UHCOP Professor and Department Chair Rajender Aparasu Selected for Fulbright Specialist Roster

UH College of Pharmacy's Rajender R. Aparasu, Ph.D., FAPhA, professor and chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical Health Outcomes and Policy, has been selected for the Fulbright Specialist Roster. The Fulbright program, which is funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, serves to promote the international engagement of academic scholarship and build linkages between U.S. and overseas eligible institutions.

Aparasu is the first UHCOP faculty member added to the candidate roster of the Fulbright Specialist Program, which helps U.S. faculty and professionals share their academic expertise and develop linkages with non-U.S. institutions on curriculum, assessment, faculty development, research training, and other program development activities. 

"There are very few Fulbright Specialists in pharmacy; I am really honored to be selected for Fulbright Specialist Roster," said Aparasu, whose five-year term runs through 2021. "This is a great opportunity to offer my expertise in developing professional and graduate pharmacy programs that involve pharmaceutical health outcomes and policy.

"I am looking forward to the opportunity to visit overseas pharmacy institutions to assist faculty and administrators with respect to academic and research programs in pharmaceutical outcomes research."

Aparasu's primary areas of expertise include pharmacoepidemiology, geriatrics, psychopharmacology and evidence-based medicine. His current research project, supported by an R01 grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), is evaluating safety profiles of anticholinergic medications in the elderly nursing home residents.

"Dr. Aparasu’s selection as a Fulbright Specialist validates his professional accomplishments and enhances the institutional profile of UH and the College of Pharmacy," said Jaime Ortiz, Ph.D., UH vice provost for Global Strategies and Studies. "I am glad he now joins such a select group of outstanding U.S. academicians and scholars that will soon engage in collaborative endeavors with similarly related institutions from around the world."

Aparasu has authored or coauthored nearly 100 peer-reviewed journal articles and seven book chapters, as well as served as editor or co-editor of two books (Principles of Research Design and Drug Literature and Research Methods for Pharmaceutical Practice and Policy).

Aparasu was recognized by his peers with the Fellow of the American Pharmacists Association (FAPhA) for his exemplary professional achievements and outstanding service and contribution to the pharmacy profession. The recipient of several research presentation awards during his career, Aparasu holds editorial board appointments on six peer-review journals and has been recognized as an "exceptional" reviewer by five peer-review journals. He currently serves as co-chair of the Research Review Committee for the 21st Annual International Meeting of the International Society of Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) to be held in Washington, D.C., this year.

Aparasu obtained his Ph.D. in Pharmacy Administration from the University of Louisiana-Monroe and joined UHCOP in 2006 after serving on the faculty at the South Dakota State University for more than a decade.

"We're proud to have Dr. Aparasu as an ambassador of the college and the university through this prestigious program and organization," said F. Lamar Pritchard, Ph.D., R.Ph., dean of the UH College of Pharmacy. "The Fulbright organization provides unique opportunities for exchanging ideas and cultivating new relationships that will also enhance our institutions' reputation in the international community."