Washington, D.C. – The Board of Pharmacy Specialties (BPS) s proud to announce the 2026 BPS Awards recipients. The recipients will formally accept their award at a venue of their choosing in 2026.
- The 2026 Rising Star Award: Tyler A. Vest, PharmD, MS, MSSCM, BCPS, BCSCP, FNCAP
- The 2026 Weaver/Penna Award: Julie Ann Dopheide, PharmD, BCPP, FAAPP, FASHP
- The 2026 National Beacon Award: University of Rochester Medical Center
- The 2026 Local Beacon Award: Essentia Health Fargo
“The Rising Star Award and the Beacon Award, together with the longstanding Warren E. Weaver/Richard P. Penna Award, honor individuals and organizations whose leadership, innovation, and dedication elevate pharmacy practice and patient care. This year is especially meaningful as we recognize, for the first time, both a local and a national Beacon Award winner, highlighting the expanding reach and impact of board certification across practice settings,” said Anita Siu, PharmD, BCPPS, BPS Board of Directors Chair.
The Rising Star Award celebrates emerging leaders in the profession of pharmacy, recognizing significant early-career achievements in BPS Board Certification. The Warren E. Weaver/Richard P. Penna Award honors pharmacists who have made exceptional voluntary contributions to advancing board certification. The Beacon Award highlights a local and/or national patient care organization that demonstrates outstanding support for BPS Board Certification, raising the bar for pharmacy practice and patient care.
2026 Rising Star Award Recipient: Tyler A. Vest, PharmD, MS, MSSCM, BCPS, BCSCP, FNCAP
Tyler A. Vest, PharmD, MS, MSSCM, BCPS, BCSCP, FNCAP, was previously the System Director of Pharmacy, Pharmacy Supply Chain for the University of Vermont Health Network. He has been board certified in Pharmacotherapy since 2017 and in Sterile Compounding Pharmacy since 2020, reflecting his sustained commitment to advanced practice and professional competency.
In addition to his health-system leadership role, Dr. Vest serves as an Associate Professor of Clinical Education in the Division of Practice Advancement and Clinical Education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Eshelman School of Pharmacy. He is also an Associate Editor for the American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy. Through these roles, he contributes to pharmacist education, mentorship, and scholarship focused on health-system practice and the medication-use process.
Dr. Vest actively promotes board certification through mentorship, residency training, and professional leadership. He has encouraged residents and colleagues to pursue BPS Certification through structured discussions, participation in certification study groups, and advocacy for institutional support of certification efforts. He has also been actively engaged with the Board of Pharmacy Specialties as a subject matter expert through service on job analysis panels, item writing, and recertification activities.
“Dr. Vest is a role model to colleagues that BPS certification is important to being competent in the area in which you are practicing,” shares Marianne F. Ivey, PharmD, MPH, FASHP, FFIP. Stephen F. Eckel, PharmD, MHA, notes, “Tyler is a leader within health-system pharmacy practice. His star is definitely rising and someone who both deserves this award and will represent BPS well through it.”
2026 Weaver/Penna Award Recipient: Julie Ann Dopheide, PharmD, BCPP, FAAPP, FASHP
Julie Ann Dopheide, PharmD, BCPP, FAAPP, FASHP, is a Professor of Clinical Pharmacy, Psychiatry, and the Behavioral Sciences at the University of Southern California Mann School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, with a joint appointment in the Keck School of Medicine. She is a credentialed psychiatric pharmacist at LA General Medical Center and affiliated outpatient clinics, where she provides comprehensive medication management while supervising psychiatric pharmacy residents and student pharmacists.
Dr. Dopheide has maintained BPS certification in Psychiatric Pharmacy since 1996, having earned BCPP with the inaugural examination administration. As noted by Tien M.H. Ng, PharmD, BCPS, FHFSA, FACC, FCCP, “Dr. Dopheide was among the leaders who worked toward getting psychiatric pharmacy approved as a recognized BPS specialty back in the early 1990’s,” and she has “maintained her certification continuously, and has enthusiastically promoted the value of board certification locally and nationally.”
Dr. Dopheide has advanced BPS Board Certification through sustained service and leadership, including roles as Vice Chair and Chair of the Psychiatric Pharmacy Specialty Council, item writer and job analysis panelist for the BCPP examination, and as a BPS Ambassador. Jerry R. McKee, PharmD, MS, BCPP affirms that Dr. Dopheide “has consistently stood out as a leader among leaders.”
Education and mentorship have been central to Dr. Dopheide’s promotion of board certification. She served as psychiatric pharmacy residency program director at USC for 25 years, during which many of her residents went on to earn BCPP certification and assume leadership roles within the specialty. Dr. Ng emphasizes that “it is clear Dr. Dopheide is committed to encouraging board certification among trainees,” adding that she “truly exemplifies the value of board certification both as a role model and leader.”
2026 National Beacon Award Recipient: University of Rochester Medical Center
The University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) Department of Pharmacy is a core component of the UR Medicine health system, an integrated academic medical center spanning eight hospitals and an extensive ambulatory network across the Finger Lakes region of New York. Within this system, the Department of Pharmacy has established a systemwide approach that embeds pharmacists across acute and ambulatory care settings to support high-quality, patient-centered care.
URMC positions BPS Certification as a foundational expectation for pharmacists engaged in direct patient care. URMC champions BPS Board Certification a cornerstone of the credentialing of the pharmacists who practice at their sites, integrating certification into job descriptions, privileging, and promotion pathways, with institutional support for certification costs.
This commitment is recognized by senior health system leadership. Kathleen Parrinello, RN, PhD, FACHE, President and Chief Executive Officer of Strong Memorial Hospital, writes that “the UR Medicine Department of Pharmacy has advanced health quality and/or patient care by promoting the recognition and value of specialized training, knowledge, and skills in pharmacy and the BPS Board Certification of pharmacists,” noting that BPS Certification serves as “the standard for external validation of specialist training, knowledge, and skills in pharmacy.”
URMC’s sustained investment in board certification has resulted in more than 130 BPS board-certified pharmacists practicing across UR Medicine in seven specialty areas. Dan Kistner, PharmD, General Manager at Vizient, observes that “even amongst this vast array of high performing organizations, the University of Rochester stands out as one of the foremost leaders in advancing clinical pharmacy practice, promoting the value of board certification, and raising the bar for patient care.”
Letters of support document measurable improvements in chronic disease management associated with this practice model, including reductions in A1C for patients with diabetes and improved blood pressure control for patients with hypertension, along with decreases in healthcare utilization. These outcomes reflect the meaningful impact of integrating BPS Board-Certified Pharmacists into direct patient care across a complex academic health system.
2026 Local Beacon Award Recipient: Essentia Health Fargo
Essentia Health Fargo is a 133-bed community hospital serving Fargo, North Dakota, and surrounding rural communities as a Level II Trauma Center and Comprehensive Stroke Center. Within this setting, the Essentia Health Fargo Pharmacy Department provides care across acute and ambulatory services, supporting specialties that include oncology, pediatrics, emergency medicine, infectious disease, cardiology, critical care, informatics, and population health.
Over the past six years, the pharmacy department has made BPS Certification a central component of professional practice and development. The department has increased the number of BPS Board-Certified Pharmacists “from three in 2019 to 36 in 2025,” reflecting intentional role development, structured professional growth discussions, and institutional support for certification and recertification costs.
The impact of this commitment is recognized across disciplines within the hospital. Marie-Louise Posch, MD, Section Chair of the Hospitalist Department, notes that the Fargo Pharmacy Department has demonstrated “unwavering dedication to advancing pharmacy practice, elevating patient care, and inspiring professional growth,” highlighting pharmacists’ daily participation in multidisciplinary rounds where they “provide expert medication recommendations, optimize therapeutic regimens, and help ensure safe, high-quality, and patient-centered care.”
From a nursing leadership perspective, Rebecca Svaleson, MSML, RN, BSN, CENP, Director of Med Surg, emphasizes that board certification “has given our pharmacists a new level of confidence and professionalism which has strengthened their role on our care teams,” adding that pharmacists’ expertise has “directly contributed to safer practices and better outcomes for patients.” She further notes that their presence during daily rounds “reinforces true interdisciplinary care.”
Physician leadership has also observed meaningful system-level change. Aaron Phillipps, DO, Chief of Staff and Infectious Disease Department Chair, writes that the department’s progress has been “remarkable,” citing the expansion of board-certified pharmacist roles, development of antimicrobial stewardship programs, and pharmacist-driven policy and formulary improvements. He concludes that the department’s “commitment to excellence, innovation, and patient care makes them highly deserving of this award.”
BPS extends its congratulations to the deserving recipients of the 2026 awards. To learn more about the awards and previous recipients, visit this page.
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. As of the end of 2025, BPS recognized more than 63,000 pharmacist certifications across 16 specialties.
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