Overview
Share best practices, collaborate across practice areas, and navigate challenges to enhance care coordination and patient outcomes.
Meet the Leaders Driving Our Community Forward
Get to know the leaders guiding our profession. Their leadership drives innovation, fosters collaboration, and makes a lasting impact on patient care and pharmacy practice.
Bio
Jeffrey Gonzales, PharmD, currently serves as an ambulatory and population health clinical specialist at Trinity Health Mid-Atlantic in Pennsylvania. In this role, he helps to ensure patients have access to and understand the use of medications they need to survive and thrive in the community. Originally specializing in the treatment of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, his practice has now grown to include patients with heart failure, diabetes mellitus, and pain management issues. Within Trinity Health, he serves as the chair for the diabetes expert panel, which helps to manage and improve the care of patients with diabetes across all of Trinity's almost ninety institutions. He also serves as a member of Trinity's hospital expert panel and ambulatory care affinity group.
Jeffrey serves in multiple leadership positions within APhA and the American College of Clinical Pharmacy. He received his PharmD degree from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy in 2008 and his master's of science in pharmacy from the University of Florida in 2022. He is currently enrolled in the MBA program at Husson University. Currently, he is an adjunct faculty member at Temple University and St. John Fisher University. His research interests include various lung diseases, heart failure, diabetes mellitus, and pain and addiction management.
Jeffrey Gonzales
PharmD
Bio
Laressa Bethishou, PharmD, APh, BCPS, is an associate professor of pharmacy practice at the Chapman University School of Pharmacy, and serves as a transitions of care pharmacist at Hoag Hospital in Irvine, CA. She earned her PharmD degree from the University of Southern California and completed a PGY1 pharmacy practice residency at Stanford Health Care. She is passionate about the value of pharmacist interventions in improving care transitions, and her research, teaching, and precepting focus on improving patient care outcomes for those at high risk for readmission.
Laressa has been an active member of the APhA Transitions of Care SIG since 2016, serving on the practice, communication, and education committees. She has chaired the practice committee for 4 years, and the communication and education committees for 1 year each. In her capacity as chair, she has led efforts in creating numerous guidance documents, including the Transitions of Care Toolkit, a Hand-Off Communication Tool, a Transitions of Care Disease State Checklist, and a Guide to Integrating Pharmacy Extenders in Transitions of Care Services. She has been invited as a speaker at the APhA Annual Meeting & Exposition, as well as on a APhA-APPM webinar on implementing transitions of care services in the inpatient setting.
Laressa is also actively involved in transitions of care scholarship and research, and has co-edited and authored a transitions of care textbook for student pharmacists.
Laressa Bethishou
PharmD, APh, BCPS
Bio
Marissa Cavaretta, PharmD, is a clinical associate professor and director of the office of experiential education at the Temple University School of Pharmacy. In 2016, she established the PGY2 internal medicine pharmacy residency at the school of pharmacy and has served as the residency program director since.
Marissa earned her PharmD degree from the Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, followed by a PGY1 pharmacy practice and a PGY2 ambulatory care residency at SUNY Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse, NY. Since joining Temple University in 2013, she has maintained a clinical practice in internal medicine at Temple University Hospital (TUH), where she precepts student pharmacists and residents. Her expertise lies in transitions of care (TOC), and she has played a key role in developing pharmacy services in this area, including the establishment of a TOC pharmacy consult service.
Marissa is actively engaged in professional organizations, particularly APhA. She has chaired the TOC Community Education and Communication Committees and has served on the APhA-APPM Education, Communication, and Joint Policy Standing Committees. She is committed to advancing pharmacist involvement in TOC, fostering collaboration among health care professionals, and enhancing patient outcomes through innovative pharmacy-driven services.
Marissa Cavaretta
PharmD
Bio
Reba A. Forbess, PharmD, PhD, CPPS, earned her PharmD degree from The University of Tennessee (UT) Health Science Center in 1997. Subsequently, she obtained her PhD degree, also from UT, in 1999. Presently, she serves in various capacities at Houston Methodist Willowbrook in Houston, TX. Her responsibilities encompass overseeing research and education, medication safety, admission transitions of care, and ensuring quality standards. Additionally, she mentors students and residents in medication safety and transitions of care, and currently serves as the PGY1 pharmacy residency coordinator.
Reba is actively engaged in the pharmacy profession and has been involved in the APhA Transitions of Care Community as practice chair and communication co-chair. She is also a co-founder of the Texas Society of Health Systems Pharmacy Transitions of Care Certificate Program and remains an active instructor in the program.
Reba A. Forbess
PharmD, PhD, CPPS
Bio
Rupal Mansukhani, PharmD, is a clinical professor at the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy at Rutgers University. She earned her PharmD degree at the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and completed a PGY1 community practice residency at the University of Illinois in Chicago. Rupal currently practices at Morristown Medical Center in the pulmonary unit, where she focuses on transitions of care. Her professional interests are centered on respiratory conditions and immunization, particularly chronic diseases such as COPD and asthma. She is dedicated to optimizing medication therapies, promoting adherence strategies, and improving patient outcomes. Rupal's work also extends to pneumonia prevention and management, where she advocates for evidence-based care bundles and vaccination programs.
Rupal has presented at numerous pharmacy and medical conferences on transitions of care for COPD and pneumonia, emphasizing the benefits of collaborative approaches. Increasing immunization rates is a key priority for her, and she is actively involved in community outreach and education to address vaccination barriers. Through training health care professionals, she strives to foster a culture of proactive preventive care and improve public health outcomes.
Rupal has authored 6 book chapters, published 35 peer-reviewed articles, and delivered countless presentations at international and national conferences. Advancing patient care and promoting the pharmacy profession through research, scholarly activities, and presentations have been central to her efforts to move the profession forward.
Rupal Mansukhani
PharmD
Collaborate for Change: Join a Team
Teams are at the heart of our association's impact. By joining a team, you will collaborate with like-minded professionals, share insights, and work together on key initiatives that shape the future of our field.
The Community is led by a chair, chair-elect, and member-at-large (up to three) that serve to advance the work of the Community. Team members are appointed by the Community leadership.
Communications Team
Utilize the Community Engage platform to lead professional discussion and facilitate collaboration amongst the TOC Community.
Practice Team
Review and update 1-2 TOC resources on the APhA TOC page. Identify the need for tools/resources for members in various transitions of care practice settings.
Education Team
Coordinate CPE and/or non CPE webinars during the year.