Flashing lights, beeping monitors and the pounding footsteps of health care professionals responding to a code blue — Allyson Chan ’23, PharmD thrives in this environment.

Through a PGY1 pharmacy residency and a PGY2 cardiology residency at Loma Linda University, she discovered that she remains calm and collected in high-intensity situations.

“After being exposed to clinical pharmacy and the opportunity to pursue residency, I realized I am passionate about acute care inpatient medicine and I enjoy being involved in the interdisciplinary team, as well as being hands-on and at bedside for emergent situations such as codes and intubations,” she said.

In July, she joined Scripps Mercy Hospital San Diego as a clinical pharmacist, working primarily in the cardiology and intensive care unit.

In contrast, her father, William K. Chan, PharmD, PhD, professor of pharmaceutical sciences, is at home in the hushed quiet of his research lab, tucked away in the lower level of Edward and Alice Long Memorial Hall. Unwavering focus and steadfast resolve have sustained him for over three decades. Since 1993, Dr. William Chan has been studying the aryl hydrocarbon receptor and has been awarded seven National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants. This receptor, activated by the
environmental contaminates encountered in daily life, plays a key role in regulating immune response and cell growth, making it a prime candidate for innovative drug development.

“I hope to discover useful knowledge about this receptor so that new, effective drugs can be created for the treatment of diseases,” he said.

Since 1996, Dr. William Chan has been a pillar of the pharmacy faculty. As a student at Pacific, his daughter witnessed first-hand his commitment to teaching.

“I admire the way he is not only knowledgeable, but he goes out of his way to help students learn and he is bold about his faith,” she said. “I want to be just like that — to excel in my job, but to also be a light to those around me and to consider the needs of others before my own.”

In turn, he expressed the pride he feels: “Allyson is gifted in academics and is passionate about clinical pharmacy practice. I admire her ability to handle stress with ease and always perform at a high level with a contagious smile.”

Like the Chans, Rajesh “Raj” Patel ’87, PhD, and his daughter, Anika Patel ’21, PharmD, PhD, share a strong bond through pharmacy. Their connection is rooted in pharmaceutical research. While interning at her father’s company in high school, she gained first-hand experience in drug development as the team worked on the first implantable drug to deliver long-lasting medication to treat opioid dependency. In 2016, Probuphine™ received Food and Drug Administration approval.

“It’s a very cool thing to say your dad has a drug on the market,” she said. “But what really inspires me is the fact that even after reaching that endpoint, he wasn’t done. He kept going. Now he’s trying to work on other disease states and other types of addictions. With drug development, there’s so many new things that still need to be developed, and the fact that we keep going is so important. That really pushes me to want to make a difference and, hopefully, do more research in cancer therapeutics and, ultimately, improve the lives of patients.”

In February, ReacX Pharmaceuticals, where Dr. Rajesh Patel serves as chief operating officer, announced it had received a three-year, $10.35 million NIH grant. In his role as principal investigator, Dr. Rajesh Patel will lead efforts to advance the clinical development of a six-month implant utilizing Proneura™, the proprietary drug delivery platform used to prevent opioid addiction relapse.

Thirty-eight years after her father crossed the stage to accept his diploma, Dr. Anika Patel earned her doctor of philosophy in pharmaceutical sciences from Chapman University School of Pharmacy. Graduating with distinction, she received the James L. Doti Outstanding Graduate Student Award, the university’s highest honor for graduate students. Her father also drew attention to the four peer-reviewed publications she co-authored during graduate school.

Driven by purpose and inspired by each other, these fathers and daughters are transforming patient care.