The Inaugural Pharmacy Healthcare Policy Fellow George Neyarapally, Pharm.D.,
M.P.H, was honored upon completion of the Program
George Neyarapally, Pharm.D., M.P.H., the Inaugural 2006 - 2007 VCU-ACCP-ASHP Pharmacy
Healthcare Policy Fellow received a plaque acknowledging his successful completion
of the Fellow Program at a gathering of the program directors and representatives
of ACCP and ASHP. As a Fellow, Dr. Neyarapally worked in the Office of the Assistant
Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) within the Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS); in the Office of Senator Joseph I. Lieberman; and in the government
affairs offices of ASHP and ACCP. Dr. Neyarapally, who assumed the burden of official
“guinea pig” for the program, remarked that his experience on the Hill and within
HHS highlighted the challenges that face Congress and agencies of jurisdiction in
formulating and implementing appropriate health care policy: “In science, we are
accustomed to making decisions based on proven evidence with carefully measured
controls and variables. In Washington, the system is subject to a vast array of
political and economic factors, and decision making by compromise. This year has
really demonstrated for me the potential to improve health outcomes by increasing
the role that pharmacists play in providing patient-care services. However, the
challenges our community faces to get to that point are significant. As pharmacists,
we must remain committed to helping formulate policy that focuses on the needs of
the patient.”
Dr. Neyarapally received his MPH from Johns Hopkins University, Pharm.D. from the
University of North Carolina, and B.S. in Finance from the University of Connecticut.
Prior to starting the fellowship, he worked as a drug safety and medical information
pharmacist at PPD Medical Communications in North Carolina. Before commencing his
Doctor of Pharmacy studies, George first became interested in government policy
and the law when conducting research for his undergraduate honors thesis on the
federal government’s regulation of the computer industry. As an extern at the American
Pharmacists Association in 2003, he worked in the policy and communications department
and learned about the impact pharmacists can have on health policy.
George was recently appointed a Junior Service Fellow in Pharmaceutical Outcomes
Research in the Center for Outcomes and Evidence of the Agency for Healthcare Research
and Quality (AHRQ) in Rockville, MD.