With the Ford Research Group at the UW-Madison School of Pharmacy, Sara explores the role of the community pharmacy in addressing the opioid crisis in Wisconsin. This has included a multi-method analysis of an opioid call-back pilot program in community pharmacies and a scoping review of health care workers’ perspectives related to knowledge, attitudes, and stigma on the provision of methadone in outpatient settings.

Her master's thesis utilized implementation science, social behavioral theory, and mixed methodologies to inform a community pharmacy service for management of Chronic Obstrucive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).

Previous Research Experience:

UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health, Department of Population Health Sciences 

• Project Assistant for Rebecca Myerson, MPH, PhD
• Processed and disseminated outreach data for a randomized trial evaluating different outreach strategies by Wisconsin's Navigator Program on maintenance of Medicaid enrollment. 
• Conducted literature reviews and aided with grant application to assess the impact of the Inflation Reduction Act on equity in access to insulin and health outcomes among older adults with diabetes. 

FIRST Trial - UW-Madison College of Engineering, Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering

• Research Assistant for Douglas Wiegmann, PhD
• Qualitatively evaluated the multi-site implementation process for a fluoroquinolone pre-prescription authorization. 
• Examined the roles and responsibilities of clinical implementation coordinators in antibiotic stewardship teams and identified the barriers and facilitators experienced within the implementation process.
• Identified contextual determinants of implementation success using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR).
• Utilized process mapping to assess site’s fidelity to the intervention and identified core components of the intervention.
• Identified work system factors that influenced the sites’ technology acceptance with the Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety (SEIPS) model.

Chui SAMS Lab - UW-Madison School of Pharmacy, Social and Administrative Sciences Division

• Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience (APPE) in academic research with Michelle Chui, PharmD, PhD
• Examined the impact of CancelRx, a health IT functionality that communicates prescription discontinuations between clinic electronic health records and pharmacy dispensing platforms.

University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmacy Administration

• Summer Research Fellow and Research Assistant for Yi Yang, PhD
• Investigated the effect of pseudoephedrine laws across states on methamphetamine laboratory arrests.
• Systematically reviewed long-term opioid therapy in older adults.
• Explored adverse events associated with the formulation and dose of long-term opioid therapy in older adults.

University of Mississippi, National Center for Natural Products Research 

• Developed a pharmaceutical formulation of timolol maleate & resveratrol-loaded ocular films for the treatment of glaucoma. Resveratrol is the main biologically active polyphenol within red wine that may have a role in the prevention and treatment of age-related ocular disorders due to its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic properties. 

Sara is a fourth-year PhD student of Health Services Research in Pharmacy.  

Educational Background:

• Master of Science in Health Services Research in Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2024
• Doctor of Pharmacy, University of Mississippi, 2021
• Bachelor of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Mississippi, 2018
  • Minors in Chemistry and Biology

Sara has worked as a teaching assistant for courses within the PharmD and the Psychoactive Pharmaceutical Investigation curriculums, including:

• PHARMACY 671, Psychedelic Drugs in Science and Society
• S&A PHM 732-611, Pharmacy Law and Regulation
• PHARMACY 608, Safety and Quality in the Medication Use System

Hernandez SE, Gilson A, Ku TL, Gassman M, Ford J. U.S. Healthcare Workers’ Perspective of Outpatient Provision of Methadone: A Scoping Review. Substance Use & Addiction Journal. Accepted for publication.

Hernandez SE, Solomon D, Moon J, Parmasad V, Wiegmann D, Bennett NT, Ferren RS, Fitzsimmons AJ, Lepak AJ, O’Horo JC, Pop-Vicas AE, Schulz LT, Safdar N. Understanding clinical implementation coordinators’ experiences in deploying evidence-based interventions. American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy. Published online October 28, 2023. doi:10.1093/ajhp/zxad272 

Hernandez SE, Gilson A, Gassman M, Ford J. Piloting an Opioid Call-back back Program in Community Pharmacies. Journal of the American Pharmacists Association. 2023;63(6):1796-1802. doi:10.1016/j.japh.2023.08.002  

Watterson TL, Hernandez SE, Stone JA, Gilson A, Ramly E, Chui MA. CancelRx implementation: Observed changes to medication discontinuation workflows over time. Exploratory Research in Clinical and Social Pharmacy. 2022;5:100108. Published 2022 Jan 25. doi:10.1016/j.rcsop.2022.100108 

• Winner of the Exploratory Research in Clinical and Social Pharmacy’s (ERCSP) 2022 Best Paper of the Year Award