Assistant Professor Lauren Jonkman, PharmD ’06, received the Chancellor’s Distinguished Public Service award recognizing her outstanding public service here and abroad. Jonkman has committed herself to improving both access and quality of health care in underserved and under-resourced settings locally and globally. Jonkman took a leading role in developing a successful pharmacist managed clinic at Birmingham Free Clinic to provide patients with consistent continuing and comprehensive appointment-based care. She has also been a fervent advocate for community healthcare abroad. Over many years Jonkman has been a valued volunteer and chief pharmacist for Shoulder to Shoulder Pittsburgh-San Jose, an integral role in facilitating real change in a village in Honduras to develop a well-staffed full-time clinic, and in Namibia helped the faculty establish a new School of Pharmacy by teaching patient care and supporting program development. The award underscores the university’s priority to utilize the expertise of the University to address social problems in ways that are consistent with the University’s teaching and research functions.
Jonkman is an assistant professor in the pharmacy and therapeutics department at PittPharmacy and serves as the Coordinator of International Pharmacy Student Experiences.