SHARKS RX Spring 2016 Magazine

NOVA SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY 8 A major part of that collaboration involves support for junior researchers—mostly young faculty members and Ph.D. students—in the behavioral aspect of HIV. This partnership continues to grow with the current dean, Lisa M. Deziel, Pharm.D., Ph.D., and students from the Fort Lauderdale/Davie Campus and the Puerto Rico Regional Campus participating alongside faculty members in many of Rabionet’s ongoing projects. Both a professor and a researcher, Rabionet sees this as a perfect opportunity to continue her mission of change and improve the training of the next generation of health professionals. “As HIV transitions to becoming more of a chronic illness/disease, it has a long-range impact on the patient and the community,” she explained, because the earlier the patient adheres to the medication program, the better the outcomes. “The pharmacist is in the perfect place to guide the patient throughout the many phases of medication management.” In addition to maintaining an affiliation with the Univer- sity of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus, Rabionet serves as program director of the Mentoring Institute for education paved the way toward a subsequent Master of Education degree from Harvard University. While at Harvard, she became more aware of the global fate of those who were vulnerable in society. “Your life is established when you are born,” she said. “Your luck is attached to your birth. I wanted to change the system so that people are empowered to change their lives.” Upon returning to Puerto Rico, she joined the Univer- sity of Puerto Rico Graduate School of Public Health to develop and support educational programs and began to focus on the idea of faculty development—a passion she continues to embrace to this day. Rabionet started writing and receiving grants from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to train faculty members in new and emerging topics. While seemingly more common today, topics such as geriatrics, developmental disabilities, tobacco use, hurricane preparedness, and HIV were considered new and emerging trends. “I was tasked with helping faculty members incorporate these new competencies into their curriculum, allowing them to become scholars of teaching these new topics,” she explained. After returning to Harvard to complete her doctorate, Rabionet specialized in higher education administration and social policy. During that time, she developed models for reform and implementation of faculty development programs based on innovation and curricular change. Since 2007, and with help from a National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) grant that she still manages, Rabionet began to focus on preparing faculty members and researchers to become more effective at their research, especially with HIV/AIDS populations. It was during this time that she met Andrés Malavé, Ph.D., the former dean at the College of Pharmacy, who facilitated her move to South Florida and established a partnership between NSU and the University of Puerto Rico. From left: Silvia E. Rabionet, Ed.D.; Akesha Edwards, Pharm.D., Ph.D. candidate; Lauren Romero (’16); and Chloe Tamargo (’17)