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Community Health Pharmacist Awarded Grant To Improve Antibiotic Use

A Community Health Northwest Florida pharmacist has been awarded a grant to enhance patients’ use and knowledge of antibiotics.

Ryan Pinto, PharmD, received the $5,000 highly competitive research grant that will be used to help patients in underserved rural North Florida using antibiotics to treat infections. He was one of only eight people in the U.S. to receive the American Society of Health System Pharmacists Foundation Pharmacy Resident Research Grant.

A Pensacola native, Pinto is working for one year at CHNWF as a resident as part of Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Institute of Public Health (CoPPS, IPH).

Pinto will be part of a research team that will investigate the impact of an antibiotic stewardship program. This enables collaborative work with a doctor to ensure that patients receive appropriate antibiotics and improves the health of those with infections.

After earning a Doctor of Pharmacy from Auburn University, Pinto returned to Pensacola to care for a familiar population. He says many of the people who visit the center’s pharmacy don’t have a primary care doctor.

“I’m honored and grateful to receive a grant that will have a direct impact on the people who may not receive this attention elsewhere,” Pinto said. “I’m learning a lot and enjoy working with the FAMU faculty and staff and the Community Health staff.”

The grant’s funding will provide resources and be used to hire a biostatistician to manage information obtained through surveys of providers and patients of Community Health. The questionnaires will help determine what they understand about antibiotics and how they should be used to treat illnesses.

A priority for the research led by pharmacists is to educate the community about changes in guidelines and directions for taking antibiotics.

Okere is the mentor to pharmacy residents at the center. Encouraging patients to ask pharmacists questions is another priority for residents because they often don’t have pharmacists to counsel them.

“Patients can experience side effects if given the wrong antibiotic which can lead to them going to the hospital. Our goal is to help prevent adverse effects from occurring,” Okere said.

Okere is optimistic about the study’s outcomes as a precursor to another sizable grant the center has applied for to widen research and reach.

The ASHP Foundation grant “supports quality health service research focused on practice advancement conducted by residents in ASHP-accredited pharmacy residency programs or by residents in pharmacy residency programs” who have applied for ASHP accreditation.