INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Meet the Chair!

IN FOCUS:

Newsletter Committee

Chapter Activities

Tickle your funny bone

Newsletter Quiz

ISPOR STUDENT NEWSLETTER O C T O B E R 2 2 , 2 0 1 2 I S S U E 1 2 , V O L . 1

Dear ISPOR Student Members,

We have changed the format and content of the

Newsletter to make it more appealing to all stu-

dents. There are inclusions of humor and trivia

sections along with the articles to add another di-

mension to our Newsletter. Also, we will be fea-

turing one or more committees in every newslet-

ter so that we all can see and appreciate student

leaders whose contribution makes this ISPOR Stu-

dent Network an ongoing success.

Do you have any feedback, suggestions or content

items that you would like to submit? The Newslet-

ter Committee would love to hear from you.

Please email us at :

ispor.newsletter@gmail.com

CONGRATULATIONS !!!

St. John’s University

Winners of the July Newsletter Quiz

I S S U E 1 2 , V O L . 1

Get to know your Student Council Chair!!!

1. What did you do prior to starting graduate school?

I was a research fellow at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, GA

2. A person who has highly influenced you in your professional and personal development:

My mentor, Dr. C. Daniel Mullins.

3. If you were not on your current career path, what would you be ?

A veterinarian.

4. Something very few people know about you:

My hometown, Clover, SC has one stop light and I had perfect attendance from kindergarten through 12thgrade.

5. If you could get away for a LONG vacation, where would it be?

I’d eat and drink my way through the Provence region of France and disregard email and television.

6. You have never tried doing this activity/sport but you would love to: Rock climbing

7. The weirdest/strangest thing you have ever eaten:

Either snapping turtle or alligator is probably the weirdest things I’ve eaten.

8. If you were an animal what kind of animal would you be?

My dog, Lola. She sleeps, eats, plays with her friends, and goes on long walks – she has the perfect life.

9. If you could grow a garden, which flowers would you feature most in it?

Irises. I have a garden with assorted varieties of irises at my parents' house in South Carolina. I also have small container garden with herbs at my apartment in Baltimore.

10. A book that you never get tired of reading:

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.

10. Which is your favorite season and why?

Fall. I love the cool, brisk morning air and the changing of the leaves.

Emily Reese,

Student Network

Chair 2012-13

School:

University of

Maryland School of

Pharmacy

Year:

5th year PhD

Candidate

Research Interest:

Cost and effective use

of molecular diagnos-

tics (i.e. genetic tests)

in clinical medicine

P A G E 2

IN FOCUS: Newsletter Committee

Name: Palak Patel Chapter: ISPOR UGA Major: Pharmacy Administration Biggest role model: Parents Favorite activity to kill time: Playing with kids If you won a lottery (any amount), you would: Pay loans

Name: Jacquelyn McRae University: Mercer Degree: PharmD Biggest Role model: Michelle Obama Favorite activity to kill time: Social networking If I won the lotto: pay off my student loans and take my mother on a vacation to Africa; she would love to travel there

Name: Amarsinh Desai Chapter: University of Cincinnati Major: PhD, Health Economics & Outcomes Research Biggest role model: Neil Armstrong Favorite activity to kill time: Sports, Music, Games. If you won a lottery (any amount), you would: Possibly spend on partying

Name: Shweta Pathak , Co-chair Chapter: UT Houston Major: PhD, Health-care Management Biggest role model: My Parents Favorite activity to kill time: adventure sports, read, bake If you won a lottery (any amount), you would: Travel the world

Name: Ankit Shah , Co-chair Chapter: St. John’s University Major: MS, Pharmacy Administration Biggest role model: Steve Jobs Favorite activity to kill time: Watch Movies If you won a lottery (any amount), you would: Go on a travel expedition to Europe

I S S U E 1 2 , V O L . 1 P A G E 3

ed a glimpse of future activities of the student

chapter.

Apart from these academic activities, the URI-

ISPOR Student Chapter set up a booth at the

College Of Pharmacy Welcome Picnic to facil-

itate interaction with students and promoting

an understanding regarding ISPOR. The

ISPOR chapter booth was well received by

URI students.

As a part of the future endeavors, URI-ISPOR

Chapter plans to invite alumni from industry

and academia as guest lecturers and allow

invited alumni to tour the new URI

pharmacy building. Interactions

between alumni and current stu-

dents will help to build networking

opportunities for chapter members.

We hope to continue efforts to

achieve our academic and social

goals and to contribute towards

On September 14th, the University of Rhode

Island ( URI ) ISPOR Student Chapter par-

ticipated in the Pharmacy Symposium orga-

nized by the College of Pharmacy where

emerging strategies in drug discovery and

development and advances in pharmacy

practice are discussed. On September 27

2012, the URI ISPOR Student Chapter orga-

nized an introductory meeting where all Col-

lege of Pharmacy students were invited.

Chapter members shared ISPOR ’ s mission

and vision, yearly activities including confer-

ences, and their experiences. The faculty

advisor addressed the students with respect

to research ideas, chapter goals, and provid-

I S S U E 1 2 , V O L . 1 P A G E 4

University of Rhode Island ISPOR Student Chapter

By Saumitra Rege

Rock climb-

ing can burn

between 660

and 976 calo-

ries an hour

Iris means rainbow; also a

Greek goddess namesake

“If you make

people think

they're thinking,

they'll love you.

If you really

make them think,

they'll hate you. “

— Don Marquis

Submitted by UGA Chapter

“ W elcome Back Party ” for the new stu-

dents. It was a good platform for the students

to know more about ISPOR and get to know

faculty members.

The WVU ISPOR Student Chapter has

planned another guest-lecture scheduled for

the month of October and Ami Vyas from the

WVU-ISPOR Chapter will be presenting her

research at the 15th ISPOR Annual European

Congress during November. Additionally, the

WVU ISPOR Student Chapter will be arrang-

ing the famous fundraising potluck during Oc-

tober or November of this year.

The WVU-ISPOR Student Chapter organized

its first guest lecture on September 14, 2012

with a presentation from Dr. Anuja Nidumolu

Roy, an alumnus of WVU and a Senior Scien-

tist at Takeda Pharmaceuticals, North Ameri-

ca. Dr. Roy gave an exciting overview of pa-

tient reported outcomes and their application

in the pharmaceutical industry. In continua-

tion of the guest-lecture, a journal club with a

theme of patient reported outcomes was con-

ducted in the Health Sciences Center, WVU

on Sept 20, 2012.

WVU-ISPOR Student Chapter arranged a one

day picnic on September 15, 2012 as a

I S S U E 1 2 , V O L . 1 P A G E 5

West Virginia University ISPOR Student Chapter

By Rini Vohra

“The process

of scientific

discovery is,

in effect, a

continual

flight from

wonder.”

— Albert

Einstein

West Virginia

University

ISPOR Student

Chapter

Fun Facts:

Each year 15,000 research institutions compete for $800 billion in

research funding.

In 2010 a physic paper listed 3,222 co-authors, 208 institutes from 37

countries .

Source: Elsevier: http://www.youtube.com/watch?ZnzRZAJBwU&feature=plcp

ics. These lectures were received with a posi-

tive response by chapter members and en-

couraged the 2012-2013 Ghent University

Student Chapter board to plan more of such

meetings in the future.

Chapter members have expressed a keen

interest in organizing an educational work-

shop. This option is being considered in the

upcoming months.

A delegation from the Ghent University chap-

ter will be present and will contribute presen-

tations at the 15th Annual European Con-

The Ghent University ISPOR Student Chapter

offered its members two lectures over the

past few months. The first one, held in March

2012, was a guest lecture on the future of

health care by Lieven Annemans, professor

of health economics at Ghent University and

the University of Brussels and past-president

of ISPOR.

With the presence of over half of the Ghent

University ISPOR Student Chapter members,

this lecture was a successful event. The se-

cond lecture was on orphan drugs with Ste-

ven Simoens of the Catholic University of

Leuven as guest professor in health econom-

I S S U E 1 2 , V O L . 1 P A G E 6

Ghent University ISPOR Student Chapter

By Barbara Claus

Ghent University ISPOR Student chapter

“Research is to see what everybody else has seen, and to think what nobody else has thought”

— Albert Szent-Gyorgyi

“There is no such thing

as limits to growth,

because there are no

limits to the human

capacity for

intelligence,

imagination, and

wonder. “

—Ronald Reagan

Fun Facts:

Every year 1.2 million researchers begin their careers . Only 35% will

stay for more than 5 years and only half of them complete their

careers in research.

96% of all published papers list more than one author.

Source: Elsevier: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZnzRZAJBwU&feature=plcp

specific aims page in National Institutes of Health style. We

will continue our group discussion every two weeks focusing

on each section of grant writing at a time.

Another upcoming event for us is combined with the Mercer

University-ISPOR Student Chapter on November 13th. Dr.

Josephine Mauskopf, Vice President of Health Economics at

RTI Health Solutions will give a presentation entitled,

“ P harmacoeconomics: Budget Impact Analysis. ” We ap-

preciate the Mercer-ISPOR Student Chapter for allowing us

to be a part of this event. We look forward to this collabora-

tion as it will create wonderful networking opportunities for

both chapter members and raise awareness on the use of

budget impact analysis.

In the past couple of years, University of Georgia

( U GA ) ISPOR Student Chapter has been relatively

quiet but with the beginning of this academic year we

expect to have a new look.

This year, three new graduate students enrolled in

Pharmacy Care Administration program and have

joined UGA-ISPOR. All the members of UGA-ISPOR

come from diverse backgrounds and bring different

perspectives to strive to continue raising awareness

in the area of Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes

Research.

Beginning of this academic year was exciting. We

organized a discussion on proposal/grant writing

among chapter members. We discussed writing a

I S S U E 1 2 , V O L . 1 P A G E 7

University of Georgia ISPOR Student Chapter

By Palak Patel

UGA ISPOR

student

chapter

You Know You’re in Graduate School Too Long When ...

* Two miles is not too far to walk for a party

* You wear dirty socks three times in a row &

think nothing of it

* You'd rather clean than study

* You live for getting mail (E-mail included)

* Looking out the window is a form of entertainment

* You start thinking and sounding like your roommate

* You find out milk crates had so many uses

Source: http://www.smilespedia.com/collection-of-graduation-jokes. Submitted by UGA Chapter.

within the company as it relates to health out-

comes research. Since then, we have had

guest from Novo Nordisk and TTM ( Total

Therapeutic Management, Inc. ) to present at

our meetings. Some of our upcoming guests

include the Vice President of Health Econom-

ics RTI Health Solutions as well as a repre-

sentative from Johnson & Johnson.

The chapter is currently sponsoring a fund-

raiser, “ Pennies for Change, ” to raise mon-

ey to buy a water filtration system for a family

in another country. The chapter is also plan-

ning to launch two signature programs later in

the school year: the first to discuss the cur-

rent state of healthcare, specifically phar-

macoeconomics, in the US and the second to

increase political involvement among pharma-

cy students at the state level.

The Chapter is very excited about this school

year and all that it has planned for Mercer and

the pharmacy community at large.

The Mercer Chapter of ISPOR ’ s Student

Network is a very young yet active chapter.

Chartered in the summer of 2012, the chapter

has made great strides towards becoming

one of Mercer ’ s predominant organizations

on campus.

On August 14, 2012, the chapter made its

debut at Mercer ’ s annual Student Activity

Fair. Over 100 Mercer Pharmacy students

showed an interest in the chapter and the

mission of the organization. Later that night,

the MU ISPOR Student Chapter hosted a kar-

aoke night social to give Mercer students the

opportunity to meet the members of the chap-

ter.

The first official ISPOR meeting was held on

September 4, 2012. At this meeting, chapter

members discussed topics such as member-

ship, the mission of ISPOR, and the goals of

our chapter. Later in the meeting a repre-

sentative from Kaiser Permanente gave a

presentation about the role of pharmacists

I S S U E 1 2 , V O L . 1 P A G E 8

Mercer University ISPOR Student Chapter

By Kimbria Brown

A chapter member leading an infor-

mation session

“Study is the

bane of

childhood, the

oil of youth,

the

indulgence of

adulthood,

and a

restorative in

old age.”

—Walter

Savage

Mercer University ISPOR Student Chapter Members

“As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.” Bill Gates

Payakachat ( faculty advisor ) gave a demo

of reference software and we filled the officer

positions of the chapter for the upcoming

year. As a chapter, we welcome two new

members, Kayleigh Majercak and Sarah Nor-

man-Ashby, who will provide a female per-

spective to what has been a male dominated

membership.

Our plans over the academic year include

activities to better develop and prepare our

student members to not only become suc-

cessful researchers but also leaders. As a

group, we are conducting a book club to facili-

tate these goals. Our first read is Economical

Writing by Deirdre McCloskey and will be fol-

lowed by Leadership and Self-Deception by

the Arbinger Institute. We will also participate

in intensive CV workshops and review to help

our members succeed as we prepare for the

next stage in our journeys.

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sci-

ences ( UAMS ) ISPOR Student Chapter has

started a busy semester after an enjoyable

summer of travel which included a visit to

Austin, TX for the “ Meeting in the Middle ”

conference hosted by UT-Austin. Here, three

of our members presented their research and

UAMS ISPOR attendees spent a wonderful

weekend with fellow students and ISPOR

members including what has been one of the

best social events in which the chapter has

ever participated.

In our first meeting of the year, Dr. Nalin

I S S U E 1 2 , V O L . 1 P A G E 9

University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences ISPOR Student Chapter

By Joshua Brown

UAMS

ISPOR

Student

Chapter “Logic will get

you from

A to B.

Imagination

will take you

everywhere.”

—Albert

Einstein

Graph created by Amarsinh Desai, University of Cincinnati ISPOR Chapter

-0.8

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0

0.4

0.8

1.2

1.6

2

Pre PhD Introductionof Research

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Revisons

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ManuscriptDraft 10th

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Graduation Job

Qu

ali

ty o

f L

ife

QOL of Grad Student

QOLGraduate School Phases

PhD, Associate Professor of Healthcare Man-

agement at the T. A. Pai Management Insti-

tute on September 13, 2012.

The chapter hosted a seminar on September

25, 2012, entitled, "Opportunities For Phar-

macist In Clinical Trials and Research" by Dr.

Ashok Thakkar, a Senior Clinical Trial Manag-

er. The MU ISPOR chapter has an-

nounced fifteen research grants for the mem-

bers of Manipal Student Chapter in the field of

pharmacoeconomics and outcomes research.

MU ISPOR chapter in conjunction

with Association of Community Pharmacist of

India and Association of Practicing Pharma-

cists and Clinical Pharmacologists of India is

planning community service activities with

their combined more 90 members. This dedi-

cation to community service and education is

evident by the MU ISPOR Chapter ’ s 3rd

place finish as ISPOR Outstanding Student

Chapter Award at the 17th Annual Internation-

al Meeting in Washington, DC.

Manipal University ( MU) ISPOR Student

Chapter started its session 2012-2013 with

meeting of core committee members

Sandeep Adhikari ( President ) , Ateendra

Jha ( Secretary ) and Committee in-charges

on July 23 2012 under the guidance of faculty

advisor Dr. Anantha N. Naik.

Agenda for the first meeting was to plan for

the 2012-2013 session and to review our last

session activities. Another meeting was held

one week later to discuss the goals and re-

sponsibilities of committees. The chapter con-

ducted a quiz competition on August 11 on

general concepts related to pharmacoeco-

nomics and outcomes research. The competi-

tion was open for all and held in a 4 rounds

style where the first round was the elimination

round, the second round was the visual

round, the third round contained rapid-fire

questions, and the 4th round had multiple

choice questions.

MU ISPOR Student Chapter held an interac-

tion program with Professor Kumar Mukharji,

I S S U E 1 2 , V O L . 1 P A G E 1 0

Manipal University ISPOR Student Chapter

By Ateendra Jha

Chapter members at a chapter presentation

"Research

is the

process of

going up

alleys to

see if they

are blind."

--- Marston

Bates

Manipal University ISPOR Student Chapter Members

On September 6, 2012, the St. John ’ s University ( STJ )

ISPOR Chapter organized a kiosk in the College Name

Change Commemoration Luncheon at Great Lawn, STJ

Queens campus. The STJ-ISPOR Chapter members de-

tailed about ISPOR and the STJ-ISPOR Student Chapter,

and described the scope of Pharmacoeconomics and Out-

comes Research to interested students of all academic lev-

els who inquired about the chapter.

I S S U E 1 2 , V O L . 1 P A G E 1 1

St. John’s University ISPOR Student Chapter

By Ankit Shah and Raghavender Chowdavaram

Some Members of STJ ISPOR at the

meet.

“Graduate studies is about students

participation. Graduate classes have an

engaging discussion resulting in generation

of ideas that become theoretical basis for

future research studies”

– Dr. Wenchen Wu

STJ ISPOR students at the luncheon meet along with

Dean of Pharmaceutical Sciences Dept. Dr. William

Zito, Ph.D. , Chair of Pharmacy Administration Dr,

Wenchen Wu, R.Ph, MBA, Ph.D. and Dr. R Nayak , Ph.D.

On September 10, 2012, STJ-ISPOR chapter orga-

nized an orientation session to welcome the new stu-

dents. During the session, students and faculty en-

gaged in a lively discussion about various topics.

The chapter had a journal club meeting on October

03, 2012. Tarun Bhagnani presented the article enti-

tled, ' FDA Actions Against Health Economic Promo-

tions, 2002 –2011'.

addressed performance-based risk-sharing

arrangements; Leticia Moczygemba, PhD

( V irginia Commonwealth University ) raised

the question whether health IT is a solution

for improving medication outcomes among

homeless individuals; Commander Joe Law-

rence, PharmD, MBA and Shana Trice,

PharmD shared application of pharmacoeco-

nomics and outcomes research to formulary

decision making in the DoD settings.

Stephen Gruschkus, PhD ( Xcenda ) ,

Michael Johnsrud, PhD ( Avalere Health ) ,

Zeba Khan, PhD ( Celgene ) and Nick Patel,

PhD ( Competitive Health Analytics, Inc. –

Humana, Inc. ) provided students with advice

on preparing for future careers and shared

their graduate school and work experience

during the career panel session. On the last

night of the conference, attendees enjoyed

dinner and entertainment at a local establish-

ment, Esther ’ s Follies, for an experience

that personified the city ’ s motto “ Keep Aus-

tin Weird. ”

On June 22-24, 2012, the Meeting in the Mid-

dle conference was held at the University of

Texas, College of Pharmacy in Austin, Texas.

The Meeting in the Middle is the first confer-

ence to combine the two biennial confer-

ences, the Southern Pharmacy Administration

Conference and the Western Pharmacoeco-

nomics Conference. There were a total of 25

faculty members and 86 graduate students

representing 20 schools, in addition to at-

tendees from the Department of Defense

( D oD ) and medical industries.

The conference began with an icebreaker

bingo at the welcoming reception. The fac-

toids bingo game was a fun opportunity for

everyone to get to know each other. The rest

of conference kept attendees busy with many

different events, including plenary sessions,

poster sessions, podium presentations, work-

shops, and a career roundtable discussion.

As suggested by the theme of our meeting,

“ A t the Crossroads of Quality, Access, and

Affordability ” , various issues were raised at

the plenary sessions and workshops. Lou

Garrison, PhD ( University of Washington )

I S S U E 1 2 , V O L . 1 P A G E 1 2

University of Texas, Austin ISPOR Student Chapter

By Tatiana Makhinova and Gilwan Kim

UT Austin ISPOR student members hard at

work during the Meeting in the Middle

Conference

“I ‘ve always felt

that a person's

intelligence is

directly reflected

by the number of

conflicting points

of view he can

entertain

simultaneously

on the same

topic.”

—-Abigail Adams

University of Texas, Austin ISPOR student chapter

Newsletter Quiz

O L I K S I R E V I T A L E R P S

W A L L B E R S I A F E W B R T I

S H D F N E O N T H I F L I A O C

U D P D C N T U N C P F D G H U K

L O S R G G O F E A R E J A E T N

R N E O R L N I C L A C U N A C E

P M Y S E A I L I N F T K G L O S

Q A L T Y N G E D I A M O N T M S

Z R L E T D N P L U F O M A H E I

I Q Z A U G R O S R U D U M I S M

G U Q J K E X T E M U I G L E B P

X I T P J A I B L G L F A I L P A

O S T U E N Q V A E O I D B E O C

O F D H A M A N D A L E C I T L T

B I L L N E S S W O R R Y L X A V

C O N T I N G E N T P C O L A N S

E V A L U A T I O N A V E N U E D

I S S U E 1 2 , V O L . 1

Find the words for the questions below. Find the most appropriate words in this grid to complete the quiz.

For questions with numbers in parentheses, the numbers correspond to the numbers of letters in the an-

swer and can be found in the ISPOR Book of Terms. Please send the completed scanned quizzes to Ankit

Shah (ispor.newsletter@gmail.com). After having responses from the student chapters, the correct entry will be

identified. In case of multiple correct entries, winner will be chosen by random drawing. The winning

P A G E 1 3

P A G E 1 4

QUESTIONS

1. What is Student Network Chair Emily Reese’s favorite book ?

2. The factor that varies by different level when studying the association between expo-

sure and disease under study is ? (6+8)

3. “If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you. If you really make them

think, they'll hate you“ is a famous quote by ? (3+7)

4. This chapter takes grant writing very seriously!

5. This valuation methods helps to simulate missing market? (10+9)

6. Dr. Zeba Khan, Ph.D. provided students with advice on preparing for future careers

and shared her graduate school and work experience during the career panel session.

What university did she talk at?

7. This study aims to determine total economic impact of a disease or health condition

on society through identification, measurement and valuation of all direct-indirect

costs. (4+2+7)

8. This chapter had an article discussion on ‘FDA Actions Against Health Economic Pro-

motions, 2002–2011'.

9. What does Rosser Index measure ? (6+8)

10. Barbara Claus is a member of which student chapter?

11. Which health status instrument is used to measure physical, psychosocial and be-

havioral impact of disease? (8+7)

12. Three members from this chapter presented their research at the conference “ Meet-

ing in the middle” held at UT Austin.

13. What measure is used to predict association between disease and exposure?(8+4)

14. This chapter hosted karaoke night at the Student Activity Fair.

15. This chapter president is also a Newsletter Committee Member!!

I S S U E 1 2 , V O L . 1

Shweta Pathak, Newsletter Committee Co-chair (UT,

Houston)

Ankit Shah, Newsletter Committee Co-chair (St. John’s

University)

Amarsinh Desai (University Of Cincinnati)

Palak Patel (UGA)

Jacquelyn McRae (Mercer University)

Emily Reese, Student Network Chair ( University Of

Maryland)

Abhishek S. Chitnis, PhD; Past Student Network Chair

Zeba M. Khan, PhD; Student Network Faculty Advisor

Newsletter Editors