The National Pharmaceutical Association (NPhA) is a national, professional organization of pharmacists committed to serving the underserved and promoting minorities in pharmacy.

The National Pharmaceutical Association (NPhA) is a national, professional organization of pharmacists founded by Dr. Chauncey I. Cooper in 1947.

Dr. Cooper recognized the vital need to develop a pharmacy organization focused on the needs of the minority community. He strived to promote excellence and uniformity among minority health professionals in order to improve the quality of health care in minority communities.

The National Pharmaceutical Association (NPhA), established in 1947, is dedicated to representing the views and ideals of minority pharmacists on critical issues affecting healthcare and pharmacy, promoting racial and health equity, as well as advancing the standards of pharmaceutical care among all practitioners. 

Today's guests are Lakesha Butler, PharmD & Angela Riley, PharmD 

Dr. Lakesha Butler is a Clinical Professor of Pharmacy Practice at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and Board Certified Pharmacotherapy Specialist. She earned a Doctor of Pharmacy degree with honors from Mercer University in Atlanta, GA and completed a pharmacy practice residency with emphasis in ambulatory care at the University of Illinois- Chicago. Dr. Butler is an accomplished young leader, national speaker, author and strong advocate for developing leaders, increasing cultural competency among healthcare professionals, serving the underserved and improving diversity and inclusion.

She is the sole clinical pharmacist providing medication management services at the Volunteers in Medicine Clinic, a clinic that serves uninsured patients of St. Louis, Missouri. In the classroom she has developed and coordinates a required pharmacy graduate level course that addresses health disparities, health beliefs, health literacy, and cultural competency. She is the creator of the first and only Health Literacy instructional DVD teaching tool for pharmacy students and pharmacists across the nation and co-author of the pharmacy textbook “Patient Communication for Pharmacy: A Case-Study Approach on Theory and Practice.”

Dr. Angela Riley previously served as the executive director of experiential education and assistant dean in the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at Binghamton University from 2016 until 2020.

Dr. Riley has obtained several grants and contracts, including a Community Action Grant from the American Heart Association and recently received the Stephen David Ross University and Community Projects Fund.

Riley graduated from Texas Southern University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences with her Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy and obtained her PharmD. degree from Midwestern University Chicago College of Pharmacy. Riley serves on several national, regional, and local boards and committees within various organizations including the National Pharmaceutical Association, Phi Lambda Sigma Leadership Society, the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists, and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

References:

Socialized and traumatized: Pharmacists, underserved patients, and the COVID-19 vaccine

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1544319121002028?dgcid=author