Faculty

Keith Graham, RPh
Acute Care Clinical Pharmacist
Learning Experience: longitudinal staffing
ksgraham2@geisinger.edu

Mr. Graham is a 1993 graduate of the Temple University School of Pharmacy in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After graduation he worked in the retail sector for Revco, CVS and Giant. He has worked for Geisinger for approximately 20 years. Most of that time was spent as a staff clinical pharmacist at Geisinger Lewistown Hospital. He helped build the Cerner pharmacy system as a staff pharmacist. Two years were working as a clinical informaticist from home. In that position, he primarily worked on Epic order set build, antimicrobial stewardship alerts and pharmacy staff Epic education. Currently he focuses on medication distribution and still assists with system-wide pharmacist education. Keith is originally from Dallas, Pa., and has lived with his family in Lewistown for over 25 years.

Jeffrey Hare, PharmD
Coordinator, Pharmacy 
Learning experiences: Institutional Intravenous Hematology/Oncology, Orientation, Longitudinal staffing 
jdhare@geisinger.edu

Dr. Hare is a graduate of the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia. He earned his Doctor of Pharmacy in 2014. He started working at Geisinger Lewistown Hospital in January of 2015. While in this position, he serves as a preceptor to IPPE, APPE and residents. His professional interests include IV pharmacy, hem/onc and teaching/precepting students and residents.

Benjamin Heikkinen, PharmD, BCIDP
Pharmacy Manager, Geisinger Medical Center Muncy 
Learning experiences: Antimicrobial Stewardship, Management and Leadership longitudinal 
bheikkinen@geisinger.edu

Dr. Heikkinen is a 2017 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Pharmacy. After graduation, he completed a PGY1 pharmacy residency at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, Ill. From there, Dr. Heikkinen completed a PGY2 infectious diseases pharmacy residency at the University of Wisconsin Health in Madison, Wisc. Following residency, he stayed on at UW-Health and practiced primarily in adult surgery, emergency medicine, HIV clinic and infectious diseases. In 2020, he transitioned into a new role as a neurology and neurocritical care pharmacist at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. In addition to his clinical responsibilities, he assisted in the roll out of vancomycin AUC/MIC dosing and spearheaded the development and implementation of pharmacy renal dose adjustment guidelines. Dr. Heikkinen joined the Geisinger team in September of 2021 as a pharmacy manager and infectious diseases pharmacist to continue to pursue his passion for transitions of care, antimicrobial stewardship, PK/PD optimization and precepting/teaching students and residents.

Victoria Ireland, PharmD 
Acute Care Clinical Pharmacist 
Learning experiences: Internal Medicine, Critical Care, Advancing Pharmacy Practice and Improving Patient Care
vireland1@geisinger.edu

Dr. Ireland is a graduate of Wilkes University, Nesbitt School of Pharmacy. She earned her Doctor of Pharmacy degree in 2022. Upon graduation, she started an acute care pharmacist position at Geisinger Lewistown Hospital. Her professional interests include internal medicine, critical care and hematology/oncology.

Stephen Kazmer, PharmD  
Acute Care Clinical Pharmacist, Geisinger Western Region Wellness Ambassador  
Learning experiences: Psychiatry, Institutional Intravenous Hematology/Oncology 
skazmer@geisinger.edu

Dr. Kazmer is a 2020 graduate of the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine School of Pharmacy. He completed his Bachelor’s degree majoring in microbiology with a minor in bioethics in 2015, at Michigan State University. After graduating pharmacy school, Dr. Kazmer accepted a position as a staff pharmacist with CVS, later managing a store for a total of two years. In June of 2022, he accepted a role as an inpatient clinical pharmacist at Geisinger Lewistown Hospital to further his clinical knowledge and gain expertise in hospital pharmacy. His interests include psychiatry, oncology, internal medicine and precepting.

Alyssa Kurtz, PharmD
Acute Care Clinical Pharmacist
Learning Experiences: Psychiatry 
amkurtz@geisinger.edu

Dr. Kurtz is a graduate of Wilkes University, Nesbitt School of Pharmacy. She earned her Doctor of Pharmacy in 2021, along with minors in neuroscience and chemistry during undergrad. Shortly after graduation, she transitioned to a pharmacist role in the community setting. Later that year, she joined the team at Geisinger Medical Center Muncy as a clinical pharmacist practicing acute care and hematology/oncology. She is currently a supporting preceptor for the psychiatry elective rotation. Her professional interests include behavioral health and hematology/oncology.

Anna McDermott, PharmD, BCOP
Ambulatory Clinical Pharmacist
Learning experiences: Elective Ambulatory Hematology/Oncology 
akmcdermott@geisinger.edu

Dr. McDermott is a 2011 graduate of Duquesne University where she earned her Doctor of Pharmacy. After graduation, she worked as a clinical pharmacist at Mount Nittany Medical Center in State College, Pa., from 2011 to 2018 where she worked in the in-patient setting helping with IV verification, antimicrobial monitoring and medication review as well as the out-patient anticoagulation and hematology/oncology clinics. Dr. McDermott then worked as a community pharmacist at Boalsburg Apothecary from 2018 to August 2019. She joined Geisinger’s hematology/oncology MTDM team in September 2019 where she helps with the oral oncolytic monitoring and management in Geisinger’s Western Region (Scenery Park, GLH, Lewisburg, and Selinsgrove offices). Dr. McDermott is a preceptor for the PGY1 hem/onc elective and the PGY2 hem/onc MTDM rotation. Her professional interests include hematology/oncology, diabetes and anticoagulation.

Autumn Peck, PharmD, MBA
Acute Care Clinical Pharmacist
Director, PGY1 Pharmacy Residency Program
Learning experiences: Emergency Medicine, Transition of Care elective, Self-Assessment and Professional Advancement
apeck@geisinger.edu

Dr. Peck is a graduate of Wilkes University, Nesbitt School of Pharmacy. She earned her Doctor of Pharmacy in 2019 and later received her MBA-HA from Lamar University in 2022. Dr. Peck joined the Geisinger Lewistown acute care team in November 2019 to assist in piloting the overnight pharmacy program. She took on the role of assistant residency program director in June 2022. She is currently the preceptor for Emergency Medicine and Transition of Care. Her professional interests include internal medicine, emergency medicine, process improvement, mentorship and teaching.

Dominic Rascona, PharmD
Acute Care Clinical Pharmacist
Learning experiences: Internal Medicine, Critical Care
drascona@geisinger.edu

Dr. Rascona is a graduate of Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine School of Pharmacy. He completed his bachelor's degrees in biology at Lock Haven University in 2018 and went on to earn his Doctor of Pharmacy degree in 2021. After graduation, he worked as a staff pharmacist in retail before he accepted an acute care clinical pharmacist position with Geisinger Lewistown Hospital. His professional interests include infectious diseases/antimicrobial stewardship, critical care medicine and internal medicine.

Brian Simpkins, PharmD
Director of Acute Pharmacy Services
Western & North-Central regions
Learning experiences: Management and Leadership longitudinal, Advancing Pharmacy Practice and Improving Patient Care
bdsimpkins@geisinger.edu 

Dr. Simpkins is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy. He earned his PharmD in 2004. After graduation, he completed a PGY-1 pharmacy residency at the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, Wisc. Following residency, he practiced at UPMC-Presbyterian hospital in the medical intensive care unit. While in this position, he also served as an adjunct clinical professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy. In 2011, Dr. Simpkins accepted a position as an associate professor of pharmacy at the Erie campus of Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM), where his teaching and research interests included pharmacotherapeutics, clinical pharmacokinetics and improving the clinical skills of pharmacy students. He also served as the director of residency education while at LECOM, where he stewarded the academia-focused PGY-1 pharmacy residency at LECOM Health and co-led the development of a PGY-2 geriatric pharmacy residency at LECOM Health. In 2015, Dr. Simpkins joined the Geisinger family as a clinical pharmacist in the ICU at Geisinger Lewistown Hospital, and he has been the director of pharmacy for the hospital since 2018. His current professional interests include critical care, infectious diseases, improving medication reconciliation and growing training opportunities for learners.