The FPPAG Selection Committee is pleased to announce the 2010 Fellows in the Pediatric Pharmacy Advocacy Group. The new fellows were introduced on Thursday, October 7, 2010 during the 19th Annual PPAG Annual Meeting and Pediatric Pharmacy Conference.

About the 2010 Fellows

Richard Helms

For over 30 years, Dr. Helms has been instrumental in defining the standard of practice in pediatric parenteral nutrition. His commitment to the care of children is exemplified by his involvement in training over 100 pharmacy residents in pediatric pharmacotherapy.

He is a leader in the profession and has served on the boards of both PPAG and the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (ASPEN). He is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Pediatric Pharmacology and Therapeutics. Dr. Helms has received the Pharmacist of the Year Award from the Tennessee Society of Health-System Pharmacists and has been recognized for research excellence by ASPEN and TSHP.

Dr. Helms is a professor of pharmacy and pediatrics and serves as the chair of the Department of Clinical Pharmacy at The University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis, TN. He is director of clinical pharmacy at Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center, where he practices in the area of pediatric nutritional/metabolic support. Dr. Helms’ major research interests include amino acid and fatty acid metabolism in the neonate and infant.

Dr. Helms received a Bachelor of Science in Biology from The Ohio State University, a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy, and a PharmD from Duqesne University. He completed a residency at Mercy Hospital in Pittsburg.

In 2006, PPAG named the Award of Excellence in Pediatric Pharmacy Practice in his honor.

Robert Kuhn

Dr. Kuhn is currently professor of pharmacy practice and science at The University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy. He holds a joint appointment as professor in the department of pediatrics and is a pediatric clinical specialist at Kentucky Children’s Hospital and serves as Associate director of Pharmacy services. Before joining the faculty in 1985, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy from the University of Steubenville (Ohio) and Bachelor of Science degree in pharmacy from The Ohio State University. His doctor of pharmacy degree was obtained in 1984 from the University of Texas at Austin. He completed a pediatric fellowship at Columbus Children’s Hospital in 1985 under the direction of Milap Nahata.

Dr. Kuhn’s research and clinical practice has centered on pulmonary drug delivery and drug therapy in patients with cystic fibrosis. He has participated in many clinical trials of new drug therapies for patients with CF over the last 25 years and helped develop and evaluate new therapies for this disease. He has over 60 publications and help organize pharmacists involved in the care of patients with cystic fibrosis.

He currently serves as program director of the pediatric pharmacy residency program at UK and he has mentored over 30 specialty residents since joining the faculty. He has served on the Board of PPAG for seven years and served two years as President, as well as Immediate Past President and currently is Vice President for Finance for PPAG. He has received numerous awards including a membership in the National Academies of Practice and the Doug Jones Teaching Award from Dartmouth for his work in cystic fibrosis education.

Dr. Kuhn received the Helms Award of Excellence in Pediatric Pharmacy Practice in 2010.

Robert Poole

Dr. Poole is a founding member of the Pediatric Pharmacy Advocacy Group. In 1979 he met with Steve Allen and Doug Smith at the ASHP Mid-year Meeting in Las Vegas to discuss the need for a networking group for pediatric pharmacy practitioners. From that conversation, the current PPAG emerged.

Dr. Poole is Director of Pharmacy at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford in Palo Alto, CA. He received a BS in Pharmacy and his PharmD from The University of California, San Francisco.

He has served on the Board of the Pediatric Pharmacy Advocacy Group. During his tenure on the Board, he helped secure a $300,000 grant to establish the Pediatric Adverse Drug Reporting Program (PADR). He continues to serve on the PPAG editorial board. He also served on the Pharmacy Committee of the Children's Healthcare Corporation of America (CHCA).

In 2007, Dr. Poole received the Helms Award of Excellence in Pediatric Pharmacy Practice.