Christine Birnie

Dr. Christine Birnie was appointed dean of the Wegmans School of Pharmacy in 2017. Prior to being named dean, she served as associate dean for academic affairs and chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences. A founding faculty member of the School, her primary teaching responsibilities have included pharmacy calculations, pharmaceutics, and the compounding laboratory. In addition, she developed and taught an elective course, Introduction to Medical Missions, which includes students from nursing and pre-professional disciplines. She also continues to precept fourth-year students in clinical rotations related to international medical missions and local community-engaged learning. Prior to coming to Fisher, Birnie worked in a range of pharmacy settings including community and hospital pharmacy and is a registered pharmacist in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Florida. She was also a faculty member of Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, Florida, where she helped to develop the compounding laboratories and pharmaceutical science curriculum in the newly founded school.

Her research interests have included the development and formulation aspects of semi-solid dosage forms, stability of compounded products, veterinary pharmacy, medical missions, and the scholarship of teaching and learning. She has stayed active in scholarship, publishing and presenting poster/podium presentations and is a regular speaker on the topics of pharmacy missions and international pharmacy.

An avid proponent for service and volunteerism both locally and abroad, Birnie has participated in more than 20 student-based medical mission trips around the world and leads a medical mission trip to India annually. She is actively involved in the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP), and is a 2012 graduate of the AACP Academic Leadership Fellowship program. In addition, she is a member of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Sciences, American Pharmacists Association, and the Christian Pharmacists Fellowship International. Currently, she serves on the boards of St. Joseph’s Neighborhood Center, Mary’s Place Refugee Outreach, and India Connection.

She has been the recipient of several awards, including Teacher of the Year (2006), CPFI’s Warren Weaver Service Award (2008), St. John Fisher University’s Diversity Innovation Bricoleur Award (2010), was a recipient of a Fulbright Scholar Award to India (2013), and was named a Rochester Champion of Pharmacy by the Pharmacy Society of Rochester and Rochester Society of Health System Pharmacists (2018). In 2023, she was named a Woman of Excellence by the Rochester Business Journal.

Birnie received her bachelor’s degree in pharmacy and a doctoral degree in the area of pharmaceutics from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy at Saint Joseph’s University (formerly known as the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia).

Publications

• Design of a Service Projects that Provides a Model for interprofessional Collaboration and Layered Learning Within the Refugee and Asylum Seeker Community. Pharmacy Education, 23(1) 499-504, 2023. doi.org/10.46542/pe.2023.231.499504. Co-authored with D. Emerllahu, L. Veseli, and A. Blaakman.
• “White Paper on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning: Expanding the Academic Pharmacy Promotion and Tenure Process”. Pharmacy Education, vol. 22, no. 4, Nov. 2022, doi:10.46542/pe.2022.224.115122. Co-authored with Forrest, J., M. H. Elnaem, S. E. Gleason, and M. Ryan. 
• Pharmacy Team Leads Efforts for COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic for Underserved.  New York State Pharmacist, Issue 2:12-14, 2021. Co-authored with K. McMillan.
• Serving Locally: Opportunities for Pharmacists to Volunteer in their own Backyards, Christianity and Pharmacy, 24(2):10-12, 2021. Co-authored with J. Miller.
• The relationship between pharmacy school success, prior experiences in mathematics and confidence in performing mathematical tasks. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 82(4): 6257, 2018. doi:  5688/ajpe6257. Co-authored with Conn, K., McCaffrey, D., Brown, J. 
• Elevated Blood Pressure in the Developing World: A Role for Clinical Pharmacists, International Journal of Pharmacy Practice, 26(4):334-340, 18 Sep 2017, DOI: 10.1111/ijpp.12398. Co-authored with Smith, MT, Monahan, MP, Nelson, P, Moruzzi, M, and DeLucenay, AJ.
• Assessing Student Perceptions of the Pharm.D. Degree at a Private Tertiary Medical University in India. Pharmacy Education, 17, 2017. Co-authored with K. Nathan and K. Conn. 
• The Use of Podcast as a Teaching Tool for a Pharmacy Compounding Pre-laboratory Lecture: A Survey Based Study. Pharmacy Education, 16, 2016. Co-authored with Kratochwill, L., Almagambetova, E., Corigliano, A., and Chablani, L. 
• Analysis of Compounded Pharmaceutical Products to Teach the Importance of Quality in an Applied Pharmaceutics Laboratory Course.  American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 78(3):61, 2014. Co-authored with A. Pignato.
• Caring for the Refugee Patient: A Pharmacist’s Role. New York State Pharmacist: Century II, 88(1):26-27, 2014. Co-authored with R. Mehta and M. Zhang.
• Evolution of the Preprofessional Pharmacy Curricula. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 77(5):95, 2013. Co-authored with Gleason B., Siracuse M., Moniri N., Okamoto C., Crouch M.  
• Acquisition of Medications for Short-Term Mission Trips. Christianity and Pharmacy, 14(4):22-26, 2013.