Jan Hirsch Reappointed as Dean of UC Irvine School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences
Jan Hirsch, Founding Dean of the University of California, Irvine School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences, has been reappointed to the role. She will serve an additional five-year term.
Dean Hirsch joined UCI in 2019, established the Department of Clinical Pharmacy Practice that same year, and — building on the already well-known, robust pharmaceutical sciences foundation of BS, MSP, and PhD programs — led efforts to gain approval of the School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences by the University of California Regents in 2020. The UCI School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences was the first public pharmacy school in the Los Angeles-Orange County region, the third in the UC system, and California’s first new public pharmacy school in nearly two decades.
The school provides innovative, integrative, learner-centered education; leading-edge pharmaceutical and biomedical research; and national leadership in interprofessional, whole-patient-centered pharmaceutical care. It educates a diverse cadre of pharmaceutical scientists and clinical pharmacists who will discover and implement solutions to optimize medication therapies, patient health outcomes, and an inclusive, cost-effective healthcare system.
As stated by the Office of the Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor, “During [Dean Hirsch’s] tenure, the School recruited diverse faculty (now including 12% faculty from underrepresented groups and 46% female faculty), expanded staff hiring, increased student enrollment in the M.S. in pharmacology and Ph.D. in pharmacological sciences, and launched the Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) program. In 2021-22, the school grew extramural research funding to $9.4 million and philanthropic support to $1.6 million.”
During Dean Hirsch’s next term, the School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences will continue to grow and fulfill its strategic plan of conducting transformative research that creates impactful, high-value solutions from drug discovery to clinical practice; education that prepares pharmaceutical scientists and clinical pharmacists for the future; and service that impacts the broader community, including educating patients on the safe and effective use of medications.
“I believe the School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences has unparalleled opportunities for impact given its portfolio of education, research, and clinical service, consistent with the nation’s top pharmacy schools, combined with its strong partnership with UCI Health and its position as an integral part of the Susan & Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences,” Dean Hirsch shared. “I am excited to be leading truly exceptional faculty, staff, and students to advance transformational solutions in drug discovery and optimize medication utilization to meet the significant challenges of today and well into the future.”
Dean Hirsch has worked within the UC system for over 20 years. Before coming to UCI, she served as the first chair of the Division of Clinical Pharmacy in the Skaggs School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences at UC San Diego. In her previous role with UCSD, she was academic director of a drug development and product management master’s program and established a clinical faculty practice business unit that offered medication therapy management services in the community while providing real-world training for students, residents, and practicing pharmacists. Prior to returning to academia, she spent 14 years in the pharmaceutical and managed care industries, where she was responsible for establishing and managing outcomes research departments for three companies.
Dean Hirsch is currently a research fellow of the National Academies of Practice in Pharmacy and a distinguished fellow of the Get the Medications Right Institute. She has served as an expert in many roles supporting professional pharmacy associations. She has also been a member of multiple UC-wide initiatives, including the UC Health Special Committee on Health Sciences and Clinical Affairs and the UC Population Health Pharmacy Workgroup.
If you are interested in helping to build the future of the School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences, please contact Sonia Batra, Director of Development (sbatra1@hs.uci.edu), or visit pharmsci.uci.edu/giving.