Scholars program. 

I was able to have robust discussions with the actual authors of classic health research papers I had studied in graduate school. I quickly became used to saying, “I recall reading this in your paper, and I had this question…” The Fellowship was like having a living library of classic health research at my fingertips.
Jonathan H. Watanabe
2016-2018 Fellow

Fellows

Current Fellow

2026–2028 NAM Fellow in Pharmacy

Dr. Sikora is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Informatics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and adjunct faculty at the University of Georgia College of Pharmacy. She is a board-certified critical care pharmacist by training.

As a clinician-scientist with a passion for improving health outcomes for critically ill patients, Dr, Sikora has established an independently funded research program advancing artificial intelligence (AI) to optimize medication use to improve patient-centered outcomes in the intensive care unit (ICU) that has led to continuous funding since 2019 in the form of a KL2 Award, NIH LRP awards, and AHRQ (R21, R01) awards. This work spans the gamut of data science approaches to improve the delivery of comprehensive medication management (CMM). Dr. Sikora has published 125+ peer-reviewed publications (H-index 26) including top-tier journals like the New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA Network Open, and Stroke. This work has been nationally and internationally recognized, including the MRC-ICU score being built into MDCalc, as evidenced by invitations to serve on the editorial boards for Critical Care Medicine, Critical Care Explorations, and the Journal of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy.

Dr. Sikora recently led the Consensus Recommendations for the Integration of Critical Care Pharmacists on Intensive Care Unit Teams: Endorsed by the American College of Clinical Pharmacy, American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, Institute for Safe Medication Practices, and Society of Critical Care Medicine. These Consensus Recommendations were intended to set the vision of critical care pharmacist practice and to balance both aspirational components (e.g., every critically ill patient receives the care of a critical care pharmacist) with pragmatic metrics and milestones to help individuals and institutions realize this vision. Most recently, she served as a core leader of the Optimizing Pharmacist Team-Integration for ICU Patient Management (OPTIM) initiative, which led to a 71-center, 30,000+ patient prospective observational study to establish the optimal patient ratio for critical care pharmacists that reduces mortality. In a rigorous design, this study showed that ratios over 15-20 patients adversely affect patient-centered outcomes (e.g., mortality and length of stay).

Dr. Sikora received her PharmD from the University of Georgia College of Pharmacy. She completed her PGY1 and PGY2 Critical Care Pharmacy Residency at the University of North Carolina Medical Center. She also completed training through the KL2 Scholar Program with the Georgia Clinical and Translational Science Alliance (CTSA) and Emory University Master of Science in Clinical Research (MSCR) program. Dr. Sikora is an author of the book Pay It Forward: A Map to Mentorship in Medicine and InteGREAT: How to make great healthcare teams.

Past Fellows

2024-2026 NAM Fellow in Pharmacy

Dr. Bacci is the Endowed Associate Professor in Innovative Pharmacy Practice and Co-Director of the Center for Pharmacy Practice Transformation at the University of Washington School of Pharmacy.  She also serves as a Network Facilitator for CPESN WA, a clinically integrated network of community pharmacies in the state of Washington, and as a leader in the Academic-Community Transformation (ACT) Pharmacy Collaborative, a group of community pharmacy-focused faculty nationwide who partner with community pharmacies to advance practice. 

Dr. Bacci’s research program applies implementation science to evaluate and advance patient care models in community pharmacy practice.  Her work includes investigating the implementation of patient care services at the practice level, as well as policies that affect delivery of these services and the community pharmacy workforce.  She has studied and published on a range of community pharmacy-based services, including adult and pediatric vaccinations and medications for opioid use disorder.  With the removal of separate prescriber registration (X-waiver) for buprenorphine, Dr. Bacci is now leading a funded study to adapt evidence-based models of care to improve access to medications for opioid use disorder in community pharmacies. 

Dr. Bacci completed her PharmD at the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy and her Community-Based Pharmacy Residency with Rite Aid and the University of Pittsburgh.  After working in community practice, Dr. Bacci returned to the University of Pittsburgh to complete a Postgraduate Fellowship in Community Pharmacy Research and an MPH.  Dr. Bacci is a recipient of the Albert B. Prescott Pharmacy Leadership Award and Washington State Distinguished Young Pharmacist of the Year Award.  She is a Board-Certified Ambulatory Care Pharmacist and a Fellow of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy. 

2022-2024 NAM Fellow in Pharmacy

Dr. Hernandez is an Associate Professor with tenure at the University of California, San Diego Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. She has authored more than 100 scientific articles, including first-authored papers in JAMA, JAMA Internal Medicine, and Annals of Internal Medicine, among other leading journals. Her research has been covered by media worldwide and has been featured by the main media outlets, including New York Times, Washington Post, NPR, CNN, Forbes, and BBC.

Dr. Hernandez has studied extensively the underuse of anticoagulation in stroke prevention in patients with cardiac arrhythmias. She is the principal investigator of an R01 award from NIH to study the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on patients with cardiovascular disease. She has done important contributions to the study of pharmaceutical pricing. In 2020, she was the first to quantify the role of manufacturer discounts in rising drug prices. In 2020-2021, Dr. Hernandez led a group of investigators evaluating geographic access to COVID-19 vaccine administration locations. Their analyses informed the Pennsylvania Department of Health distribution of COVID-19 vaccines in medically underserved areas.

Dr. Hernandez received her PharmD from the University of Navarra in Spain; her MS in Health Economics and Pharmacoeconomics from the University Pompeu i Fabra in Spain; and her PhD in Health Services Research and Poilicy from the University of Pittsburgh. She was recognized on the Forbes 30 under 30 list in 2018 and in 2021 she became the first pharmacist to be recognized with the Academy Health Alice S. Hersh Emerging Leader Award. She is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association.

2020-2022 NAM Fellow in Pharmacy
2018-2020 NAM Fellow in Pharmacy
2016-2018 NAM Fellow in Pharmacy
2014-2016 NAM Fellow in Pharmacy
2012-2014 NAM Fellow in Pharmacy

Description

The NAM Fellowship in Pharmacy will be awarded for a two-year period. During this time, the fellow is expected to continue to work at their primary academic post, while being assigned to a health- and medicine-related board of the National Academies. The boards are:

  • Children, Youth, and Families,
  • Food and Nutrition,
  • Global Health,
  • Health Care Services,
  • Health Sciences Policy, and
  • Population Health and Public Health Practice.

The fellowship requires a 10- to 20-percent commitment of time for two years, and includes attendance at a one-week orientation to health policy, the NAM Annual Meeting, and the meetings of the fellow’s designated board. Domestic travel expenses are covered for participation in approved fellowship activities. Additionally, the fellow will participate actively in the work of an appropriate expert study committee or roundtable, including contributing to its reports or other products. Studies that would enable the potential for the fellow to contribute to the value of integrating medicine and public health will be identified.

This experience will introduce the NAM Fellow in Pharmacy to a variety of experts and perspectives, including legislators, government officials, industry leaders, executives of voluntary health organizations, scientists, and other health professionals. In addition, each fellow will be assigned to an NAM member who will serve as a senior mentor during the two years of the fellowship.

A flexible research grant of $25,000 will be awarded to each NAM Fellow in Pharmacy, which will be administered through the appropriate department in the fellow’s home institution to advance the fellow’s professional and academic career. This grant is not intended for use as a salary offset for the fellow, and no indirect costs are allowed.

Get Started

Eligibility & Nomination Process

Nominees for the NAM Fellowship in Pharmacy must:

  • Be nominated by one of the following:
    1. A member of the NAM,
    2. The board of directors of AACP or
    3. The board of regents of ACCP
  • Have completed a Pharm.D. and/or Ph.D. from a relevant field of study in the pharmaceutical and clinical sciences
  • Be able to dedicate 10 to 20 percent of time to the fellowship for two years
  • Be between four and ten years after completion of post-graduate work OR between five and fifteen years after completion of a Pharm.D.
  • Have sponsorship by academic department head or equivalent supervisor
  • Have endorsement by the dean or comparable senior leader
  • Hold U.S. citizen or permanent resident status at the time of the nomination

Nominees will be evaluated by an NAM-appointed committee based on their professional qualifications, scholarship, and quality of professional accomplishments as evidenced through publications and research grants, and relevance of current field of expertise to the work of the NAM.

Preference will be given to those with a demonstrated interest in and focus on advancing pharmacy practice and scholarship.

A complete nomination packet must be submitted electronically through the online nomination system at https://namfellows.secure-platform.com/submission and will include the following documents:

  • A nomination letter from a member of the NAM, the board of directors of AACP or the board of regents of ACCP
  • Letters of recommendation and endorsement from:
    1. Department chair or equivalent supervisor
    2. Academic dean or comparable senior leader
    3. Other individual(s) familiar with the nominee’s work
  • An up-to-date curriculum vitae
  • A brief one-page bio
  • A one-page personal statement that describes the candidate’s reasons for wanting to be a fellow for this particular program at this phase of their career

Timeline

Fellowships will be awarded in even years.

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March 2028

Call for nominations opens

June 2028

Nomination packets are due

July 2028

Awardee is notified

September 2028

Fellow orientation week at the NAM is held

October 2028

Fellow is introduced to the Membership at the NAM Annual Meeting

Program Administration

Inquiries about the NAM Fellowship in Pharmacy should be directed to:

Yumi Phillips
Senior Program Officer
Health Policy Fellowships and Leadership Programs
National Academy of Medicine
500 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001
Phone: (202) 334-1506
Email: [email protected]

 The NAM Fellowship in Pharmacy is supported through an endowment from the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy and the American College of Clinical Pharmacy.

Upcoming Nominations

2026 Fellowship

The next call for nominations will open in March 2026.

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