Three DKICP faculty receive promotion and/or tenure

Three faculty members in the Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy have been successful in this year’s promotion and tenure process at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo.

In the Department of Pharmacy Practice, Dr. Cherie Chu received tenure and promotion to associate professor. A member of the UH-Hilo College of Pharmacy inaugural class of 2011, she went on to complete a pharmacy practice residency at Banner Baywood Medical Center and Heart Hospital in Mesa, AZ, then returned to Hawaiʻi to complete a specialized pharmacy residency in critical care from DKICP. Her current practice site is in the ICU at Castle Medical Center on Oahu. She lectures in the areas of nutrition management, critical care and pain management.

Dr. Wesley Sumida, associate professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice, received tenure. A graduate of the University of Washington School of Pharmacy, Dr. Sumida completed his residency at the UW Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. He currently serves as the ambulatory care faculty at the Department of Native Hawaiian Health Lau Ola Clinic at the John A. Burns School of Medicine on Oʻahu.

In the Department of Pharmacy Science, Dr. Ghee Tan received promotion to full professor. A foundational member of the DKICP faculty, Dr. Tan received her BS (Hons.) in Pharmacy from the National University of Singapore and her Ph.D. in molecular pharmacology from the University of Illinois at Chicago, where her studies focused on the biochemistry and natural product inhibitors of HIV reverse transcriptase. She has conducted research in natural product drug discovery for major tropical diseases and cancer, continuing that work through interdisciplinary projects at DKICP. She is also Director of the Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences program at DKICP, and mentors students ranging from postdoctoral to undergraduate levels.

“We congratulate Drs. Chu, Sumida and Tan. Their valuable contributions have helped make significant strides not only for our college but also for research and Hawaiʻi’s health care,” says Dean Carolyn Ma. “Our faculty, staff and students are fortunate to have their dedicated commitment in helping to continue fulfilling our mission of education, research and service.”