When it comes to learning any new skill or enhancing existing ones, the role of a well-informed, experienced, and engaging instructor cannot be overstated. Our team at ACA understands this well, and that’s why we have put together a team of professional instructors who bring real-world experience and insights into the classroom.
The goal is to ensure our learners get to experience the best of both worlds – theoretical knowledge backed by practical insights. Our low instructor/participant ratio allows for individual attention and interaction.
Hillary Howell
As a young teenager, Hillary worked as a pharmacy technician until graduating high school in 1998. Her passion for medicine led her to enroll in the Doctor of Pharmacy program at Ferris State University and graduated in 2004. Shortly after graduating, she married her high school sweetheart and took a position as a retail staff pharmacist at a local pharmacy chain. This ultimately led to a manager position with the same company.
Hillary has two children, Hunter and Tanner, which she adores. 10 years into her position as a manager, her husband James was diagnosed with a rare type of cancer, leiomyosarcoma of the prostate. During his journey, the family decided to look into alternative treatments using both conventional and alternative therapies. Sadly, James’ journey ended 18 months later. As a single mother, Hillary decided to take her career in a new direction. She opened Michigan’s first integrative cash based pharmacy, Apothecary & Co, in 2019, focusing on helping others to find their root cause instead of applying a “bandaid”. Apothecary & Co proudly specializes in compounding, point of care testing, and functional medicine consulting. Since opening in 2019, Hillary received her Certified Clinical Nutrition designation in 2021. She is currently pursuing a certification program through the Institute for Functional Medicine. Besides the love for functional medicine, her other passion is medicinal herbalism leading her to complete coursework through Rosemary Gladstar’s The Science of Art and Herbalism program.
Nancy Stoehr
Nancy Stoehr earned her PharmD from the University of Wisconsin Madison School of Pharmacy in 2006 and is currently enrolled in the Master of Education Teaching and Learning program at Concordia University Wisconsin. She is a Fellow of the American College of Apothecaries and a Fellow of the International Academy of Compounding Pharmacists. Nancy has been carrying out her vocation as an Assistant Professor at Concordia University Wisconsin School of Pharmacy since 2012 where her teaching focus is pharmaceutical dosage forms and extemporaneous pharmaceutical compounding for the community patient. Her research focuses on stability and quality of compounded dosage forms and formulation development as well as scholarship of teaching and learning within the non-sterile compounding laboratory.
Nancy has a background in sterile compounding as a home infusion pharmacist and as a hospital pharmacist. She is currently continuing her pharmacy practice as a compounding pharmacist with Skywalk Pharmacy in Milwaukee, WI which has a non-sterile pediatric community compounding focus. She enjoys incorporating practice and research into her education of technicians, pharmacists and future pharmacists.
Keri Hunter
Keri Hunter, CPhT, MBA is Vice President of Compounding Operations for Super Drugs Pharmacies, located in North Mississippi and Central Arkansas. Keri received her Bachelor in Business Administration (Marketing) degree from East Tennessee State University in 2006 and her Masters in Business from Milligan College in 2013. Keri has been a Certified Pharmacy Technician for 13 years and has served many roles in the pharmacy industry during that time. She very quickly developed a passion for compounding, particularly veterinary therapy. She has been extensively trained in sterile and non-sterile compounding (USP <795> and <797>), quality assurance/control, calculations, regulatory issues, marketing, and leadership. She is experienced in PCAB and ACHC Accreditation, has served as a consultant for compounding and retail pharmacies, and recently launched a new home infusion division.
Keri has several years’ experience in training pharmacy technicians and staff, provider education, and speaking engagements in the compounding industry. She was chosen as PCCA Technician of the Month in April 2012 and regularly attends various continuing education events. She has worked with pharmacists, physicians, veterinarians, and universities to develop new compound formulations, stability studies, and training/education.
Suzanne Keyes
Suzanne Keyes PharmD, IFMCP, FACA graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from Southwestern Oklahoma State University College of Pharmacy in 1996 and returned to academia in 1999 enrolling in the non-traditional Doctor of Pharmacy pathway offered through the University of Oklahoma College of Pharmacy. In 2004, she graduated with her Doctor of Pharmacy, the highest degree offered to pharmacists.
She has had 20 years’ experience in varied pharmacy settings; retail management for a chain drugstore, nursing home consultant, hospital pharmacist and her current position as the lead functional medicine pharmacist in her compounding pharmacy in Western Oklahoma. Suzanne’s passion to get to the underlying cause of disease is what drove her to pursue advanced education and become the seventh pharmacist in the world to become a certified practitioner through the Institute for Functional Medicine.
Dr. Keyes is trained to view chronic disease in a ‘systems biology’ approach rather than a ‘symptoms-based algorithm’. Her mantra is simply put, “…we are the culmination of seven biological SYSTEMS and NOT hundreds of SYMPTOMS”. It is this philosophy that has helped grow her in-store consultation practice and has led to countless improved outcomes of patients far and wide.
Aligning herself with the root cause model, Dr. Keyes’ philosophy remains steadfast; “with the proper support, the body has an innate ability to heal itself.” The combination of Dr. Keyes’ pharmacy knowledge of nutrient depletion and her functional medicine education of the biological pathways allows for a thorough assessment of a patient’s nutrient status and the manifestation of symptoms thereof. Dr. Keyes then designs supportive therapies that include supplements, nutrition and lifestyle modifications, to provide patients with desired outcomes, arresting and even reversing chronic disease.
As a Fellow of the American College of Apothecaries, Dr. Keyes spends her time outside of the lab designing, speaking for and teaching several courses at the home office in Bartlett, Tennessee as well as traveling to individual pharmacies for ACPE-accredited onsite training.
Dr. Keyes has been honored with invitations to speak about functional medicine for nationally recognized organizations such as the International Association of Compounding Pharmacists (IACP) and the National Association of Community Pharmacists (NCPA) on several occasions across the country. In the last 2 years, Dr. Keyes has been interviewed and her practice highlighted online by both Dr. Blair Thielemier (Pharmapreneur Academy; Elevate Pharmacy Summit) and Dr. Alex Barker (The Happy PharmD).
One of Dr. Keyes’ most memorable moments was being selected by Ortho Molecular Products as the 2016 “Spotlight Pharmacist of the Year”. Again, she was interviewed and her practice highlighted in their nationally publicized newsletter, reaching over 9,000 providers and colleagues alike.
Aside from her many speaking engagements and running a successful compounding/hybrid pharmacy, Dr. Keyes enjoys spending time with her husband of 20 years traveling abroad, riding motorcycles, and playing with their 8 year old boxer, Magi. Above all, Suzanne admits her greatest joys will always be her three adult children, Taylor, Tyler and Alyx.
Matthew 19:26
“With man these things are impossible; but with God, ALL things are possible”
L. Rad Dillon
L. Rad Dillon RPh, MA, FACA is a pharmacist and quality professional with over thirty years experience in home infusion, medical devices, long term care, and compounding pharmacy with a variety of medium to large providers as a direct manager, quality manager, project manager, or analyst. Rad has decades of experience in sterile and nonsterile hazardous drug compounding, including the development of SOPs and audit tools to monitor compliance with best practices and regulatory requirements regarding these drugs. He is an American Society for Quality (ASQ) Certified Quality Auditor., and an ASQ Six Sigma Green Belt. the last ten years, he has averaged over one ACHC/PCAB surveying or consulting assignment per week. He is now engaged with several consulting groups continuing to help their clients maximize their efficiency and effectiveness.
Marisol Lopez
Marisol Lopez PharmD, BSPharm, FACA, FACVP earned her Bachelor degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences in 1990 from the University of Puerto Rico (UPR). In June 2007, she completed her Master degree in Public Health, at Medical Science Campus with a mayor in Public Health Administration.
Marisol has received trainings and certifications on USP <797> Pharmaceutical Compounding, Sterile Preparations and USP <795> Pharmaceutical Compounding – Nonsterile Preparations Non Sterile at U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) Rockville, MD; Sterile and Non Sterile Compounding and Veterinary Symposiums from Professional Compounding Centers of America (PCCA). She also participated in international compounding courses in Salvador Bahia, Brasil and Madrid, Spain.
Marisol works as an Adjunct Professor at the School of Pharmacy of PR and has developed non-sterile and sterile compounding laboratory experiences for first and second year pharmacy students. She has offered continuing education presentations in USP 795 and USP 797 for the Continuing Education Division of the School of Pharmacy, University of PR, and the Puerto Rico Pharmacists Association, (Colegio de Farmaceuticos de PR). In addition, Marisol has collaborated in the development of the compounding sections of the Pharmacy Act of Puerto Rico.
In 2006, Mrs. Lopez, developed an aseptic techniques training for Spanish speaking pharmacist and pharmacy technicians, based on USP 797, and continues providing consultations and courses to promote the adherence to quality in compounding.