Richard Helms Award | PPA: Pediatric Pharmacy Association

Background

The Richard A. Helms Award of Excellence in Pediatric Pharmacy Practice was established in 2006 by the Pediatric Pharmacy Association Board of Directors.The Award recognizes, exemplary pediatric patient care, sustained and meritorious contributions to pediatric pharmacy practice, sustained and meritorious contributions to PPA, contributions to education, precepting, and/or mentorship, and contributions of new knowledge (scholarship)

About Dr. Richard A. Helms

Richard Helms, PharmD is Professor Emeritus of Pharmacy and Pediatrics and served as the Chair of the Department of Clinical Pharmacy at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. He was director of clinical pharmacy at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, where he practiced in the area of pediatric nutritional/metabolic support.

For 40 years, Dr. Helms has been instrumental in defining the standard of practice in pediatric parenteral nutrition. His commitment to the care of children is exemplified by his involvement in training over 100 pharmacy residents in pediatric pharmacotherapy. Under his directorship, the pediatrics program grew to four PGY1 residents and two to three PGY2 residents, a fellow, six full time faculty members (three tenured lines), an Accomplished Center of Excellence, an Endowed Chair, an inpatient and clinic-based nutrition service, and an infectious diseases and stewardship service.

He is a leader in the profession and has served on the boards of both PPA and the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (ASPEN). He served as a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Pediatric Pharmacology and Therapeutics. Dr. Helms has received the Pharmacist of the Year Award from the Tennessee Society of Health-System Pharmacists (TSHP) and has been recognized for research excellence by ASPEN and TSHP. During his career Dr. Helms’ major research interests includeD amino acid and fatty acid metabolism in the neonate and infant.

The award is made possible by the generous donations of colleagues, friends, and past post-doctoral trainees of Dr. Helms.

Eligibility Criteria

The Richard A. Helms Award recognizes a practitioner who has made a lasting contribution to pediatric pharmacy practice. Nominees must be in pediatric pharmacy practice for a minimum of fifteen (15) years and an active member of PPA for a minimum of five (5) continuous years.

Note that the committee decided to start fresh this year with all new applications instead of carrying over applications from previous years but would encourage people to resubmit individuals who have received past nominations. Removed option for self nomination.

Application Process

1. Nomination by a member of PPA with an explanation of why the candidate should be considered for this award (max 500 words).
2. Contact information for the nominee should be provided in the nomination.
3. In the nomination, the nominator should list three individuals and their contact information who will provide a Letters of Recommendation. At a minimum, one of the letters should be from a member of PPA. The letter should address the following information: a) Relationship to the candidate, b) How long have you known the nominee? c) In what capacity do you know the nominee (e.g., academic, clinical, and/or research setting)?, d) Describe how the nominee exemplifies excellence in pediatric pharmacy., e) Describe nominee’s contributions to education, precepting, and/or mentoring., f) Describe nominee’s research and other scholarly activities., g) Provide additional information for the Selection Committee to consider.
(This will allow us to set up in Pheedloop links for the LOR writers to submit their LORs by the due date.)
4. Veritas will send a request for the nominee to submit their most recent CV via Pheedloop as they have been nominated by their peers to be considered for the Richard A. Helms Award.

Application Portal Opens

October 1st

Application Portal Closes

November 1st

Selection Criteria

Candidates will be selected based on their contributions to the following areas:
1. Pediatric patient care
2. Pediatric pharmacy practice
3. PPA
4. Education, precepting and mentorship
5. New knowledge (scholarship)