2024 AACT Symposium | Antidote Shortages: Impact & Response

Maryann Amirshahi completed her Bachelors in Pharmacy and PharmD degrees at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, followed by medical school at Temple University. She completed her emergency medicine residency at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, medical toxicology fellowship at the George Washington University/National Capital Poison Center, and clinical pharmacology fellowship at Children’s National Medical Center. She also received an MPH from the George Washington University focusing on environmental and occupational health. She completed her PhD at Erasmus University, with a focus on pharmacology and public health. She is board certified in emergency medicine, medical toxicology, addiction medicine, and clinical pharmacology. She is also a registered pharmacist with over a decade of practice experience and is a Board Certified Pharmacotherapy Specialist. 

She is a Professor of Emergency Medicine at the Georgetown University School of Medicine in Washington, DC. Maryann practices clinically at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, where she not only treats poisoned patients on a daily basis, but also plays a major role in bringing addiction care to the emergency department setting. She also is active at the health system level with roles in medication safety, opioid stewardship, and resident education. Nationally, she serves on the Board of Directors for the American College of Medical Toxicology. Maryann is currently the co-medical director at the National Capital Poison Center. Maryann is a proliferative researcher with nearly 200 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters. Her research interests include medication safety, medical toxicology, drug shortages, addiction treatment in the emergency department, and prescription drug abuse.

Dr. Brenna Farmer is Chief of Emergency Medicine at NY Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital and Vice Chair in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine's Department of Emergency Medicine. She trained in Emergency Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and in toxicology at NYU/Bellevue and the New York City Poison Control Center. She earned her medical degree from East Carolina University's Brody School of Medicine and her executive MBA from Cornell and MS in Healthcare Leadership from Cornell's Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences. Her major academic interests are medication safety, patient safety, and acute bedside care of the toxicologic patient.

Valerie Jensen is Associate Director of the Drug Shortage Staff at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.  She received a B.S. degree in Pharmacy from the University of Iowa in 1990. She completed an American Society of Health-System Pharmacists Specialized Residency in Ambulatory Care at the White River Indian Health Service hospital in White River, Arizona in 1991.  She worked as a clinical pharmacist for Indian Health Service hospitals in Arizona and New Mexico before joining FDA in 1999. She was one of the initial developers of FDA’s Drug Shortage Program and was named Associate Director in 2012.

Jeanna Marraffa is currently the Clinical Director of the Upstate New York Poison Center and a Clinical Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Upstate Medical University, University Hospital in Syracuse, NY. She graduated from Union University, Albany College of Pharmacy with her Pharm.D. Degree in 2001 and have completed a one-year ASHP accredited Pharmacy Practice Residency at SUNY Upstate Medical University, Department of Pharmacy. She completed a 2-year Fellowship Program in Clinical Toxicology and Emergency Medicine in 2004 at the Upstate New York Poison Center, Department of Emergency Medicine at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, NY and became a Diplomate of the American Board of Applied Toxicology in 2005. She received her Masters of Public Health in May 2020 from SUNY Albany. She has published numerous publications in the field of toxicology and have authored a book chapter in the 9th, 10th, 11th and upcoming 12th editions of Goldfrank’s Toxicologic Emergencies on “Dieting Agents”. She currently serves as president-elect for the American Academy of Clinical Toxicology.

Renee Petzel Gimbar received her PharmD from the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Pharmacy and completed PGY-1 training at UIC and PGY-2 training at Rutgers University. She started emergency medicine pharmacy services at the University of Tennessee Medical Center Knoxville and Loyola University Medical Center. She was inducted as a fellow of the American Academy of Clinical Toxicology in 2019. She currently is a clinical associate professor in the department of pharmacy practice at UIC College of Pharmacy, an Emergency Medicine and Medical Toxicology Clinical Pharmacist at UI Health, and the Residency Program Director for the PGY-2 Emergency Medicine Pharmacy Residency. She has integrated herself in the emergency medicine and medical toxicology services at both Loyola and UIC, active in the acute care of patients, didactic and beside education of healthcare trainees. Dr. Petzel Gimbar has been involved in multiple research studies and publications related to emergency medicine and toxicology practice, including a current multi-year NIH study addressing emergency department hypertension in underserved patients. She has given invited lectures internationally and nationally on both emergency medicine and medical toxicology topics. At home, she attempts to manage her nine, seven, and five year olds without a toxic ingestion.

Jim Whitledge is an emergency physician and medical toxicologist at the University of Vermont Medical Center. He is also a Co-Chair of the AACT Herbs & Dietary Supplements Section, and enjoys taking call for the Northern New England Poison Center. Jim has a particular interest in drug and antidotal shortages, novel treatments for antimuscarinic delirium, and pediatric toxicology. He also very much enjoys interesting case reports. Jim spends his free time skiing, biking, and hiking with his family, and is excited when he finds mushrooms in the woods.