Karen M. Ryle, MS, RPh, Begins Term as NABP President During the Association’s 109th Annual Meeting

Karen M. Ryle, MS, RPh, began her term as president of the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy^® (NABP^® ) during the Final Business Session of the Association’s 109^th Annual Meeting, May 18-21, 2013, in St Louis, MO. During her presidency, Ms Ryle is committed to strengthening the Association’s crisis management planning to ensure that member boards receive the necessary assistance to protect the public health should a patient safety crisis arise. In addition, Ms Ryle will continue a focus on sustaining established programs and services and supporting the growth of newer NABP programs such as NABP PMP InterConnect^®, CPE Monitor^®, and the Pharmacist Assessment for Remediation Evaluation^SM.

Ms Ryle was sworn in as the 109^th NABP president after serving a one-year term as the Association’s president-elect and one year as treasurer. Prior to that, Ms Ryle served as a member of the NABP Executive Committee representing District 1 for four years. After her presidency concludes, she will serve a one-year term as chairperson of the Association’s Executive Committee.

An active member of NABP, Ms Ryle has served on several Association committees including the Advisory Committee on Examinations, the Committee on Constitution and Bylaws, and the Committee on Law Enforcement/Legislation. She has also served as a member of numerous task forces including the Task Force to Review and Recommend Revisions to the Controlled Substances Act, the Task Force on Electronic Prescribing Software Standards and Data Storage, and the Task Force on Uniform Prescription Labeling Requirements.

Ms Ryle is currently serving the third year of a five-year appointment as a member of the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Pharmacy. She also served as a member of the Massachusetts Board from 1998 to 2008, and during that time she served as chairperson of the Board’s Pharmacy Compounding Committee as well as on the Task Force on Pharmacy Technicians.

Ms Ryle is an associate chief of pharmacy for ambulatory care at Massachusetts General Hospital, and also serves as adjunct faculty and an advanced pharmacy practice preceptor at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.

Recipient of the 2010 Massachusetts Health-System Pharmacists Humanitarian Award and the 2012 and 2011 Partners in Excellence Award for Community Service in Health Care, Ms Ryle has been actively involved as a leader in local pharmacy associations and community health organizations. As part of the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, Ms Ryle volunteered to serve at the American Refugee Committee Tent Camp Clinic in Fond Parisien, Haiti, in May 2010. She returned to assist in Port Au Prince, Haiti, in August 2010 with a volunteer group coordinated through the University of Miami Global Institute. At home in Boston, MA, Ms Ryle has delivered lectures on medication safety to senior groups and has helped to coordinate a drug disposal event through the Charlestown Substance Abuse Coalition.

In 2003, Ms Ryle was appointed for a five-year term to the United States Department of Homeland Security. During this appointment, she served as a member of the National Pharmacist Response Team, and in November 2005 was deployed to Plaquemines Parish, LA, for two weeks in response to Hurricane Katrina. In 2011, she became a member of the Massachusetts Disaster Medical Assistance Team and was deployed to Queens, NY, in October of 2012 in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. Along with other members of the Disaster Medical Team, Ms Ryle volunteered in one of the medical tents at the 2013 Boston Marathon when the tragic bombings occurred.

Ms Ryle earned a bachelor of science degree in pharmacy and a master of science degree in drug regulatory affairs from Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.

NABP is the independent, international, and impartial Association that assists its member boards and jurisdictions in developing, implementing, and enforcing uniform standards for the purpose of protecting the public health.