Dr. Rabia Atayee, Pharm.D., BCPS, APh, FAAHPM
Professor of Clinical Pharmacy
Associate Dean for Admissions and Recruitment
Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
Pronouns: She|Her|Hers
Dr. Atayee's primary research focuses on pain management, palliative care, pharmacy education, and compassionate communication in healthcare. She has developed multiple collaborations with researchers at both regional and national levels.
Education: Completion of pre-pharmacy requirements (1999) UC San Diego; Pharm.D. (2003) UC San Francisco; ASHP Accredited Acute Care Residency (2004) UC San Diego Medical Center; Board Certification in Pharmacotherapy Specialty (BCPS). (2008, recertification 2015). UC San Diego Health: Sanford Compassionate Communication Academy Fellowship (2023)
Awards and Honors:
American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM) Visionaries in Hospice and Palliative Care (2024). Society of Pain and Palliative Care Pharmacists (SPPCP), Renee Holder Literature Award (2023). Journals of Clinical Pathways “Top 5” publication for 2022 (2023)
UC San Diego Palliative Care Values in Action Award (2022). Fellow of the Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (2022). Society of Pain and Palliative Care Pharmacists (SPPCP), Renee Holder Literature Award (2020); Board of Pharmacy Specialties (BPS) Oncology Pharmacy Specialty Council (2019-2024); American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) Alternative Dean Delegate, (2019-2021); UC San Diego Campus-Wide Distinguished Teaching Award for Academic Senate Members (2018); National Coalition for Hospice and Palliative Care, National Consensus Project invited stakeholder (2017) American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) Alternate Dean Delegate, (2016-2018); President, Society of Pain and Palliative Care Pharmacists (SPPCP) (2017-2018); Pharmacist representative for the National Coalition for Hospice and Palliative Care (2018-2020) Membership Chair, Society of Pain and Palliative Care Pharmacists (SPPCP) (2016-2017); President-elect, Society of Pain and Palliative Care Pharmacists (SPPCP) (2016-2017) Member of Pharmacology Special Interest Group American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM), (2014-Current) UC San Diego Skaggs School of Pharmacy Teacher of the Year Award (Class of 2017), (2014) American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) Teacher of the Year Award, (2013) American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) Walmart Scholar Mentor (2013); Member of American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) PRN, (2009-Current) Selected for the National Center for Leadership in Academic Medicine (NCLAM), (2009) Awarded for Marquis Who's Who in America, (2009).
Leadership Experience: First pharmacist at UC San Diego Health to obtain a DEA license for prescribing independently (2007); Served as co-chair of the comprehensive exam committee and a member of the academic oversight committee and the committee on educational policy in the UC San Diego Health Sciences Campus; Elected as president-elect and president for the Society of Palliative Care Pharmacists (2015); Appointed as Associate Dean of Admissions and Outreach at UC San Diego Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (2016); American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) Alternate Dean Delegate, 2016-2018 & Dean Delegate 2019-2021; selected for Board of Pharmacy Specialties (BPS) Oncology Pharmacy Specialty Council (2019-2022). Litigation consultant expert witness for the U.S. Department of Justice and served as an expert witness for San Diego County District Attorney’s Office 2020-Current.
- Chair of Pain and Palliative Care elective (SPPS269)
- Lecturer of Pharmacy Practice (SPPS 201).
- Lecturer for Therapeutics (SPPS 212A) & Advanced Professional Practice (SPPS 213)
- Established role of palliative care pharmacist.
- Effective use of pain and palliative care medications in hematology and oncology patients.
- Clinical research for the use of medications for pain and symptom management.
- Development and expansion of pain and palliative care clerkships for pharmacy students.
- Established monitoring and counseling guidelines for pharmacists for oral chemotherapy.
- Established Pharmacy Universal Mentorship Program (PUMP) and various other activities for pre-pharmacy and current pharmacy students.
- Integrating compassionate communication in pharmacy education.
- Atayee RS et al. (2008). Development of an ambulatory palliative care pharmacist practice. J Palliat Med. 11:1077-82.
- Atayee RS et al. (2018) Multicentered Study Evaluating Pharmacy Students' Perception of Palliative Care and Clinical Reasoning Using Script Concordance Testing. Am J Hosp Palliat Care 35:1394-1401.
- Atayee RS, Sam AM, Edmonds KP. (2018) Patterns of Palliative Care Pharmacist Interventions and Outcomes as Part of Inpatient Palliative Care Consult Service. J Palliat Med. 21:1761-1767
- Uritsky TJ et al. (2018) Ten Tips Palliative Care Pharmacists Want the Palliative Care Team to Know When Caring for Patients. J Palliat Med 21:1017-1023.
- Atayee RS et al, (2020) A multi-centered case series highlighting the clinical use and dosing of lidocaine and mexiletine for refractory cancer pain. J Pain Palliat Care Pharmacother. 24:1-9.
- Edmonds KP et al, (2020) Emerging challenges to the safe and effective use of methadone for cancer-related pain in paediatric and adult patient populations. Drugs. 80(2):115-130.
- Malotte K, Naidu DR, Herndon CM, Atayee RS. (2021). Multicentered Evaluation of Palliative Care Pharmacists' Interventions and Outcomes in California. J Palliat Med. (9):1358-1363
- Wen RY, Atayee RS, Edmonds KP. (2022) A Comparison of Institutional Opioid Equianalgesia Tools: A National Study. J Palliat Med. (11):1686-1691.
- Lockman K,et al. (2022) Development of Entrustable Professional Activities for Specialist Hospice and Palliative Care Pharmacists. J Pain Symptom Manage. 64(1):37-48.
- Atayee RS, Edmonds KP. A Specialist Palliative Pharmacist Enriches the Interdisciplinary Team: A Case Series Discussion Illustrating the Entrustable Professional Activities for Specialist Hospice and Palliative Care Pharmacists. J Palliat Med. 2023 Dec;26(12):1755-1758.
- Lowry MF, Lockman K, Herndon C, Atayee RS, Juba KM, Pawasauskas J, Phantumvanit V, Ray JB, Pruskowski J. Development and validation of a performance-based palliative care assessment tool for student pharmacists. Curr Pharm Teach Learn. 2024 Jan;16(1):39-48.
- Pain management
- Safe and Effective Medication Therapy
- Serving communities with health disparities
- Palliative care
- Promoting the roles of advanced practice pharmacists
- Pharmacy Education
- Compassionate Communication