Jill Kolesar, professor (CHS) in the Pharmacy Practice Division, has been selected as president-elect of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP). In addition to her faculty role, Kolesar holds administrative positions with the UW Carbone Cancer Center including co-chair of the Molecular Tumor Board (MTB), co-leader of the Phase I Disease-Oriented Team and Director of the 3P Analytical Instrumentation Laboratory.
Comprised of clinical pharmacy practitioners, scientists, educators, administrators, students, residents, and fellows from more than 60 countries, ACCP is a professional and scientific society that provides leadership, education, advocacy, and resources enabling clinical pharmacists to achieve excellence in practice and research. In December 2015, UW-Madison School of Pharmacy students proactively sought opportunities to serve locally and nationally and formed the Student College of Clinical Pharmacy (SCCP) organization—a student chapter of AACP.
Kolesar, PharmD, FCCP, BCPS, was chosen as ACCP president-elect in the annual elections held this past spring. She has been active in AACP for several years. She has served ACCP as chair of the Hematology/Oncology PRN (2001–2002), member of the Board of Regents (2003–2006) and the Research Institute Board of Trustees (2012–2014), and member of the Research and Educational Affairs committees and the Genomics Task Force. She is the faculty adviser for the University of Wisconsin-Madison student chapter of ACCP, has made many invited presentations at ACCP meetings, and is a frequent reviewer for ACCP abstracts, posters, and grant proposals.
“I am very grateful for the opportunity to serve the College as president-elect, and am eagerly anticipating working with the dedicated membership and staff to advance the strategic mission of ACCP,” Kolesar said. “I share ACCP’s commitment to the interdisciplinary collaboration needed to develop, advance and position clinical pharmacists as leaders in research, patient-centered care and education and feel that recent, unprecedented changes to the health care system, precision medicine, and oncology research funding are providing unique opportunities to advance our profession.” In addition, “ACCP’s strong advocacy and national presence has helped make it possible for ACCP members to take on interdisciplinary leadership roles. Over the next three years I will strive to expand the advocacy, support, and mentorship that ACCP provides to clinical pharmacy researchers, practitioners and educators, and foster their development into interdisciplinary leadership roles. As the leader of this member-driven organization, I believe learning about the ideas and experiences of ACCP members will be a foundational underpinning in advancing the mission of ACCP.”
Kolesar will be installed as president-elect at the 2016 ACCP Annual Meeting in Hollywood, Florida, in October and will begin her three year term in 2017. As president, she will serve as chair of the Board of Regents and guide College programs and activities.
After 15 years as a clinical pharmacist in the hematology clinic at William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital, Kolesar transitioned her clinical practice to UWCCC, where she co-chairs the MTB, a multidisciplinary group that reviews somatic mutations and recommends therapy targeted to those mutations for patients with cancer. Her research focuses on the development of anticancer agents with an emphasis on targeted therapies and biomarkers.
She has written more than 200 abstracts, research articles, and book chapters, and as a principal investigator, she has received more than $1.5 million in research funding from the National Cancer Institute, American Cancer Society, and other sources.
Other candidates for office in the 2016 elections were Varsha Bhatt-Mehta, Brian Irons, Michael Klepser, Bradley Phillips, and Kimberly Tallian.