During this CMEO Snack, Drs. Wechsler and Akuthota will use 3-D models to discuss the pathophysiology and clinical course of EGPA, including eosinophilic manifestations of the disease and the effect of anti-IL-5 therapy on eosinophil activity in EGPA.
Dr. Akuthota’s research efforts range from basic scientific investigations of human eosinophil biology and eosinophilic inflammation to clinical and translational efforts in asthma and eosinophilic pulmonary disease. He is the corresponding Principal Investigator for the University of California San Diego Clinical Center in the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s PrecISE Network that will be studying precision interventions in severe asthma. He is a co-investigator on a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine showing the efficacy of anti-IL-5 therapy in the treatment of Eosinophilic Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis (EGPA, also known as Churg Strauss Syndrome). His research group is involved in other multicenter studies in eosinophilic disease and asthma. Basic science investigations from Dr. Akuthota focus on ex vivo studies of human eosinophils and include published work studying eosinophil trafficking and work studying microparticle release by eosinophils. He has written several reviews and chapters discussing eosinophil immunobiology and clinical considerations in eosinophilic diseases. Dr. Akuthota is an At-Large Member of the Board of Directors of the International Eosinophil Society (eosinophil-society.org).
Michael E. Wechsler is Professor of Medicine in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine at National Jewish Health (NJH) in Denver, Director of the NJH/Cohen Family Asthma Institute, and Associate Vice President for Innovation and Industry Relations at NJH. In addition to clinical work in pulmonary and critical care medicine, Professor Wechsler’s research focuses on clinical and translational asthma with emphasis on clinical trials in asthma, novel asthma therapies, bronchial thermoplasty, asthma pharmacogenomics, and management of eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (i.e. Churg-Strauss Syndrome). He has led studies focusing on novel biologic agents for asthma and related diseases, including benralizumab, dupilumab, mepolizumab, reslizumab, and tezepelumab. He has published more than 270 peer-reviewed manuscripts relating to asthma, EGPA, and eosinophilic lung diseases. He was a member of the Steering Committee and site Principal Investigator (PI) of the NIH-sponsored Asthma Clinical Research Network (ACRN, now called AsthmaNet), a multicenter asthma clinical trials consortium, and currently serves as the PI of the Denver site of the Precision Intervention in Severe/Exacerbating Asthma (PRECISE) network. A member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians, he has participated in many different task forces related to the study of eosinophilic lung diseases that were sponsored by the NIH, the FDA, the European Respiratory Society, and the International Eosinophil Society. He is currently Associate Editor of the journal Chest and has served as Associate Editor of the journal Allergy and on the editorial board of the European Journal of Clinical Investigation.
Dr. Wechsler received AB and MMSc degrees from Harvard University in Boston and an MD degree from McGill University in Montreal. He completed medical training at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston, and as part of the Harvard Combined Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellowship Training Program.</br.
During this 30-minute CMEO Snack, Drs. Wechsler and Seo will discuss how to integrate EGPA treatments, including IL-5 targeted therapies, based on current treatment guidelines and patient-specific factors.
Dr. Philip Seo is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Rheumatology. A graduate of Harvard College and the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University, Dr. Seo completed his Internal Medicine training as a member of the Osler Medical Service at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. Since then, he has worked at Johns Hopkins in several capacities, including as a hospitalist at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, and as an Assistant Chief of Service of the Department of Medicine at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, before joining the Division of Rheumatology.
His research interests are the assessment and treatment of ANCA-associated vasculitides, including Churg Strauss Syndrome, Wegener’s Granulomatosis, and Microscopic Polyangiitis.
Michael E. Wechsler is Professor of Medicine in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine at National Jewish Health (NJH) in Denver, Director of the NJH/Cohen Family Asthma Institute, and Associate Vice President for Innovation and Industry Relations at NJH. In addition to clinical work in pulmonary and critical care medicine, Professor Wechsler’s research focuses on clinical and translational asthma with emphasis on clinical trials in asthma, novel asthma therapies, bronchial thermoplasty, asthma pharmacogenomics, and management of eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (i.e. Churg-Strauss Syndrome). He has led studies focusing on novel biologic agents for asthma and related diseases, including benralizumab, dupilumab, mepolizumab, reslizumab, and tezepelumab. He has published more than 270 peer-reviewed manuscripts relating to asthma, EGPA, and eosinophilic lung diseases. He was a member of the Steering Committee and site Principal Investigator (PI) of the NIH-sponsored Asthma Clinical Research Network (ACRN, now called AsthmaNet), a multicenter asthma clinical trials consortium, and currently serves as the PI of the Denver site of the Precision Intervention in Severe/Exacerbating Asthma (PRECISE) network. A member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians, he has participated in many different task forces related to the study of eosinophilic lung diseases that were sponsored by the NIH, the FDA, the European Respiratory Society, and the International Eosinophil Society. He is currently Associate Editor of the journal Chest and has served as Associate Editor of the journal Allergy and on the editorial board of the European Journal of Clinical Investigation.
Dr. Wechsler received AB and MMSc degrees from Harvard University in Boston and an MD degree from McGill University in Montreal. He completed medical training at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston, and as part of the Harvard Combined Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellowship Training Program.</br.
In this CME Outfitters BriefCase, expert faculty will guide learners through a patient case involving an initial presentation of an irAE within the ambulatory care setting. This program will provide guidance to pharmacists working within a multidisciplinary care team on strategies for the triage and initial guideline-directed management of patients with a suspected irAE.
Dr. Dougan is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School and is the Director of the Immunotherapy Mucosal Toxicities Program at Massachusetts General Hospital. He received his MD and PhD from Harvard Medical School, completing his dissertation work in Immunology with Dr. Glenn Dranoff at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Dr. Dougan’s research aims to translate findings from a detailed analysis of the immune mechanisms driving immunotherapy toxicities into novel treatment strategies both for malignancies and for inflammatory diseases of gut.
Dr. Rebecca Castner (she/her) is a clinical pharmacy specialist with board certification in both ambulatory care pharmacy and HIV pharmacy practice. Throughout her 10+ years in practice, she has provided subject matter expertise in the areas of outpatient psychiatric pharmacy, integrative medicine, sexually transmitted infection treatment and prevention, gender-affirming care, and mindfulness. She currently serves as the embedded ambulatory care clinical pharmacist within six regional primary care clinics at Rush University Medical Center in the Chicagoland area.
Dr. Kerry Reynolds is an oncologist at the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. She currently serves as the Director of the Severe Immunotherapy Complications (SIC) Service and the Clinical Director for Inpatient Cancer Services at Mass General Cancer Center. She joined the Harvard Medical School faculty in 2014, after completing her residency and chief residency at Massachusetts General and fellowship training in Oncology at Dana-Farber/Partners Cancer Care.
The SIC Service is the first program of its kind in the country. Every hospitalized patient at Mass General Cancer Center who has received immunotherapy and is suspected to be experiencing an immune-related adverse event (irAE) is seen by one of the Service’s dedicated oncologists, resulting in unparalleled care for this type of toxicity. Under the leadership of Dr. Reynolds, the SIC Service now provides care to a significant number of patients every year and has grown to comprise more than 50 clinicians and researchers across 19 different areas of the hospital, including subspecialists from oncology, cardiology, dermatology, gastroenterology, and many more relevant disciplines.
In addition to providing clinical care, supervising and educating trainees, and participating in administrative affairs, Dr. Reynolds leverages the work of the SIC Service to conduct research on the severe toxicities associated with immunotherapy. Her ultimate goal is to improve the lives of patients undergoing immunotherapy by uncovering irAE predictors and biomarkers, characterizing the clinical presentations of irAEs, developing best practices for managing irAEs, and elucidating the mechanisms that drive irAEs in order to develop novel therapies. To pursue this goal, she is working with Dr. Alexandra-Chloe Villani to systematically collect blood and tissue samples from patients with irAEs and analyze them using cutting-edge technologies. Dr. Reynolds has also authored numerous peer-reviewed publications and several book chapters, and she was lead editor of Facing Immunotherapy: A Guide for Patients and Their Families.
In this CMEO BriefCase, Drs. Pruitt and Wattana will guide learners through a patient case scenario reviewing the recognition of ICI exposure through focused medication history, signs and symptoms of irAEs, and principles of early, appropriate management and the importance of consultation with an oncology care team. This program will focus on the role of the ED pharmacist in making timely interventions for patients with irAEs seen in the emergency department including strategies for engaging with ED team members and for setting the patient up for a successful transition in care.
Monica Kathleen Wattana completed residency training in Emergency Medicine at UCLA/Olive View and was first to complete a fellowship in Oncologic Emergency Medicine at UT MD Anderson Cancer Center. Upon fellowship completion, she stayed on as faculty and currently is an Associate Professor within the Department of Emergency Medicine. Dr. Wattana serves as the Director of Education for the department and is in charge of all educational initiatives including trainee clinical rotations and the Oncologic Emergency Medicine Fellowship. She also co-chairs the annual MD Anderson Oncologic Emergency Medicine Conference. She is a content expert in the area of oncologic emergency medicine education and clinical practice and has been invited as a speaker for multiple international and national medical conferences.
Jimmy L. Pruitt III, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP, BCEMP, is originally from Orlando, Florida, and received his Doctor of Pharmacy from Presbyterian College School of Pharmacy in 2017. He completed a PGY-1 pharmacy residency at Florida Hospital Orlando and then went on to Grady Health System in Atlanta, Georgia, for his PGY2 emergency medicine residency. Dr. Pruitt is currently an emergency medicine clinical pharmacy specialist at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) in Charleston, South Carolina. He was awarded Grady Pharmacist of the Year in 2019 as a PGY2 emergency medicine resident, which was a first in the program’s 30+ year history. In 2020, he obtained Board-Certified Pharmacotherapy Specialist (BCPS) and Board-Certified Critical Care Pharmacist (BCCCP) recognition. Also, in 2020, he won the Society of Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM) Got Talent competition for his educational series “Pharmacy Friday Pearls,” which was the first time a pharmacist won the event. In 2021, Dr. Pruitt was honored with the Excellence in Diversity award from MUSC College of Pharmacy, was Presbyterian College School of Pharmacy (PCSP) Alumni of the Year, and was keynote speaker for the 2021 PCPS graduation. His professional interests include cardiac arrest, shock syndromes, trauma, and hosting his podcast Pharm So Hard. Dr. Pruitt obtained board certification in emergency medicine in May 2023.
In this CMEO BriefCase, expert faculty will present information on how healthcare disparities impact irAE recognition and management and pharmacist considerations for social determinants of health relative to irAE diagnosis and treatment planning. Discussion will include strategies for addressing healthcare inequities in order to improve timely recognition and treatment for all patients experiencing irAEs.
Dr. Ajewole serves as Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice at Texas Southern University (TSU) and as a Clinical Pharmacist and an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Oncology at Houston Methodist Hospital. She received her PharmD from TSU and completed her oncology pharmacy residency at Houston Methodist Hospital. Dr. Ajewole is a board-certified Oncology Pharmacist with clinical practice in oral chemotherapy at Houston Methodist Hospital Cancer Center.
Dr. Ajewole and her team received a Susan G. Komen community grant to establish a Breast Cancer Screening and Prevention Center at TSU. She is the Director of the recently funded National Institutes of Health-Research Centers in Minority Institutions Center for Biomedical and Minority Health Research – Community Engagement Core. Dr. Ajewole is also the Principal Investigator of a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services-funded grant on prostate cancer in African American men and a Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas-funded grant on breast cancer prevention program for ethnic minority women. She is the founder of Community Resource Solutions Group: an organization committed to promoting Health Equity, Research, and Training. Learn more at www.communityrsg.com
When Dr. Ajewole is not serving her patients, students, community, or church, she is serving and enjoying quality time with her husband and four wonderful children.
Dr. Ana Velázquez Mañana is a thoracic oncologist and Assistant Professor of Medicine in the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Division of Hematology/Oncology at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital in California. As a Latina, she advocates for workforce diversity and gender equity and has been named the Assistant Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility for Training of the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center at UCSF. Dr. Velázquez completed her MD at the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine, a Master of Biomedical Science at Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (formerly known as Mayo Graduate School), and her Internal Medicine residency at Mount Sinai Beth Israel, where she was a Chief Resident. She joined UCSF in 2018, where she completed her clinical fellowship in Medical Oncology and postdoctoral research fellowship in the National Clinician Scholars Program.
Dr. Velázquez is a member of the prestigious John A. Watson Faculty Scholars Class of 2022 at UCSF and has been awarded a Conquer Cancer Foundation Young Investigator Award. She aims to support and improve the outcomes of patients with lung cancer from vulnerable backgrounds using health services and disparities research.
In this CME Outfitters webcast, expert faculty will discuss unconscious bias, racial and ethnic disparities, and health inequities and lay the foundation to implement real-world strategies and actionable steps for health care professionals (HCPs) and non-HCPs, including office, administrative, and support staff.
Dr. Lisa Richardson is a physician in General Internal Medicine at the University Health Network and is a Centre Researcher at the Wilson Centre with a scholarly focus on the integration of Indigenous and critical perspectives from the social sciences into medical education. Dr. Richardson is the Associate Dean, Inclusion and Diversity at Temerty Medicine and is the Strategic Lead in Indigenous Health for Women’s College Hospital where she founded the Centre for Wise Practices in Indigenous Health.
DeLon Canterbury, PharmD, BCGP, is President and Chief Executive Officer of GeriatRx, Inc. in Durham, North Carolina, and is a Certified Community Pharmacogenomics (PGx) Consultant. Dr. Canterbury has dedicated his career to serving low income and rural socioeconomic populations across the Triangle, aiming to give his patients healthier lives by supporting them in their health journeys.
Diane Bruessow, PA-C, divides her time between practicing and teaching medicine. She is the Director of Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion and an Assistant Professor adjunct at the Yale School of Medicine PAO program, where she teaches the next generation of medical professionals about sexual and gender minority health. Her medical practice, Healthy Transitions, LLC, is dedicated to the care of transgender and nonbinary patients across the lifespan.
Monica Peek, MD, MPH, MSc is an Ellen H. Block Professor of Health Justice in the Department of Medicine. She is also the Associate Director, Chicago Center for Diabetes Translation Research, and Director of Research, MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics. She is a practicing internist, medical educator, and clinician investigator. Her research pursues health equity and social justice, with a focus on promoting equitable doctor/patient relationships among racial minorities, integrating the medical and social needs of patients, and addressing health care discrimination and structural racism impacting health outcomes (e.g., diabetes, COVID-19). Dr. Peek has authored more than 200 peer-reviewed publications and abstracts on health care disparities, diversity, and bias; has been the principal investigator of multiple grants to address health disparities; and has been invited to speak at numerous local and national medical meetings.