The Finalists
By Category
Click a name to view professional links and background. Additional insights and profiles will be shared as we spotlight each finalist leading up to the voting period
Leadership
Recognizing pharmacy technicians who demonstrate exceptional leadership, inspire others, and make a meaningful impact within their teams and the profession.
DeFabian Johnson
Kadena Pharmacy Flight Chief, CPhT
U.S. Air Force (Kadena Air Base)
USA
Selected during a leadership vacancy to direct the Pacific region’s largest outpatient pharmacy — a role traditionally held by a senior commissioned officer — DeFabian manages a $2.7M budget and a team serving more than 65,000 patients across 13 installations, all while operating with a 50% staffing deficit. Under his servant leadership, his team generated $900K in procurement savings, secured $1.42M in novel therapies for 239 high-acuity patients, and averted 534 prescribing errors through an overhaul of 2,000 drug files. He was named Senior Enlisted Leader of the Quarter.
Briana Wukovich
Professional Development & CE Coordinator, CPhT-Adv, CSPT
Ohio Pharmacists Association
Ohio, USA
With over 16 years of experience across community, MTM, hospital, oncology, and association management, Briana is the first pharmacy technician to ever work on staff at the Ohio Pharmacists Association. During her tenure, she successfully advocated for the inclusion of technician membership and leadership positions within the association, giving Ohio technicians a voice and a seat at a table that they did not have before. Briana is also a certified ADHD coach advocating for neurodiversity within the profession.
Melissa Olson
Pharmacy Technician Consultant, CPhT
Client-Specific Order Program Administrative Officer
Indigenous Services Canada/Government of Canada
Alberta, Canada
The only pharmacy technician working in her capacity in Alberta, Melissa operates at the intersection of policy and frontline access. During COVID-19 she launched an independent pharmacy relief business to keep overwhelmed teams staffed, later expanding it into workforce matching for pharmacists, technicians, and nurses. She built a coordinated access program that removes barriers for Indigenous mothers seeking infant nutrition supports, and now serves First Nations communities across Treaties 6, 7, and 8 — contributing to regulatory oversight, opioid-response initiatives, and policy development.
Innovation & Technology
Celebrating pharmacy technicians who embrace innovation, technology, and forward-thinking solutions to improve pharmacy practice and patient outcomes.
Pani (Panayiotis) Sphikas
Head of Pharmacy Operations, UCLH | Founder of Pills2Pixels, MSc, BSc (Hons), PGCert, MAPharmT
University College London Hospital
United Kingdom
With over 20 years across community, primary care, and hospital pharmacy, Pani leads pharmacy operational services across several specialist hospitals at UCLH. He holds a BSc in Human Physiology and an MSc in Healthcare Leadership, and founded Pills2Pixels, a free platform of digital tools and resources for healthcare professionals. He serves as an Independent Expert on the UK Pharmacy Professional Leadership Advisory Board and as an NHS Clinical Entrepreneur.
Kathy Hrncir
BI Developer Associate, Analytics & Business Intelligence, MSDA, MBA, CPhT
The University of Kansas Health System
Kansas, USA
A Certified Pharmacy Technician since 2000 with experience across retail, hospital, long-term care, and telepharmacy, Kathy returned to school at 50 to study data analytics. Her combination of frontline clinical experience and analytical expertise lets her bridge the gap between pharmacy operations and data-driven decision-making, identifying improvements that go beyond what’s asked to enhance efficiency and patient care.
Tricia Britton
Central Pharmacy Services Manager, CPhT
Paul's Pharmacy
USA
Tricia rose from clerk to technician to manager in roughly four years and was chosen to operationalize two major technology initiatives: a centralized call center and a data-entry automation bot. She carried both from planning through testing, rollout across three retail pharmacies, and six-month performance review. The results speak for themselves: medication-synchronization rates rose from about 20% to over 50%, average call wait times dropped from roughly 3 minutes to 1.7, and data-entry errors fell an estimated 80%.
Patient Care & Medication Access
Honoring pharmacy technicians who go above and beyond to support patients, improve medication access, and contribute to safe, compassionate care.
Malachi Hailstalk
Front Line Supervisor, Clinical Pharmacy, CPhT
U.S. Air Force (Kadena Air Base)
USA
Malachi eliminates barriers to medication access for 67,000 patients across the Pacific, leading a six-member team responsible for 78,000 prescriptions. His signature achievement: securing $1.42M in novel medication therapies and establishing his clinic as the sole regional provider for 239 high-acuity patients across 13 medical sites. He sourced 57 critical medications for the region’s first Advanced Life Support platform, supporting 600 emergencies per year, and launched a pediatric medication-safety program that reached 3,000 children and directly prevented 22 accidental ingestions.
Chelsea Palmer
Pharmacy Technician Coordinator, CPhT-Adv, CSPT
Munson Healthcare — Cowell Family Cancer Center
Michigan, USA
Chelsea spearheaded Michigan’s first oral cancer drug repository, redistributing donated, unused anticancer medications to patients free of charge. Since 2021 the program has received nearly 300 donations totaling over $7M in medications; her site alone has dispensed 173 prescriptions worth over $2.8M at no cost to patients. The repository puts patients on lifesaving therapy days to weeks sooner and bridges dangerous gaps during insurance delays. She is a published author on the program (Journal of Hematology Oncology Pharmacy, 2025) — a rarity for a technician.
Melissa Paige
Co-CEO of the Healthcare Advocate Summit, BPHM, CPhT, MTM
President of NAMAPA
(National Association of Medication Access & Patient Advocacy)
Virginia, USA
With a career spanning hands-on patient care, pharmaceutical market access strategy, and nonprofit leadership, Melissa brings a 360-degree perspective to medication access. As President of NAMAPA and Co-CEO of the Healthcare Advocate Summit — built on a “For Advocates, By Advocates” philosophy — she works to break down systemic barriers and forge partnerships across the healthcare spectrum, aiming for lasting, systemic change rather than incremental progress.
Compounding
Recognizing pharmacy technicians who demonstrate excellence in compounding, quality, safety, and the preparation of medications tailored to patient needs.
Emily Durham
Compounding Technician / Director, Business Development, CPhT
Covetrus Compounding
Atlanta, USA
With roughly 19 years as a compounding technician, Emily has remained “a technician first” while building an outsized advocacy footprint. Through Rx Insider and the Alliance for Pharmacy Compounding, she has produced articles, pharmacy CE, and patient-education materials reaching thousands of patients and caregivers. She teaches CE for state associations on patient safety and quality culture, and advocates on Capitol Hill for compounders and patient access to personalized medicine. In 2026 she was voted “Most Influential in Pharmacy.”
Brenda Jensen
Owner & Compounding Pharmacy Consultant, CPhT, CNMT, MBA
Compounding Consultants, LLC
South Dakota, USA
Brenda has helped hundreds of compounding facilities strengthen quality, safety, and compliance. She has served on the boards of the International Academy of Compounding Pharmacists, the Pharmacy Compounding Foundation, and the American College of Veterinary Pharmacists, and is a peer reviewer for Pharmacy Technician’s Letter. She began volunteering with USP in 2013 and now chairs its Compounding Expert Committee.
Erika Anderson
Compounding (System Manager), CPhT, CSPT, BCSCPT
CommonSpirit Health
Washington, USA
For nearly two decades, Erika has been at the forefront of safe and compliant pharmaceutical compounding. Beginning as a Lead IV Technician in 2005, she went on to serve as Region Manager of Pharmacy Compounding across two states before being promoted in 2024 to System Manager of Pharmacy Compounding for CommonSpirit Health’s 142 hospitals — where she now develops policy and oversees the health system’s 503B Outsourcing Program.
Education & Training
Celebrating pharmacy technicians who advance the profession through education, mentorship, training, and the development of future pharmacy professionals.
Verender Brown
Pharmacy Technician Educator / ASHP Program Director, BS, CPhT, RPhT, cMTM
Osceola Technical College
Florida, USA
Few have shaped Florida’s pharmacy-technician workforce like Verender. As ASHP Program Director she has guided more than 100 students to national certification, and through the Florida DOE curriculum-review committee she made MTM and Beers Criteria permanent parts of the state curriculum. Her legislative advocacy helped drive SB 1360 (mandatory technician education) and HB 1209 (preserving technician immunization authority). She was the first technician appointed to Florida’s Advisory Council on Pharmacy Practice, and her honors include the 2015 national Next-Generation Pharmacist Technician of the Year.
Amanda Abernathy
Pharmacy Technician Training Program Manager, MBA, CPhT, CPTEd
UPMC (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center)
Pennsylvania, USA
A 17-year technician now operating at the system and state level, Amanda created a state-registered pharmacy technician apprenticeship program — approved by Pennsylvania in late 2025 — that recruits community members with no prior experience into technician careers. When PA passed a law requiring technicians to register with the State Board of Pharmacy, she built resources guiding more than 50 UPMC pharmacies through the process. She directs a systemwide training program pursuing ASHP/ACPE accreditation and presents at ASHP Midyear, PSHP, and NPTA.
Abel Guevara
Head of Operations & Student Success, DHA, MHIM, RHIA, CPhT-Adv
RxTechExam
Texas, USA
Beginning his career as a pharmacy technician nearly three decades ago, Abel has since advanced through pharmacy, compliance, revenue cycle, health information management, and executive leadership. At RxTechExam, a PTCB-recognized education and training program, he leads operations and student success, and serves as adjunct faculty at Texas State University, bringing his experience together to educate and mentor the next generation of pharmacy technicians.
Community Pharmacy
Honoring pharmacy technicians who make a difference in their communities through exceptional service, patient support, and dedication to community pharmacy.
Sharon Lucas
Accuracy Checking Technician, Level 5 Medicine Management Technician
Rainbow Pharmacy
Ipswich, England, UK
With 27 years across community pharmacy, GP practice, and hospital settings, Sharon has watched — and helped shape — the evolution of the profession, from compounding preparations early in her career to now delivering vaccination programs, weight-management clinics, blood pressure screening, and travel health consultations. She has trained and mentored at least 50 dispensers and pharmacy technicians, and in 2025 was named Independent Pharmacy Technician of the Year at the Independent Pharmacy Awards at the House of Commons.
James Barnes
Pharmacy Technician, CPhT
Avita Pharmacy
Texas, USA
An Army veteran who served seven and a half years as a Signal Collector Analyst, James brings the same discipline and care to his work at Avita Pharmacy, part of the largest independent nationwide provider of pharmacy solutions for Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program grantees and community health centers. Known for his problem-solving and compassion, he works to ensure marginalized patients receive dignified care and access to affordable medications, guided by the Army values of loyalty, duty, respect, and selfless service.
Kyla Walker
Pharmacy Technician, CPhT
Dave's Pharmacy
Nebraska, USA
Kyla joined Dave’s Pharmacy straight out of high school and has grown into the team’s anchor. She streamlined the long-term-care changeover process that allows a small, rural retail pharmacy to serve more than 10 long-term-care facilities, while keeping five delivery routes and four drivers organized and on time across the Nebraska panhandle. She dedicates herself to training and mentoring new teammates, and her nominators describe her as the cornerstone of an award-winning small-town pharmacy.
Health-System Pharmacy
Recognizing pharmacy technicians who contribute to the success of health-system pharmacy through operational excellence, collaboration, safety, and patient-centered care.
Michelle Shawgo
Controlled Substance Lead Pharmacy Technician, CPhT-Adv
OSF HealthCare
Illinois, USA
At a Level 1 trauma center in central Illinois, Michelle transformed a single-person role into a structured, system-wide controlled-substance compliance function, sharpening oversight of high-risk medications. She serves as Co-President of her hospital’s Pharmacy Practice Council and founded PharmTech Path to help technicians build meaningful careers, driven to show how much pharmacy technicians contribute to health-system efficiency and patient safety.
Heather Heidrich
Acute Supply Coordinator / Pharmacy Buyer, CPhT-Adv
Banner Health (Wyoming Medical Center)
Wyoming, USA
As pharmacy buyer for two campuses in a remote location, Heather was integral to over $1M in pharmacy cost savings in 2025, exceeding departmental targets through inventory optimization, strategic product conversions, and a credit-recovery partnership. She received the National Pharmacy Purchasing Association’s Outstanding Buyer of the Year award and was one of only 12 candidates nationwide selected for the PTCB Leadership Institute, which she completed in 2025. She holds four advanced PTCB certifications.
Diana Broome
Program Director, Pharmacy Technician Advancement, MEd, CPhT, PhTR
Harris Health System (Houston)
Texas, USA
A 28-year pharmacy technician with over 20 years in higher education, Diana has directly educated, trained, or mentored more than 1,600 pharmacy technician students and professionals — including nearly 800 through a sterile compounding certification program she developed. She has served as a PTCB Item Writer on the national exam development committee and as an accreditation site surveyor, and much of her impact lives on in the degree pathways and statewide curricula she built, which continue to shape technician education beyond her direct involvement. Today, she leads Harris Health’s School of Pharmacy Technician Advancement, preparing technicians for practice across two inpatient hospitals and 15 ambulatory pharmacies — including Ben Taub, a Level I trauma center — supporting a system that handles millions of medication encounters each year.
Meet Our Partners
Our Sponsors & Partners
We’re proud to recognize the organizations supporting and celebrating pharmacy technicians.
Founding Sponsors
The I.M.P.A.C.T. Awards are made possible by organizations committed to advancing the pharmacy technician profession.
Media Partners
NPTA I.M.P.A.C.T. Awards 2026