May 8, 2008
Don Downing named Pharmacist Leader of the Year
By Melinda Young
School of Pharmacy
Don Downing, clinical professor in the UW School of Pharmacy, was recently named Pharmacist Leader of the Year by Pharmacy Access Partnership.
The partnership is an independent center of the Public Health Institute that aims to expand access to reproductive health services in pharmacies.
At the organization’s March awards ceremony in San Francisco, Downing also received a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition from the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
He received these honors for his work as a nationally renowned expert on and advocate for women’s health care issues in the pharmacy field.
A 2006 online course he coauthored for pharmacists, “Emergency Contraception: A Guide to Over-the-Counter Availability,” is highly sought after by practitioners today.
Among his other efforts, he also works to improve availability for the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, and he studies the ethical implications of health care providers who refuse access to medications.
In a prepared statement, Belle Taylor-McGhee, president of Pharmacy Access Partnership, highlighted Downing’s “expertise and passion for unfettered access to healthcare.” She said he has advanced reproductive health access in pharmacies across the United States. Further, she pointed to his work as counsel for women’s health advocates and public health groups.
Indeed, Downing works on pharmacy-care legislation in 25 states. As part of that, he devotes much of his energy to changing the public’s perception of pharmacists.
“People think that pharmacists merely follow orders, fill prescriptions and move people on,” he said. “But I can think of no better patient advocate than pharmacists — they’re so accessible. Patients don’t need an appointment, and pharmacists are on almost every street corner.”
Downing has been a School of Pharmacy faculty member since 1979. He received his bachelor’s degree in pharmacy from the UW in 1975.
