Daniel Kudo Selected as CSHP Distinguished Service Award Recipient

In Daniel Kudo’s perspective, professionalism and work ethic are two qualities that make Keck Graduate Institute (KGI) Doctor of Pharmacy students and alumni stand out from the crowd.

The KGI community has a prime opportunity this week to return the praise to Kudo, an adjunct associate professor at KGI, when he receives the California Society of Health-System Pharmacists (CSHP) Distinguished Service Award at the society’s annual conference in San Diego on Saturday night.

“The award is certainly well deserved for Danny,” KGI School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences Founding Dean Kathy Webster says. “He consistently gives to the profession at the local, regional, and national levels. His energy is tireless and he mentors a significant number of students at KGI. Danny also serves as a role model for students and faculty regarding participation in professional organizations.”

The Distinguished Service Award recognizes one individual annually who has made exceptional and sustained contributions to CSHP at the regional and state levels. Kudo is the first KGI faculty member to receive the honor.

Active on several key committees for multiple years, Kudo’s history with CSHP is rich with service. To name just a few: Professional Affairs Committee and Legal And Public Affairs Committee in the 1980s; Organizational Affairs Committee, House of Delegates delegate, and CSHP Board of Directors member in the 1990s; Committee on Nominations, Practitioner Fellow Award Committee, and American Society of Health-System Pharmacists delegate for several terms in the early 2000s.

Kudo continues to serve locally in the San Gabriel Valley Chapter and has been their president three times in addition to acting as their Board of Directors Parliamentarian.

“I am very honored to be selected as the Distinguished Service Award recipient,” Kudo says.

“At KGI, I enjoy working with other faculty members to provide the pharmacy students with opportunities beyond the classroom, whether that’s through research or training to work in a leadership capacity.”

While pursuing a bachelor’s degree in biology at Cal State LA, Kudo was introduced to the field of pharmacy. He then earned his PharmD degree at the University of Southern California.

“I began my pharmacy career in retail, spent more than 20 years in hospital pharmacy, and two and a half years in managed care,” Kudo says. “Throughout that time, I was able to see the role of the medical science liaison (MSL) emerge, and I became very interested because I could see that they were able to connect with a lot of different thought leaders in healthcare.”

In 2000, he joined AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals as an MSL and worked there for the next 16 years. During that time, Kudo developed relationships with and gained insight from regionally, nationally, and internationally recognized thought leaders in the areas of asthma/allergy, endocrinology, and cardiology. In addition, he identified research sites and coordinated both company-sponsored and independent research studies.

Now, in his faculty role at KGI, Kudo teaches the Acute Coronary Syndrome course in the Medication Therapy Outcomes certificate, and he’s also involved with the Pharmacy in Industry (PHAR 370) course. When called upon, Kudo has also taught the Pharmacy Management elective.

Says Kudo: “One of the excellent ways for KGI pharmacy students to prepare for their careers is through the four certificate tracks that Founding Dean Kathy Webster established: Healthcare Management, Medication Therapy Outcomes, Clinical Trials and Regulatory Affairs, and Health IT. With the added certificate, the students are positioned to have a much stronger resume than other candidates.”

This week, Kudo was featured on the KGI Podcast:

 

About CSHP

Founded in 1962, the California Society of Health-System Pharmacists (CSHP) is a non-profit professional association established to serve the needs of hospital and health-system pharmacists. Representing more than 3,500 members who practice clinical pharmacy and specialized medicine, CSHP members share a common mission – to promote wellness, patient safety, and the optimal use of medication.