Professional News

Pharmacy Professor Kuhn Receives Helms Award

LEXINGTON, Ky. (July 7, 2010) − Robert Kuhn, professor in the Dept. of Pharmacy Practice and Science at the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy and associate director of Pharmacy Services at the Kentucky Children's Hospital, has been selected as the 2010 recipient of the Helms Award for Excellence in Pediatric Pharmacy Practice. The award recognizes sustained and meritorious contributions to Pediatric Pharmacy Advocacy Group (PPAG) and to pediatric pharmacy practice and contributions of importance to education, new knowledge and outreach.
 

Before joining the UK College of Pharmacy faculty in 1985, Kuhn received a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy from the University of Steubenville (Ohio) and a Bachelor of Science degree from The Ohio State University. His doctor of pharmacy degree was obtained in 1984 from the University of Texas at Austin. He completed a pediatric fellowship at Nationwide Children's Hospital in 1985.
 

Kuhn's research and clinical practice has centered on pulmonary drug delivery and drug therapy in patients with cystic fibrosis. He has participated in many clinical trials of new drug therapies for patients with cystic fibrosis over the last 25 years and helped develop and evaluate new therapies for this disease. He has over 60 publications and helped organize pharmacists involved in the care of patients with cystic fibrosis.  
 

Kuhn currently serves as program director of the pediatric pharmacy residency program at UK and he has mentored over 30 specialty residents since joining the faculty. He has served on the Board of PPAG for seven years and served two years as president, as well as immediate past president and currently is Vice President of Finance for PPAG. He has received numerous awards including a membership in the National Academics of Practice, a fellow of the Kentucky Society of Health System Pharmacists and the Doug Jones Teaching Award from Dartmouth for his work in cystic fibrosis education.
 

The Helms Award Lecture will be given by Kuhn on Oct. 11 at the 19th Annual Pharmacy Conference.
 

"It is truly an honor to be recognized by PPAG for this award named for one of the outstanding leaders in pediatric pharmacy specialized training and education," Kuhn said. "My working relationship with my colleagues at UK over the last 25 years and my residents have allowed me to accomplish a great deal and enriched by personal and professional life tremendously. I share this honor with all of them."