Winter named Pharmacist of the Year

Michael Winter, PharmD, professor of clinical pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is the California Society of Health-System Pharmacists (CSHP) 2003 Pharmacist of the Year. The award, one of CSHP's highest honors, will be presented on October 24, 2003 during the society's annual meeting in Sacramento, California.

Awardees must make significant, influential, and sustained contributions to pharmacy practice in California and serve as professional role models. They must also be members of CSHP for at least 5 years.

"Mike has made so many salient contributions to the profession over his 30-year career," stated Mary Anne Koda-Kimble, PharmD, dean of the UCSF School of Pharmacy. "He has been at the forefront of curricular reform in pharmacy; he has trained a multitude of pharmacists in the field of clinical pharmacokinetics; he has mentored a generation of pharmacy students and professionals. He is most deserving of this honor."

Winter is regarded as an authority on pharmacokinetics, the quantitative study of how drugs are taken up, biologically transformed, distributed, metabolized, and eliminated from the body. He is the author of Basic Clinical Pharmacokinetics. This, the first clinical textbook on the subject, is considered the professional standard for pharmacy students and practicing pharmacists alike. He consults regularly with physicians and pharmacists to solve the complex pharmacokinetics problems of patients. His work helps health care providers better understand pharmacokinetic principles. These, in turn, can improve drug treatment and health outcome.

As a doctor of pharmacy graduate of UCSF, Winter now serves as a senior faculty member who both teaches and conducts clinical research. He is vice chair for academic affairs in the department of clinical pharmacy. And he is a vocal supporter of continued curricular change. "Mike contributed untold hours—days—to the creation of our innovative, new PharmD pathway curriculum. And now he is helping to evaluate and refine it," said Koda-Kimble.

Winter adds CSHP's prestigious 2003 Pharmacist of the Year award to a long list of honors. He received the UCSF School of Pharmacy Longs Teaching Award in 1979 and 1988, and was honored with the Outstanding Faculty Teaching Award from the UCSF department of laboratory medicine in 1987. He was voted Preceptor of the Year by UCSF pharmacy practice residents in 1981 and 1983, and was nationally recognized in 2001 with the Distinguished Practitioner Award from the National Academy of Practice in Pharmacy.

Winter has lectured on the use of pharmacokenetics in patient care settings to audiences throughout the world. He has served repeatedly on CSHP committees as well as in scores of national professional organizations in leadership capacities.

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Department of Clinical Pharmacy, PharmD Degree Program

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