Chair (2025-2026)
Karen C. Thomas, PharmD, PhD, MBA
Karen C. Thomas is an associate director of specialty and infusion pharmacies at the University of Illinois Hospital and Health Sciences System and is a clinical assistant professor in the department of pharmacy practice at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). Thomas is also the residency program director for the UIC specialty pharmacy administration and leadership PGY2 residency. Her professional interests include optimizing clinical and operational processes, staff development, and demonstrating the value of health systems specialty pharmacies. She completed a dual PharmD/PhD program at the University of Utah College of Pharmacy, with her PhD in pharmacology and toxicology examining the molecular mechanisms of capsaicin induced lung injury. Thomas then completed a fellowship in clinical and applied toxicology at the Utah Poison Control Center. Later in her career, she completed an executive MBA program at the David Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah. Thomas is the primary investigator for a 2022 grant from the ASHP Foundation related to how specialty pharmacies care for patients with rheumatoid arthritis. She has been active with the ASHP Section of Specialty Pharmacy Practitioners since 2019 as a member, vice chair (2021-2022), and chair (2022-2023) of the Section Advisory Group on Outcomes and Value.
Karen C. Thomas can be e-mailed at sections@ashp.org.
Immediate Past Chair (2025-2026)
Erica Diamantides, PharmD, MHA, BCPS
Erica Diamantides is the Vice President, Ambulatory Pharmacy Services for Tufts Medicine in Boston, MA where she oversees the specialty pharmacy, home infusion, ambulatory pharmacy clinic practices, and medication access services across the health system. Diamantides earned her PharmD from Northeastern University, followed by a health system pharmacy administration and leadership two-year residency at the University of Washington (UW) Medicine combined with a Master of Health Administration (MHA) from the University of Washington. She has experience in specialty pharmacy leadership, medication access services, accreditation, clinical pharmacy practice management, and pharmacy teaching. Diamantides is currently Chair of the Section of Specialty Pharmacy Practitioners (SSPP) Executive Committee. Other ASHP involvement includes serving as a member of the Section of Pharmacy Practice Managers Section Advisory Group (SAG) on Leadership Development and participation in the SSPP SAGs since inception of the section. She serves on the ASHP Foundation Forecast survey panel, coauthored publications in AJHP on specialty pharmacy (2020, 2021) and leadership (2018), serves as an AJHP manuscript reviewer and as editor of the ASHP Specialty Pharmacy Competency Assessment Center, and is a frequent presenter at ASHP meetings.
Erica Diamantides can be e-mailed at sections@ashp.org
Chair Elect (2025-2026)
Thom Platt, PharmD, PhD, MBA, BCPS
Thom Platt is the Director of Specialty Pharmacy Services at UK HealthCare in Lexington, Kentucky. In this role, he oversees a team of over one hundred individuals, managing both centralized specialty pharmacy services and decentralized operations across UK HealthCare’s clinics. Thom also serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Kentucky (UK) College of Pharmacy, where he is the course director for a specialty pharmacy elective and teaches in various other courses.
Thom earned a PhD in Biochemistry from the UK College of Medicine, followed by a PharmD from the UK College of Pharmacy. He completed a two-year PGY1/2 Specialty Pharmacy Administration and Leadership residency at UK HealthCare, combined with his MBA. His initial years of experience focused on building a specialty pharmacy dedicated data and outcomes research program. Thom’s ASHP involvement includes serving as a member of the Specialty Pharmacy Section Advisory Group on Outcomes and Value for several years, and he is currently serving as chair. Additionally, Thom served a three-year term in the ASHP House of Delegates as a delegate from Kentucky. At the local level in Kentucky, Thom has been actively involved with the state ASHP affiliate, KSHP, serving as Chair of the KSHP House of Delegates and currently as Treasurer for the organization.
Thom Platt can be emailed at sections@ashp.org.
Director-at-Large (2024-2026)
Autumn D. Zuckerman, PharmD, BCPS, CSP
Autumn D. Zuckerman is the Director of Health Outcomes and Research at Vanderbilt Specialty Pharmacy where she is responsible for evaluating patient outcomes and driving innovative, evidence-based improvements in the specialty patient care journey. She is also an affiliate faculty member at three local schools of pharmacy. After receiving her PharmD degree from Samford University McWhorter School of Pharmacy, Dr. Zuckerman completed two years of ASHP-accredited residency training at the Tennessee Valley Healthcare System VA specializing in ambulatory care. Dr. Zuckerman began working in the Infectious Diseases Clinic at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in July 2015, where she established a collaborative practice agreement to provide clinical pharmacy services for those with Hepatitis C virus (HCV) and at high risk for HIV acquisition. In 2017, she created the Vanderbilt Specialty Pharmacy Health and Outcomes Research program to demonstrate the health system specialty pharmacists’ value through research and quality improvement. Dr. Zuckerman has been an active member of the ASHP Section of Specialty Pharmacy Practitioners since its launch in 2019, serving as member, Vice Chair, and Chair of the Section’s Advisory Group on Outcomes and Value, member of the Section’s Committee on Nominations, and a member of the Section’s Educational Steering Committee. Dr. Zuckerman frequently contributes to and presents at ASHP and other national meetings. She recently led the development, execution, analysis, and publication of the 2022 ASHP Survey of Health System Specialty Pharmacy Practice: Clinical Services.
Autumn Zuckerman can be e-mailed at sections@ashp.org.
Director-at-Large (2025-2027)
Abbi M. Blevins, PharmD, MBA, CSP
Abbi M. Blevins is a Clinical Pharmacy Specialist and Residency Program Director at WVU Medicine Specialty Pharmacy & Home Infusion. She earned her Doctor of Pharmacy and Master of Business Administration from West Virginia University School of Pharmacy and then completed a PGY1 Community-Based Residency at Kroger Pharmacy in affiliation with WVU School of Pharmacy. Following residency training, Abbi took a clinical staffing position with Kroger in Charlottesville, VA. In 2018, she returned to Morgantown, accepting her current position at WVU Medicine Specialty Pharmacy where her clinical practice is management of inflammatory diseases. She has participated in multi-center research in both rheumatology and multiple sclerosis with other Health-System Owned Specialty Pharmacies. Abbi also established WVU Medicine's first PGY1 Community-Based Residency Program with a focus in specialty pharmacy and currently serves as Residency Program Director. She maintains an active partnership with the local school of pharmacy, contributing to the advancement of specialty pharmacy education by coordinating an elective course in specialty pharmacy and serving as the primary preceptor for Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience (APPE) students during their clinical rotations. Abbi plays an active role on multiple department committees, contributing to various initiatives and organizational efforts. Additionally, she has been a dedicated member of ASHP, serving on several Section of Specialty Pharmacy Practitioner Advisory Groups and currently serves on the section's Executive Committee as Director-at-Large.
Abbi M. Blevins can be e-mailed at sections@ashp.org.
Director-at-Large Elect (2025-2026)
Kristel M. Geyer, PharmD, BCOP, BCPS
Kristel M. Geyer is the specialty pharmacy manager and residency program coordinator for the PGY1 community-based residency program at Cleveland Clinic Specialty Pharmacy in Cleveland, Ohio. Geyer completed both her Bachelor of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences and PharmD at Concordia University of Wisconsin before completing a PGY1 pharmacy residency at Froedtert and the Medical College of Wisconsin Community Memorial Hospital in Milwaukee. In her current role, she supports all elements of the specialty pharmacy process, sitting on several local and system committees, and leading clinical and operational initiatives for specialty pharmacy services. Recognizing the need for further specialty training opportunities, Geyer led the implementation of a residency program at the specialty pharmacy serving as its initial RPD and currently serves as the RPC. Geyer has been an active member of ASHP for over 10 years, and most recently serving as a member of the SSPP Educational Steering Committee. She previously participated for several years in the SSPP Advisory Group for Workforce Development, including serving as vice chair and chair. She is passionate about servant leadership, participating as a mentor in both the ASHP Student and Residency Program Director Mentorship programs. Geyer has acted as program chair and faculty for ASHP Midyear Meeting sessions over several years, focusing on a variety of hot topics relevant to specialty pharmacy, including student sessions raising awareness of specialty pharmacy post-graduate opportunities, remote work implementation and sustainability, and biosimilar integration.
Kristel M. Geyer can be e-mailed at sections@ashp.org.
ASHP Staff
Gabrielle Pierce, PharmD, MBA
Gabrielle (Gabby) Pierce serves as a Director of Member Relations at ASHP, and is staff liaison to the Section of Specialty Pharmacy Practitioners. In this role, Dr. Pierce leads the development and implementation of programs and initiatives related to specialty pharmacy practice. Prior to this role, Dr. Pierce completed ASHP’s Executive Fellowship in Association Leadership and Management in Bethesda, Maryland. She received her Bachelor’s in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Master of Business Administration, and Doctor of Pharmacy degrees from the University of South Carolina in Columbia, South Carolina. Following graduation, Dr. Pierce completed a PGY1 pharmacy residency in specialty pharmacy at the University of Illinois - Chicago within their Specialty Pharmacy Services in Chicago, Illinois.
Gabby Pierce can be e-mailed at sections@ashp.org.