The U.S.-Thai Consortium votes to include UH Hilo’s College of Pharmacy

University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo
Contact:
Alyson Kakugawa-leong, (808) 974-7642
Dir, Media Rel, University Relations
Posted: Jul 14, 2014

The Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy (DKICP) at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilois the newest member of a multinational group working to advance pharmacy education, research, practice, and improve the health and welfare of the people in Thailand.

The U.S.-Thai Consortium for the Development of Pharmacy Education in Thailand, founded in May 1994, made the announcement at the 2014 consortium conference from May 28-30 at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy in Baltimore, MD. DKICP’s Drs. Carolyn Ma and Supakit Wongwiwatthananukit attended.

The consortium now includes 19 Thai and 17 U.S. schools of pharmacy. The American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) signed the original Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with eight schools of pharmacy in Thailand and the Committee for Pharmacy Manpower Development of the Thailand Ministry of University Affairs.

“We are energized by and grateful for the opportunity to join these other top schools of pharmacy because we understand how to affect global health and make a difference for humanity,” said DKICP Dean John M. Pezzuto. “Our geographic location positions us to become the hub of pharmaceutical research where contributions of western sciences, eastern traditions and Pacific Island heritage combine to advance pharmaceutical knowledge and practice.” 

Other U.S. schools of pharmacy in the consortium include top-10 schools University of Minnesota, University of North Carolina, University of Texas, University of Kentucky, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Ohio State University, Purdue University, University of Utah, University of Washington and University of Arizona.

Thai schools of pharmacy include Chulalongkorn University and Rangsit University, both of which have clinical site and research agreements with DKICP. These agreements give DKICP students an opportunity to go to Thailand for their experiential training, as well as will bring Ph.D. students and postdoctoral associates to Hawaiʻi to work in DKICP labs.

DKICP has developed relationships and signed memorandums of understanding (MOU) with universities in China, Thailand and Japan. Students in the UH Hilo program also have unique learning opportunities available throughout Hawaiʻi, across the mainland and the Pacific Basin, in Guam, American Samoa and Saipan.

“This consortium will help us expand our scope to include other universities in Thailand, which in turn gives our respective students a wider global perspective,” said Wongwiwatthananukit, DKICP associate professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice, who helped shape the existing agreements. “Being born and raised in Thailand, this is very meaningful because I know our work can affect generations to come.”