Pharmacy Clinical Preceptors

Director:

Rondell Jaggers, PharmD is Executive Director of Pharmacy and Clinical Nutrition. Dr. Jaggers received his B.S. in Pharmacy and Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of Kentucky and completed an administrative residency at Shands Hospital at the University of Florida. Prior to joining Grady Health System, he practiced as a pharmacist, clinical pharmacist and pharmacy manager in various hospitals and health systems in Kentucky, Virginia and Georgia. Dr. Jaggers is adjunct faculty at Mercer University & The University of Georgia Schools of Pharmacy. Professional activities include serving as president and chairman of the board for the Atlanta Academy of Institutional Pharmacy, and in addition to serving on various committees, he is a past President and Chairman of The Board for The Georgia Society of Health-System Pharmacists. Dr. Jaggers is also former residency program director, is a practitioner surveyor for ASHP and was recently appointed to The Commission on Credentialing.

Residency Directors:

Ted Walton, PharmD, BCPS is a Clinical Pharmacist Specialist in internal medicine and nephrology and director of the PGY-2 Internal Medicine Specialty Residency. Dr. Walton graduated from the Medical College of Virginia and completed a clinical pharmacy residency at the University of Cincinnati Hospitals. He became Board Certified in Pharmacotherapy in 1993 and completed the ASHP Nephrology Preceptorship in 1997. He has presented at state and national meetings and has published articles in various journals. He also serves as adjunct faculty at Mercer University & University of Georgia Schools of Pharmacy.

Michael Knauss, PharmD, BCPS is the Director of the PGY-1 Pharmacy Residency Program. He earned his Doctor of Pharmacy from Mercer University School of Pharmacy in 1999 and completed a pharmacy practice residency at Grady Health System. Prior to receiving his Doctor of Pharmacy, he earned a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology. He currently practices in the area of internal medicine. Dr. Knauss precepts pharmacokinetics and internal medicine rotations, as well as pharmacy students from Mercer University, University of Georgia, and South University. He serves on the Heart Failure Readmission Reduction Task Force and Research Advisory Committee at Grady. In addition, he is the GSHP representative and Vice Chair of the Georgia Pain Initiative Board of Directors. He is a reviewer for Pharmacotherapy and American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy.

Prasad Abraham, PharmD, BCPS is the Director of the PGY-2 Critical Care Specialty Residency Program. He is involved in the care of patients in the surgical intensive care unit. Dr. Abraham is a graduate of the University of Houston where he received his Doctor of Pharmacy degree. He then completed a pharmacy practice residency at Clarian Health Systems in Indianapolis and a critical care specialty residency at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. Dr. Abraham serves as adjunct faculty at both the Mercer University & University of Georgia Schools of Pharmacy and is a reviewer for the journal Critical Care Medicine.

Manish Patel, PharmD, BCPS is the director for the PGY-2 Infectious Diseases Specialty Residency Program. Dr. Patel received his Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy degree at the University of Toronto in Toronto, Ontario. He subsequently completed his Doctorate of Pharmacy degree at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. Dr. Patel obtained further training in HIV management by completing a HIV pharmacy residency program at Toronto General Hospital. After working at Henry Ford Hospital HIV clinic he moved to Atlanta to join Grady Health System. Dr. Patel practices clinical pharmacy with the inpatient HIV service at Grady Hospital, and at the Ponce de Leon Center outpatient HIV Clinic. He has been working in the HIV/ID field since 1998. He enjoys precepting pharmacy students from Mercer University, University of Georgia and South University. He is a guest lecturer at the University of Georgia, School of Pharmacy. Dr. Patel became a Board Certified Pharmacotherapy Specialist in 2005. Currently, he is a member of the American Society of Health-Systems Pharmacists and Georgia Society of Health-Systems Pharmacists.

John Patka, PharmD, BCPS is a Clinical Pharmacist Specialist in Emergency Medicine. Dr. Patka received his Doctorate of Pharmacy from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and completed a pharmacy practice residency at the University of Illinois Medical Center and a critical care specialty residency at Grady Health System (GHS). In addition to resident training, he precepts students from Mercer University, University of Georgia, and South University Schools of Pharmacy. Dr. Patka has presented at regional and national meetings on pharmacy services in the emergency department and has been a contributing author for Challenger's Emergency Medicine LLSA (Lifelong Learning and Self-Assessment) for emergency medicine board certification.

Jennifer LaFollette, PharmD, BCOP is the Director of the PGY-2 Hematology/Oncology Specialty Residency and a clinical pharmacy specialist in hematology and oncology. She received her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana. She completed a pharmacy practice residency and an oncology specialty residency at the University Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio. Dr. LaFollette provides clinical pharmacy services to inpatient and outpatient hematology and oncology patients. She also serves on numerous committees within the Georgia Cancer Center for Excellence and Grady Health System.

Kristi Quairoli, PharmD is a clinical pharmacist in primary care and the director of the PGY-1 Pharmacy Practice Residency Program (outpatient-based). She received her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University Of Florida College of Pharmacy in Gainesville, FL. She completed a community pharmacy practice residency with the Mercer University Southern School of Pharmacy (now College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences). After completing her residency, she served as Clinical Assistant Professor with Mercer University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences for three years. Dr. Quairoli practices in the outpatient medicine clinics, diabetes clinic, liver clinic and heart failure clinic and is also involved in group patient classes that focus on obesity. She precepts pharmacy students from Mercer University, South University and the University of Georgia. Her areas of special interest are in diabetes, heart failure and Hepatitis C.

Clinical Pharmacists:

Irene Bemis, PharmD, BCPS is a clinical pharmacist specialist in internal medicine. She is a graduate of Massachusetts College of Pharmacy, where she received a B.S. in Pharmacy. After four years of retail work, she attended the University of Colorado, where she received her Doctor of Pharmacy. She completed a pharmacy practice residency at Grady Health System in 1998, and became board certified in pharmacotherapy in 1999. Dr. Bemis serves on the research advisory board, which assists pharmacy practice and specialty residents with their research projects. In addition, she serves as adjunct faculty at Mercer University & University of Georgia Schools of Pharmacy.

Mary Katherine Brown, PharmD is a clinical pharmacist in primary care. She received her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the Mercer University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in Atlanta, GA. She completed a Primary Care Pharmacy residency at Grady Health System. Dr. Brown practices in the outpatient internal medicine clinics, diabetes clinic, lipid clinic and the heart failure clinic. She is a member of the National Lipid Association and various pharmacy organizations. She precepts pharmacy students from Mercer University and the University of Georgia. Her areas of special interest are heart failure, dyslipidemia, resistant hypertension and health literacy related to patient outcomes.

Cassandra Carter, PharmD is a clinical pharmacist in internal medicine and general surgery. She earned her Doctor of Pharmacy degree in 2007 from Mercer University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in Atlanta, Georgia. In 2008, she completed a pharmacy practice residency at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida. She provides therapeutic drug monitoring and clinical pharmacy services to support patients, nurses, and physicians. Her interests include anticoagulation therapy and pharmacokinetic monitoring.

Katleen Wyatt Chester, PharmD, BCPS is a clinical pharmacist specialist in Neurocritical Care. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Georgia State University and her Doctor of Pharmacy degree at the Mercer University Southern School of Pharmacy in 2006. In addition, she has completed both her pharmacy practice residency and critical care specialty residency at Grady Health System. After her residency training, she began her career as a clinical pharmacist in the health system's busy Emergency Department and two years later transitioned her practice to the Marcus Stroke and Neuroscience Center at Grady Health System which opened in 2009. Current interests include neurology, neuro-intensive care, and neurosurgery.

Marjorie Adams Curry, PharmD, BCOP is a clinical pharmacist specialist in hematology and oncology. She received her Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology from Georgia Institute of Technology. She completed her pharmacy practice residency and hematology/oncology specialty residency at Grady Health System. She currently divides her clinical responsibilities between the inpatient and outpatient services in the Georgia Cancer Center for Excellence at Grady. Additionally, Dr. Curry serves on multiple committees at Grady and is currently on the membership committee for the national Hematology/Oncology Pharmacy Association.

Karen Curzio, PharmD is a clinical pharmacist in emergency medicine. She received her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Georgia College of Pharmacy. Upon graduation, she completed a PGY-1 residency in pharmacy practice at Montefiore Medical Center in The Bronx, New York and a PGY-2 residency in primary care at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. After practicing in Grady's pharmacotherapy, diabetes, and lipid clinics for nearly two years, Dr. Curzio transitioned to the emergency department in April 2010.

Leah Hatfield, PharmD, BCPS, earned her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Mercer University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. She began her career as an active duty pharmacist in the United States Navy stationed at Naval Medical Center San Diego. While in San Diego, Dr. Hatfield completed her residency training with a focus in adult and pediatric critical care medicine. She also served in medical and humanitarian missions aboard the USNS Mercy and USS Nimitz. In 2005, she was awarded the prestigious American Pharmacists Association Mortar and Pestle Professionalism Award. She earned her board certification in pharmacotherapy in 2006. In 2007, she relocated to Atlanta, and now works as an Emergency Medicine Clinical Pharmacist for Grady Health System and holds an adjunct faculty appointment at Mercer University. She has conducted numerous accredited continuing education programs and regional and national presentations on the pharmacist's role in emergency medicine.

Saira Rab, PharmD, BCPS is an Infectious Diseases Clinical Pharmacist Specialist. Dr. Rab received her Doctor of Pharmacy degree at the Albany College of Pharmacy in Albany, NY. She completed her Pharmacy Practice Residency as well as her Infectious Diseases Specialty Residency at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Currently, Dr. Rab practices with the Special Immunology (HIV) service and internal medicine teams at Grady Hospital as well at the Ponce De Leon Clinic (Outpatient HIV Services).

Marina Rabinovich, PharmD, BCPS is a clinical pharmacist specialist practicing in the medical intensive care unit. She earned her Doctorate of Pharmacy from Nesbitt School of Pharmacy at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, PA. She completed a pharmacy practice residency and internal medicine specialty residency at Grady Health System.

Stephanie N. Rogers, PharmD, MS is the inpatient pharmacy supervisor for Grady Health System. She graduated from the University Of Georgia College Of Pharmacy. She also completed a specialty Masters residency program at The Ohio State University Medical Center with an emphasis on health system pharmacy administration. Before transitioning to her currently role, she worked as supervisor of the oncology pharmacy, oncology pharmacist, central refill pharmacist, clinical floor pharmacist and worked to institute a medication therapy management process at Grady Health System.

Deborah Taylor, PharmD is a graduate of Mercer University School of Pharmacy. She completed a Staff Development Program for pharmacists of Grady Health System and currently works in the areas of cardiology and internal medicine. A native of Atlanta, she has worked at Visiting Nurse Health System, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and Georgia Baptist Medical Center. Her interests include cardiology and diabetes.