Solid Organ Transplant
PGY1 pharmacy actions Heading link
Location Heading link
Pharmacy residency training programs are held within the College of Pharmacy at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) and the University
of Illinois Hospital and Health Sciences System (UI Health). The Department of Pharmacy Practice, the department of all residency trainees, is the most comprehensive unit of its
type in the United States and continues a tradition of exemplary service through its mission of providing quality education, research, and patient
care. The department educates and trains students, residents, and fellows as well as practicing pharmacists to become nationally recognized for
their leadership, knowledge and competence in practice, research, and teaching.
Virtual Information Session Heading link
None are currently scheduled.
Program Information Heading link
The Division of Transplantation at the University of Illinois Chicago is a well-established program that currently offers kidney, liver, pancreas, and small bowel transplantation services. Transplant surgeons, transplant medicine specialists, nurse practitioners, and pharmacists provide comprehensive inpatient and outpatient care to all patients undergoing transplant surgery. During the year 2023, there were 265 kidney transplants, 59 liver transplants, 41 kidney-pancreas transplants, 3 pancreas transplants, and 3 intestine transplants performed at UI Health.
Care is also provided in collaboration with a transplant infectious diseases service which includes a transplant ID attending, an ID medicine fellow, and an ID clinical pharmacist. They provide input on the pre- and post-transplant ID issues afflicting these patients including the infectious complications associated with end-stage organ diseases, HIV, and opportunistic infections.
Program
This PGY2 pharmacy residency program builds on Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) education and PGY1 pharmacy residency training to contribute to the development of clinical pharmacists in this specialized area of practice. This PGY2 residency provides residents with opportunities to function independently as practitioners by conceptualizing and integrating accumulated experience and knowledge and incorporating both into the provision of patient care or other advanced practice settings. Residents who successfully complete this accredited PGY2 pharmacy residency are prepared for advanced patient care, academic, or other specialized positions.
General
Requirements
Applicants should possess a PharmD degree and if accepted into the PGY2 program must obtain licensure in the state of Illinois. Completion of a postdoctoral residency (PGY-1) is required. Appointments will be for 12 months beginning July 1st. A competitive salary and benefits package is offered.
Application deadline: Monday, January 6, 2025
Services
The resident will complete 12 months of learning experiences (8 months of required experiences, 4 months of elective experiences) as well as longitudinal clinical, research, teaching, leadership, and scholarly activities. Training sites are not limited to these lists; specific needs or areas can be addressed on an individual basis.
Sample rotation schedule
| Month | Rotation site |
|---|---|
| July | Orientation & Inpatient transplant service- intro (UIC) |
| August | Inpatient transplant service – intermediate (UIC) |
| September | Independent Research (UIC), Transplant Clinics - intro (UIC) |
| October | Inpatient transplant service – advanced (UIC) |
| November | Transplant Clinics (UIC) |
| December | Transplant Infectious Disease (UIC) |
| January | Inpatient transplant service – independent (UIC) |
| February | Advanced Heart Failure/Heart Transplant (Off-site) |
| March | Inpatient Transplant Nephrology Consult (UIC) |
| April | Independent Research (UIC), Transplant Clinics - advanced (UIH) (Off-site) |
| May | Lung Transplant (Off-site) |
| June | Inpatient Transplant Service-Teaching (UIC) |
EDUCATION
Education
The resident will engage in the co-precepting of pharmacy residents and students on all rotations throughout the year. In addition the resident will participate in a set of transplant lectures and recitations within the college of pharmacy. The number of lectures and recitation sessions will be determined on an individual basis as related to past experience and the individual’s and program’s workload demands.
The resident will provide one continuing education seminar during the course of the residency. Other presentation opportunities include participation in transplant journal club, case presentation for the Illinois Transplant Pharmacists Association, and participation in relevant health care training education programs.
The resident will participate in the PGY2 Advanced Leadership Program. Interaction with the PGY1 residents is encouraged throughout the year.
Scholarly Activity
The resident will have an academic appointment in the University of Illinois Chicago College of Pharmacy. Participation in clinical research and departmental protocol development and medication use programs is required. One month of transplant research rotation is required, and more may be pursued as an elective. The resident will submit an abstract on their main research project to a conference, formally present their project, and prepare a manuscript suitable for publication.
Training Site & Facility
Current Rotation Sites
- UI Health (University of Illinois Hospital and Health Sciences System): abdominal transplant unit,
transplant clinic, cardiology, infectious disease, hepatology, transplant research unit, transplant
nephrology - UChicago Medicine: thoracic transplant (heart, lung)
- Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago (Pediatric transplant)
- Loyola University Medical Center (heart, lung)
Required experiences include
- Orientation
- Four months inpatient transplant service (kidney, liver, pancreas, and small bowel transplant on ICU, step-down and floor)
- Teaching month on a transplant service as primary preceptor for P4 student/s
- Inpatient transplant nephrology consult service month, caring for kidney transplant patients greater than one year out from transplant
- Transplant research month – 4 week block or two separate 2 week blocks
- Transplant clinic month, caring for kidney, liver, pancreas and small bowel transplant patients
- Longitudinal weekend coverage, caring for transplant patients on the inpatient transplant surgery service (every 3rd weekend)
- Longitudinal research, teaching, scholarship and leadership experiences
Elective rotations are available in the following areas
- Hepatology inpatient service
- Transplant infectious disease consult service
- Heart/lung transplant (off-site at UChicago Medicine and/or Loyola University Medical Center)
- Pediatric transplant (off-site at Lurie Children’s Hospital)
- Medical or cardiac intensive care unit
- Additional inpatient and outpatient opportunities may also be available based on individual resident interests and needs
Preceptors
Lynley Heinrich, PharmD, BCTXP
Clinical Assistant Professor
Clinical Pharmacist, Solid Organ Transplant
Program Director, PGY2 Pharmacy Residency in Solid Organ Transplant
Cassie Stromayer Muran, PharmD, BCPS, BCTXP
Clinical Assistant Professor
Clinical Pharmacist, Solid Organ Transplant
Assistant Program Director, PGY2 Pharmacy Residency in Solid Organ Transplant
Maya Campara, PharmD, BCTXP, FCCP – Team Leader
Clinical Associate Professor
Clinical Pharmacist, Solid Organ Transplant
Jamie Benken, PharmD, BCPS
Clinical Assistant Professor
Clinical Pharmacist, Solid Organ Transplant
Dana Pierce, PharmD, BCTXP
Clinical Assistant Professor
Clinical Pharmacist, Solid Organ Transplant
Rachel Christensen, PharmD
Clinical Assistant Professor
Clinical Pharmacist, Solid Organ Transplant
Brendan Steiner, PharmD
Clinical Assistant Professor
Clinical Pharmacist, Solid Organ Transplant
Benito Valdepenas III, PharmD, BCTXP
Clinical Assistant Professor
Director of Clinical Research, Department of Surgery
Clinical Pharmacist, Solid Organ Transplant
Annesti Elmasri, PharmD
Clinical Assistant Professor
Clinical Pharmacist, Transplant Nephrology
Alan Gross, PharmD, BCPS AQID
Clinical Associate Professor
Clinical Pharmacist, Infectious Disease
Jenna Adams, PharmD, BCDIP
Clinical Assistant Professor
Clinical Pharmacist, Infectious Disease
Stephanie Dwyer Kaluzna, PharmD, BCCP
Clinical Assistant Professor
Clinical Pharmacist, Cardiology
Mia Schmiedeskamp, PharmD, PhD, BCPS
Clinical Assistant Professor
Clinical Pharmacist, Hepatology
Scott T. Benken, PharmD, BCPS-AQ Cardiology, FCCM
Clinical Associate Professor
Clinical Pharmacist, Medical Intensive Care Unit
Off-Site Preceptors
Ashley Loethen, PharmD, BCTXP
Clinical Pharmacist, Advanced Hearth Failure & Heart Transplantation
University of Chicago Medicine
Natalia Jasiak Panek, PharmD, BCPS
Pediatric Transplant Pharmacist
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago
Bhanupriya Sirandas, PharmD
Clinical Pharmacist, Lung Transplant
Loyola University Medical Center
Current
2024 – 2025 Keaton Tauer
History
Since 1969, over 300 pharmacists successfully trained in our ASHP-accredited first-year post-graduate residency program. In addition, we have graduated over 100 individuals in our various specialized pharmacy residencies that encompass a wide range of fields that is second to none. Our diverse faculty, in combination with the numerous progressive practice sites, provides our residents with an experience like no other. Our residency alumnae hold prominent positions within pharmacy academia, industry, and professional organizations nationwide and are leaders in the world of pharmacy practice. We are proud of our tradition, our outcomes and our graduates and with the increasing expectations of the public and other health professionals to improve the lives of patients, we are confident that our residency programs will grow and develop to meet this challenge.
The solid organ transplant specialty residency is an ASHP-accredited program that began in 2003 and was preceded by a fellowship in organ transplant/immunology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The Division of Transplantation at the University of Illinois at Chicago is a well established program that currently offers kidney, liver, pancreas/islet cell, and small bowel transplantation services. Transplant surgeons, transplant nephrologists, transplant hepatologists, nurse practitioners, and pharmacists provide comprehensive inpatient and outpatient care to all patients undergoing transplant surgery and clinical pharmacists have been an integrated part of this process since the early 1970’s. This PGY2 pharmacy residency program builds on Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) education and PGY1 pharmacy residency training to contribute to the development of clinical pharmacists in this specialized area of practice.
This PGY2 residency provides residents with opportunities to function independently as practitioners by conceptualizing and integrating accumulated experience and knowledge and incorporating both into the provision of patient care or other advanced practice settings. Residents who successfully complete this accredited PGY2 pharmacy residency are prepared for advanced patient care, academic, or other specialized positions.
Past Residents
| Name | PGY2 Training Term | Employment History | Board Certification |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rachel Christensen | 2023-2024 | Clinical Assistant Professor/Clinical Pharmacist - Transplant at UIC | |
| Annesti Elmasri | 2022 - 2023 | Clinical Assistant Professor/Clinical Pharmacist in Transplant Nephrology at UIC | |
| Aoife Iaria | 2021 - 2022 | Transplant Clinical Pharmacist at Virginia Commonwealth University | BCTXP |
| Dana Pierce | 2020 - 2021 | Clinical Assistant Professor/Clinical Pharmacist in Solid Organ Transplant team at UIC | BCTXP |
| Anesia Reticker | 2019 - 2020 | Clinical Pharmacy Specialist in Abdominal Transplant at University of Chicago Medicine | BCTXP |
| Benito T. Valdepeñas III | 2019 - 2020 |
First job: Clinical pharmacy specialist in pediatric liver transplant and GI disease at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Current job: Clinical Assistant Professor/Clinical Pharmacist on the Solid Organ Transplant team at UIC |
BCTXP |
| Khushbu Tejani | 2018 - 2019 |
First job: Transplant Clinical Pharmacist, Jackson
Memorial Hospital,
Miami, FL (to 2020)
Current job: Transplant Clinical Pharmacist at Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, Illinois |
BCPS, BCTXP |
| Karen Khalil | 2017 - 2018 | Transplant Clinical Pharmacist, NYU Langone Medical Center, NYC | BCTXP |
| Kristin Progar | 2016 - 2017 | Transplant Clinical Pharmacist, Barnes Jewish, St Louis | BCPS |
| Cassie Stromayer Muran | 2015 - 2016 |
First job: Transplant Clinical Pharmacist, Loyola
University Medical
Center, Chicago (to
2020)
Current job: Clinical Assistant Professor/Clinical Pharmacist on the Solid Organ Transplant team at UIC |
BCPS, BCTXP |
| Marissa Janusek | 2014 - 2015 | Transplant Clinical Pharmacist, Ochsner Medical Center, New Orleans | BCPS, BCTXP |
| Kelly Galen Covert | 2013 - 2014 |
First job: Transplant
Clinical Pharmacist, UIC,
Chicago (to 2018)
Current job: Medical science liaison, Abbvie, St Louis |
BCPS |
| Michelle Huber Fine | 2013 - 2014 |
First job: Heart
Transplant Clinical Pharmacist,
University of
Alabama,
Birmingham
Current job: Heart Transplant Clinical Pharmacist, Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, IL |
BCPS, BCACP |
| Shree Patel | 2012 - 2013 |
First job: Transplant
Clinical Pharmacist VA
Current job: Medical Science Liaison at CareDx |
BCPS |
| Tatyana Lawrecki | 2011-2012 |
First job: Transplant Clinical Pharmacist,
Methodist Hospital
System
Current job: Transplant Clinical Pharmacist, Advocate Health Care, Chicago |
BCPS |
| Lynley Heinrich | 2010 - 2011 |
First job: Transplant Clinical Pharmacist, Loyola University Medical Center, Chicago (to 2022)
Current job: Clinical Assistant Professor/Clinical Pharmacist on the Solid Organ Transplant team at UIC |
BCPS, BCTXP |
| Jamie Joseph Benken | 2009 - 2010 | Clinical Assistant Professor/Clinical Pharmacist on the Solid Organ Transplant team at UIC | BCPS |
| Erika Meredith | 2008 - 2009 | Transplant Clinical Pharmacist, Emory University Hospital, Atlanta | BCTXP |
| Maya Campara | 2007 - 2008 | Clinical Assistant Professor/Clinical Pharmacist on the Solid Organ Transplant team at UIC | BCPS, FCCP, FAST |
| Mia Schmiedeskamp-Rahe | 2006 - 2007 | Hepatology/Liver Transplant Pharmacist at UIC | BCPS |
| Alison Eisenhart | 2006 - 2007 |
First job: Transplant Clinical Pharmacist, UNC,
Chapel Hill
Current job: Transplant Clinical Pharmacist, St Barnabas Medical Center, Livingston, NJ |
BCPS |
| Thuy Pham Ommert | 2002 - 2003 |
First job: Transplant Clinical Pharmacist UIC,
Chicago
Current job: Transplant Clinical Pharmacist, Piedmont Hospital, Atlanta |
BCPS |
