Dr. Candis M. Morello, Pharm.D., APh, CDCES, FCSHP, FASHP
Professor of Clinical Pharmacy
Associate Dean for Student Affairs
Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
Pronouns: She|Her|Hers
Dr. Morello's research program involves exploring clinical outcomes in people with diabetes and associated disorders (eg., cardiac, renal, neuropathy, dyslipidemia, liver, depression), and educational or wellness outcomes of student pharmacists. Dr. Morello maintains a practice as a Clinical Pharmacist Provider at the Veterans Affairs San Diego Health System (VASDHS) where she serves as Director of the Diabetes Intense Medical Management Clinic. She studies the impact of pharmacist-run diabetes comprehensive medication management services and lifestyle education on the metabolic, quality of life, patient satisfaction, medication adherence, pharmacoeconomics, medication complexity, mental health, medication use patterns/cost and long-term clinical outcomes. Dr. Morello also conducts research on the effectiveness of the educational models and wellness.
Education: B.A. in Chemistry with a minor in Socio-cultural Anthropology (1991) UC Davis; Pharm.D. (1996) UC San Francisco; National Board Certification in Diabetes Education (1999) (CDCES)
Awards and Honors: San Diego Society of Health- System Pharmacists Pharmacist of the Year Award (2002); Excellence in Teaching Faculty Award (2003, 2005, 2006); Valedictorian for UCSD National Leadership in Academic Medicine Award (2005); American Society of Health-System Pharmacists Foundation Literature Award for Innovation in Pharmacy Practice for diabetes clinical outcomes research (2007); American Pharmacist Association Merit Award for diabetes education research (2008), San Diego Business Journal “Women Who Mean Business” Award, finalist (2013); American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Teaching Award (2015); American Association of Diabetes Educators Pharmacy Community of Interest Pharmacy Best Practices in Diabetes Care Award (2016); CSHP Innovative Pharmacy Practice Award Honorable Mention (2017); Excellence in Teaching Award, UC San Diego Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (2019); Finalist, American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Innovative in Teaching Award, Creating the Next Generation of Academic Pharmacists (NGAcRx): A Longitudinal 4 Year Teaching and Research Program (2022); UC San Diego Distinguished Teaching Award, Academic Senate (2022), Excellence in Mentoring Award Honoree “Division of Clinical Pharmacy” (2024); UCSD SSPPS Outstanding Teaching Distinction (2024)
Leadership Experience: Phi Lambda Sigma National Pharmacy Leadership Society (1995); Fellow of the California Society of Health-System Pharmacists (2003), Fellow of American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (2013); Department Mentor Director, Health Sciences Faculty Mentoring Program (2017-2020), Health Sciences Faculty Equity Advisor (2018- present); Selected Member of UC San Diego Faculty Leadership Academy (2021-2022), BRIC training (2023-2024)
- Pharmacy: Pharmacy Practice (SPPS 202)
- Therapeutics (SPPS 212A)
- Diabetes; electives and various APPEs and IPPEs
- Collaborative team-based approach to coupling clinical treatment and education to help patients with diabetes achieve personalized goals.
- Established and Direct the Pharmacist-Run Diabetes Intense Medical Management clinic
- Demonstrated impact: diabetes clinic publications describing improved outcomes have been cited >200 times and used to justify pharmacist services and new clinic development.
- Created innovative teaching methods and programs: (1) Diabetes Self-Care Education Program, (2) MTM Spider Web© tool, 4-year Longitudinal Teaching and Research Program
- With our Office of Student Affairs team, developed comprehensive Student Wellness Program
- Morello CM et al. (2011). Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of insulin analogs in special populations with T2DM.International Journal of General Medicine.4:827-835.
- Morello CM et al. (2013). Navigating complex patients using an innovative tool: The MTM Spider Web. J Am Pharm Assoc 53:530-8.
- Morello CM et al. (2016) Clinical outcomes associated with a collaborative pharmacist-endocrinologist diabetes intense medical management "tune up” clinic in complex patients. Ann Pharmacother, 50(1):8-16.
- Hirsch JD, et al. (2017) Estimated Cost-Effectiveness, Cost Benefit, and Risk Reduction Associated with an Endocrinologist-Pharmacist Diabetes Intense Medical Management "Tune-Up" Clinic. JMCP 23:318-326.
- Morello CM, Rotunno T, Khoan J, Hirsch JR. (2018) Improved glycemic control with minimal change in medication regimen complexity in a pharmacist-endocrinologist diabetes intense medical management (DIMM) “tune up” clinic. Ann Pharmacotherapy 52(11):1091-97.
- Singh RF, Kelly P, Tam A, Bronner J, Morello CM, Hirsch JD. (2018) Evaluation of a short, interactive diabetes self-management program by pharmacists for patients with type 2 diabetes. BMC Res Notes. 11(1):828.
- Awdishu LA, et. Al (2019) Advancing pharmacist collaborative care within academic health systems. Pharmacy. 7(4):142.
- Hirsch JD, et al (2020). Patterns of stress, coping and health-related quality of life in doctor of pharmacy students: a five year cohort study. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education. 84 (3) Article 7547.
- Morello CM, Nguyen T, Tao L, Hirsch JD. (2020) Improved glycemic control outcomes regardless of mental health disorders in a pharmacist-endocrinologist diabetes intense medical management (DIMM) “tune up” clinic. Ann Pharmacotherapy. 54(9):858-65.
- Luli AJ, Awdishu L, Hirsch JD, Watanabe JH, Bounthavong M, Morello CM. (2021) Transferring key success factors from ambulatory care into the community pharmacy in the United States. Pharmacy. 9(116):1-12.
- Hirsch JD, et al. (2021) Improved patient-reported medication adherence, patient satisfaction, and glycemic control in a collaborative care pharmacist-led diabetes “tune up” clinic. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health. 18,9242:1-10.
- Morello CM, et al. (2022) Longitudinal effects 12 months following discharge from a pharmacist-provided diabetes care on metabolic biomarkers in veterans: a retrospective cohort study. Pharmacy. 2022;10(63):1-15. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9227775/
- Yip O, Du E, Morello CM, Bounthavong M. (2024) Comparison between in-person, telehealth, and combination visits among veterans treated in a pharmacist-led diabetes management clinic. J Am Pharm Assoc (2003). Jul-Aug;64(4):102121.
- Morello CM, Awdishu L, Lam S, Heman A, Bounthavong M. (2024) Sodium-Glucose Cotransporter-2 inhibitors versus Glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists effects on kidney and clinical outcomes in veterans with type 2 diabetes. Kidney360.5(11):1633-1643.
- Evaluating drug effectiveness or safety in people with type 2 diabetes and cardiac, renal, neuropathy, dyslipidemia, liver, or mental health conditions
- Developing service interventions (clinical or educational) and novel practice models in health-systems or community pharmacies, or developing and evaluating student wellness programs