Dr. Bolanle Aina has joined the College of Pharmacy as a sessional instructor for the 2022-23 academic year. She will be the course coordinator for the Compounding Course (PHMD 1012, fall 2022) and will also be teaching in Pharmaceutics (PHMD 1016, winter 2023) and in other courses. Aina has been a practicing pharmacist for seven years. She completed her B.Sc. Pharmacy at the Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria. She is a graduate of the University of Manitoba, earning her M.Sc. Pharmacy in physical chemistry in 2012 and her PhD Pharmacy in cardiovascular biology in 2018.
Dr. Linnéa Hodge will be continuing in the College of Pharmacy as an instructor, pharmacy practice – interprofessional education coordinator. Since October 2021, she has held an academic role in pharmacy practice – interprofessional education. Previously, Hodge was a case developer for the College of Pharmacy in addition to being a staff pharmacist at St. Boniface Hospital. She completed her B.Sc. Pharmacy at the University of Manitoba in 2018 and went on to complete her Doctor of Pharmacy for Practicing Pharmacists at the University of Alberta in 2019.
Dr. Ruchi Kumra accepted the position of director of professional development (part-time) in September. She will also provide support to the Office of Experiential Education as an experiential educational facilitator (part-time). Dr. Kumra has been a practicing clinical pharmacist since 2006. She has experience working in Toronto at the Mount Sinai Hospital and at the Toronto General Hospital, as well as in Winnipeg at the Health Sciences Centre. Her primary area of practice is nephrology. At the University of Toronto, Dr. Kumra completed her B.Sc. Pharmacy in 2005, and her M.Sc. in Quality Improvement and Patient Safety at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health in 2016. In July of 2022, she completed the PharmD for Pharmacists Program at the University of Toronto’s Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy.
Dr. Shweta Mital will be joining the College of Pharmacy as an assistant professor – pharmacoeconomics effective January 1, 2023. She completed her PhD in health economics at Memorial University in 2021, and her M.Sc. in Economics at the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom in 2014. She obtained her B.A. (honors) in economics at the University of Delhi in 2013. Mital has previously held positions as a health economist and research assistant in Singapore.
Dr. Samantha Pauls will be continuing in the College of Pharmacy as an assistant professor – graduate professional development. Since February 2021, she has held a term position as assistant professor in the College of Pharmacy. Pauls is a graduate of the University of Manitoba, earning her B.Sc. honours in biochemistry in 2009 and her PhD in the department of biochemistry and medical genetics in 2016. Pauls completed postdoctoral training from 2016 to 2020 in the department of human nutritional sciences (Canadian Centre for Agri-Food Research in Health and Medicine) at the University of Manitoba.
Dr. Lalitha Raman-Wilms was reappointed as dean of the College of Pharmacy for another five-year term, until 2027. In 2017, Raman-Wilms moved to Winnipeg and the University of Manitoba to take on the role of dean and professor at the College of Pharmacy. During her leadership at the college, she has facilitated the development and implementation of the new Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) program, enabled a significant growth in research and graduate education, and has supported processes and procedures to ensure the safety of faculty, staff and students throughout the pandemic. She has also successfully led the accreditation of the B.Sc. (Pharm.) and PharmD programs and the development of the college of pharmacy’s strategic plan. Read more.
Kristi Watson joined the College of Pharmacy as an instructor in pharmacy practice in November. She completed her B.Sc. Pharmacy at the University of Manitoba in 2004, and is currently completing her certification as an Advanced Program Holistic Lifestyle and Nutrition Coach at the MindBodyFood Institute. Watson has been at CancerCare Manitoba since 2005 as a staff pharmacist and a clinical pharmacist in the Provincial Oncology Drug Program. Since 2017, she has held the position of senior pharmacist, Provincial Initiatives and Education at CancerCare Manitoba. In 2019, she was a course developer for the Pharmacy Technician Diploma Program at the Manitoba Institute of Trades and Technology. She is a member of the College of Pharmacists of Manitoba Compounding Task Force.