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Kun Yang, PharmD’ 15
Co-founder and CEO
Pricklee

The passion Kun Yang, PharmD ’15, has for helping people led him first to the pharmacy profession, and then quite naturally to entrepreneurship in the health and wellness industry. Kun is the co-founder and CEO of Pricklee which aired on Season 13 Episdoe 22 of ABC’s hit show “Shark Tank,” where Kun and Mo Hassoun negotiated a deal with “Shark” Barbara Corcoran for $200,000 as a line of credit in exchange for 5% equity in the company. Yang and Hassoun, who is also a pharmacist, met in Boston as postdoctoral students. The idea for Pricklee sprouted when Hassoun shared his family recipe. “One sip, and we knew we had something special,” says Yang. Born in China and raised in Canada, Yang moved to the United States after attending McGill University. When he was ready to apply to pharmacy school, he says, the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy (UMSOP) appealed strongly to him

“UMSOP breathed life into my entrepreneurial spirit through research, networking, and leadership opportunities that were afforded to me via its interdisciplinary network, professional schools, and communities,” Yang says. “Looking back, my time there showed me that I wasn't solely defined by the letters after my name, and that I could make a greater impact in my career when thinking outside the box and collaborating with people and communities from different walks of life. “This ecosystem is truly rare and diverse in thought, and I encourage all students to take full advantage of the resources and connections that UMSOP offers beyond the four walls of Pharmacy Hall,” he says. When he and Hassoun decided to go into business together, they found the transition relatively easy. “Our pharmacy training laid the foundation of entrepreneurship by providing us with an incredible network and skill set,” says Yang.

Learn more about why Kun chose UMSOP in this video.

Shelby D. Reed, BSP ‘93, PhD ‘98
Professor, Departments of Population Health Sciences and Medicine
Duke University School of Medicine

As a young pharmacy student at the University of Maryland, Reed was encouraged to continue her studies at the PhD level, particularly by her then-professor, Natalie D. Eddington, PhD ’89, FAAPS, FCP. She applied and was accepted to the PhD in PHSR program.

At the time, she wanted to evaluate the value of health care interventions to inform policy. She still purses that interest today, though it has evolved, as a professor in the Departments of Population Health Sciences and Medicine at Duke University School of Medicine, as faculty director for the Center for Informing Health Decisions, and as director of the Preference Evaluation Research Group at the Duke Clinical Research Institute.

“Now, 20 years later, I continue to believe this is critically important work to ensure that health care dollars are spent efficiently,” she explains. “My research has broadened more recently to include patient preference research to ensure that our economic evaluations and their application to guide health policy and payment decisions more broadly account for treatment experiences and outcomes that are important to patients and their families. My training in pharmacy and pharmaceutical health services research provided me with a superb foundation to engage in multidisciplinary research.”