Solid Organ Transplant

Location Heading link

Front of college of pharmacy building

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 2022, there were 265 kidney transplants, 51 liver transplants, 29 kidney-pancreas transplants, 2 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.

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.

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: Friday, January 5, 2024

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


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.
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

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.

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

Lynley Heinrich, PharmD, BCPS, 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, BCPS, FCCP – Team Leader
Clinical Associate Professor
Clinical Pharmacist, Solid Organ Transplant

Jamie Benken, PharmD, BCPS
Clinical Assistant Professor
Clinical Pharmacist, Solid Organ Transplant

Benito Valdepenas III, PharmD, BCTXP
Clinical Assistant Professor
Clinical Pharmacist, Solid Organ Transplant

Dana Pierce, PharmD, BCTXP
Clinical Assistant Professor
Clinical Pharmacist, Solid Organ Transplant

Kristin Heagler, PharmD
Clinical Assistant Professor
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

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

Jenna Negrelli, PharmD, BCCP
Clinical Pharmacist Advanced HF/LVAD/Hearth Transplant
Loyola University Medical Center

Natalia Jasiak Panek, PharmD, BCPS
Pediatric Transplant Pharmacist
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago

Lisa Potter, PharmD, BCPS, BCTXP, FCCP, FAST
Clinical Coordinator, Transplant Pharmacy Services
UChicago Medicine, University of Chicago

2024 – 2025 Keaton Tauer

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

Lynley Heinrich, PharmD, BCPS, BCTXP Heading link

PGY2 Solid Organ Transplant Residency Program Director
Clinical Assistant Professor

833 South Wood Street, Room 164, MC 886, Chicago, Illinois 60612-7230
Phone: (312) 996-9769
Fax: (312) 996-0379
Email: lseal2@uic.edu