The AACP Distinguished Preceptor Recognition Program has recognized seven individuals as distinguished preceptors, for their dedication and commitment to excellence in experiential education and professional practice. This tenth cohort will receive a recognition plaque, complimentary AACP membership, and national recognition from AACP and other pharmacy associations.
The 2024 recipients are Dr. Phil Ayers, The University of Mississippi; Mr. John DeJames, Duquesne University; Mrs. Susan Findley, Wayne State University; Dr. Matthew Lane, University of Kentucky; Dr. Laura Lumsden, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences; Ms. Mary Mably, The University of Wisconsin–Madison; and Dr. Davena Norris, The University of New Mexico. Scroll through to learn more about these Distinguished Preceptors.
The purpose of the AACP Distinguished Preceptor Recognition Program is to highlight preceptors, who are not full-time employees of a school/college of pharmacy, for their sustained commitment to excellence in experiential education and professional practice.
Phil Ayers, B.S., Pharm.D., BCNSP, FMSHP, FASHP
The University of Mississippi
Dr. Ayers received his Bachelor of Science and Doctor of Pharmacy degrees from The University of Mississippi. He is currently employed by Mississippi Baptist Medical Center in Jackson, Miss. He is a clinical specialist in nutrition support and serves the Department of Pharmacy as chief of clinical pharmacy services. Dr. Ayers is a clinical associate professor with the School of Pharmacy at The University of Mississippi.
Dr. Ayers is currently serving the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (ASPEN) on the Board of Directors as President and is a Past Chair of the ASPEN Parenteral Nutrition Safety Committee. Phil is a member of the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) Compounding Committee and Chair of the Parenteral Nutrition Subcommittee.
Dr. Ayers was awarded the ASPEN Excellence in Nutrition Support Education Award, 2011 and the ASPEN. Stanley Serlick Award for Parenteral Nutrition Safety in 2016. He has published and presented on the topics of parenteral nutrition, parenteral nutrition safety, lipid injectable emulsions, fluids and electrolyte management and acid-base disorders.
He was named a fellow by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) and the Mississippi Society of Health-System Pharmacists (MSHP). Dr. Ayers was recently recognized as an honorary member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND). Dr. Ayers has served as president of the Mississippi Pharmacists Association, Mississippi Society of Health-System Pharmacists, Mississippi College of Clinical Pharmacy and the Mississippi Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition.
John DeJames, R.Ph., B.S.Pharm.
Duquesne University
John DeJames is currently the manager of clinical services and development for Value Drug Company, a wholesaler co-op serving 650+ retail locations and an active Flip the Pharmacy Coach for the Pennsylvania Pharmacy Care Network (PPCN). He graduated from the Duquesne University School of Pharmacy in 1988 and immediately took a retail position with Thrift Drug.
He stayed with Thrift as a retail manager until 1997, at which time he started with Giant Eagle Pharmacy. In his 24 years with Giant Eagle, DeJames held many positions with the company, from retail manager to manager of college relations and intern development to senior manager of clinical services and special programs, and finally senior manager of business development.
Over the past 18 years, he has hosted an elective management APPE in the community pharmacy setting, precepting up to thirty students annually from twelve different schools of pharmacy. In 2015, DeJames was named the PPA Preceptor of the Year and in 2016 he won the PPA Pharmaceutical Industry Award for his work with clinical programs in the state. In 2019, he was recognized by Duquesne University with their annual Alumni Achievement Award, and he was awarded the Upsher-Smith Excellence in Innovation Award in 2021.
DeJames is currently the president-elect for the Pennsylvania Pharmacists Association while serving a three-year director-level term on the Allegheny County Pharmacy Association. He is also an officer on Duquesne University’s Alumni Board of Governors and is a current member on the Dean’s Advisory Board for Duquesne, NEOMED, and Toledo.
Susan Findley, R.PH.
Wayne State University
Susan Findley, R.Ph., earned her B.S. in Pharmacy in 1989 from Wayne State University. She began her career in independent community pharmacy practice at Lafer Drugs in Fraser, Mich., followed by joining the Kroger Corporation in Michigan as a staff pharmacist/pharmacy manager in 1991 and was promoted to Pharmacy Coordinator from 1995 until 2018. Along with her responsibilities as a coordinator of pharmacy operations and clinical services for 25 to 40 Kroger sites, from 2012 to 2022, she was the pharmacy extern/intern preceptor coordinator, where she was responsible for implementing extern and intern programs for 80 to 103 Kroger sites. Most recently, she became a health & wellness/pharmacy practice voordinator in 2018 for the Kroger Corporation. With her team of 54 pharmacists and a technician operation specialist, she provides training, implementation, and assessment of all areas of community pharmacy operations and integrated clinical services. In 2019, she also completed the Michigan Pharmacist Association Leadership Academy.
Findley has contributed to the education and training of pharmacy students for close to 30 years for Wayne State University (WSU) Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, as well as the University of Michigan, Ferris State University, LECOM, and Manchester College of Pharmacy. For WSU, since 1995, she has established the consistent integration of Pharm.D. students and their involvement in providing patient care clinical services across 20 Kroger Pharmacies throughout Michigan for both the Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experiences (IPPE) and Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPE). As a leader in community pharmacy practice, she inspires and supports her pharmacists to be active preceptors for WSU students and mentors them in a layered learning model that recognizes students' impact on patient care in the community setting. Most notably, she has been instrumental in the WSU and Kroger partnership to successfully offer Community Advanced Pharmacy Practice 3-rotation track APPE for the past 20 years.
Findley is greatly involved in her community and professional organizations. Since 2018, she has been an active member of the Michigan Pharmacist Association, contributing through her committee work. She also serves on the WSU Pharmacy Alumni Board, where she engages with student pharmacists through wellness activities, career development meetings, and career fairs. Her dedication to her community extends to her church, where she has served as the president of the church council for several years.
MATTHEW LANE, Pharm.D., BCPS
University of Kentucky
Dr. Matthew Lane is a board-certified pharmacotherapy specialist and chief of pharmacy at the Lexington VA Health Care System. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in pharmacy from the University of Kansas and his Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy (UKCOP). He completed his pharmacy practice and critical care residencies at the University of Kentucky Medical Center.
After working at Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans, he returned to Kentucky and joined the Lexington VA Health Care System as a clinical pharmacist and faculty member at UKCOP. Dr. Lane has been involved in the didactic program and precepting pharmacy students for the past 30 years.
Dr. Lane has held multiple positions at the VA, initially as the surgery/critical care clinical specialist. During his career, he has provided clinical services to surgery, various acute care areas, primary care, anticoagulation, dialysis, and vaccination clinics at the VA. He served as residency program director for 25 years. Dr. Lane was eventually promoted to clinical coordinator and, most recently, chief of pharmacy. Throughout this time, he has been involved in expanding clinical services from five pharmacists to over 27 currently.
Dr. Lane has precepted over 400 students during APPE and IPPE rotations and 58 pharmacy residents at the VA. He values the opportunity to help trainees advance their clinical knowledge and growth. His most satisfying role is learning from his students and seeing them prosper in their careers and life.
Laura Lumsden, Pharm.d.
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
Dr. Laura Lumsden, co-owner and co-founder of Remedy Drug in Little Rock, Ark., received her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from UAMS in 1994. Her business recently celebrated eleven years of excellence in serving the community in which her business resides.
She has been a PGY1 preceptor, and for 30 years, has incorporated IPPE and APPE experiences into her practice. She teaches with encouragement rather than intimidation while providing an environment that is conducive to learning.
She is the 2017 Arkansas Pharmacists Association Pharmacist-of-the-Year, the 2006 UAMS Preceptor-of-the-Year, and in 2023, recognized by UAMS as an Outstanding Preceptor in the top 10% of rotation experiences.
Dr. Lumsden serves on the board of directors for AR CPESN, a clinically integrated network. Her business was among the first to provide COVID vaccines to the community and has become a go to site for preventative vaccines of all kinds. They also provide point-of-care test-to-treat services for COVID, flu, and strep. Students, whether employed or on rotation, are a part of every step of the process.
Her mission as a pharmacist, as is her mission in life, is to make a difference in any way possible.
"I am blessed to be in a profession that I love profoundly. I tell my students that if they take away just one thing from their experience with me, that it is enthusiasm for the difference we can make. Keeping the 'care' in healthcare is paramount to patient outcomes."
Mary S. Mably, RP.h., BCOP
University of Wisconsin–Madison
Mary Mably is manager of the Pharmacy Oncology Service Line at UW Health, where she has worked since 2008. She received her B.S. in pharmacy from St. Louis College of Pharmacy in 1983 and has been board certified in oncology pharmacy since 2002.
She has served as a member of several NCCN guideline panels, chairperson of the Vizient Pharmacy Cancer Care Committee and chairperson of the HOPA Education Development Committee. She is currently vice chairperson of the HOPA Education Council. Her volunteer work includes serving as a practitioner surveyor for ASHP residency accreditation for the past 13 years.
Mably has given many presentations about oncology pharmacy topics at various national meetings. She was honored to receive the University of Wisconsin Department of Medicine Division of Hematology, Medical Oncology and Palliative Care Award for Extraordinary Service to the Division for 2016-17, which was subsequently renamed the Mary Mably Award for Extraordinary Service to the Division and presented yearly. She was UW Health Preceptor of the Year in 2015.
Mably has served in multiple capacities at the UW Madison School of Pharmacy, including co-developing a new oncology pharmacy elective. She was promoted to clinical adjunct associate professor in 2023.
Davena Norris, Pharm.D., PhC, BCPS, DipACLM
The University of New Mexico
Dr. Davena Norris is a clinical pharmacy specialist at Memorial Medical Center (MMC) in Las Cruces, New Mexico, where she has worked since 2013. Upon graduating from the University of New Mexico College of Pharmacy in 2012, she completed a PGY1 pharmacy residency at the Southern Arizona VA Healthcare System. Dr. Norris works collaboratively with an interprofessional family medicine team to manage medication therapy in both inpatient and ambulatory settings. She is board-certified in pharmacotherapy and lifestyle medicine and is passionate about working with people with diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and substance use disorders.
Dr. Norris has dedicated her career to educating pharmacy residents, students, and other health professionals. She serves as a preceptor for the UNM College of Pharmacy and the University of Texas at El Paso School of Pharmacy. Additionally, she co-founded a PGY1 pharmacy residency program at MMC, among the first in southern New Mexico. Beyond pharmacy education, she contributes as pharmacist faculty for the Southern NM Family Medicine Residency Program, co-leading rotations in family medicine inpatient care, geriatrics, and health policy. Finally, she serves as a faculty member for the NMSU Master of Science in Clinical Psychopharmacology program for psychologists.
Grateful for the mentorship she has received and the students who continually inspire her, Dr. Norris remains steadfast in her mission to equip health professionals with the skills needed to address the healthcare needs of their communities. She is honored to have been nominated and selected for this award.