Drs. Zoe Karavolis and Aaron Salwan have been awarded the inaugural AAPP Early Practitioner Award. This award recognizes the efforts of psychiatric pharmacists in the first 5 years of practice or 5 years after completion of post-doctoral training. Both Drs. Karavolis and Salwan have demonstrated commitment to AAPP and its mission and contributed to the advancement of psychiatric pharmacy practice through research, publications, presentations, mentoring, and the development of new psychiatric pharmacy practices or programs.
Dr. Zoe Karavolis, PharmD, MPH, BCPP is a Clinical Pharmacist Practitioner in inpatient mental health at the VA Phoenix Healthcare System. She earned her PharmD and MPH from Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts and completed both her PGY1 and PGY2 Psychiatry Residency training at UPMC in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She has served AAPP in multiple capacities, serving on both the Student and Substance Use Disorder Committee, authoring toolkits, presenting at annual meetings, and co-leading the Substance Use Disorder Community. Outside of AAPP, Zoe has developed and implemented a take-home naloxone program which has served over 1,000 patients, participated in multidisciplinary research, authored multiple papers, and developed protocols and guidelines on the treatment of substance use disorders. Her professional interests focus on substance use disorders, harm reduction, and expanding access to care for underserved populations, including providing community-centered naloxone education.
Aaron Salwan, PharmD, MPH, BCPP is a Clinical Pharmacy Specialist in Psychiatry at Montefiore Nyack Hospital, where he also serves as the Founding Director of the PGY2 Psychiatric Pharmacy Residency. A 2017 graduate of the Ohio Northern University Raabe College of Pharmacy, he completed a research fellowship in addiction and behavioral health at East Tennessee State University, earning his Master of Public Health, followed by a specialty residency in neuropsychiatry at Rutgers University.
Dr. Salwan has authored or co-authored more than a dozen publications focused on harm reduction, psychopharmacology, and pharmacist-led mental health services. His research and leadership have advanced pharmacist involvement in behavioral health education and patient-centered psychiatric care. He also holds a faculty appointment as Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at East Tennessee State University. He is deeply grateful for the love and support of his wife, Jessica, and the joy brought by their son, Royce.
Congratulations to Drs. Karavolis and Salwan!