BPS Announces 2023-2025 Research Seed Grant Awardees
Washington, D.C. – The Board of Pharmacy Specialties (BPS) is proud to announce the recipients of the sixth annual BPS Research Seed Grant as John P. Bentley, PhD and Susan E. Smith, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP, FCCM. The BPS Research Seed Grant program offers up to two $5,000 USD grants to any pharmacist or investigator conducting a project examining the impact and value of pharmacist board certification.
“Earlier this year, BPS expanded the research seed grant program to allow any investigator conducting research into board certification to apply. We were happy to see the high number of quality research proposals for the 2023-2025 grant. BPS looks forward to supporting the teams of Dr. Bentley and Dr. Smith in their research,” said Ruth E. Nemire, PharmD, EdD, FCCP, FNAP, CRQM.
John P. Bentley, PhD, is a Professor of Pharmacy Administration and Director of the Center for Pharmaceutical Marketing and Management at the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy. Dr. Bentley will collaborate with Joanne E. Candeo, PharmD, also of the University of Mississippi, to conduct a project titled, “Comparison of reported work activities, professional autonomy, and interprofessional collaboration between board-certified and non-board-certified oncology pharmacists.”
The proposal submitted by Dr. Bentley stated, “Oncology pharmacists play a unique role in meeting the increased demands associated with the shortage of oncology physicians. Furthermore, board-certified oncology pharmacists (BCOPs) receive advanced intensive training and are well-equipped to utilize their pharmacotherapy expertise to provide clinical service to the cancer patient population… Despite the steady increase in BCOPs, many non-board-certificated pharmacists (non-BCOPs) still practice in the oncology space.” The proposal goes on to describe the primary and secondary research questions. “The primary aim to is explore differences and similarities between BCOPs and non-BCOPs reported work activities. The secondary aim is to assess differences in the level of and professional autonomy and interprofessional collaboration exercised by oncology pharmacists within the cancer care team.”
Susan E. Smith, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP, FCCM is a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Georgia College of Pharmacy and Critical Care Clinical Pharmacist at Piedmont Athens Regional. Dr. Smith will collaborate with XianYan Chen, PhD; Mojdeh S. Heavner, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP, FCCM; Kelli Keats, PharmD, MPA, BCCCP; and Andrea Sikora, PharmD, MSCR, BCCCP, FCCM to conduct a project titled, “Impact of critical care pharmacy board certification on quality of care and outcomes of critically ill patients: a planned analysis of the Optimizing Pharmacist-Team Integration for ICU patient Management (OPTIM) cohort.”
The proposal submitted by Dr. Smith stated, “The purpose of the Optimizing Pharmacist-Team Integration for ICU patient Management (OPTIM) Study is to create robust models of the relationship between [critical care pharmacist] workload and patient outcomes (e.g., mortality, [length of stay]) using artificial intelligence (AI), specifically advanced machine learning (ML) and other techniques with diverse data generated from a rigorously designed evaluation.” The proposal goes on to describe preliminary findings and plans for upcoming research. “Our preliminary data suggest that important relationships exist between [critical care pharmacist] workload and patient-centered outcomes… it is unknown whether individual pharmacist characteristics may increase [critical care pharmacist] capacity to effectively perform a greater workload. Specialty board certification is one such characteristic that may be a mitigating factor for the relationship between [critical care pharmacist] workload and patient outcomes.”
“BPS is pleased to recognize the outstanding proposals submitted by Dr. Bentley and Dr. Smith and we look forward to supporting their research teams as they work to contribute to the growing repository of research demonstrating the value and importance of pharmacist board certification.” Said Ellie LaNou, PharmD, BCPS, BPS Director of Professional Affairs.
More information about previous awardees and BPS Seed Grants can be found here. The investigators will submit a final report to BPS in December 2025 and have their research added to the BPS Literature Library.
About the Board of Pharmacy Specialties
The Board of Pharmacy Specialties (BPS) was established in 1976 as an autonomous division of the American Pharmacists Association (APhA). The mission of BPS is to improve patient care by positioning BPS Board-Certified Pharmacist Specialists as integral members of interprofessional healthcare teams, through recognition and promotion of specialized training, knowledge, and skills for pharmacists in the United States and internationally. Board certification is a recognized credential for determining which pharmacists are qualified to contribute at advanced practice levels given the rigorous standards mandated by BPS board certification and recertification. BPS currently recognizes more than 58,800 active pharmacist certifications across 15 specialties.
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