Alumni News
Alumni News
2025 Distinguished Alumni Award
Liza Chapman, Pharm.D.`02 was selected to receive the 2025 Distinguished Alumni Award. Liza currently serves as Chief Professional Officer for the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board, where she is responsible for all external stakeholder relationships with national and state pharmacy professional associations, boards of pharmacy, and educators and employers of pharmacy technicians.
During her career, Liza has been involved in her community and the pharmacy profession, seving in a varity of roles including leadership positions with the Gainesville-Hall County Junior League, including president. She is a past president of the Georgia Pharmacy Association (GPhA) and a former chairperson of the Georgia Pharmacy Foundation is now serving as the chair of the Georgia Center for Civic Engagement.
In addition to professional service, Liza has been recognized and awarded GPhA’s Young Pharmacist of the Year Award, the College of Pharmacy’s Young Alumni of the Year, Meritorious Alumni, and Carlton Henderson awards, and is a Fellow of the American Pharmacists Association. Her service to Mercer University includes the College of Pharmacy Alumni Board president, College of Pharmacy Board of Visitors, National Alumni Board president, and President Club chairperson, and she is currently serving as a member of the Board of Trustees and is part of the Mercer Athletic Foundation Board of Directors.
2025 Carlton Henderson Meritorious Service Award
Adrian Washington, Pharm.D.`91 was named the recipient of the Carlton Henderson Meritorious Service Award.
Adrian, VP of Strategy and Account Management with UnitedHealth Group| Optum, is a strong supporter and ally to the College of Phamacy (COP). He serves on several COP committees, mentors students – inspiring and empowering the next generations of leaders, and generously supports a variety of COP’s initiatives. Through his generosity, Adrian has established scholarships to help ensure students have the resources and support to achieve their goals.
Adrian is an active voice across the profession in addressing health inequity, access to care, and wellness and believes in the interconnectivity of us all. His commitment and vision for excellence is untiring. Adrian is an exceptional role model, educator, and example of everything you can achieve when you set your mind on a goal.
Adrian has a passion to make a difference by living in his purpose – “to serve.”
2025 Young Alumni Award
Kandon Render, Pharm.D`18 is the 2025 recipient of the Young Alumni Award.
Kandon currently serves as Chief Clinical Officer at SynerGrx and Director of Clinical Services at Gwinnett Drugs and at the forefront of integrating pharmacists into chronic care management, remote patient monitoring, and behavioral health. His commitment to expanding pharmacy’s role in direct patient care, particularly in ambulatory and underserved settings, reflects a forward-thinking approach that embodies the future of pharmacy practice.
A natural leader, Kandon held prominent student leadership roles, including President of the NCPA chapter at Mercer and regional representative on the NCPA Student Leadership Council. His continues to provide service to professional organizations and dedication to health education in the community demonstrate a lifelong commitment to excellence. Kandon is not only a distinguished alumnus but a trailblazer for what the modern pharmacist can achieve. His career is a testament to innovation, compassion, and a relentless pursuit of better health outcomes.
More Alumni News
Scott Tomerlin, PharmD`06, CPh, was elected to serve a three-year term beginning in March 2025 on American Pharmacists Association’s (APhA) Board of Trustees and will be installed at the 172nd APhA Annual Meeting & Exposition in Nashville, TN, March 21–24, 2025.
Cedric Barrett Baker, Pharm.D.`91 was co-presenter at the annual conference of the Southern Association for the History of Medicine and Science (SAHMS) hosted by Wake Forest University, Bowman-Gray School of Medicine, The Humanities Institute, and the Dept. of History. Dr. Baker delivered the talk, entitled “Ibn Zuhr: Medieval Islamic Medical Polymath and Dietetics Pioneer”, on March 9, 2024 during Session 5A Medical Biographies at Graylyn Conference Center, Winston-Salem NC.
Samantha Giroux, Pharm.D.`17 began a new job in long-term care with ActualMeds.
Will T. Hudson Pharm.D.`96 recently celebrated 25 years with Hospital Corporation of America (HCA). Will is currently a Consultant Clinical Analyst for HCA’s Epic EMR hospitals based in Nashville, TN at HCA’s corporate headquarters. Will and Janet have been married for 26 years. Their daughter, Anna, recently graduated from Lipscomb University.
Kendra Last Langham, Pharm.D.`24 completed her PGY-1 Pharmacy Residency at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital (UAB Medicine) and has accepted a position to continue at UAB as an Acute Care Clinical Pharmacist. In this role, she will cover two of their internal medicine units.
Jennifer Belew, Pharm.D.`08 has launched a company that holistically supports women ages 35+ with gut & hormone health and was recently chosen as the Georgia State Leader for The Functional Medicine Pharmacist Alliance (FMPhA). With an office in the Decatur/Emory area, Jennifer states, “It has been amazing to pursue a dream that started during my community pharmacy rotation.” For more information on her practice, visit www.beyondthedose.com.
Bradford Loo, Pharm.D.`91 was promoted to Senior Regional Medical Science Liaison Director for Intra-Cellular Therapies (a Johnson & Johnson® company). Congratulations Brad.
Kalu Kalu, PharmD`17 was promoted to Assistant Director of Pharmacy Oncology Infusion at Emory Healthcare in Atlanta, GA.
Silky (Webb) Beaty, PharmD`05, MSPH was recently honored with a Gold Award for her research poster, “Health Care Resource Utilization and Costs Among Individuals with Narcolepsy and Idiopathic Hypersomnia in the United States.” The work highlights important disparities in disease burden and economic impact for patients living with central disorders of hypersomnolence, an area of growing need in sleep medicine.
The award was presented at AMCP Nexus, recognizing excellence in scientific rigor, real-world evidence generation, and contributions to improving patient outcomes. Dr. Beaty currently serves as Director of Payer, Value & Outcomes at Jazz Pharmaceuticals, where she continues to advance evidence-based insights that shape clinical practice and support the broader sleep-disorders community.
Imran Shahbuddin, PharmD`14 was promoted to Pharmacy Supervisor at St. Luke’s Medical Center in Milwaukee, WI, where he currently oversees inpatient pharmacy operations and supports a team of four pharmacy technician leads.
Brianna Massey, PharmD`21 passed the exam to become a Board Certified Pediatric Pharmacist (BCPP). She celebrates her first year being the only women and children’s clinical specialist in Northeast Georgia.
Eduardo Valdizan, PharmD`24 joined CVS Specialty in Downtown Manhattan, New York. His experience as an intern and grad intern positioned him for this opportunity.
Breanna Rhodes, PharmD`25 accepted a full-time pharmacist position at Piedmont Newnan Hospital in Newnan, GA.
Demetria Griffin, PharmD`11 recently received Pharmacist of The Year award at Candler Hospital in Savannah, GA, where she works in the outpatient pharmacy – Candler Prescription Center and Candler Specialty Pharmacy.
Keep your Mercer family in the know by sharing your update with the College. Need to make a change to your alumni contact info?