Julie Zito Honored with USM Regents’ Award

Pharmacoepidemiology Expert is the First School of Pharmacy Faculty Member to Receive the Honor

By Becky Ceraul
April 25, 2008

Julie Magno Zito, PhD, a professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Health Services Research at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy and affiliate in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, is one of four winners of the 2007-2008 University System of Maryland (USM) Regents’ Faculty Award for Research, Scholarship or Creative Acts. Dr. Zito is widely known for her pharmacoepidemiologic studies on medications for behavioral and psychiatric problems in children.

On April 11, the USM Board of Regents presented the awards during its spring meeting at the USM Hagerstown Regional Higher Education Center. The USM educators and researchers were honored for their professional accomplishments in the areas of research, scholarship and creative activity; teaching; public service; mentoring; and collaboration.

Dr. Zito’s 2000 Journal of the American Medical Association study of preschoolers’ use of psychotropic drugs resulted in major national and international media attention. Additionally, a $10 million clinical trial on the efficacy and safety of methylphenidate in youth was designed in light of her pharmacoepidemiologic study findings. She currently works with the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in response to federal legislation mandating annual reporting of the frequency of use of pediatric medications to prioritize drugs for further scientific evaluation. The significance of this work lies in the need to identify gaps in the evidence of efficacy and safety of marketed medications in pediatric populations and to promote research models to fill the gaps.

“I started as a practicing pharmacist and noticed that some patients with chronic conditions took their medications and got better and others took medicines and didn’t get better,” says Dr. Zito. “This experience motivated me to go to graduate school, get advanced training in epidemiology and join others in the emerging scientific discipline of pharmacoepidemiology. This award is recognition of the field as an accepted scientific area.”

According to C. Daniel Mullins, PhD, Chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical Health Services Research, Dr. Zito is one of the most productive members of the department with nearly 100 publications, numerous invited lectures and presentations, and more than $4 million in public and foundation research funding. “Julie’s scholarship is pioneering in the field of pharmacoepidemiology and her students have benefited greatly from her mentorship,” he says.

Established in 1995, the Faculty Awards are the highest honors presented to USM faculty by the Board of Regents. Awardees are selected by the Council of University System Faculty and approved by the board. Each award recipient receives $1,000 and a plaque of recognition for the honor.