Hawaiʻi governing agency appoints UH Hilo pharmacy faculty member

A member of the College of Pharmacy at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo joined the seven-member Hawaiʻi Board of Pharmacy, effective July 1. Gov. Neil Abercrombie nominated Carolyn Ma of Honolulu, who was recently confirmed as a member at a commissioning ceremony in Honolulu.

The Board of Pharmacy is the state agency responsible for the licensure and discipline of Hawaiʻi pharmacists and pharmacies. They review all legislature bills, handle any disciplinary action for the profession, submit new legislation and define the scope of practice.

Ma, Pharm.D., BCOP, CHTP, is an associate professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice based in Honolulu along with several other UH Hilo CoP faculty. She received her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of California at San Francisco and completed a Clinical Pharmacy Residency at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and an Oncology Pharmacy Specialty Residency at The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Ma practiced as a Board Certified Oncology Pharmacist at the Queens Medical Center in Honolulu for 13 years. She subsequently became Vice President for Clinical Program Development for Am Med International in Hong Kong, a start-up company that builds cancer clinics in Asia, and most recently has been management consultant for Stanford Hospitals and Clinics with expertise in Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) Medication Management chapter, pharmacy and clinic workflow change management. Ma is also a certified practitioner and instructor of Healing Touch, an energy-based bioenergy field of complementary modality.