The University of Houston College of Pharmacy (UHCOP) presented its two highest honors — the Meritorious Achievement Award and the Alumnus Pharmacist of the Year — to two alumni at the induction and dinner event for the Mading Society of benefactors Sept. 18 in Houston.
Meritorious Achievement
Mading Society member Lourdes M. Cuéllar, M.S. ('79), B.S. ('73), FTSHP, FASHP, was honored with the college's Meritorious Achievement Award for her exemplary career in pharmacy. Cuéllar retired as administrative director of pharmacy from TIRR Memorial Hermann in 2019 after 45 years with the rehabilitation hospital.
During her renowned career, Cuéllar has served as president of the Texas Society of Health-System Pharmacists (TSHP) and chair of its philanthropic arm, the TSHP Research & Education Foundation; TSHP delegate to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacy; and president of the Gulf Coast Society of Health-System Pharmacists.
In addition, she received appointments to serve on the Texas Council on Cardiovascular Disease and Stroke and the Texas Statewide Health Coordinating Council. At the college, Cuéllar served as a longtime member and past chair of the Dean's Advisory Council. Her academic and experiential service includes faculty and experiential preceptor appointments at multiple Texas pharmacy schools, including UHCOP.
Alongside fellow alumna and Mading Society member Diane B. Ginsburg, Ph.D., M.S. ('90), R.Ph., FASHP, Cuéllar co-wrote and co-edited four editions of the ASHP Preceptor’s Handbook for Pharmacists. She also was a contributor to the ASHP Letters from Women in Pharmacy: Stories on Integrating Life and Career.
A fellow of TSHP and ASHP, she is a recipient of the TSHP Distinguished Service Award, the UHCOP Dean's Special Recognition Award, and the Association of Black Health-System Pharmacists' Pharmacist of the Year Award. In addition to her individual honors, the TIRR Memorial Hermann Pharmacy team was honored with TSHP’s Collaborative Practice Award and the UHCOP Health-System Site of the Year under her leadership.
The Cuellar family — Lourdes, sister Nicanora, and late brother Celso Jr. ('65) — has been loyal supporters of the college, with a total of three scholarships/fellowships established for UHCOP students: the Lourdes M. and Nicanora C. Cuéllar Presidential Endowed Fellowship, the Celso & Matiana Cuellar Presidential Endowed Scholarship, and the Celso Jr. Endowed Scholarship. In addition, there is a high-profile, named space in Health 2 — the Celso Cuellar and Lourdes M. Cuellar Dean's Conference Room — that also bears an embroidered pharmacy-themed quilt gifted by Lourdes.
Pharmacist Alumnus
Mading Society member John Mohr, Pharm.D. ('98), chief medical officer of biotechnology consultancy Vault Bioventures, was honored as the Alumnus Pharmacist of the Year for his extensive leadership over three decades in medical/scientific affairs, strategy and clinical development within the pharmaceutical industry's infectious diseases sector.
Following graduation, Mohr completed a PGY1 pharmacy practice residency and PGY2 infectious diseases residency at Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center Hospital. After his residencies, Mohr joined the hospital's pharmacy staff to manage its antimicrobial stewardship program over the next five years before joining UT Health Houston as a clinical researcher.
He then moved into the pharmaceutical industry, where he would lead clinical development teams that secured Food & Drug Administration approval for several antimicrobial agents, including Cubicin, Zerbaxa, Sivextro, Orbativ, Minocin IV, and Xerava.
Mohr’s research has been published in such peer-reviewed journals as Pharmacotherapy, Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, the Journal of Clinical Microbiology, the American Journal of Hospital Pharmacy (ASHP), and the International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents.
In 2019, the John & Aimee Mohr Clinical Pharmacy Practice and Translational Research Seminar Series was established through an endowment from the Mohrs. The series connects UHCOP faculty and students with innovative practitioners, researchers and leaders from across academia, industry and patient care settings.