Meet Our Program Director
Dr. Miriam Purnell is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Pharmacy Practice and Administration. She teaches in the areas of drug information, literature evaluation, evidence-based medicine, and scientific writing. She also precepts students on advanced pharmacy practice experiences and serves as the advisor for the Christian Pharmacists Fellowship International (CPFI) student chapter at UMES. Prior to joining UMES, Dr. Purnell worked in the pharmaceutical industry for more than 12 years, including 7 years in the field of Drug Information. She held various roles at Janssen Research Foundation and AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals including Specialist, Manager, and Director. She joined UMES as a founding faculty member in 2009 and also served as the Drug Information Center Director. Prior to her current role as Chair, she served as Assistant Dean for Student Affairs and was responsible for directing and overseeing recruitment, admissions, and matriculation of students, and student organization operations. Dr. Purnell was named Interim Chair of Pharmacy Practice and Administration in Aug 2017 and became permanent Chair in January 2019. She is primarily responsible for overseeing department operations and supervising department staff, managing the department budget, and providing mentorship to the faculty in the areas of teaching, scholarship/research, and service. Additionally, she serves as an active member of the School’s Executive Committee and contributes to the development of School policy and strategic planning. Her areas of research interest include drug information, predictors of student success, and spirituality in health care.
Dr. Purnell obtained her B.S. and Doctor of Pharmacy from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science. She completed a Drug Information Residency with the Janssen Research Foundation (Titusville, NJ) and the American Academy of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) Academic Leadership Fellowship program. She is a member of the Maryland Pharmacist Association, AACP, and CPFI.
Dr. Purnell is from the Philadelphia area originally but has lived in Salisbury since 2003. She is of Haitian descent and speaks Haitian Creole fluently. She is married and has one daughter. In her spare time, Dr. Purnell enjoys traveling with family and reading.
Contact Information:
Dr. Miriam C. Purnell, Chair and Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacy Practice and Administration
Phone: (410) 621-3777
Office: Somerset Hall – Suite 109
E-mail: mcpurnell@umes.edu
Faculty
Recognized as among the top 100 most influential people in healthcare by Modern Healthcare Magazine, Alan Morgan serves as Chief Executive Officer for the National Rural Health Association. He has more than 30 years’ experience in health policy at the state and federal level and is one of the nation’s leading experts on rural health policy.
Mr. Morgan served as a contributing author for the publication, “Policy & Politics in Nursing and Health Care,” and for the publication, “Rural Populations and Health.” In addition, his health policy articles have been published in: The American Journal of Clinical Medicine, The Journal of Rural Health, The Journal of Cardiovascular Management, The Journal of Pacing and Clinical Electrophysiology, Cardiac Electrophysiology Review, and in Laboratory Medicine.
Mr. Morgan served as staff for former US Congressman Dick Nichols and former Kansas Governor Mike Hayden. Additionally, his past experience includes tenures as a health care lobbyist for the American Society of Clinical Pathologists, the Heart Rhythm Society, and for VHA Inc.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from University of Kansas, and a master’s degree in public administration from George Mason University.
Contact Information:
Mr. Alan Morgan, MPA
Chief Executive Officer
National Rural Health Association
Washington, DC 20005
Areas of Expertise: Rural Health and Hospitals, Rural Health Policy, Federal and State Rural Legislation, Rural Workforce
Dr. Yen Dang is an Associate Professor at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore School of Pharmacy. She earned her pharmacy degree at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia and completed two years of residency training at Temple University School of Pharmacy. She holds certifications in tobacco cessation from the University of Pennsylvania, public health at the University of Maryland College Park, and leadership and management from Harvard Business School and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. She also serves as the Director of Global Health where she facilities international exchange programs and medical missions for students and faculty to build on their humanitarian efforts.
Her pharmacy journey began by creating programs that focused on management, screening, and health education for low-income, uninsured minorities to reduce mortality from preventable diseases. Since 2014, Dr. Dang has created two pharmacotherapy clinics at Chesapeake Healthcare in Princess Anne and Pocomoke, Maryland. She manages complex patients with chronic disease states and provides services free-of-charge to a low-income population. She also mentors pharmacy students and residents on rotations to build their patient care skills in medically underserved communities.
Additionally, she has collaborated with local health departments to develop screening, treatment, and referral programs for patients with chronic diseases across Maryland. Dr. Dang has worked on initiatives aimed at reducing health disparities in hypertension, diabetes, tobacco and opioid dependence on the Eastern Shore. Dr. Dang is also active with policy and legislation among the health agencies in the State of Maryland. She was appointed to serve on the Statewide Advisory Commission on Immunizations, the Maryland Medicaid Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee, and the SARS CoV-2 Vaccine Technical Advisory Group where she makes recommendations that impact the health and safety of the public at large. She is an active member of the Maryland Pharmacist Association (MPhA) and the Federation for International Pharmacists (FIP). Dr. She was recognized by The Daily Record as “Maryland’s Top 100 Women” and “Maryland’s Leading 50 Women”.
Contact Information:
Dr. Yen Dang, PharmD, CTTS-M, Associate Professor and Director of Global Health, Department of Pharmacy Practice and Administration
Phone: (410) 651-8169
Office: 210 Somerset Hall
Email: ydang@umes.edu
Dr. Nonyel teaches in the PharmD, Physician Assistant, Pharmaceutical Science postgraduate, and the Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Rural Health Disparities and Social Inequity programs. Her courses include Immunology/Rheumatology; Sickle Cell Disease & Anemias; Medication Safety; Social Determinants of Health; Cultural & Linguistic Competency; and Foundations of Rural Health, Health Disparities, Social Inequities, and Health Behaviors. She serves as a preceptor for several Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences. She is also a Medication Therapy Management (MTM) trainer through the American Pharmacists Association (APhA). She was the inaugural Population Health Clinical Pharmacist at TidalHealth Peninsula Regional, Salisbury, Maryland, where she also served for three years as the Ambulatory Care Clinical Pharmacist under Salisbury Family Practice. Prior to entering the pharmacy profession, she was a Licensed Practical Nurse in both acute and sub-acute care settings, and in pediatric home care. She is a Board Certified Pharmacotherapy Specialist (BCPS).
She is very passionate about the pharmacy profession and mentoring current and prospective PharmD students. She is a faculty advisor for UMES chapter of Student Pharmaceutical Association (SNPhA) and co-advisor for Pharmacy Student Government Association (PSGA). She holds professional pharmacy leadership positions at the national, regional, state, and institutional levels. Internationally, Dr. Nonyel completed the Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship Program (CADFP) at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Nigeria where she co-developed a new PharmD curriculum. She also participated in UMES inaugural medical mission to Puerto Rico where she provided pharmacotherapy to the medically underserved population of Utuado.
Dr. Nonyel has published several peer-reviewed articles and book chapters; and presented numerous continuing education and poster topics at international, national, regional, state, and local conferences and meetings. She serves as a journal peer reviewer for SAGE Clinical Medicine insights, Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning, and Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved.
Education
- Doctor of Pharmacy degree (PharmD): University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, Baltimore, MD
- ASHP-Accredited Postgraduate Year-1 (PGY1) Pharmacy Residency: Holy Cross Hospital, Silver Spring, MD
- Master of Public Health (MPH) degree (Global Health Concentration): University of Maryland School of Medicine, Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, Baltimore, MD
- Bachelor of Science (B.Sc) degree, Physics & Education: University of Nigeria, Nsukka
- Dual Associate of Arts degrees, Biology & Chemistry: Prince George’s Community College
- Licensed Practical Nursing (LPN): University of District of Columbia, Washington, DC
Areas of Interests and Experiences: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Anti-racism, Medication Safety, Social Determinants of Health, Public/Population/Global Health, Leadership & Professional Development
Contact Information:
Dr. Nkem P. Nonyel, PharmD, MPH, BCPS, Associate Professor and Director of Student Organizations, Department of Pharmacy Practice and Administration
Phone: (410) 621-2077
Office: 1041 Hazel Hall
E-mail: npnonyel@umes.edu
Dr. Hoai-An Truong has been public health pharmacist, educator and leader for about fifteen years. He provided patient-centered care in interprofessional clinics to optimize medication use and health outcomes, as well as developed and implemented population-based programs to improve community health. He has served as coordinator and preceptor for pharmacy, physical therapy, physician assistant, and public health students on nine public health and medical missions to Haiti, Puerto Rico, South Africa and Vietnam.
Currently, professor and director of public health at University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) School of Pharmacy and Health Professions, Dr. Truong was founding chair of the Eastern Shore Collaborative for Interprofessional Education (ESCIPE), an interprofessional, inter-institutional initiative with Salisbury University. Previously, he was founding chair of the department of pharmacy practice at West Coast University School of Pharmacy, founding assistant dean for professional affairs at UMES, and assistant then acting executive director of experiential learning program at University of Maryland Baltimore. As a practitioner-educator, he provided medication management to improve healthcare access for underserved populations in interprofessional clinics of the Primary Care Coalition. The team received a Life-saving Patient Safety Award from Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and was featured in Pharmacy Today magazine in 2012. He is also a trainer for the American Pharmacists Association’s medication therapy management certificate program and trained over 600 pharmacists.
Dr. Truong published over twenty peer-reviewed articles and book chapters and presented at multiple national and international conferences. He is co-editor and co-author of a book, The Pharmacist in Public Health: Education, Application, and Opportunities, published by the American Pharmacists Association in 2010. He is the current Chair of the Pharmacy Section of the American Public Health Association (APHA) and past chair of the Public Health Special Interest Group of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP). He is past president of the Maryland Public Health Association, past president of the Maryland Pharmacists Association, and past president of the Alumni Association of the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy. Hoai-An received the Excellence in Public Health Pharmacy Practice Award from the U.S. Public Health Service, Excellence in Innovation Award from the Maryland Pharmacists Association, and was inducted as a Fellow of the American Pharmacists Association and Fellow of the National Academies of Practice.
Contact Information:
Dr. Hoai-An Truong, PharmD, MPH, FAPhA, FNAP, Professor and Director of Public Health, Department of Pharmacy Practice and Administration
Phone: (410) 651-8975
Office: Somerset Hall – Suite 304
E-mail: htruong@umes.edu
Staff
Contact Information:
Ms. Pamela Douglas, Administrative Assistant, Office of the Dean, School of Pharmacy & Health Professions
Phone: (410) 651-8327
Office: Somerset Hall – Suite 121
E-mail: pldouglas@umes.edu
