Chair (2024-2025)
Erica Diamantides, PharmD, MHA, BCPS
Erica Diamantides is the System Director, Specialty Pharmacy Services for Tufts Medicine in Boston, MA where she oversees the specialty pharmacy 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 Director-at-Large 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.
Immediate Past Chair (2024-2025)
Denise Scarpelli, PharmD, MBA
Denise Scarpelli is the Executive Director of Ambulatory Pharmacy and Business Development at the University of Chicago since 2017, overseeing the strategy and operations for retail, specialty, mail order, and infusion Pharmacy. Previously she has held many leadership roles at Walgreens, leading Pharmacy Operations in Chicago for over 20 years. She earned a Doctorate of Pharmacy from the University of Illinois at Chicago- College of Pharmacy in 1996 and a MBA from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in June of 2021. She is currently serving as the chair of the Illinois Board of Pharmacy and on the Dean’s Advisory Board for Midwestern College of Pharmacy. Denise has served as the chair and vice-chair of the ASHP Section of Specialty Pharmacy Practitioners Section Advisory Group (SAG) on Business Development. She is an active member if Illinois Council of Hospital Pharmacists.
Denise Scarpelli can be e-mailed at sections@ashp.org.
Chair Elect (2024-2025)
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.
Director-at-Large (2023-2025)
Debbie Duckworth, PharmD, CSP
Debbie Duckworth is the Senior Director of Specialty Pharmacy and Infusion Services (UKSPIS) for UK HealthCare (UKHC) at the University of Kentucky. Her responsibilities include the development of current and future pharmacy strategies to generate operational revenue for the health system and provide best practice patient care. Additionally, she oversees the operational, administrative, and clinical services, leads pharmacy contracting with payers and manufacturers, maintains 7 accreditations/distinctions, and consults and advocates for pharmacy advancement through legislative efforts. She precepts all levels of learners including PGY1 and 2 residents in Specialty Pharmacy Leadership and Pharmacy Contracting. Debbie also contributes to the outcomes, value, and research programming highlighting the specialty pharmacy practice model, and has several recent publications. The newest UKSPIS initiatives include expansion in population health programs for the Commonwealth and assisting smaller health systems across Kentucky to develop their retail and specialty pharmacy practices. Prior to joining her alma mater, Debbie’s experience included being the owner/operator of an accredited independent retail pharmacy and a DME company for twenty years. Debbie has been involved with ASHP since the Section of Specialty Pharmacy Practitioners was established, serving on the Business Development SAG for 3 years. She serves as Vice Chair currently, and has participated on the Committee on Nominations, the Specialty Pharmacy Survey Development Committee, and the Specialty Pharmacy Future Directions Summit. In her state, she is a member of the Kentucky Society of Health System Pharmacists, the Kentucky HepTAC- Hepatitis Elimination Planning Committee, and the Bluegrass Community and Technical College Pharmacy Advisory Board.
Debbie Duckworth can be e-mailed 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 Elect (2024-2025)
Abbi M. Blevins, PharmD, MBA, CSP, CTTS
Abbi M. Blevins is a pharmacy specialist at WVU Medicine Specialty Pharmacy and Home Infusion in Morgantown, West Virginia. She completed both her PharmD and MBA at West Virginia University and went on to complete a PGY1 community- based residency with West Virginia University School of Pharmacy in partnership with Kroger in Morgantown. Blevins joined the Specialty Pharmacy in 2018, where she serves as a clinical specialist managing patients in endocrinology, neurology, and inflammatory disease states. In addition to her clinical work, Blevins established an APPE rotation site for students and developed an elective in partnership with West Virginia University School of Pharmacy, Intro to Specialty Pharmacy to expand student knowledge of specialty pharmacy. To further foster specialty training, Blevins recognized the opportunity to implement a residency program and currently serves as residency program director. Blevins has been an active member of ASHP, serving across several SSPP Advisory Groups (SAGs). Her involvement began as a member of the SAG on Workforce Development, where she assisted in several deliverables including development of a template material for APPE rotation syllabus, template PowerPoint presentation regarding the overview of specialty pharmacy, and multiple others. She currently serves as a member of the SSPP Educational Steering Committee. In addition, she has coauthored multi-site health-system owned specialty pharmacy research publications and given podium presentations at ASHP annual meetings.
Abbi Blevins 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.