The Montgomery County Commission of Women and Montgomery Women name USP Director of CEO Operations, Dr. Farah Towfic as a 2022 Women Making History Award recipient
Rockville, Md., March 29, 2022 – U.S. Pharmacopeia is pleased to announce that Dr. Farah Towfic, PharmD, MBA, RPh, Director of CEO Operations has been recognized among 31 outstanding women recipients of the 2022 Women Making History Award for her extraordinary work as part of USP’s response to the COVID-19 crisis.
Awarded by the Montgomery County Commission for Women and Montgomery Women, the Award shines a spotlight on Dr. Towfic and on USP’s commitment to high quality, safe and beneficial medicines for all.
Dr. Towfic led a team of national experts, including scientists and healthcare practitioners from government, to develop strategies so those preparing, transporting, and administering authorized COVID-19 vaccines can do so efficiently and safely, while also maximizing shots in arms, minimizing waste, and helping to increase public trust in vaccine quality. The result is the nationally distributed USP COVID-19 Vaccine Handling Toolkit which continues to be used in settings ranging from mass vaccination clinics to rural pharmacies.
“As a pharmacist herself, Dr. Towfic volunteered regularly in COVID-19 vaccine administration activities throughout her community in Maryland. She applied this insight and experience in quickly shaping content for USP’s COVID-19 Vaccine Handling Toolkit, with a focus on quality and efficiencies that enabled practitioners across the U.S. to deliver up to 150% more vaccines per day,” said Ronald T. Piervincenzi, Ph.D., USP Chief Executive Officer. “This extraordinary effort resulted in more people vaccinated against COVID-19 and ultimately saved lives.”
To date, the Toolkit has been received by over 76,000 U.S. vaccine network providers, shared with all 50 U.S. state pharmacy associations, over 60 boards of pharmacy, and over 160 schools of pharmacy. Over 50 million estimated additional COVID-19 vaccine doses have been made available in the U.S. as of July 2021 because of the strategies outlined in the USP COVID-19 Vaccine Handling Toolkit. The toolkit has also been adapted to support international vaccine efforts.
Nominees for the award were submitted by their peers based on criteria such as unselfish leadership and hard work in their field, exceptional leadership in civic activities, developing or supporting programs resulting in positive social action, and being an inspiration to others as a role model.
About USP
USP is an independent scientific organization that collaborates with the world's top experts in health and science to develop quality resources and standards for medicines, dietary supplements, and food ingredients. Through our resources, standards, advocacy and education, USP helps increase the availability of quality medicines, supplements and foods for billions of people worldwide.