Pharmacy Preceptors
2026–2027
Caitlin Akerman, PharmD, BCPS, BCCP, is the current Internal Medicine clinical specialist at WakeMed Health & Hospitals and the PGY2 Internal Medicine Residency Program director. Akerman graduated from the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy in 2016 and completed a PGY1 Pharmacy Residency and a PGY2 Cardiology Residency at WakeMed Health & Hospitals in 2018. Akerman's most recent project was evaluating phenobarbital compared to benzodiazepines for alcohol withdrawal in non-ICU patients. Other recent projects have included comparing cephalosporins to penicillins for stepdown treatment of gram-negative bacteremia and an evaluation of dosing strategies for obese patients on enoxaparin. In addition to precepting, areas of interest for Akerman include transitions of care, anticoagulation and heart failure. Akerman lives in Raleigh with her husband, two children and dog, Winston. In her free time, she enjoys running and exploring new places in Raleigh!
Email: cakerman@wakemed.org
Leah Baker, PharmD, is a clinical staff Med/surg and ICU float pharmacist at WakeMed Health & Hospitals. She is a graduate of the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. She completed a PGY1 Pharmacy Practice Residency and a PGY2 Internal Medicine Pharmacy Residency at VCU Health in Richmond, VA. Baker completed a Teaching and Learning Certificate Program through the Virginia Commonwealth University College of Pharmacy. She serves as a preceptor for both pharmacy students and residents on their Internal Medicine rotation. Particular areas of interest for Baker include heart failure, diabetes and anticoagulation.
Email: leabaker@wakemed.org
Janna Beavers, PharmD, BCCP, FHFSA, CPP, is a clinical pharmacist practitioner in Heart Failure and Cardiology with WakeMed Physician Practices. Beavers is a graduate of Campbell University College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences. She completed her PGY1 Pharmacy and PGY2 Cardiology residencies at WakeMed. Beavers is a member of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP), American College of Cardiology (ACC) and Heart Failure Society of America (HFSA). Beavers completed a teaching certificate program through UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy during her PGY2 residency and is an adjunct clinical associate professor with Campbell University. In addition, Beavers currently serves as a co-course coordinator for the Cardiology Elective and lectures in the elective and therapeutics course at Campbell University. Her interests include chronic heart failure pharmacotherapy regimens, optimization of guideline-directed medical therapy in patients with heart failure, cardiometabolic optimization in high-risk patients and cardiovascular risk reduction.
Email: jbeavers@wakemed.org.
Lorin Bell, PharmD, BCCCP, is the Surgery/Trauma and Neurology Critical Care specialist at WakeMed Health & Hospitals. She is a graduate of the University of North Carolina Eshelman School of Pharmacy. She completed her PGY1 Pharmacy Practice Residency at the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, TN, and her PGY2 Critical Care Specialty Residency at Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids, MI. Bell completed a Teaching and Learning Certificate Program through the University of Tennessee College of Pharmacy. She is a member of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) and the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM). Her current areas of interest include management of alcohol withdrawal syndrome, status epilepticus and traumatic brain injuries.
Email: lobell@wakemed.org
Katie Bosko, PharmD, BCCCP, is a clinical staff cardiovascular and cardiothoracic surgery ICU pharmacist. Bosko received her doctorate of pharmacy and graduated with honors from the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy in 2021. After graduation, Bosko completed her PGY1 Pharmacy Practice Residency and PGY2 Critical Care Residency at WakeMed. Her research in residency focused on the impact of multidisciplinary rounds on intravenous fluid administration and the incidence of deep sternal wound infection following intraoperative cefazolin at time of skin closure in cardiac surgery patients. During her PGY2, she also completed a teaching certificate with the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. Her current areas of interest include ACLS, pharmacotherapy optimization in ECMO and PADIS strategies.
Email: kbosko@wakemed.org.
Christian Caveness, PharmD, BCIDP, is one of the current Infectious Diseases clinical specialists at WakeMed Health & Hospitals. He serves as a preceptor for both pharmacy students and residents on their Infectious Diseases and HIV rotations as well as the Longitudinal Teaching Coordinator for PGY1s. Caveness graduated from the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy in 2021, completed a PGY1 Pharmacy Practice Residency at Maine Medical Center in Portland, ME, in 2022 as well as a PGY2 Infectious Diseases Residency at WakeMed Health & Hospitals in 2023. He also completed a teaching certificate program through the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. His current projects involve penicillin allergy assessments, and the treatment of Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia. Areas of interest for Caveness include non-tuberculosis mycobacteria, HIV and gram-negative resistance mechanisms.
Email: ccaveness@wakemed.org.
Rachel Coughenor, PharmD, MBA, BCCCP, is a critical care clinical pharmacist at WakeMed. Coughenor is a graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Pharmacy and completed her MBA through the University of Memphis. She continued her training at WakeMed for her PGY1 Acute Care followed by her PGY2 in Critical Care. Coughenor completed her teaching certificate through Campbell College of Pharmacy and now precepts students and residents throughout various critical care rotations. Her current areas of interest are toxicology, antibiotic stewardship and PADIS. She is also a member of the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM).
Email: rcoughenor@wakemed.org
Matt Davis, PharmD, BCCCP, BCEMP, is the Emergency Medicine clinical specialist at WakeMed Health & Hospitals. He currently serves on the stroke and code blue committees at WakeMed. Davis graduated from Duquesne University School of Pharmacy in 2021. He completed his PGY1 Pharmacy Acute Care and PGY2 Critical Care residencies at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, PA. His areas of interest include clinical toxicology, addiction medicine and pre-hospital emergency medical services.
Email: madavis@wakemed.org.
Kelsey Dobbins, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP, is the Cardiology Critical Care clinical specialist and the coordinator for the PGY2 Critical Care Pharmacy Residency program at WakeMed Health & Hospitals. She serves as a preceptor for both pharmacy students and residents on their General Critical Care, Cardiology Critical Care and/or Cardiothoracic Surgery ICU rotations. Dobbins is a graduate of the University of North Carolina Eshelman School of Pharmacy. She completed her PGY1 Pharmacy Practice and PGY2 Critical Care Pharmacy residencies at WakeMed. During her PGY2 residency, Dobbins completed a teaching certificate program through UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. Her research in residency focused on multimodal analgesia in non-surgical critically ill patients and anticoagulation strategies in patients with COVID-19. Current areas of interest include Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) protocols, anticoagulation practices for percutaneous ventricular assist devices and optimization of the management of patients with cardiogenic shock. She is also a member of the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM).
Email: kdobbins@wakemed.org.
Amanda Gorman, PharmD, BCCCP, is the current Emergency Department and Medical/Surgical Clinical Coordinator at WakeMed Health & Hospitals and serves as the PGY1 Residency Program Director. Gorman graduated from the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy in 2017. After graduation, Gorman completed PGY1 Pharmacy Practice Residency and PGY2 Critical Care Residency at WakeMed Health & Hospitals. Her residency research focused on the impact of pharmacy operational initiatives and documented penicillin allergy on time to antibiotics in sepsis. During her PGY2 training, Gorman also completed a teaching certificate with the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. Gorman currently serves as a preceptor for student pharmacists from Campbell and UNC. Her current areas of interest include pharmacy administration, antimicrobial stewardship and medical/surgical critical care. She collaborates with clinical staff pharmacists and specialists to implement effective clinical workflow to optimize patient care. Outside of pharmacy, Gorman enjoys traveling, spending time with family and friends and baking!
Email: agorman@wakemed.org.
Cristina Kaifer Gurganious, PharmD, BCCCP, is the Medical Critical Care clinical specialist and PGY2 Critical Care Residency program director at WakeMed Health & Hospitals. She is a graduate of the University of North Carolina Eshelman School of Pharmacy. She completed her PGY1 Pharmacy Practice Residency and PGY2 Critical Care Specialty Residency at WakeMed Health & Hospitals. She currently serves as a preceptor for PGY1 Pharmacy and PGY2 Critical Care/Infectious Diseases/Internal Medicine WakeMed residents, as well as a preceptor for students from UNC and Campbell schools of pharmacy. Current areas of interest include hyponatremia management, toxicology, antimicrobial stewardship, steroid utilization in the ICU and fluid stewardship. Gurganious is a member of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) and the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM). Gurganious lives in Raleigh with her husband and dog, Kiwi! Her favorite hobbies include traveling, cooking and being a foodie.
Email: cgurganious@wakemed.org.
René Henderson, PharmD, BCPS, BCOP, is the Hematology/Oncology Clinical Pharmacy coordinator at WakeMed. She holds a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Howard University College of Pharmacy in Washington, DC. Henderson completed her PGY1 Pharmacy Practice residency at the Duke Regional Hospital in Durham, NC, where she also earned a teaching certificate from Campbell University College of Pharmacy. Following her residency, Henderson joined the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins Hospital as an Ambulatory and Inpatient Oncology Clinical Pharmacist and later transitioned to an ambulatory-based role at the Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis, MD. Her areas of clinical interest encompass solid tumor cancers, hematologic malignancies and cancer genomics/precision oncology. Henderson currently serves as a member of the Hematology/Oncology Pharmacy Association (HOPA) and the North Carolina Oncology Pharmacist Association (NCOP).
Email: rehenderson@wakemed.org.
Brittany Holshouser, PharmD, is a clinical pharmacy specialist in Medication Management and Optimization at WakeMed. She graduated from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville School of Pharmacy in 2023 and completed her PGY1 Pharmacy Practice Residency and PGY2 Medication-Use Safety and Policy Residency at University of North Carolina Medical Center. Following residency and prior to her current position, she was a Clinical Pharmacy Specialist in Medication Management and Optimization at University of North Carolina Health. Holshouser serves as the drug information preceptor for first year pharmacy residents and pharmacy students at WakeMed. Her areas of interest include drug information, drug policy, formulary management and pharmacy analytics.
Email: bholshouser@wakemed.org
Shannon Holt, PharmD, BCIDP, has been the Clinical Pharmacy manager for WakeMed Health & Hospitals Health System since 2019. In this role, she has oversight of adult inpatient clinical pharmacy services for the health system. She also serves as the director for the WakeMed Pharmacy Residency Programs and an assistant professor of Clinical Education for the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. She earned her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of North Carolina Eshelman School of Pharmacy in 2008. She subsequently completed a PGY1 Pharmacy Residency at Duke University Hospital, followed by a PGY2 Specialty Residency in Infectious Diseases, Internal Medicine and Academia in collaboration with Campbell University at Duke University Hospital. Following residency training, Dr. Holt served as the Antimicrobial Stewardship Program Coordinator for more than a decade, leading significant program growth, including expansion to a system-wide model in 2012. She has demonstrated a strong commitment to pharmacy education and residency training, serving as the PGY1 Residency Program Director prior to establishing and implementing a PGY2 Infectious Diseases Residency program in 2018
She is the recipient of the 2018 Triangle Business Journal’s Health Care Heroes Award for the development and implementation of a new pharmacist-led, interdisciplinary rounding service aimed at reducing HACDI. She also received the 2020 WakeMed Health & Hospitals Pyramid Award. Dr. Holt’s professional interests include antimicrobial stewardship, reduction of healthcare-associated infections and clinical informatics, where she continues to drive innovation and improve patient outcomes through interdisciplinary collaboration and evidence-based practice.
Email: sholt@wakemed.org.
Julia R. James, PharmD, BCCP, is the current Cardiology clinical specialist at WakeMed. She is a graduate of Philadelphia College of Pharmacy in Philadelphia, PA. She completed her PGY1 Pharmacy Residency at the Hospital of Central Connecticut in New Britain, CT. She then completed her Cardiology PGY2 at the University of North Carolina Medical Center in Chapel Hill, NC. James completed her teaching certificate through the University of Connecticut. Her research interests are focused on heart failure transitions of care, therapeutic anticoagulation strategies in special populations including outpatient anticoagulation bridging strategies in patients with left ventricular assist devices. Her other areas of interest include heart failure, pulmonary arterial hypertension and acute coronary syndrome. James is a current member of the American College of Cardiology and Pulmonary Hypertension Association. James also delivers guest cardiology lectures at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. She is a member of multiple hospital multidisciplinary teams including the Heart Failure Quality and STEMI/Chest Pain committees and is the coordinator of the anticoagulation P&T subcommittee. James precepts PGY1 and PGY2 residents and offers rotations in general cardiology and heart failure transitions of care with a precepting emphasis.
Email: jujames@wakemed.org.
Holly Lo, PharmD, is the current Pediatric Clinical Pharmacy specialist at WakeMed. She received her Doctor of Pharmacy at UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy in 2016. Lo completed a PGY1 Pediatric Pharmacy Residency Program at CHRISTUS Children’s Hospital (formerly known as The Children’s Hospital of San Antonio) and received her teaching certificate from The University of Texas at Austin College of Pharmacy. At WakeMed, she currently serves as the pediatric ICU preceptor for pharmacy students as well as PGY1 and PGY2 residents. She is a member of the Pediatric Pharmacy Association (PPA). Lo's areas of interest include pediatric critical care, antimicrobial stewardship, EPIC optimization and implementation and interdisciplinary clinical pathways.
Email: hlo@wakemed.org.
Alison Orvin, PharmD, BCPS, BCIDP, is an Infectious Diseases/Antimicrobial Stewardship Clinical Pharmacy specialist at WakeMed Health & Hospitals and the current PGY2 Infectious Diseases Residency Program director. She graduated from South Carolina College of Pharmacy-MUSC Campus in 2018 and completed both her PGY1 Pharmacy Practice Residency and PGY2 Infectious Diseases Residency at WakeMed Health & Hospitals. She serves as the leader of the ASP Dalbavancin Program and is the co-chair of the ASP P&T Sub-committee at WakeMed. She also serves as an assistant professor of clinical education at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. Orvin currently precepts PGY1 and PGY2 residents in addition to pharmacy students. Her current areas of interest include antimicrobial stewardship, HIV and antimicrobial resistance. Orvin is a member of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP), ACCP Infectious Diseases PRN and the Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists (SIDP). Orvin lives in Wendell Falls with her husband. Her favorite hobbies include traveling, trying new restaurants and picking up a good book.
Email: aorvin@wakemed.org
Nick Orvin, PharmD, BCPS, BCCP, is the Cardiology Pharmacy Clinical coordinator at WakeMed Health & Hospitals. Before his current position, he primarily staffed in the Cardiology Critical Care and Cardiology stepdown units for two years. He graduated from the South Carolina College of Pharmacy – MUSC Campus and completed a PGY1 Pharmacy Practice Residency and a PGY2 Cardiology Residency at WakeMed Health & Hospitals. Throughout his residencies, he also completed a Teaching and Learning Certificate Program with the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. His previous research focused on the incidence of post-operative atrial fibrillation following cardiac surgery in patients receiving dopamine and the acute diuretic-sparing effects of sacubitril-valsartan in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction. Areas of interest for Orvin include cardiovascular risk reduction, anticoagulation, heart failure and cardiac surgery.
Email: norvin@wakemed.org
Maggie Schmidt, PharmD, is a Critical Care clinical pharmacist at WakeMed, staffing in each of the ICUs. She is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy. She completed both her PGY1 Acute Care Pharmacy and PGY2 Critical Care Pharmacy residencies at the University of North Carolina Medical Center in Chapel Hill, NC. During her PGY2 residency, Schmidt created a pain management guideline for rib fracture patients, delivered a podcast on neuromuscular blocking agent use in acute respiratory distress syndrome on the Pharmacy to Dose podcast and delivered a toxicology lecture for the critical care elective course at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. Her research in residency focused on bromocriptine use for central fever in neurocritically ill patients. Current areas of interest include surgery/trauma, toxicology, pain/analgesia/sedation and ECMO. Outside of pharmacy, Schmidt loves to stay active by working out at F45, running and completing Hyrox races.
Email: maschmidt@wakemed.org
Abby Sowder, PharmD, BCCCP, is a critical care clinical pharmacist at WakeMed, staffing in each of the adult ICUs and serving as a preceptor for both pharmacy students and PGY1 and PGY2 residents. She is a Cincinnati, OH, native and a two-time graduate of The Ohio State University College of Pharmacy. She completed both her PGY1 Pharmacy Practice and PGY2 Critical Care Pharmacy residencies at WakeMed. Sowder completed a teaching certificate program through UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. Her previous research focused on rapid diagnostic testing for gram-negative rod bacteremia and the effects of liberalized targeted temperatures post-cardiac arrest. Current areas of interest include antimicrobial stewardship, pain/analgesia/sedation and toxicology. She is a member of the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM).
Email: absowder@wakemed.org
Carson Stahlsmith, PharmD, BCPPS, is the Neonatal and Women’s Clinical Pharmacy specialist at WakeMed. Following graduation from the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, Stahlsmith completed her PGY1 and PGY2 Pediatric Pharmacy Residencies at Duke University Hospital, along with a teaching certificate through Duke. She serves as a preceptor for pharmacy students and residents on their Neonatal ICU rotation. Her areas of interest include neonatal pain and sedation management, early and late onset sepsis and prevention of bronchopulmonary dysplasia. In her free time, Stahlsmith enjoys traveling and finding fun new places to explore around Raleigh!
Email: cstahlsmith@wakemed.org
Nathan Weller, PharmD, BCPP, is the current Psychiatric Clinical Pharmacy specialist at WakeMed. He attended Butler University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in Indianapolis, IN, where he graduated with his PharmD and a minor in ethics in 2022. Following graduation, Weller completed PGY1 Acute Care Pharmacy Practice residency training with Gundersen Health System in La Crosse, WI, followed by PGY2 training in Psychiatric Pharmacy at Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) Health in Charleston, SC. His interest areas include severe mental illness and substance use disorders, and he is an active member of the American Association of Psychiatric Pharmacists (AAPP). Along with precepting the inpatient psychiatry elective for the PGY1 acute care and PGY2 internal medicine residencies, Weller also serves as the co-coordinator for the programs’ Pharmacy in Leadership Series (PILS).
Email: nweller@wakemed.org
Abbie Crisp Williamson, PharmD, MHA, is the current executive director of Pharmacy. Since joining WakeMed in 2010, she has been in several positions within the Department of Pharmacy such as the operations manager at the Raleigh Campus and the systemwide clinical manager. She is a native of Raleigh, NC. She received her Doctorate of Pharmacy from the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy in 2004 and a Master of Healthcare Administration Program from UNC School of Public Health. She completed a Pharmacy Practice Residency and Critical Care Residency at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center (formerly Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center) in Winston-Salem, NC. Upon completion of residency training, Williamson worked as a surgery/perioperative pharmacist at Duke University Medical Center before transitioning into the Clinical Coordinator of Perioperative Services. Williamson is an active participant in the North Carolina Association of Pharmacists. She has served as the Chair of the NCAP New Practitioner Network, as a member of the NCAP Board of Directors and currently serves on the NCAP Health-System Practice Academy. In addition, she has served as a member of the Compliance Committee for the North Carolina Physicians Health Program. She lives in Raleigh with her husband and three children.
Email: awilliamson@wakemed.org.
Rhonda Zillmer, PharmD is the current medication safety officer for WakeMed Health & Hospitals. She is responsible for identifying opportunities to improve medication safety, designing and implementing solutions to support the highest quality medication management system. Zillmer is also the pharmacy manager for Women’s and Children’s services for the Raleigh Hospital. Since joining WakeMed in 2003, she has worked in various positions in the Department of Pharmacy including as the pediatric clinical specialist, pediatric clinical coordinator and the North Hospital pharmacy manager. Zillmer received her PharmD from the University of Georgia and completed a pharmacy practice residency at The Children’s Hospital in Denver, CO. Zillmer lives in Cary with her husband; she has a daughter who attends NC State studying Textile Technology and a son who is a junior in high school and competitive rock climber.
Email: rhzillmer@wakemed.org.