The Richard A. Helms Award of Excellence in Pediatric Pharmacy Practice
The Richard A. Helms Award of Excellence in Pediatric Pharmacy Practice was established in 2006 by the Pediatric Pharmacy Association Board of Directors. The award is made possible by the generous donations of colleagues, friends, and past post-doctoral trainees of Dr. Helms.
The Helms Award recognizes
(1) exemplary pediatric patient care,
(2) sustained and meritorious contributions to pediatric pharmacy practice,
(3) sustained and meritorious contributions to PPA,
(4) contributions to education, precepting, and/or mentorship, and
(5) contributions of new knowledge (scholarship)
To be eligible for the award, nominees should be a practitioner who has made a lasting contribution to pediatric pharmacy practice. Nominees must be in pediatric pharmacy practice for a minimum of fifteen (15) years and an active member of PPA for a minimum of five (5) continuous years.
Recipients of the Helms Award give the Helms Award lecture during the Annual Meeting in April/May each year.
The Helms Award Selection Committee will name one recipient annually in September for the following year. Nominations are accepted throughout the year and will be considered indefinitely. However, nominations should be submitted by September 15 to be considered for the following year. To nominate a candidate for the Helms Award, please fill out the Nomination Form.
The Helms Award Selection Committee members are as follows:
(1) Richard Helms, Standing member
(2) PPA Immediate-Past President
(3) Chair, Membership Committee
(4) Membership Committee designee
(5) Past Recipient of Helms Award
(6) Past Recipient of Helms Award
(7) Past Recipient of Helms Award
About Dr. Richard A. Helms
Richard Helms, PharmD is Professor Emeritus of Pharmacy and Pediatrics and served as the Chair of the Department of Clinical Pharmacy at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. He was director of clinical pharmacy at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, where he practiced in the area of pediatric nutritional/metabolic support.
For 40 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. Under his directorship, the pediatrics program grew to four PGY1 residents and two to three PGY2 residents, a fellow, six full time faculty members (three tenured lines), an Accomplished Center of Excellence, an Endowed Chair, an inpatient and clinic-based nutrition service, and an infectious diseases and stewardship service.
He is a leader in the profession and has served on the boards of both PPA and the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (ASPEN). He served as 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 (TSHP) and has been recognized for research excellence by ASPEN and TSHP. During his career Dr. Helms’ major research interests include amino acid and fatty acid metabolism in the neonate and infant.
Previous Helms Award Recipients
| 2006 Richard Helms, PharmD, FPPA  |
2007 Robert Poole, PharmD, FPPA  |
2008 Peter Gal, PharmD, FPPA  |
| 2009 Milap Nahata, MS, PharmD, FPPA  |
2010 Robert Kuhn, PharmD, FPPA  |
2011 Stephanie Phelps, PharmD, FPPA  |
| 2012 James Dice, PharmD, FPPA  |
2013 Donna Kraus, PharmD, FPPA  |
2014 Sherry Luedtke, PharmD, FPPA  |
| 2015 Ann Lesko, PharmD, FPPA  |
2016 Michael Christensen, PharmD, FPPA  |
2017 Elizabeth Farrington, PharmD, FPPA  |
| 2018 Jared Cash, PharmD, FPPA  |
2019 Michelle Condren, PharmD FPPA  |
2020 Kathleen Gura, PharmD, FPPA  |