School of Pharmacy Appoints Bruce Edgren
Saint Joseph College’s School of Pharmacy today announced the appointment of Bruce Edgren, Pharm.D., RPh, as chair, department of pharmacy practice and administration.
Dr. Edgren joins the College’s new School of Pharmacy which is set to enroll the first year class of students as early as the Fall of 2010, pending appropriate approvals.
“Bruce Edgren’s extensive experience as an instructor, administrator and private consultant working with higher-education institutions, the pharmaceutical industry and pharmacy benefit companies, makes him a very valuable addition to the School of Pharmacy’s leadership team,” said Dr. Joseph R. Ofosu, Saint Joseph College Dean of Pharmacy.
In his new position as Chair, Department of Pharmacy Practice and Administration, Dr. Edgren is responsible for the provision of the practice–based educational component of the Saint Joseph College Doctor of Pharmacy Program. He will use his broad base of experience to create a unique program for Saint Joseph College doctoral students.
Dr. Edgren comes to Saint Joseph College from Maple & Main Consulting, LLC in Farmington, CT, a private consulting firm he founded that provided expertise for the pharmaceutical industry and pharmacy benefit companies.
Dr. Edgren received his Bachelors and Doctor of Pharmacy degrees from the University of Minnesota. His academic appointments include Assistant Professor of Clinical Practice at Ferris State University in Michigan where he was the Michigan State University site director for the experiential portion of the FSU pharmacy program and an Assistant Professor in the MSU School of Medicine. He then joined the clinical staff at Sparrow Hospital (Mich.) and continued teaching FSU students as an Assistant Clinical Professor in the areas of Critical Care Pediatrics and Neonatal Intensive Care.
Dr. Edgren also served as Assistant Clinical Professor with the University of Minnesota at both St. Paul Children’s Hospital and the Minneapolis Children’s Medical Center. While there he served as assistant director for clinical services and initiated residency and research fellowship positions. Over 100 Pharm.D. residents and fellows received their clinical training under his direction.
Dr. Edgren’s experience in the managed care era included his leadership position as at an early Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM), Diversified Pharmaceutical Services (DPS), where as a director of clinical services he managed a staff of 33 professionals. His team used medical claims data as a way of mapping illness progression then related it back to Rx claims, the only on-line claims source in healthcare. SmithKline Beecham (now Glaxo SmithKline) purchased DPS, and Dr. Edgren and his team developed both the product and market for the Health Care Management (HCM) division of SB. He won several performance awards and remained a sought-after speaker. During this time Dr Edgren was the recipient of the Hallie Bruce Lecture Award from the MSHP in recognition of outstanding clinical practice.
Dr. Edgren has authored many articles, including a chapter on Drug Utilization Review/Drug Use Evaluation in Managed Competition in Managed Care Pharmacy, Principles and Practice.
Dr. Edgren maintains active memberships in ASHP, AMCP, ACCP, APhA and CPA. He is a certified disaster responder for the Connecticut Red Cross and a Board Member of the Farmington Field Club.
