Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences: Notable Alumni

Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS) is a private university with a focus on health and life sciences education. With campuses in Boston and Worcester, Massachusetts, and Manchester, New Hampshire, as well as online programs. MCPHS was founded in 1823 by fourteen Boston pharmacists as the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy. MCPHS is the oldest higher education institution in Boston and the second-oldest and largest college of pharmacy in the United States.

A Legacy of Excellence

MCPHS has a long history of producing accomplished graduates who have made significant contributions to healthcare and related fields. The university prides itself on fostering a vibrant culture of research, innovation, and scientific discovery, encouraging students and faculty to actively engage in clinical trials, pharmaceutical research, and public health initiatives. MCPHS welcomes students from over 60 countries and promotes a global approach to healthcare education. Through study abroad programs, global internships, cultural exchange activities, and international clinical placements, students gain a broad understanding of healthcare practices around the world.

Notable Alumni

MCPHS alumni have excelled in various healthcare sectors, demonstrating leadership, innovation, and a commitment to improving patient care. Here are a few examples of alumni who have made a significant impact:

Norman R. Farnsworth

He earned both his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Pharmacy from MCPHS and later completed a Ph.D. in Pharmacognosy. Renowned American pharmacognosist and ethnopharmacologist, professor, and author.

Betharia

Dr. Betharia specializes in metal toxicity and neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinsons and Wilsons disease. She is a recipient of an NIH R21 research grant and is widely published in her field.

Christine Picard Sawicki, R.Ph.

Christine Picard Sawicki is a CVS Healthcare Executive who leads customer success and experience innovation. She began her career as a CVS pharmacist in 1992. Since that time, she has worked in almost every healthcare setting and led initiatives in Product Development & Innovation, Pharmacy Design and Technology, and Marketing. After graduation, she received a pharmacy degree from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. She went on to earn an MBA from Anna Maria College. She has also received a Pharmacoeconomic Certification from the University of South Carolina and a Certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt through Villanova University.

Andrew J. Sussman, M.D.

Andrew J. Sussman, M.D., is Executive Vice President and Associate Chief Medical Officer of CVS Health, and President of MinuteClinic. MinuteClinic is the largest and fastest growing retail medical clinic provider in the United States with over 980 retail health care centers located in CVS pharmacy stores across 31 states. Under Dr. Sussman’s leadership, MinuteClinic has expanded its range of clinical services and formed strategic affiliations with over 50 leading health care systems to improve patients’ access to high-quality medical treatment. Prior to joining MinuteClinic in 2009, Dr. Sussman was Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer of UMass Memorial Medical Center, and an Associate Professor of Medicine at UMass Medical School in Worcester, MA. Before joining UMass Memorial in 2004. Dr. Sussman is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Medical School as well as Boston University Questrom School of Business. He has published work on health systems, quality improvement, medical management, and health care finance.

Health Sector Management Program Alumni

The Health Sector Management Program at the Questrom School of Business recognizes alumni for significant contributions and achievements in the health sector. Several MCPHS alumni have been recipients of the Health Sector Management Distinguished Alumni Award.

Karen S. Lynch

Karen S. Lynch is President of Aetna, a Fortune 50 diversified health care benefits company. She is responsible for driving Aetna’s strategy to deliver consumer-focused, high-value healthcare to the nearly 45 million people it serves. She oversees the company’s Government and Commercial businesses, representing 94 percent of Aetna’s revenues. Ms. Lynch joined Aetna in 2012 as executive vice president and head of Specialty Products. In 2013, she assumed management of Local and Regional Businesses, a combined business unit dedicated to serving the varied health care needs of individuals and employers. Ms. Lynch has nearly three decades of experience in the health care industry. Prior to joining Aetna, she held executive positions at Cigna and Magellan Health Services, where she served as president. For the last three years (2016 - 2018), Ms. Lynch was named to Fortune’s list of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business for her leadership and contributions to improving the health care system. Ms. Lynch is a trustee of The Bushnell Performing Arts Center, and is a member of the Global 50 and the Boston College Women’s Council. She is also an advisory board member of IBM Watson Health and NEADS/Dogs for Deaf and Disabled Americans, a nonprofit organization that provides independence to people through canine assistance. Ms. Lynch has been recognized for her leadership by numerous organizations and publications, including the National Association for Specialty Health Organizations, Business Insurance, the Stevie® Awards for Women in Business, and Insurance Networking News. Ms. Lynch earned her bachelor’s degree in accounting from Boston College and an MBA from Boston University.

Eugene Hill

Eugene Hill is a Managing Partner at SV Health Investors, a venture capital and private equity firm with offices in Boston, San Francisco, and London. He has spent the last 25 years working in healthcare investment, having spent his previous ten years working for the care payor side; before that, he worked for ten years on the provider side at public teaching hospitals. At the start of his career, Eugene was hired to be the administrator of the Department of Surgery at the Denver General Hospital, now Denver Health, a public hospital affiliated with the University of Colorado Medical School. In the late 1970’s, Eugene was recruited to Boston to redesign the Boston Emergency Medical Services System which led to establishing a Paramedic System and an Emergency Medicine Residency at the Boston City Hospital, now the Boston Medical Center. After graduation, he worked as the Administrator of the South Nevada Memorial Hospital, presently the University Medical Center in Las Vegas. Together with an entrepreneurial physician, he launched Sierra Health Services, an HMO, health insurance company and medical group practice in Nevada, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico. He was President and Chairman of Sierra Health and Life Insurance Company, a subsidiary of Sierra Health Services which was taken public in the early 1980’s. Following this, Eugene was recruited to US Behavioral Health, a venture capital-backed private Managed Behavioral Health Company. In the early 1990’s he joined Accel Partners, a Venture Capital firm that had backed US Behavioral Health, where he spent five years investing in a variety of healthcare service and information technology companies.

Read also: The History of UMass Amherst

Allison Bayer

Allison Bayer has played key executive roles in integrated healthcare systems, including large safety net organizations, with 30 years of experience in healthcare operations, technology, and management. Allison was previously a Principal at Health Management Associates, and for 8 years was EVP and COO at Cambridge Health Alliance, a public hospital and health system in Massachusetts. She was a member of the leadership team that created the strategic plan for CHA to transform to a population health organization model to better serve its communities. She served as Acting CEO during which time she was part of the negotiation that resulted in the first CMS approved Delivery System Transformation Initiative program for safety net hospitals in Massachusetts. “In addition to her career work in serving underserved populations, Allison has been a valuable mentor to our students.

Tonya Hongsermeier

Tonya Hongsermeier currently serves as Vice President and Chief Medical Information Officer at Lahey Health, an integrated healthcare system serving New England. Formerly, she was a Principal Informatician in Clinical Informatics R&D at Partners Healthcare System and has served as a Team Lead on both the AHRQ-funded Clinical Decision Support Consortium project and the ONC-funded Advancing Clinical Decision Support project. Prior to this, she served for five years as Senior Corporate Manager for Clinical Knowledge Management and Decision Support. In this capacity, she built a knowledge management team and led implementation of a collaboration, CDS authoring, and content management platform for enterprise Clinical Decision Support. She also served as a co-chair for the Semantic Web Healthcare-Life Sciences Special Interest Group for the World Wide Web Consortium as well as Initiative Coordinator for the Health eDecisions S&I Framework project to promote interoperability of Clinical Decision Support. She received her MD from Boston University and completed her Residency in Medicine and Fellowship in Clinical Nutrition at the Deaconess Hospital. She received an MBA in Healthcare Management from BU School of Management in 1995 and has held several positions in industry leading a variety of informatics efforts.

Warner Thomas

Warner Thomas was named President and CEO of Ochsner Health in 2012 after previously serving as President and Chief Operating Officer from 1998-2012. Today, Ochsner employs more than 26,000 employees and more than 1,500 employed physicians in over 90 medical specialties and subspecialties and conducts more than 750 clinical research studies. The system coordinates and provides clinical and hospital patient care across the Gulf South region through its 40 owned, managed and affiliated hospitals and specialty hospitals, and more than 115 health and urgent care centers. Under Thomas’s leadership, Ochsner has expanded access to care in Louisiana and the Gulf South as well as become a national and global destination for healthcare. Ochsner Health is committed to supporting the growing and unique needs of the communities it serves and providing specialty services where and when patients need it. Thomas has been instrumental in developing a population health focus at Ochsner, delivering programs and resources that empower patients to effectively manage chronic conditions while also maintaining focus on preventive measures, screenings and education to help people stay well and avoid preventable disease. He also worked to launch innovationOchsner in 2015, an Ochsner lab designed to create health advancements to address national issues including chronic disease management, as well as to support and partner with companies working to revolutionize patient-centered care. Thomas is a board member of the American Hospital Association. He is a former member of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission where he advised Congress on issues affecting Medicare. He has served as Chairman of the American Hospital Association Section for Health Systems Governing Council and is a past member of both the Board of the American Medical Group Association and the Association of American Medical Colleges Advisory Panel for Health Care and Council of Teaching Hospitals.

J.J. Bartlett

J.J. Bartlett is President of Fishing Partnership Support Services and brings over twenty-five years of health care industry experience to the job. In 1997, J.J. created, launched, and managed the Fishing Partnership Health Plan, which reduced the rate of uninsured fishing families in Massachusetts by 75 percent. After the Affordable Care Act made insurance available to independent workers, he re-launched the organization with a broader mission and renamed it Fishing Partnership Support Services (FPSS). The Boston Business Journal named J.J. a “40 under 40” honoree in 2008, and in 2009 he was called upon by the White House Office of Health Reform to testify on rural health issues and hard-to-reach populations. In 2013, he received the Offshore Mariner’s Wives Association’s “Friend of the Fishing Industry” award. In 2016 FPSS was named the Massachusetts Community Health Worker Program of the Year. In 2017, J.J. received the Leadership Award from PAARI, the Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative, for FPSS’ work to combat the opioid crisis.

Charles L. Anderson

Charles L. Anderson has served in a wide variety of roles over the past 25 years in the Boston-area health care community. He currently leads the Dimock Center in Roxbury, MA as President, and CEO (the most comprehensive, integrated community health, substance use disorder, emergency shelter, and early education and care program on one campus in the country). Dr. The Boston Business Journal (Champions in Health Care) and local organizations such as the Urban College of Boston, where he received an honorary degree and delivered the 2022 Commencement Speech, have recognized Dr. After completing his MBA at the Boston University Questrom School of Business in 1999, Dr. Anderson became a manager in the healthcare consulting practice at Deloitte. His extensive background and experience across the industry have made Dr. Dr. Dr.

Read also: MA Education License: A Guide

Eltonhead

Her positions included being COO for Health Care Without Walls, a charitable organization that provides support to homeless women in Boston, being COO for New England Quality Care Alliance, a large physician network in Eastern Massachusetts, working as a Principal and subject matter consultant to CMS at MITRE, and various clinical operations positions at Tufts Health Plan, contributing towards quality improvement and medical cost management. At HealthMetrics Partners, a company that measures and identifies healthcare best practices, her work included developing and leading large projects such as examining WIC and prenatal services in multiple States, business development and strategy and now being a Senior Advisor. In addition, Ms. Ms. Eltonhead is currently a consultant for SOAR, a volunteer, nonprofit organization that connects retired executives with greater Boston area small and medium sized nonprofits.

MCPHS Today

MCPHS continues to evolve and adapt to meet the changing needs of the healthcare industry. The university offers a wide range of programs, including pharmacy, nursing, physician assistant studies, and more. It is committed to providing students with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in their chosen careers.

The university's campuses are equipped with state-of-the-art laboratories, simulation centers, and clinical training facilities. The Boston campus, located next to world-renowned hospitals like Brigham and Women’s and Boston Children’s Hospital, allows students to gain direct exposure to clinical settings.

MCPHS is deeply committed to the academic, personal, and emotional wellbeing of its students. Services include academic advising, mental health counseling, peer mentoring, tutoring programs, and career services.

tags: #massachusetts #college #of #pharmacy #and #health