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PhD Students

Kenechukwu C. Ben-Umeh

Kenechukwu C. Ben-Umeh

Email address: Kenechukwu.Ben-Umeh@utah.edu

Background:

Kenechukwu obtained his Bachelor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN). He then worked as a Research Intern Pharmacist at the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD) for a year and as a Research Assistant at the International Research Centre for Excellence, Institute of Human Virology Nigeria. He learned about Health Economics and Outcomes Research (HEOR) through his involvement with the UNN student chapter of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). The burden of chronic illnesses in many African countries, especially Nigeria, and the undeniable complex relationship between treatment costs, payment burden, and health outcomes motivated him to apply for a Ph.D. at the University of Utah. Kene is excited by the enabling and collaborative research environment the Department of Pharmacotherapy offers and plans to work with renowned researchers and experts with academic and industrial links, building research competence and metamorphosing into an astute HEOR professional.

Research interest:

Pharmacoeconomics, health technology assessment (HTA), Pharmacoepidemiology, Real-world evidence.

Madeline Brendle, MPH

Madeline Brendle

Email address: Madeline.Brendle@utah.edu

Background:

Madeline Brendle is a Ph.D. student at the Department of Pharmacotherapy at the University of Utah. She holds a B.A. in Neuroscience and an M.P.H concentrating in Healthcare Management from Boston University. During her M.P.H. education, she gained interest in health system analysis and research to identify how services and delivery of care can improve and best serve the patient population and surrounding community. Upon completion of her MPH, she began working as a research fellow at the Pharmacotherapy Outcomes Research Center in July 2019. During her year as a fellow, she worked on a number of projects and collaborated with expert faculty at PORC, all of whom allowed her to utilize the skills and knowledge gained at BU SPH and develop her expertise in HEOR. To provide additional value to pharmacotherapy research and evaluation, she decided to pursue a PhD in the Department of Pharmacotherapy.

Research interest:

Madeline’s primary research interest is in mental health pharmacotherapy and service delivery. She is interested in exploring and developing novel mental health treatment modalities and increasing access to treatment for marginalized groups. Her area of expertise includes evidence synthesis, outcomes research using secondary databases, cost-effectiveness analysis, and comparative effectiveness research.

Anindit Chhibber

Anindit Chhibber

Email address: anindit.chhibber@pharm.utah.edu

Background:

Originally from India, Anindit earned his bachelor’s in biotechnology from Kurukshetra University and his MS from the department of pharmacology and toxicology at the University of Kansas. There, he was exposed to the field of HEOR and thus applied to the PhD program at the University of Utah. His research interests lie in assessing the clinical and economic utility of pharmacogenomics in reducing drug therapy problems in Cystic Fibrosis. He has been awarded Skaggs fellowship (2020-2021), ARUP fellowship (2021-2022), and has interned with Merck and Amgen during his training at the department.

Research interest:

Assessment of clinical and economic utility of pharmacogenomics in reducing drug therapy problems in Cystic Fibrosis

Khanh N. C. Duong

Khanh N. C. Duong

Email address: khanh.duong@utah.edu

Background:

Khanh is currently a Ph.D. student at the Department of Pharmacotherapy. She received her bachelor's degree in pharmacy from Ho Chi Minh University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Vietnam, and her master's in Health Technology Assessment from Mahidol University, Thailand. Previously, she was an instructor at Ho Chi Minh Vietnam National University.

Research interest:

Evidence Synthesis, Health Technology Assessment, Economic Evaluation

Elvis Duru

Elvis Duru

Email address: elvis.duru@utah.edu

Background:

Elvis is a first-year PhD student in the department of pharmacotherapy. He began his academic journey at the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN), where he obtained a BPharm degree in 2019. His foundation in pharmacy was further enriched by his valuable internship experience at the Nigerian Army Reference Hospital in Lagos, Nigeria. There, he worked at the Drug Revolving Scheme (DRS) and was opportune to manage the procurement unit of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) pharmacy.

Upon completing his internship, Elvis secured a position at the Federal Ministry of Health, Nigeria where he deepened his understanding of the healthcare system and its challenges. This experience played a crucial role in motivating him to pursue a PhD program, with a focus on addressing the pressing issues in healthcare and pharmaceuticals.

Research interest:

His research interests include health policy, evidence synthesis, cost-effectiveness analysis, and real-world evidence. Motivated by his background and experiences, Elvis aims to develop and implement innovative health policies that optimize healthcare delivery and improve overall patient outcomes.

Priyanka Ghule

Priyanka Ghule

Email address: priyanka.ghule@utah.edu

Background:

Priyanka graduated with a Master of Science in Regulatory Affairs from Northeastern University, Boston in 2018. Subsequently, she worked as a research scholar at the University of Memphis School of Public Health where she supported ongoing research activities like literature review, manuscript preparation in the areas of population health, epidemiology, and health services research. She also has a BS and MS in Pharmacy from Mumbai University, India. She has worked in the pharmaceutical industry for 5 years and has experience in pharmaceutical research and development (R&D) and intellectual property rights (patents).

Research interest:

Priyanka's current research interest include pharmacoeconomics, outcomes research and real-world data analysis. Priyanka is currently involved in projects that focuses on patient centered outcomes, systematic reviews and meta-analysis and pharmacoeconomics.

Warittakorn Kategeaw

Warittakorn Kategeaw

Email address: warittakorn.kategeaw@utah.edu

Background:

Warittakorn is currently a Ph.D. student at the Department of Pharmacotherapy, University of Utah. She obtained her PharmD from Chulalongkorn University. She then worked as a research assistant at the department before joining the Ph.D. program. 

Xi Liang

Xi Liang

Email address: 

Background:

Xi is currently a first-year Ph.D. student at the Department of Pharmacotherapy, University of Utah. She is originally from China. Previously, Xi received her bachelor's degree in pharmaceutical management from China Pharmaceutical University and graduated with her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, New York State. 

Research interest:

Pharmacoeconomics, outcomes research, health technology assessment, and real-world evidence synthesis  

Aditi A Kharat

Aditi A Kharat

Email address: aditi.kharat@utah.edu

Background:

Aditi is a pharmacist by training and is a current PhD student at the department of Pharmacotherapy. Prior to her doctoral studies, Aditi completed her masters in Pharmacy Administration from St. John’s University, New York, where she researched on economic burden of diabetes and chronic kidney diseases, and performed patient preference/discrete choice experiment studies for celiac disease patients. Her desire and passion to strengthen her understanding about the field of HEOR and the opportunity provided by the University of Utah to work on industry sponsored projects, made her pursue the doctoral training. Her research work is focused on pancreatic cancer and she is currently involved in projects that focus on healthcare resource utilization and medical expenditures, quality of care evaluations, and alternative payment model assessment for cancer patients.

Research interest:

Pharmacoeconomics, pharmacoepidemiology, health policy and outcomes research, health equity, health technology assessments, and real world evidence synthesis.

Danielle Nguyen

Danielle Nguyen

Email address: 

Background:

Danielle obtained her pharmacy doctorate at Roseman University of Health Sciences and subsequently completed a two-year Health Systems Pharmacy Administration residency at Intermountain Healthcare. After finishing her residency, she continued to expand her clinical and operational skills by continuing to work as a float pharmacist at Intermountain and clinical reviews pharmacist at MRIoA while completing her bachelor's degree in economics at the University of Utah and working on her master's degree at Oxford. As a student, she has completed internships at the congressional district office and medication assistance program. As a float pharmacist, she has worked in internal medicine, critical care, cardiology, neonatal intensive care, and more; she has also covered a pharmacy director's maternity leave at Park City Hospital during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Her hope with completing her PhD in Health Outcomes Research is to be able to integrate her clinical, economic, administrative, and managed care knowledge to improve medication access and outcomes in the United States. 

Research interest:

Her main passions involve drug pricing and affordability, as well as health policy and equity.

Teerawat Nonthasawadsri

Teerawat Nonthasawadsri

Email address: teerawat.nonthasawadsri@utah.edu

Background:

Tee was born in Bangkok, Thailand. He graduated in the Doctor of Pharmacy (Clinical Pharmacy) from the Faculty of Pharmacy, Mahidol University. He was working as a civil service officer in the position of Pharmacist, Practitioner Level at Thai Food and Drug Administration, Ministry of Public Health for 4 years with various responsibilities regarding the post-marketing, pre-marketing, and national policy drug regulation. Currently, he is pursuing the doctoral degree in the Department of Pharmacotherapy, the University of Utah with the ideas in mind that he wishes to find and implement better drug regulation innovation to improve the performance of his organization and the well-being of people in his home country.

Research interest:

Real-World Evidence, Patient-Centered Outcomes Research, Health Economics Outcomes Research, Comparative Effectiveness Research

Ratthanon Prasitwarachot

Ratthanon Prasitwarachot

Email address: Ratthanon.prasitwarachot@utah.edu

Background:

Ratthanon Prasitwarachot is originally from Thailand. He graduated with BPharm from Chiang Mai University and MSc in Advanced Pharmaceutical Manufacturing from University of Strathclyde. He has worked as a hospital pharmacist for three years and as an instructor for seven years. Although his previous degrees concentrated on pharmaceutical science, he is interested in pharmacoeconomics. He develops his skill by researching economic burden and cost-effectiveness analysis. Then, he decided to pursue his Ph.D. in Pharmacotherapy Outcome Research. Currently, he is a first-year Ph.D. student at the Department of Pharmacotherapy, University of Utah.

Research interest:

Economic Evaluation, Extended Cost-effectiveness analysis, Health technology assessment

Sakil Syeed

Sakil Syeed

Email address: sakil.syeed@gmail.com

Background:

Currently, I am a 3rd-year Ph.D. student here at the department of pharmacotherapy. Before joining the program, I was trained as a physician, obtained my medical degree from the University of Dhaka, and worked as a public health researcher at the icddr,b, Dhaka, Bangladesh, after graduation.

Research interest:

My research interest includes value assessment of innovative treatments, assessing outcomes in lung cancer patients applying real-world data, investigate drug-drug interaction utilizing large datasets, and evidence synthesis.

Abdelrahman Younis

Abdelrahman Younis

Email address: Abdelrahman.Younis@pharm.utah.edu

Background:

Abdelrahman Younis is a Ph.D. student at the Department of Pharmacotherapy at the University of Utah. He finished his Bachelor of Pharmacy degree from Minya University, Egypt. During his study, he became interested in pharmacy practice and drug-drug interaction research. Therefore, he participated in a project to evaluate pharmacy practices in Upper Egypt. In 2020, he was admitted to a master’s in health informatics at Arizona State University. During his master’s, he learned about US healthcare systems and dealt with large datasets. At this point, he learned more about Health Economics and Outcomes Research (HEOR) and found his interest in this field. Abdelrahman believes that a Ph.D. in pharmacotherapy outcomes from the University of Utah will help him to gain the knowledge to become an expert in Pharmacoepidemiology and health technology assessment (HTA).

Research interest:

Pharmacoepidemiology, Health Technology assessment for lung cancer treatment, evidence synthesis, and drug-drug interactions.