Committee Leadership

Advocacy Committee

The Advocacy Committee consists of the following Sub-Committees; the Patient Safety and Innovation Committee, Parent Advocacy (KidsMeds), and Legislative Affairs. For more information, click here.

Kristin Klein, PharmD is Co-Chair of Patient Safety and Innovation efforts at PPAG. Dr. Klein is the pediatric infectious diseases clinical pharmacist at the University of Michigan Health System (UMHS) and a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan (UM) College of Pharmacy.

Dr. Klein received her B.S. in Pharmacy from Southwestern Oklahoma State University and her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Oklahoma. She then completed a specialty residency in Pediatric Pharmacotherapy at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia. Following her residency, Dr. Klein joined the faculty of the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where she practiced in a neonatal intensive care unit until she joined the faculty at the University of Michigan. Dr. Klein is especially interested in training future practitioners. She spent four years serving on the UMHS pharmacy residency advisory committee, including two years as the committee’s co-chair, and is currently the co-chair of the admissions committee and the co-advisor of the APhA-ASP chapter at UM.

Her service to PPAG includes: serving on the Advocacy committee since 2002, co-authoring several position statements on behalf of the Advocacy committee, co-authoring several parental handouts for the KidsMeds website, co-chairing the Advocacy committee since 2009 and serving as an invited reviewer for the Journal of Pediatric Pharmacology and Therapeutics (JPPT).

Tara Smith, PharmD is Co-Chair of Patient Safety and Innovation. Dr. Smith is Clinical Pharmacy Manager in pediatric medicine, and is also the Director of the Residency program. Her B.S. Pharmacy was obtained from the University of Georgia College of Pharmacy and her Pharm.D. was received from University of Colorado School of Pharmacy. She is a pediatric trained pharmacist and provides clinical support to the pediatric pharmacy satellite. Clinical responsibilities include patient profile review, multidisciplinary rounds, kinetic monitoring, nutrition consults, and antibiotic review, along with order processing, dispensing, and technician supervision. She provides lectures to the medical staff at pediatric medical resident noon conferences as well as Pediatric Grand Rounds for the community.

Dr. Smith joined PPAG in 1996, and has served on the Advocacy Committee for most of that time. She became Secretary of the Committee in 2006. She also served as a reviewer for the Journal of Pediatric Pharmacology and Therapeutics. She is also a member of ACCP and ASHP.

Catherine Tom-Revzon has served on the Advocacy Committee since 2003. She has been active with PPAG since 1998. Currently, she coordinates the PPAG KidsMeds website, a site dedicated to parent and patient education.

Most recently, Catherine was an associate professor of pharmacy practice with the Arnold & Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, pediatric clinical pharmacy manager at the Children's Hospital at Montefiore, and adjunct assistant clinical professor at the Columbia University School of Nursing.

Her current interests include neonatology, general pediatrics, and family education. In addition to academic publishing, Dr. Tom-Revzon advocates for awareness of pediatric pharmacy through interviews with the mass media, such as New York Times, Parents magazine, The Today Show and Readers Digest.

Dr. Tom currently Chairs the parent/patient advocacy efforts and the KidsMeds wesbite.

Kathy Pham, PharmD is Chair of Legislative Affairs and Public Policy Advocacy. Dr. Pham is the NICU Clinical Specialist for the Division of Pharmacy Services at Children’s National Medical Center as well as the Residency Program Director of the PGY1 Pharmacy Practice and PGY2 Pediatric Pharmacy programs. She graduated with a BS in Pharmacy and a Pharm.D from Rutgers, the State University of NJ in 2003. She then completed a Pharmacy Practice Residency with Emphasis in Pediatrics at the University of Illinois at Chicago and was in the pioneer class of UIC’s Residency Teaching Program. 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.

Her service to PPAG includes serving on the Advocacy committee, co-authoring a position statement and talking points on behalf of the Advocacy committee, and serving as a peer reviewer for the Journal of Pediatric Pharmacology and Therapeutics (JPPT). In addition to her activities at PPAG, she has served as President and President-elect of the Washington Metropolitan Society of Health-System Pharmacists. In May 2011, she will volunteer as a pharmacist in Haiti at the Hospital Bernard Mevs with Project Medishare.

Education Committee

The Education Committee consists of program committees for the PPAG Annual Conference, online programs, and webinar/teleconference programs. For more information, click here.

Lisa Lubsch, PharmD is Chair of the Education Committee. Dr. Lubsch is Clinical Assistant Professor in the Pharmacy Practice Department at the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville School of Pharmacy and Clinical Pharmacy Specialist at Cardinal Glennon Children’s Medical Center.

Dr. Lubsch received the B.S. and Doctorate of Pharmacy from the St. Louis College of Pharmacy and completed a pediatric specialty residency at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Pharmacy.

She currently provides pharmacist-delivered patient care to children on the pulmonary, cardiology, and a general medicine service. Her current areas of interests are pediatric asthma, cystic fibrosis, and addiction medicine.

Brady Moffett, PharmD, MPH is Co-Chair of the 21st Annual Conference Program Committee. Dr. Moffett is a Clinical Pharmacy Specialist at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, TX. Dr. Moffett is assigned to the cardiology and cardiovascular surgery services. He received his PharmD from Purdue University in Indiana. He completed a PGY1 Residency at The University of Maryland and a PGY2 pediatric residency at The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD.

Sarah Scarpace Lucas, PharmD is Co-Chair of Home-Study Programs (webinars, online CE). Dr. Lucas is a Health Sciences Assistant Clinical Professor of Pharmacy and Clinical Pharmacist with the Department of Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, at the University of California in San Francisco.

She practices at the UCSF Children's Hospital where she precepts students and residents and cares for pediatric patients. Dr. Sarah Scarpace received her BS Pharmacy and Pharm.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She completed a pediatric specialty residency at St. Louis Children's Hospital in 2001.

Miranda Nelson, PharmD is Co-Chair of Home-Study Programs (webinars, online CE). Dr. Nelzon is a Clinical Assistant Professor with the Department of Pharmacy Practice at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) and a Pediatric Infectious Diseases Clinical Pharmacy Specialist.

Dr. Nelson received her doctor of pharmacy degree from Auburn University in 2005 and subsequently completed a pharmacy practice residency at St. Louis Children’s Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri.

Prior to joining SIUE, Dr. Nelson was a Pediatric Clinical Pharmacist focused on pediatric intensive care, general pediatrics, and pediatric hematology/oncology at Columbus Regional Medical Center in Columbus, Georgia. In addition to her current faculty appointment at SIUE, Dr. Nelson also provides clinical services in Pediatric Infectious Diseases at St. Louis Children’s Hospital where she participates in multi-disciplinary inpatient teaching rounds as well as outpatient clinics.

Membership Services Committee

The Membership Services Committee oversees the Pediatric Pharmacy Advocate Newsletter, the PPAG website, recruits and retains new members through membership needs assessments, face-to-face contact, and various other methods. For more information, click here.

Bernard (Bernie) Lee, Pharm.D., BCPS is Chair of the Membership Services Committee. Dr. Lee is the PGY-1 Pharmacy Residency Program Director at Mayo Eugenio Litta Children's Hospital in Rochester, MN. He participates in residency training through the PGY-1 and PGY-2 programs at Mayo Clinic and is an assistant professor of pharmacy at the Mayo School of Health Sciences. He also precepts pharmacy students from University of Minnesota, North Dakota State University and University of Iowa Colleges of Pharmacy. Bernie earned a Doctor of Pharmacy degree (Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy at Rutgers University, 2004) and completed his PGY-1 Pharmacy Practice Residency in New York City at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.

Bernie has been an active member of PPAG since 2005 and has participated on the Advocacy and Membership Committees since joining.

Research Committee

The Research Committee oversees the abstract and poster review process, reviews grant applications, and provided research-related educational programs. For more information, click here.

Sandra Benavides, PharmD, is Co-Chair of the Research Committee. Dr. Benavides is an Assistant Professor at Nova Southeastern University and a clinical pharmacist at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital in south Florida. Dr. Benavides graduated from the University of California, San Francisco in 2000. She subsequently completed a General Practice residency at the University of California, San Diego Medical Center and a Pediatric Pharmacotherapy Fellowship at the Ohio State University.

Dr. Benavides has been an active member in PPAG since 2003. She has served on the research committee since 2006. She has reviewed scientific research abstracts and has served as a judge for the The Christensen Memorial Young Investigator and Outstanding Original Paper awards. She also assisted in developing the application process for the Neonatal Pharmacy Residency/Fellow research Grant. She has served as the Research Co-Chair since 2010.

Kim Benner, PharmD, BCPS, FASHP, is Co-Chair of the Research Committee. Dr. Benner is a Professor at the Samford University McWhorter School of Pharmacy and a Pediatric Clinical Specialist at Children’s Health System in Birmingham. Dr. Benner graduated with her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Samford University and completed an ASHP-accredited residency at Children’s Hospital in Birmingham. She joined the MSOP faculty shortly thereafter and has maintained a busy practice in the PICU at Children’s. Research interests and areas of publication include pediatrics, infectious diseases, sedation/analgesia and pharmacy/simulation education.

Dr. Benner has been a member of PPAG for most of her professional career; an active member of the research committee for years, she has served as co-chair in 2010-2011 and will serve as chair in 2011-2012. She is active in many other professional organizations such as the Alabama Society of Health-System Pharmacists where she was Council Director, then President and currently serves as co-chair of the Student Affairs committee and Alabama delegate. The American Society of Health-Systems Pharmacists (ASHP) activities include chair of the Council of Therapeutics, Clinical Skills competition judge and Educational Steering Committee of the Section of Clinical Specialists and Scientists. At Samford University she is the faculty advisor for the Student Society of Health-System Pharmacists (SSHP). Other professional organization involvement includes the Society of Critical Care Medicine and the Alabama Pharmacy Association.

Task Force Leadership

AmCare Task Force

In 2009, the Board of Directors developed a Task Force dedicated to expanding educational programs to ambulatory care pharmacists practicing in a pediatric site.

Leslie A. Briars, Pharm.D. is an ambulatory care clinical pharmacist at the University of Illinois Medical Center (UIMCC) at Chicago Children and Adolescent Center. She also has an appointment to the College of Pharmacy as a Clinical Assistant Professor. Leslie has served in her current position since July of 1995.

She received her doctor of pharmacy degree from the University of Wisconsin in Madison in 1993 and then completed a one-year pharmacy practice residency at University Medical Center in Jacksonville, Florida in 1994. In 1995, Leslie completed a one-year pediatric pharmacy specialty residency at Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. Her areas of interest include asthma, attention deficit disorder, adolescent medicine, nephrology and HIV infection.

Dr. Briars served as Chair of the 2008 Annual Meeting and has served on the Board of Directors since 2009.

Artemis Content Review/Development Committee

In 2010, PPAG partnered with Zolstice and Dr. James Broselow to review and develop Artemis, a program promoting standardized medication therapy in the pediatric acute care setting.

Jared Cash, PharmD, is the Pharmacy Clinical Coordinator at the Primary Children's Medical Center in Salt Lake City, UT.

Dr. Cash served as the 2010 Specialty Conference Planning Committee Chairperson and is currently a member of the Board of Directors. He has served on the education and research committees. He has presented many poster presentations and been a presenter at PPAG Annual and Specialty Conferences.