Big Futures operates throughout the academic year and brings together WNE faculty and students with community organizations to provide mentoring, health/STEM programming, career exploration, and college exposure for middle school students through our collaboration with Cub Connections. A special thanks to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Western Massachusetts (BBBS WM), who will be partnering with us on the site-based mentoring component.
The Roots of Wellness Sessions are a student-led community engagement initiative through WNE’s Student National Pharmaceutical Association (SNPhA) in partnership with Cub Connections and other student pharmacist and occupational therapist organizations. During the fall and spring semesters, SNPhA works with faculty advisors Dr. Whitman-Jemison, Dr. Koomoa-Lange, and Dr. Ekong to recruit facult and student pharmacists or occupational therapy students to design and lead weekly interactive health sessions for local middle school students from Duggan. Dr. Murray, Dr. James, and Paula Geddis support recruitment of occupational therapy students and organizations, as well as maintenance of the satellite vegetable garden in the Blake Courtyard.
Sessions focus on foundational health topics, including nutrition, food as medicine, mental wellness, medication safety, occupational therapy, pharmacy, chronic disease prevention, and healthcare career exposure. Activities are hands-on and age appropriate, building early health literacy while introducing participants to careers in healthcare. The program is part of a broader pipeline framework that integrates community engagement, awareness of social determinants of health, and early professional identity formation for both middle school participants and PharmD and OTD students.
This initiative also supports ongoing grant-funded programming and scholarship aimed at expanding healthcare career pathways and strengthening community-based health education models.
Program Coordinator
Clinical Associate Professor of Pharmacy Practice
Dr. Arin Whitman received her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Duquesne University Mylan School of Pharmacy in Pittsburgh, PA. After graduation, she completed a PGY 1 Pharmacy Practice residency and Teaching Certificate program at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Mercy Hospital and a PGY 2 residency in Hematology-Oncology at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, PA. Dr. Whitman practices at the UMass Ambulatory Care Center in the Hematology Oncology Clinic. She reviews the electronic medical record of patients on oral chemotherapy to assure every patient is on appropriate therapy and/or answers clinical questions from their prescribers/nursing. She communicates with each patient to review their specific dosing and administration instructions, side effects, hazardous agent handling precautions, and answers any questions or concerns they may have. Dr. Whitman also coordinates the WNE Pharmacy Summer Camp where 50 Springfield-area high school students are selected each June to spend a week with us on campus to engage in hands-on activities to learn about pharmacy careers and related fields from our pharmacy and occupational therapy faculty and staff.
Program Coordinator
Associate Professor of Pharmacology
Dana-Lynn Koomoa, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical and Administrative Sciences in the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. She is studying the interplay between signal transduction and calcium signaling pathways in the malignant progression of neuroblastoma (the most common extra-cranial pediatric solid tumor). Her research is being funded by an NCI R15 grant.
Associate Professor of Pharmacy Administration
Dr. Gladys Ekong’s research work focuses on sociocultural and behavioral aspects of chronic disease management and prevention. She has published in various peer-reviewed journals on medication use, behavioral interventions, Motivational Interviewing, health disparities and cultural competence. Her teaching interests include pharmacy practice management, cultural competence, and healthcare communications.
Associate Professor of Occupational Therapy
Dr. Murray’s primary areas of clinical interest include acute care, the intensive care unit (ICU), geriatrics, and hand therapy, with a particular emphasis on physical agent modalities, ergonomics, and a broad range of orthopedic conditions and injuries. Over the course of her career, Dr. Murray has gained extensive clinical experience across diverse practice settings, including acute care hospitals, outpatient hand therapy clinics, skilled nursing facilities, and acute rehabilitation units.
Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy
Occupational Therapy Operations & Enrollment Specialist
Paula Geddis has a diverse background that includes customer service, bookkeeping, reception, office management, and general administrative roles. She joined WNE as a Staff Assistant with the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, progressing to the role of Assistant Director of Admissions for Health Professional Programs. She now serves as the Operations and Enrollment Support Specialist with the Department of Occupational Therapy.
