UMB Names New Executive Director of University Regional Partnerships

In new role, School of Pharmacy’s Dean Natalie D. Eddington coordinates University’s expanded efforts in Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties

By Karen Robinson
August 8, 2014

Natalie D. Eddington, PhD, FAAPS, FCP, dean and professor of the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, has been named executive director of University Regional Partnerships at the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB). In her new position, Eddington will work closely with university leadership to coordinate the expansion of UMB’s academic and research programs in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, including at the Universities at Shady Grove and the new University of Maryland Medical System hospital set to replace Prince George’s Hospital Center. She assumed her new role in the spring while maintaining her leadership of the School of Pharmacy.

“Dean Eddington is an outstanding leader who has already proven instrumental in establishing and growing the School of Pharmacy’s academic and research programs at Shady Grove,” says UMB President Jay A. Perman, MD. “Expanding our footprint in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties is a key part of achieving our mission of providing top notch educational, research and patient care opportunities to all the citizens of the state of Maryland. We are delighted to have Dean Eddington’s expertise and guidance as the university’s seven professional schools work together, and with the other institutions in the University System of Maryland, to achieve these goals.”

“There are many important and transformative initiatives that we can lead as a university in Prince George’s and Montgomery counties,” Eddington says. “With one position now coordinating efforts across our seven schools, there will be unlimited opportunities for growth in new and existing programs in these strategic geographic locations.”

The Universities at Shady Grove, in the Montgomery County city of Rockville, is a collaborative campus involving nine institutions of the University System of Maryland. UMB offers educational programs in nursing and social work in Shady Grove, in addition to pharmacy. Its efforts there could expand in conjunction with the construction of a new Biomedical Sciences and Engineering Education Facility on the campus, that would include new, state-of-the-art laboratories to facilitate the growth of respiratory therapy, pharmacy and nursing programs. Eddington will work with the Universities at Shady Grove’s Building Committee on planning and construction of the new facility.

The new, $650 million University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) hospital in development at Largo Town Center could provide UMB students with additional educational, research and clinical opportunities, Eddington said.

“When you look at the data on Prince George’s County residents going to the emergency room, what you see are preventable visits predicated by manageable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and asthma,” says Eddington. “The county needs a stronger primary care infrastructure to work with these patients to manage their illnesses and keep them out of the hospital. We should look at ways to use not just the traditional health care model, but to also employ pharmacists and nurse practitioners to support primary care activities. My role will be to lead the planning, from a university perspective, of the education and practice components of the new UMMS hospital. This could include on-site training for students from a variety of disciplines at the new hospital.”

One of the advantages of educating health care practitioners in Prince George’s County, rather than at the university’s main campus in Baltimore, is that they may be more likely to remain and practice in the county, Eddington adds. “We would want our graduates to stay in the county and help boost its primary care resources,” she says.

In her new role, Eddington also will coordinate UMB programs at the Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research, an enterprise created to enhance collaboration in the biosciences, technology, quantitative sciences, and engineering among UMB, the University of Maryland, College Park, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Eddington is a pharmaceutical scientist with expertise in pharmacokinetics. She received her pharmacy degree from Howard University School of Pharmacy and completed her PhD at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy. She was chair of the School of Pharmacy’s Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences prior to being named dean in 2007.

She is a member of and holds leadership positions in numerous scientific and professional organizations including the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists, the American Society of Health System Pharmacists, and the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. Her honors and awards include an appointment to the Federal Facilities Advisory Board by Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, Fellow of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists, and Fellow of the American College of Clinical Pharmacology. Eddington is the chair of the board of the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Technology and Education.

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