The Francis S. Balassone Memorial Lecture was established in 1976 by the Maryland Pharmacists Association and the School’s Alumni Association in memory of Francis Balassone, an alumnus of the Class of 1940, and a faculty member at the School. Balassone was executive secretary of the Maryland Board of Pharmacy and was instrumental in establishing the first School-based pharmacy student externship program in the nation.
The 2024 Francis S. Balassone Memorial Lecture will be Nov. 20 at 1 p.m., with a luncheon at noon. It will be available in-person in Pharmacy Hall, Room N103.
RSVP for luncheon preference by nov. 10
The GenAI Promise for Pharmacy and Population Health: A Game Changer for Health Care
Nov. 20, 2024
Will robots take your job? AI and GenAI will continue to enhance the role of pharmacists rather than replace them
We invite you to join us for a dynamic discussion of the role of GenAI in pharmacy. Come hear the perspectives of our partners in our State Board of Pharmacy and our Health System!
Various AI models have been developed to predict and detect adverse drug events, assist clinical decision support systems with medication-related decisions, automate dispensing processes in community pharmacies, optimize medication dosages, detect drug-drug interactions, improve adherence through smart technologies, detect and prevent medication errors, provide medication therapy management services, and support telemedicine initiatives.
Panelist
Warren D’Souza, PhD, MBA, FAAPM
Chief Innovation Officer
University of Maryland Medical System
Co-Director, University of Maryland Institute for Health Computing
Co-Director, Informatics Core University of Maryland Institute for Clinical and Translational Research
Professor (Adjunct)
Department of Radiation Oncology
Department of Medicine
University of Maryland School of Medicine
Warren D’Souza, PhD, MBA, FAAPM, is the chief innovation officer for the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), where he leads the iHarbor Innovation Center, the enterprise data and analytics function, and the research informatics function. He joined UMMS in 2016 and previously served as its vice president of enterprise data and analytics. D’Souza also serves as co-director of the University of Maryland Institute for Health Computing and of the Informatics Core within the Institute for Clinical and Translational Research in collaboration with the University of Maryland, Baltimore.
D’Souza has been a member of the faculty at the University of Maryland School of Medicine since 2002. From 2008 to 2019, he served as chief of the Division of Medical Physics in the Department of Radiation Oncology. There, he led the impressive expansion and competitiveness of the department’s clinical, research, and education missions, including the first in the region, Maryland Proton Treatment Center, the establishment of novel clinical therapeutic programs, and significant growth in extramural funding. He rose through the academic ranks to become a full professor in 2014. Before coming to the University of Maryland, he was on the faculty at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.
D’Souza earned a Bachelor of Science in Applied Physics from Xavier University, a master’s and PhD in Medical Physics from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and a MBA from Duke University, where he was a Fuqua Scholar and Health Sector Management Scholar. He has published more than 100 original articles, reviews, and book chapters in peer-reviewed journals. He has served as principal investigator on several federally funded and industry sponsored research grants and played an active role in national cooperative group clinical trials. He holds more than a dozen patents and has led the development of clinical technology, which has subsequently been commercialized. He is a Fellow of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine and actively involved with the Coalition for Healthcare AI.
Deena Speights-Napata, MA
Executive Director
Maryland Board of Pharmacy
Deena Speights-Napata, MA, is executive director of the Maryland Board of Pharmacy and has more than 30 years of experience in health program management and administration on the local, state, and federal levels.
In the last eight years, Speights-Napata has been responsible for a $4.8 million budget that supports a staff of 30, including pharmacists, inspectors, investigators, information system analysts, programmers, and call center and data entry staff. Prior to joining the Maryland Board of Pharmacy, Speights-Napata held positions such as deputy program manager, VFC Chief-Maryland Center for Immunization for the Maryland Department of Health, deputy director for AARP Maryland, deputy director of planning and development, Maryland Medicaid Program for the Maryland Department of Health, program manager of HIV/AIDS Prevention for the Baltimore City Health Department, and health coordinator for Head Start at St. Bernadine’s Catholic Church.
Speights-Napata has a MA in Legal Studies from the University of Baltimore and a BA in Journalism from Hampton University. She is a member of the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, the University of Baltimore Alumni Association, the Hampton University Alumni Association, LinkedIn Professional Network, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, and Messiah Community Church.
Stephen N. Davis, MBBS, FRCP, FACE, MACP
Theodore E. Woodward Professor of Medicine
Professor of Physiology
Chair, Department of Medicine
University of Maryland School of Medicine
Director, Institute for Clinical and Translational Research
Vice President of Clinical Translational Science
University of Maryland, Baltimore
Physician-in-Chief
University of Maryland Medical Center
Stephen Davis is the Theodore E. Woodward Professor of Medicine and chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and physician-in-chief at the University of Maryland Medical Center. He also serves as director of the Institute for Clinical and Translational Research and vice president of clinical translational science at the University of Maryland, Baltimore.
An internationally recognized endocrinologist and research scientist, Davis’s major research interests include studying neural control of metabolism, exercise physiology, and metabolic regulation of in-vivo vascular biology in obese, diabetic, and healthy individuals. Using state-of-the-art integrated in-vivo clinical physiologic approaches (glucose clamps, pancreatic clamps, isotopic tracer methodologies), Davis and his group have identified the deficient autonomic nervous system, neuroendocrine, and metabolic homeostatic mechanisms responsible for increased hypoglycemia during rest and exercise in intensively treated Type 1 and Type 2 DM individuals. More recently, Davis’s studies have demonstrated novel treatment strategies to restore the deficient autonomic nervous system responses during hypoglycemia and exercise. Additionally, glucose and pancreatic clamp studies have been extensively used to investigate the independent effects of insulin action and glucose on endothelial function, inflammation, and atherothrombotic balance.
Davis has substantial expertise and experience in the design, conduct, and interpretation of in-vivo human clinical physiology studies using glucose clamp and isotope dilution methodologies. Davis has authored more than 243 original articles, reviews and book chapters on diabetes management and treatment in leading journals and textbooks and has been recognized with many distinguished awards, including the Novartis Award for Diabetes Research, considered to be one of the highest honors in that field of research.
Administratively, Davis has been a division chief, and since 2009, has been professor and chair of medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and physician-in-chief at the University of Maryland Medical Center, with charge of approximately 400 full-time faculty members. Davis also serves as both director of the Institute for Clinical and Translational Research and of the Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA), as well as vice president of clinical translational science at the University of Maryland, Baltimore.
Francis S. Balassone was born in 1915 in Thomas, WV. After graduating from high school, he worked in coal mines near his home to aid his family and to further his education, which led to a successful career in pharmacy. As a result, the pharmacy profession has benefited greatly.
In 1940, he earned a BS in pharmacy from the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy. He then worked for two Baltimore drug firms: the Standard Pharmaceutical Corp. and the Yager Drug Co. Balassone interrupted his pharmaceutical career to enlist as a private in the U.S. Marines, serving in World War II. He was discharged as a captain in 1946, and, during the next five years, he returned to Yager and joined the teaching staff at his alma mater.
Balassone was owner-manager of the Overlea Pharmacy in Baltimore from 1951 to 1956. Subsequently, he served for nearly two decades as commissioner and secretary-treasurer of the Maryland Board of Pharmacy; chief of the Division of Drug Control, Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene; and acting director of the Bureau of Consumer Health Protection.
In addition, he was a delegate of the United States Pharmacopeial Convention; delegate of the Office of Emergency Planning, Executive Office of the President; president of the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy; member of the American Council on Pharmaceutical Education; president of the Central Atlantic States Association of Food and Drug Officials; and chair of the Program Area Committee on Drugs, American Public Health Association.
Balassone served as secretary and president of the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy Alumni Association and later as president of the Baltimore branch of the American Pharmaceutical Association. He also was a leader in the development of state drug laws.
Under Balassone’s leadership, Maryland became the first state in the nation to replace the traditional pharmacy internship with an academic professional experience program. He collaborated with the School of Pharmacy in the development of the University of Maryland professional pharmacy program.
Awards conferred on Balassone include the School of Pharmacy Alumni Association Honored Alumnus and merit awards, and the Harvey W. Wiley Award, the nation’s highest award in the field of drugs, food, and cosmetics law.