APhA Foundation, NASPA name Bowl of Hygeia recipients

WASHINGTON — The American Pharmacists Association Foundation and the National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations have announced the winners of the Bowl of Hygeia, an annual award that recognizes civic and community leadership among pharmacists, sponsored by the APhA Foundation and NASPA and awarded by state pharmacy associations.



The award recipients are:

• Cynthia P. Koh-Knox, honored by the Indiana Pharmacists Alliance. Koh-Knox, of West Lafayette, Ind., became involved several years ago in a program designed to help former drug addicts responsibly take medications and avoid relapses. She serves as the pharmacist member of a correctional team that works with certain patients who are given the opportunity to participate in an intense treatment program monitored by the court that keeps them out of jail and tries to rehabilitate them into upstanding citizens. Koh-Knox runs the “pharmacy hotline” where the participants are able to have contact about any medication-related questions. She has turned this service into a very innovative elective rotation for P4 pharmacy rotation students;

• Robin Brittelli, honored by the Maine Pharmacy Association. Brittelli, of Bangor, Maine, developed Maine’s first 340B pharmacy located within a Federally Qualified Health Center. She is a charter member of the Dean’s Advisory Board of the Husson University School of Pharmacy and is secretary of the Experiential Education Advisory Board. She is a member of the Policy and Procedures Subcommittee for the Visiting Nurses Association, and also is a member of the American Pharmacists Association, the American Society of Health-Systems Pharmacists and the National Home Infusion Association; 

• Brian Ambrefe, honored by the Massachusetts Pharmacists Association. Ambrefe, of Boxford, Mass., is an annual speaker on medications for the North Shore Medical Center diabetes support group and a resource for patients on medical management of diabetes. He is a member of the Leadership Committee for The Fund for St. Johns and is very active with the St. John’s Prep Campus Ministry. He volunteers as a liaison to The Inn Between and collects donations of towels and linens for clients in transition. Ambrefe is a member of the community advisory committee for Aviv Centers for Living. He has been a preceptor for ambulatory and clinical pharmacy externs from Northeastern University and Massachusetts College of Pharmacy for more than 18 years and serves as an expert consultant for the Gerson Lehman Group on topics of independent and community pharmacy trends;

• Harry Egazarian, honored by the Connecticut Pharmacists Association. Egazarian, of East Hartford, Conn., has served as a member of the Democratic Town Committee, on the Town Charter revision in 1965 and also was elected to the town council, where he eventually served for 15 years. He has been a long-time member of the Connecticut Pharmacists Association and many pharmacists began their careers working with Egazarian. He always was willing to open the pharmacy at all hours of the night (in the days before 24-hour pharmacies) to provide antibiotics to the parents of sick children. Egazarian often has been an unsung hero in pharmacy, getting the job done and taking care of those in the community;

• Paige Clark, honored by the Oregon State Pharmacy Association. Clark, of Florence, Ore., is the South Eugene High School Gala chairman, a primary fundraising event for special programs at the school, and a South Eugene High School Career Center volunteer. She is a member of the Junior League, including supporting the foster children in Lane County by working with “A Caring Response” and “A Caring Place.” Clark has served as a Sunday school teacher and was a past Brownie leader. She volunteered with the school districts of Richland, Wash., and Pleasant Hill, Ore., where she also served as PTA president. Clark was state secretary of the Pony of America’s Oregon Chapter; 

• Julie Perkins, honored by the Kansas Pharmacists Association. Perkins, of Howard, Kan., is a member of the Howard Rotary Club and served as treasurer, she is a member of the Howard Chamber of Commerce and has served as president and is a member of the St. Mary’s Catholic Church and has been involved with the St. Mary’s Altar Society. Perkins now is involved in a group trying to open a small fitness center in the city of Howard. When the local grocery store went out of business, Perkins opened a grocery store in the drug store so the local citizens would not have to travel to buy their groceries; 

• Sabah Hussein, honored by the Illinois Pharmacists Association. Hussein, of Chicago, worked with the Midwestern University Chicago College of Pharmacy Collaborative Health Advocate Team and volunteered at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Pharmacy with the Medication Monitoring and Safety in Older Adults program. He helped with the Chicago Department of Public Health Chicago Area Immunization Campaign and the Black Barbershop Project. Hussein volunteered with the Respiratory Health Association of Metropolitan Chicago “Hustle up the Hancock” and the Ford Motor Stamping Plant “Operation Heart.” He volunteered with the Chicago Urban League’s Health Fair, the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network “Purple Stride Chicago,” and the American Indian Center of Chicago. He worked at the University of Illinois at Chicago Hospital and the John Stroger Hospital volunteering with Spanish Interpreting Services; and 

• Robert Schreiber, honored by the Pennsylvania Pharmacists Association. Schreiber, of Yardley, Penn., has been a member of the Pennsylvania Pharmacists Association since 1975 and has served as chairman of the Third Party Committee and chairman of the Academy of Community Pharmacists. He is a member of the National Community Pharmacists Association and the Bucks County Pharmacists Association, serving as president and VP. Schreiber served as chairman of the board for the PARD Association of Community Pharmacists in Philadelphia and testified before the Pennsylvania House and Senate Committees, which have protected the interests of pharmacy.