Daniel Ventricelli ’13 (Pharm.D.) has a passion for expanding the pharmacist’s role in combatting prescription drug abuse. His enthusiasm is contagious. It has inspired his students at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, where he is an assistant professor of clinical pharmacy, to join in outreach efforts that hold promise in helping to control this epidemic of addiction.

For his efforts, Ventricelli received the 2017 Cardinal Health Generation Rx Champion’s Award sponsored by the Cardinal Health Foundation. The award was presented during the Philadelphia Pharmacists Association meeting. It honors a pharmacist who has demonstrated outstanding commitment to raising awareness of the dangers of prescription drug abuse among the general public and within the pharmacy community. It is intended to encourage educational prevention efforts aimed at patients, young people, and others who would benefit from this knowledge.

“The award came as a complete surprise to me,” says Ventricelli, “and it really needs to be shared among the faculty and students at the University of the Sciences who are equally committed to finding solutions to this problem.”

Ventricelli is also quick to thank Dean Emeritus George Downs and chair of the Department of Pharmacy Practice and Pharmacy Administration, Dr. Cathy Poon, for their belief in him.

“When I interviewed for a position at USciences, they knew I was really interested in finding new and innovative roles for pharmacists to play in addressing substance use disorders and the effective treatment of opioid use disorder,” he says, “and they welcomed me with open arms and have been supportive ever since.”

Following his Pharm.D. studies at the University of Connecticut, Ventricelli completed a community pharmacy residency at Kroger Pharmacy through a partnership with West Virginia University. During that time, he also worked at Chestnut Ridge Center for Mental Health Services in Morgantown, West Virginia. It was at this location that he witnessed the impact of drug addiction on ‘every day’ members of the community.

Following his residency, Ventricelli went on to complete a two-year research fellowship focused on prescription drug abuse and misuse, while also earning a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree in community and behavioral health from East Tennessee State University – Gatton College of Pharmacy.

Jill Fitzgerald, Director of Experiential Learning and Continuing Professional Development in UConn’s School of Pharmacy, remembers Ventricelli as a student with tremendous potential.

“Dan was always interested in reaching out and helping others. He has a natural charisma that makes people want to work with him. I’m not surprised that he won this award or that he has involved students and faculty in his work. That’s just Dan,” she says.

Ventricelli, who teaches a course with Downs on Substance Use Disorders and Addiction, is co-advisor to the Generation Rx student organization at the university. As such, he oversaw the design and implementation of many student-led outreach events throughout the year, including face-to-face academic detailing visits to community pharmacies.

The goal of these visits was to increase the number of pharmacies regularly stocking and dispensing naloxone in areas with the highest rates of drug overdose across the city of Philadelphia.

The student-led teams provided pharmacists with information on the Statewide (Pennsylvania) naloxone ‘standing order’ that allows pharmacists to fill prescriptions without requiring individual orders from a person’s physician. Not only is this essential for providing the opioid reversal drug to first-responders, the law also allows friends or family members who may potentially need to assist a person who is abusing or misusing opioids to purchase the drug, as well.

Ventricelli says that while efforts are being made to cut down on the over prescribing of opioid drugs, opioid addiction is a complicated issue made more problematic by the increased availability of a synthetic opioid called fentanyl which is many times stronger than heroin and other prescription opioids sold on the street. Fentanyl is often cut into the heroin sold illicitly, leading to inadvertent drug overdoses and, all too often, death.

“Our students and faculty members visited 86 pharmacies in two and a half months,” Ventricelli says, “and we have more to visit. Also, Philadelphia has recently announced support for the implementation of a supervised consumption facility where people could use illicit substances under the supervision of medical professionals.”

He explains that these facilities provide people with clean syringes, naloxone, and pathways to drug rehabilitation services or other forms of treatment. Supervised consumption facilities and similar programs have been implemented in other countries around the world with very positive outcomes.

Ventricelli believes that pharmacists have an important role to play in harm reduction efforts and the effective treatment of opioid use disorder. He says, “We are aware that addiction is a public health crisis that spares no race or income level or profession. It’s important to train our student pharmacists and pharmacists practicing in the community to be proactive, and I’m happy to be part of that effort.”