SOP Alumna, Longtime Supporter Donates $500,000 to School

Gift will establish scholarships to provide financial support for fellows in the Ellen H. Yankellow Health Outcomes Fellowship program and graduate students enrolled in the School’s two online master’s degree programs.

By Malissa Carroll
May 12, 2016

Ellen H. Yankellow, PharmD ’96, BSP ’73, president and chief executive officer of Correct Rx Pharmacy Services and chair of the Board of Visitors at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, has committed a gift of $500,000 to the School. The donation – for which Yankellow contributed $200,000 that was matched by both an anonymous donor and the Scholarship Matching Program established by the University of Maryland, Baltimore Foundation, Inc. (UMBF) – will establish the first endowed scholarships to provide a full year of financial support for a fellow in the Ellen H. Yankellow Health Outcomes Fellowship and a full year of tuition assistance for a graduate student enrolled in either the School’s online MS in Regulatory Science or MS in Pharmacometrics program, alternatively.

“As chair of the School’s Board of Visitors, I recognize all that the School has accomplished in terms of inspiring excellence in its students, advancing scientific knowledge, and expanding the impact of the pharmacist’s role on direct patient care and health outcomes,” says Yankellow. “However, there remain areas in the School for which the need is great, but funding is difficult to acquire. The matching funds provided by both the anonymous donor and UMBF will maximize the impact of my gift to the School, and help ensure that the School continues to attract the best and brightest students to its programs.”

Yankellow’s gift celebrating the School’s 175^th anniversary follows an earlier gift that she committed during the School’s most recent capital campaign, which remains the largest gift ever from a female graduate and resulted in the naming of the Ellen H. Yankellow Grand Atrium in Pharmacy Hall and the establishment of a first-of-its-kind fellowship at the School designed to capture health outcomes and economic data about the value of clinical pharmacy services. Initially funded for only 10 years, the Ellen H. Yankellow Health Outcomes Fellowship will now continue in perpetuity as a result of her most recent gift.

Yankellow established Correct Rx in 2003. It is currently the only institutional pharmacy provider that fully incorporates the practice of clinical pharmacy across all of its services, looking at the big picture of medical outcomes and total health care costs to determine the best, most cost-effective treatments for its clients.

“When I started my company, I knew that involving a clinical pharmacist in patients’ care would result in better health outcomes for those patients, but I did not have the data to prove it,” says Yankellow. “The fellowship that I established at the School of Pharmacy allows an independent, objective fellow to analyze the data that Correct Rx’s clinical team has gathered over the years to assess the impact, trends, and outcomes associated with incorporating clinical pharmacists as members of the health care team. The fellows’ work is validating what we are doing, and this scholarship will ensure that this important work continues and brings awareness to the value of clinical pharmacy.”

The scholarships established with Yankellow’s gift will also provide a full year of tuition assistance for a student enrolled in the School’s online MS in Regulatory Science or MS in Pharmacometrics program every other year. The MS in Regulatory Science program provides students with the knowledge and skills necessary to contribute to drug and biologics regulation and pharmaceutical product lifestyles. The MS in Pharmacometrics helps students acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to plan, perform, and interpret pharmacometric analyses with the goal of influencing key drug development, regulatory, and therapeutic decisions.

“Leadership donations from alumni are vital to sustaining the excellence of our programs,” says Natalie D. Eddington, PhD, FCP, FAAPS, dean and professor of the School of Pharmacy. “Dr. Yankellow has long supported the School, and we thank her for her contributions. Her entrepreneurial spirit and forward thinking ideas are an inspiration to our faculty, students, and to all who know her. We appreciate the innovative example she sets for the profession and for pharmacists across the country.”

About Ellen Yankellow:

Dr. Ellen H. Yankellow is the president and chief executive officer of Correct Rx Pharmacy Services and a national leader in the advancement of clinical pharmacy for institutions. An honors graduate of the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, where she received both her Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy (BSP) and Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD), she serves as chair of the School’s Board of Visitors and has been recognized by numerous regional and national organizations for her philanthropy, commitment to the pharmacy profession, and community activism.

About the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy:

Established in 1841, the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy is ranked as one of the top 10 schools of pharmacy in the United States. It is a thriving center for professional and graduate education, pharmaceutical care, research, and community service. It creates the future of pharmacy by pioneering new roles for pharmacists in advanced clinical practice and conducting cutting-edge research in drug discovery and development, comparative effectiveness and patient-centered outcomes, and disease management. Faculty inspire excellence in more than 800 students, residents, and postdoctoral fellows through a contemporary curriculum, innovative educational experiences, and strategic professional relationships.

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