About

Nancy Alvarez is an Associate Dean for Academic and Professional Affairs at the R. Ken Coit College of Pharmacy and a Professor of Practice in Pharmacy Practice and Science. She facilitates learning on leader development topics and is engaged in the Leader Development Institute for the California Pharmacists Association and the Pharmacy Leadership and Education Institute. Her teaching interests include pain management and palliative care. Dr. Alvarez has held significant leadership roles within professional organizations, including serving as the president of the American Pharmacists Association from 2017 to 2018, and has been involved in various capacities such as serving on the organization's Board of Trustees and being named a fellow. She has also served as president of the Phi Lambda Sigma Leadership Society and has been honored by the Phi Delta Chi Professional Fraternity, which renamed its professional and services projects award in her name. Her clinical expertise encompasses community pharmacy practice, hospice care, and pain management. Dr. Alvarez has contributed to the development of leadership workbooks and tools aimed at supporting pharmacist-led patient care services and opioid use management.

Research topics

• Sociology
• Nursing
• Medicine
• Family medicine
• Law
• Public relations
• Political Science
• Social Science
• Criminology
• Psychology
• Gerontology
• Engineering
• Engineering ethics
• Psychotherapist
• Environmental health
• Internal medicine
• Gender studies

Selected publications

• A systematic analysis of package insert information referencing race and ethnicity for 100 medications commonly used in critically ill patients

  American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy · 2025-04-02

  articleSenior author

  PURPOSE: To evaluate the use of terms denoting race/ethnicity in product labeling for 100 of the medications most commonly used in critically ill patients and to assess this information for overall frequency, frequency by drug class, and frequency within package insert sections to highlight the need for standardized and consistent use of Food and Drug Administration-approved terminology in drug packaging and other informational materials. METHODS: Data were collected by reviewing individual drug manufacturer package inserts. Each package insert was assessed for terminology that explicitly referenced race or ethnicity, and these terms were coded and quantified. After evaluating each of the 100 package inserts, a spreadsheet detailing the usage and presence of race and ethnicity terminology, including its location within the insert and frequency was created. This composite list was then analyzed to identify patterns in using such terminology. RESULTS: A cumulative analysis of all race/ethnicity-based terminology found in the package inserts for the top 100 intensive care unit drugs demonstrated that race/ethnicity-related terminology occurred 94 times in 21 package inserts. Summarizing these categories by number of occurrences showed that the race/ethnicity-based term "Black" occurred most frequently (in 29.8% [28/94] of package inserts]). Concerning the frequency of race/ethnicity-related terminology by agent class, the most frequent use of these terms was (in descending order): diabetes medications, anticoagulation, antimicrobials, antihypertensives, and medications used for cholesterol/lipid lowering. Regarding the frequency of the terms in the main sections of a package insert, most of these terms (a third of the total occurrences) were in the "Adverse Reactions" section (in 31.9% [30/94] of package inserts]). CONCLUSION: Some of the terminology found in the package inserts in our study was either not listed or specifically not recommended for use in federal government reporting. These findings elucidate the prevalence and contexts in which race/ethnicity-related terminology is employed, highlighting its potential impact on clinical decision-making and drug use evaluation.

  PublisherDOI

• Zada M. Cooper: Inspiring leadership, service, collaboration, and innovation to advance pharmacy

  Journal of the American Pharmacists Association · 2025-08-08

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Paramedic i-gel ^® Placement and Perception of Use in Prehospital Airway Management

  Prehospital Emergency Care · 2025-04-07

  article

  OBJECTIVES: use. METHODS: measured on a 5-point Likert scale. Descriptive statistics were reported. RESULTS: placement, the majority of paramedics rated both ease of placement and ease of ventilation as "very easy" (69% and 78%, respectively) or "somewhat easy" (23% and 9%). CONCLUSIONS: device as "very easy" or "somewhat easy" in the vast majority of cases.

  PublisherDOI

• Planning for and creating strong nomination submissions for honors and awards

  Journal of the American Pharmacists Association · 2025-08-20

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Research and scholarly methods: Applying design thinking to scholarly work

  JACCP JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF CLINICAL PHARMACY · 2025-05-27 · 1 citations

  article1st author

  Abstract Engaging in scholarly endeavors is an expected, and sometimes dreaded, activity. While numerous resources exist supporting the technical aspects of writing, generating the motivation and inspiration to move an idea forward are equally necessary. Design thinking is a methodology that can be used when approaching challenging or new situations, such as scholarly writing and other scholarly work, as it offers a method to facilitate the development and postulation of workable solutions. The design thinking process embraces the iterative nature of scholarly work, including the need for multiple rounds of writing and revision based on feedback from co‐authors and peer‐reviewers. We describe how design thinking can be applied to scholarly writing and other types of scholarly production to enhance idea generation, encourage diverse approaches, and optimize outcomes through iterative prototyping and testing to enrich individual and collaborative scholarly production.

  PublisherDOI

• Correlations Between Student Pharmacist Admissions Data and Pharmacy Course Grades at One College of Pharmacy

  American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education · 2025-11-01

  articleOpen access

  Objective: To identify correlations between admissions data and Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) course grades at The University of Arizona R. Ken Coit College of Pharmacy (UA RKCCOP), a public institution.

  PublisherDOI

• Apply the 4 lenses to the self-study process to identify blind spots and opportunities

  Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning · 2025-02-26

  article
  PublisherDOI

• A systematic analysis of medicine information pertaining to race and ethnicity terms for 100 top selling medicines in the USA

  International Journal of Pharmacy Practice · 2025-06-24

  article1st authorCorresponding

  OBJECTIVES: The primary objective of the study focused on the analysis of the terminology used to describe race and/or ethnicity in package inserts for the 100 top-selling medicines in 2021 and to the evaluation of this data based on overall terminology use frequency, terminology use frequency by medication class, and frequency of terminology appearance under specific insert headings. METHODS: Data collection involved reviewing package inserts for 100 top-selling medicines approved in the USA starting with the top 10 medicines followed by the remaining 90 medicines on the list. For the initial 10 medicines, a sample package insert was obtained from the DailyMed website, a resource supported by the US National Library of Medicine and analyzed for the explicit use of race or ethnicity terminology. Identified terms were coded and a list of relevant terms was compiled. A sample package insert for each of the other 90 medicines was analyzed using the list of relevant terminology. A final list to represent the use and quantification of race and ethnicity terminology was compiled. KEY FINDINGS: This qualitative study revealed that some of the terminology in US medicine information labeling is not consistent with the current wording recommended in FDA guidance for race and ethnicity data collection during clinical trials and other studies. Another finding of this analysis is variation in the frequency of use of race and ethnicity terminology relative to the medicine category and sections of the package insert. CONCLUSIONS: Healthcare providers must be cautious when evaluating package inserts, especially race/ethnicity-related terminology that may not reflect current medicine development requirements or when changes occur to tools previously influenced by information used in clinical trials.

  PublisherDOI

• Investigating the correlation between student pharmacist admissions data and pharmacy course grades at a college of pharmacy in the United States

  Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning · 2025-05-01

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Importance of Understanding Minority-Serving Institutional Designations and Associated Abbreviations in Contemporary US Higher Education

  American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education · 2024-06-26

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Prefixes and suffixes in pharmacy might suggest a drug class, generation, or mechanism of action. As pharmacy educators, we also use an alphabet soup of acronyms and abbreviations to describe board certifications or professional organizations and our affiliation to them. Although we may be experts in nomenclature and abbreviations related to health professions education, sometimes, we also have to remind ourselves to be humble and embrace a learning mindset relative to the abbreviations and naming conventions used more broadly in higher education and in other fields. This article discusses the use of abbreviations in minority-serving institutions as well as the financial, historical, and political implications surrounding their names and definitions. The need to appreciate institutional designations and what they represent is not unique to minority-serving institutions or solely the responsibility of personnel who lead diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility efforts. Appreciating what institution designations mean is a logical first step toward discovering and acting upon the possibilities to facilitate and support the success of all learners recruited into the pharmacy profession.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Arnold R. Gammaitoni

  Zogenix (United States)

  7 shared

• Vibhuti Arya

  St. John's University

  5 shared

• Jon C. Schommer

  University of Minnesota

  5 shared

• Caroline A. Gaither

  5 shared

• Lucinda L. Maine

  American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy

  4 shared

• Sandra Leal

  4 shared

• Lakesha M. Butler

  University of Florida

  4 shared

• Natasha Jackson

  City of Hope

  4 shared

Awards & honors

• Fellow of the American Pharmacists Association