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2026 Eastern States Conference

Eastern States Conference for Pharmacy Residents and Preceptors

Merid Belayneh

VA Maryland Heath Care System

Ambulatory Care Clinical Pharmacist Practitioner

Baltimore

About me

Received a B.A. in Chemistry from Georgia State University in 2007 and a Doctor of Pharmacy from the Virginia Commonwealth University in 2013. He completed a PGY-1 Pharmacy Practice Residency and PGY-2 Ambulatory Care Residency at the VAMHCS from 2013 -2015. Upon completion of his residency he obtained a position at the VAMHCS as an Ambulatory Care Clinical Pharmacist Practitioner.

8:00am EDT

Welcome AtriumAlyson Esteves

8:15am EDT

LPJ Award AtriumLaura Hobbs

8:30am EDT

9:15am EDT

Association of prescribing medications for alcohol use disorder at hospital discharge and subsequent refills with rates of readmission in alcohol use disorder Room 4Amber Carter • Amanda Owens • Amy Cook

9:35am EDT

Comparative analysis of methadone versus buprenorphine/naloxone treatment retention rates among veterans with opioid use disorder Room 6Alix Dabb • Brielle Liberty • Alice Hsu Impact of a Transitions of Care Pharmacist Program on Reducing Hospital Readmissions in Patients Initiated on Subcutaneous Insulin at Discharge Presented by Christina Le, PharmD Room 5Arnold Decano • Christina Le • Alyssa Robertson

9:55am EDT

Implementation of a prescriber directed nudge for SGLT-2 inhibitor prescribing in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus at a level II Veterans Affairs medical center Room 8Alison Sabados • Nakayalla Langley • Ashley Covert Safety outcomes of intravenous iron therapies: low molecular weight iron dextran versus non-dextran iron products Room 3Alyson Esteves • Adria Pirozzi • Alyssa Pagliaro

10:15am EDT

Pharmacist Interventions on Insulin and Hyperglycemia Outcomes in the Hospital Setting Room 3Alyson Esteves • Emma Twombly • Alyssa Pagliaro

10:45am EDT

Specialty Pharmacy Adherence Optimization: Evaluating Adherence Using Medication Possession Ratio Room 6Inna Perinskaya • Lily Frappier • Jaclyn Lopez Evaluating the impact of pharmacy technician-led clinics for prediabetes A1C screening to improve early detection of disease progression Room 3Hayley O'Rourke • Ashley Own • Hiang Dawley

11:05am EDT

Pharmacist impact on Medicare healthcare effectiveness data and information set (HEDIS) measures in primary care offices Room 6Inna Perinskaya • Hima Dileep • Jaclyn Lopez 30-Day mortality rate in patients after receiving inpatient chemotherapy and/or immunotherapy - Donyae Brown Room 3Hayley O'Rourke • Donyae Brown • Hiang Dawley

11:25am EDT

Characterization of insulin adjustments following transition from glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists to tirzepatide in patients with type 2 diabetes Room 6Inna Perinskaya • Kayleigh Conaway • Jaclyn Lopez

11:45am EDT

Eligibility for glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist initiation at hospital discharge in insulin-naïve adults with type 2 diabetes Room 2Jovan Erfan • Shannon Hogarty • Jessica Crow

12:05pm EDT

1:30pm EDT

Impact of Transitions of Care Pharmacy on Hospital Readmission Rates Room 6Lauren Stutzman • Sharron Fernandez • Lanting Fuh Early simultaneous versus stepwise implementation of Guideline-directed medical therapy in Veterans with reduced ejection fraction heart failure at the Washington DC VA Medical Center: Impact on clinical outcomes Room 5Laura Hobbs • LaNisha Potts, PharmD • Lauren Allen

2:10pm EDT

Assessing the acceptance of pharmacist recommendations and impact on polypharmacy management in ambulatory care Room 6Lauren Stutzman • Peaches Brown • Lanting Fuh Expansion of pharmacist administration of long-acting injectables Room 5Laura Hobbs • Michael Snitzer • Lauren Allen

3:00pm EDT

Implementation of a Pharmacist-Led Shared Medical Appointment for Weight Management at a Veterans Affairs Medical Center  Conference HallAmanda Bertele • Shelby Efird • Anita Henderson • Katelyn Hipwell Impact of a Clinical Pharmacy Diabetes Service on Glycemic Outcomes in Patients Newly Initiated on GLP-1 Receptor Agonists Room 6Monica Tong • Abosede Onibon-oje • Monique Bonhomme

4:00pm EDT

Networking Reception Atrium

7:00am EDT

ASHP Accreditation Services Town Hall Atrium

8:00am EDT

Changes in thyroid stimulating hormone levels and levothyroxine dosage for patients prescribed with injectable weight loss medications Room 6Imran Chughtai • Sammie Zou • Donna Grant Resident Presentation - Min Jung Jo Room 3Eun Jin Park • Min Jung Jo • Unable to Attend Evaluation of the utilization of a large language model for categorization of clinical pharmacist interventions Room 1Patrick Huffman • Kaitlyn Healy • Rebeccah Collins

8:20am EDT

Evaluation of type II diabetes mellitus control with continuous glucose monitoring versus blood glucose monitoring in a veteran population Room 6Imran Chughtai • Christopher Lombardo • Donna Grant

8:40am EDT

Pumping Up a Patient's Time in Range Room 6Imran Chughtai • Nikki Polivka • Donna Grant

9:00am EDT

Comparing all-cause hospitalizations in older adults initiated on oxybutynin versus mirabegron for overactive bladder Room 6Imran Chughtai • Samarah Wallace • Donna Grant

9:30am EDT

Alcohol use disorder identification test consumption score changes in patients on glucagon-like peptide-1 and glucagon-like peptide-1/glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide agonists Room 6Brandon Smith • Sarah Alleva • Brandon Snyder

9:50am EDT

Bridging the Gap: Impact of Pharmacist‑Led Medication Reconciliation at Care Transitions on Thirty-Day Readmissions in Heart Failure and Peak Medicare Advantage Patients Room 7Chelsea Kim • Jaden Wills • Christopher Hartley

10:10am EDT

Comparing the effectiveness of glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists and sodium glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitors in a nationwide observational cohort study on the rates of cardiovascular outcomes Room 3Evan Hurley • Madison Jones • Gauri Shirolkar

10:30am EDT

Comparing the incidence of gout in patients taking losartan versus thiazide or thiazide-like diuretics: a real-world retrospective study Room 6Brandon Smith • Gi Eun (Jemma) Han • Brandon Snyder

11:00am EDT

Impact of pharmacist-managed weight management service on weight loss and associated clinical outcomes Room 6Carissa Joelle Ganihong • Rita Chen • Vi Nguyen

11:20am EDT

Evaluation of a Pharmacy-Managed Weight Loss Program in the VA Healthcare System One Year Post-Implementation Room 3Alyssia McCauley • Melissa Contreras • Amanda Kobylinski

11:40am EDT

Use of insulin NPH in patients with steroid-induced hyperglycemia Room 8Karch Helsel • Dylan McCleary • tanvi patil

12:00pm EDT

Evaluating pharmacist impact on clinical outcomes in chronic care management - Justin Chan Room 6Carissa Joelle Ganihong • Justin Chan • Vi Nguyen