UCSF Appoints New Dean of Pharmacy School

UC San Francisco has named a highly accomplished pharmacist and clinical scientist, B. Joseph Guglielmo, PharmD, to lead the nation’s premier School of Pharmacy, continuing the school’s focus on shaping the course of the therapeutic sciences, pharmacy education, patient care and health policy.

UCSF Chancellor Susan Desmond-Hellmann, MD, MPH, announced the appointment today, noting the numerous contributions that Guglielmo already has made to UCSF, as well as his breadth of leadership across the academic pharmacy landscape.

“In its decades as the pre-eminent School of Pharmacy in the nation, the school has never been stronger, and there is no better dean to guide it into the future,” Desmond-Hellmann said. “Joe is both an able leader and an international expert in his field, and will provide a clear course for the school as it helps guide the changing world of health care.”

As the nation’s leading pharmacy school in terms of both research funding from the National Institutes of Health and the ranking of its Doctor of Pharmacy degree program in U.S. News & World Report, the UCSF School of Pharmacy serves as a bellwether for pharmacy schools worldwide.

“It is a tremendous honor to be named the next steward of this accomplished school,” said Guglielmo. “The caliber of people and the culture of respect and inclusion here are second to none: the faculty is brilliant and collegial; the students are leaders by instinct and experience; and the staff is extremely talented. Excellence is their common ground.”

Guglielmo has served as the school’s interim dean since July 2012. He previously led the school’s Department of Clinical Pharmacy as the Thomas A. Oliver Chair in Clinical Pharmacy.

“We see a time when new, precise therapeutics — drugs, medical devices, and diagnostic tests — are used safely and effectively to improve the health of people everywhere,” he said. “This view will drive my work as dean.”

Guglielmo is a well-respected educator, clinical pharmacist and expert in the evidence-based, safe and effective use of antimicrobials to treat infections. He is a professor of clinical pharmacy in the UCSF School of Pharmacy, where he joined the faculty in 1979. He also currently serves as associate director of pharmaceutical services in the UCSF Medical Center, where he maintains a clinical practice as an infectious-disease pharmacist.

Widely known as an advocate for therapeutics research, Guglielmo oversaw, as department chair, a 40 percent increase in the Department of Clinical Pharmacy’s overall faculty research funding from 2006 to 2012, including grants from the National Institutes of Health. He has taught Doctor of Pharmacy and Doctor of Medicine students, residents and fellows for decades and is the recipient of many teaching awards, including the UCSF Lifetime Achievement in Mentoring Award, Resident Preceptor of the Year Awards and UCSF School of Pharmacy Long Teaching Award.