The UC Irvine School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences announced Aya Ozaki, PharmD, as a new faculty member serving in the role of Assistant Professor of Clinical Pharmacy starting Sept. 1, 2021.
“We are very excited that Dr. Ozaki is joining the School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences as a Clinical Faculty,” said Alexandre Chan, Founding Chair of the Department of Clinical Pharmacy Practice. “Dr. Ozaki has received extensive research experience during her cardiovascular outcomes research fellowship and she has tremendous experiences conducting research answering clinically meaningful questions.”
Dr. Dawn Lombardo, a professor at the UCI School of Medicine and Program Director of the Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship Training Program, added: “Aya’s expertise in Outcomes Research will provide excellent opportunities for meaningful research contributions with the collaboration of UC Irvine’s Division of Cardiology faculty. Too, her arrival will continue to grow the valuable and synergistic clinical care in our shared cardiac patient populations.”
Prior to joining UCI, Ozaki completed a fellowship in cardiovascular outcomes research under Western University of Health Sciences, where she developed and conducted outcomes research using clinical and administrative databases.
”I’m enthusiastic about and committed to outcomes research to develop effective strategies to ensure optimal medication therapy to advance the quality of patient care,” Ozaki said.
In her research at Western University of Health Sciences, Ozaki evaluated prescribing patterns of cardiac medications and identified predictors and potential barriers to medication utilization. She found a lag in the uptake of evidence-based heart failure (HF) medication and gender disparities in its use.
Furthermore, she conducted comparative research focusing on HF medication use between Medicare and commercial plans, which highlighted different prescribing patterns between the two insurance plans. Those findings provide valuable insights into the current gaps in optimizing care and potential opportunities for patient care improvements.
Ozaki also trained in providing pharmaceutical care in patients with cardiovascular diseases. Her clinical experiences in cardiology at the VA Greater Los Angeles included post-discharge heart failure medication management, secondary prevention for acute coronary syndromes and anticoagulant management in patients with atrial fibrillation.
During her time at Western University of Health Sciences, Ozaki taught a range of courses, including: Cardiovascular Diseases, Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM), and Integrated Clinical Practice.
Ozaki received her bachelor’s degree in pharmacology from Toho University in Japan and her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, CA.