Ana Simonyan

About my pharmacy practice journey, education, and key accomplishments:

Dr. Simonyan received her PharmD degree from the University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis, MO. She went on to complete a PGY-1 Community Pharmacy Residency at Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, OH and a PGY-2 Ambulatory Care Pharmacy Residency at The Ohio State University College of Pharmacy/General Internal Medicine. She completed two teaching certificates during residency. Dr. Simonyan is board certified in Ambulatory Care.

Current employment, practice, and academic responsibilities:

Vanderbilt University Medical Center is an academic medical center in Nashville, TN that services patients from across the state of Tennessee. In her current role, Dr. Simonyan works for the Vanderbilt Specialty Pharmacy as an embedded clinical pharmacy specialist in the Infectious Disease Clinic. Her role focuses on working with patients with viral hepatitis (with or without HIV co-infection), those on HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis, and others with complex infections. Dr. Simonyan is also a preceptor in the PGY-2 Infectious Disease Residency Program and performs guest lectures at local schools of Pharmacy on viral hepatitis and HIV. In addition to her clinical role, Dr. Simonyan is a Lead Clinical Pharmacist within her department, where she oversees 4 clinics within the Vanderbilt Specialty Pharmacy team.

Significant projects and accomplishments:

As part of her role servicing patients with viral hepatitis, Dr. Simonyan works within an interdisciplinary team to care for patients under a collaborative practice agreement. As part of her work within this patient population, she is also core faculty within the Southeast AIDS Education and Training Center. Dr. Simonyan works with several providers within the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology to connect women who test positive for hepatitis C to care. 

Professional Engagement & SPE Please describe your professional involvement with ASHP.

Initially, Dr. Simonyan became involved with ASHP as a student pharmacist where she served on the Pharmacy Student Forum Leadership Advisory Group. This involvement continued during both years of residency, and has since become narrowed into the specialty space. Several members of the Vanderbilt Specialty Pharmacy team helped to mentor Dr. Simonyan towards involvement in ASHP, and after serving for 1 year on the Outcomes and Value committee, she was excited to be more involved.

Share your thoughts on ASHP’s contributions to the education of the pharmacy workforce? What do you think are some key success, resources, and opportunities?

ASHP works hard to provide resources for specialty pharmacists to help find unique ways to demonstrate their value. In addition to the specialty pharmacy library, ASHP has resources that are beneficial for individuals who are new to research or who want to develop new programs within their institution. In addition, there has been great benefit in networking and the networking opportunities afforded by involvement in ASHP.

What advice would you provide for individuals new to your area of practice?

Seek out mentors and individuals who are invested in your growth. So much can happen when you make your interests known to the people you work with, and when you say "yes" to opportunities. Many conversations will organically turn into opportunities if you are genuinely open to them.