USP Member Spotlight – Spring 2009

Duane M. Kirking, Pharm.D., Ph.D., Chair of the USP Board of Trustees

The dedicated service and valuable contributions of USP volunteers is a key element in achieving USP's mission of promoting public health.

This issue of the USP Member Spotlight shines on Duane M. Kirking, Pharm.D., Ph.D., Chair of the USP Board of Trustees and Professor Emeritus at the University of Michigan College of Pharmacy and School of Public Health. For 30 years, Dr. Kirking has been involved with medication use–related research, service and teaching. He was instrumental in developing the College of Pharmacy’s Department of Social and Administrative Sciences, where he served as its first chair. He also co–founded and was director of the College’s Center for Medication Use, Policy, and Economics. Dr. Kirking has published numerous articles on medication use topics, including consumer satisfaction, availability of drugs, asthma medication use and outcomes, hormone replacement therapy, and HIV medications.

Dr. Kirking has served on the USP Board of Trustees since 2005 and was elected Chair in October 2008. He has been actively involved with USP since 1990, having served as a member of the USP Convention, representing the University of Michigan College of Pharmacy for the 1995, 2000 and 2005 Convention meetings. He also has served on various USP scientific Expert Committees including the Medicare Model Guidelines and Therapeutic Decision Making Committees. Dr. Kirking was a scholar in residence at USP from 1993 to 1994.

The University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Pharmacy recently honored Dr. Kirking's achievements by granting him the 2008 Citation of Merit Award. Dr. Kirking earned a B.S. in pharmacy from the University of Wisconsin School of Pharmacy, a Pharm.D. degree from the University of Kentucky, and a masters of public administration and Ph.D. in administrative and social sciences from The Ohio State University.