Two UMSOP Faculty and Staff Members Receive National Recognition from AACP

James Polli and Lisa Lebovitz received honors at the AACP Annual Meeting in July.

By Andrew Tie
July 30, 2024

Two members of the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy community have received awards from the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) during its Annual Meeting this month.

James Polli, PhD, professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences (PSC) and Ralph F. Shangraw/Noxell Endowed Chair in Industrial Pharmacy and Pharmaceutics, has received the Volwiler Research Achievement Award, an honor that recognizes a leader in pharmaceutical and clinical sciences, as recognized by peers. It is named after Ernest H. Volwiler, former president and research director of Abbott Laboratories.

Lisa Lebovitz, JD, MS, assistant dean for academic affairs and assessment, received the Rufus A. Lyman Award, which recognizes the best paper published in the American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education during the previous year. Lebovitz was part of a team of six that published “NAPLEX Preparation Program Characteristics and Resources Associated with First-Time Exam Pass Rates.”

“I am delighted that Dr. Polli and Ms. Lebovitz have received these prestigious awards from AACP,” said Sarah L.J. Michel, PhD, dean of the School and professor of PSC. “Dr. Polli’s award recognizes his pioneering research in pharmaceutics where he is an internationally recognized scientist, and Ms. Lebovitz’s award recognizes her contributions to a publication that focuses on how we train pharmacy students.”

Polli has spent his entire professional career at the School, where he has served as the advisor to 25 PhD graduates, including three PharmD/PhD students, and published numerous papers in leading pharmaceutical journals. Throughout his career, Polli’s research interests have included oral drug absorption, particularly biopharmaceutic risk assessment. Polli is the co-director of two centers funded by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the University of Maryland Center of Excellence in Regulatory Science and Innovation and the Center for Research on Complex Generics. In addition, he directs the School of Pharmacy’s MS in Regulatory Science program. In 2023, Polli was named a University of Maryland Strategic Partnership MPower Professor in recognition of his experience and ongoing collaborations in regulatory science and drug product quality.

“I am deeply honored to receive the Volwiler Award and be included amongst its past recipients,” Polli said. “This recognition is due in large part to the many collaborative efforts I have been lucky to be a part of throughout my career.”

Lebovitz oversees the School’s programmatic assessment and strategic planning processes, faculty effort analysis, and accreditation and institutional reporting. She works closely with department chairs and faculty constituents in multiple committee forums to garner buy in, promote transparency and engage individuals in critical assessment to improve evidence-based decision making in the School. She is also active in the Pharmacy Assessment Collaborative of the Big Ten Academic Alliance and in AACP’s Assessment Special Interest Group (SIG).

“The Lyman Award reflects a great collaboration with my colleagues at pharmacy schools across the nation,” Lebovitz said. “I thank each of them for their contributions to helping better understand how to best prepare our students for the NAPLEX.”

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