USP Beal Award for Distinguished Volunteer Service

Thomas S. Foster, Pharm.D. Wins Prestigious USP Beal Award for Distinguished Volunteer Service for 2010

USP is pleased to announce that Thomas S. Foster, Pharm.D. has been named the recipient of the USP's pinnacle award, the Beal Award for Distinguished Volunteer Service. The award is given once every five years and recognizes an individual who has made outstanding contributions while serving as a USP volunteer. At a special ceremony during the 2010 Convention, Dr. Foster will receive a crystal sculpture representing USP's spirit of voluntarism and become a lifetime Honorary Member of the USP Convention. Dr. Foster has directed that the cash portion of the award ($10,000) be donated to the Paul F. Parker Endowment Fund at the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy. The endowment supports the development of clinical research scientists trained at the College. Chief executive officer, Roger L. Williams, M.D. noted that USP volunteers are special individuals, who work with unrivaled dedication to further USP's mission and vision. Dr. Williams recognized Dr. Foster as one of those volunteers whose contributions stand above the rest.

In making its choice, the Beal Award Selection Committee underscored Dr. Foster's volunteer accomplishments and highlighted the leadership characteristics that singled him out.

• Encouraging transparency in standards setting
• Contributing his considerable scientific and clinical expertise while serving on the Medicare Model Guidelines Expert Committee for the Part D Prescription Drug Benefit
• Authoring important and well-regarded impact articles on USP standards for peer reviewed journals
• Advocating strongly for USP standards in his professional interactions
• Improving USP's dialog with U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
• Ensuring that industry perspectives were part of Expert Committee discussions

Dr. Foster's involvement with USP spans nearly two decades with myriad contributions. From 1990 to 1995, he served on the FDA–USP Joint Committee on Bioequivalence and the Subcommittee on Bioavailability, Bioequivalence, and Dissolution (DBA). Dr. Foster was elected chairman of the DBA in 1995 and he continues to chair the committee, which was re-named the Biopharmaceutics Expert Committee in 2000. From 2000 to 2005, he also served on the Reference Standards Expert Committee, the General Policies and Requirements Executive Committee, and the Medicare Model Guidelines Expert Committee. He has been a member of the Nomenclature and Labeling Expert Committee since 2000. Dr. Foster has been instrumental in the development and revision of many USP General Chapters on topics including bioequivalence, dissolution, and drug dosage forms. He has championed the science and public standard setting processes related to in-vitro and in-vivo drug performance and was instrumental in developing a compendial taxonomy for pharmaceutical dosage forms. In addition to his scientific and clinical committee work, Dr. Foster has served as Vice Chair of three separate Nominating Committees for the Council of Experts from 2000 to 2010.

Dr. Foster is a Professor in the Colleges of Pharmacy, Medicine, and Public Health at the University of Kentucky (UK). Since 1973, he has practiced in the University Hospital and Clinics; taught professional and graduate courses in advanced pharmacotherapy, pharmacokinetics / pharmacodynamics, computer and information systems and bioethics and research integrity; and has led programs in multidisciplinary clinical pharmacology research involving investigational drugs and drug delivery systems. He pioneered the opening and served as director for both a multidisciplinary Drug Product Evaluation Unit at the UK Medical Center and the Center of Excellence in Pharmaceutical Science and Technology at UK, the first academic center based, FDA cGMP qualified facility for pilot parenteral drug manufacturing. Dr. Foster's pioneer work in translational science facilitated the development of numerous human pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical products and drug delivery systems. He serves as the Director of the Regulatory Support and Research Integrity program of the UK Center for Clinical and Translational Science and has been the Executive Chairman of the University's Medical Institutional Review Boards since 1987. He is also a consultant to the FDA Center for Drug Evaluation and Research and the Department Health and Human Services Office of Human Research Protections.

The USP Beal Award for Distinguished Volunteer Service recognizes a person who has made outstanding contributions to the public health while serving as a USP volunteer. It was created to honor the lifelong USP contributions of James Hartley Beal, Ph.D., LL.B. (1861-1945) and his son, George Denton Beal, Ph.D. (1888-1972).

The Beal Award is bestowed every five years at the USP Convention's Membership Meeting. The nominee must be a current or former USP volunteer serving as a member of at least one of the following:

• USP Convention
• Board of Trustees
• Council of Experts (CoE)
• Expert Committee

The inaugural Beal Award was conferred on two honorees, Lester Chafetz, Ph.D., and Ralph F. Shangraw, Ph.D. (posthumously) in 2000. In 2005, the Beal Award was given to Dr. Herbert S. Carlin.

James Hartley Beal, Ph.D., L.L.B.				George Denton Beal, Ph.D.

The Beals promoted public health through their voluntary service to USP for a combined total of nearly 80 years. James Hartley Beal, former dean of the Scio (Ohio) College of Pharmacy, began his involvement with USP as a Convention member in 1900 and served as chairman of the Board of Trustees from 1910 to 1940. He was instrumental in gaining recognition for USP in the Pure Food and Drugs Act of 1906, and retaining that recognition in the 1938 Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. George Denton Beal, former director of research for the Mellon Institute in Pittsburgh, was instrumental in establishing USP's Reference Standards program. He served on the Committee of Revision (the predecessor to the Council of Experts) from 1930 to 1954 and as chairman of the Board from 1954 to 1968.

Lester Chafetz, Ph.D.

2000 Inaugural Beal Award Recipient
Dr. Lester Chafetz worked to improve drug quality through 35 years of outstanding voluntary service on the Committee of Revision (the predecessor to the Council of Experts). He contributed significantly to many areas of standards setting, including drug substances, natural products, separation science and the chromatography of dosage forms, and packaging and stability. His distinguished career in industrial pharmaceutical analysis and research, capped by a university professorship involving both teaching and a research program, spans over 40 years.

Ralph F. Shangraw, Ph.D.

2000 Inaugural Beal Award Recipient
The late Dr. Ralph Shangraw had a profound impact on public standards through his service on the USP Committee of Revision (the predecessor to the Council of Experts) from 1970 to 1998. He promoted modern standards for excipients that are recognized worldwide. He improved the multivitamin and mineral marketplace by pioneering the establishment of USP standards in this field. He always championed the cause of patients and consumers. His efforts led to public standards for combination cough-cold preparations and other over-the-counter drug products.

Herbert S. Carlin, D.Sc.

2005 Beal Award Recipient
Since 1970, Dr. Herbert Carlin has chaired more than 35 USP committees and panels. From 2000 to 2005, he served in the following positions: chair of the Nomenclature and Labeling Expert Committee; member of the General Policies and Requirements Division Executive Committee; member of the Information Division Executive Committee; member of the Nominating Committee for the Council of Experts; member of the Ad Hoc Committee on Taxonomy; and member of the Ad Hoc Committee on Standardized Imprint Codes for Solid Oral Dosage Forms. In 2000, Dr. Carlin became an Honorary Member of the USP Convention in recognition of his efforts as a member of the Committee of Revision (the predecessor group to the Council of Experts), as chair of the Nomenclature Committee since 1985, and for his long-standing commitment to USP. Beyond his scientific service, Dr. Carlin has been a member of the USP Convention in five separate cycles. He was also a member of the Nominating Committee for the 2005-2010 Council of Experts.