Two alumnae from the USC College of Pharmacy have been named among the top influencers in pharmacy for 2022 by Pharmacy Podcast Network. PPN launched the award in 2021 to recognize those who have made a mark on the pharmacy industry through innovation, momentum and distinction.
Mary Douglass Smith, ’08, and Gabrielle Pierce Cranford, ’20, were selected based on votes by their peers in the pharmacy profession.
Smith, who ranked among the top 10 influencers is director of experiential education at the Presbyterian College School of Pharmacy. She also serves as the 2nd Congressional District board member for the South Carolina Board of Pharmacy.
Making direct meaningful connections with others in the same field gives you the support you need to improve your own career.
“I think sometimes we tend to silo ourselves into one sector, and I have the advantage of intentionally spreading myself to other areas such as academia, joining others on research projects and being involved in state and national professional organizations,” she says.
Smith is also active on social media, which she feels has helped raise her visibility in the pharmacy profession, and she wants to be a source of information for pharmacists.
“I interact with a great number of people on Twitter,” she says. “Even before I joined the Board of Pharmacy, I attended meetings and would post notes in hopes that it would help those who could not attend feel they were still keyed in and informed about what was being discussed."
“Making direct meaningful connections with others in the same field gives you the support you need to improve your own career.”
We may have niche areas as practitioners, but we make the strongest impact when we come together as a whole for the cause.
Cranford completed an executive fellowship in Association Leadership and Management with the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists from 2021-2022. She then accepted a position with ASHP as a director of member relations and is staff liaison to the Section of Specialty Pharmacy Practitioners. She was surprised to be included as a pharmacy influencer.
“I am so early in my career, but I aspire to have as much impact as everyone who is on the list,” she says. “We may have niche areas as practitioners, but we make the strongest impact when we come together as a whole for the cause. People who make an influence are those who use their voices to say what needs to be said.”
Topics: Pharm.D. Program, Alumni Programs