Benet to receive Remington Honor Medal

Leslie Z. Benet, PhD, professor and former chair of the Department of Bioengineering & Therapeutic Sciences, a joint department of the pharmacy and medicine schools at University of California – San Francisco, is this year’s recipient of the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) Remington Medal of Honor. Official recognition will occur at the APhA Annual Meeting and Exposition in Baltimore, Md., March 4-7.

Leslie Benet (Photo courtesy of Christine Krieg)“Dr. Benet touches the lives of every practitioner who makes decisions about the dosing of any drug. He is a master of pharmacokinetics. His lifelong work as a pharmacist and scientist has provided all pharmacists with the ability to translate bench pharmacology into clinical drug application for improved patient care,” one of his colleagues said when nominating Benet for the award.

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Benet was selected for the medal, the highest award that APhA bestows, in recognition of his numerous substantial scientific and public service contributions to the pharmacy profession. His work has been published in 540 publications, he has received 12 patents, and he has edited six books. In fact, he is one of the most widely cited pharmaceutical scientists in the world.

He also has mentored 54 PhD graduates and an additional 122 post-doctoral and visiting scientists in his laboratory.

Benet “blends deep passion for pharmaceutical practice and science with vision, energy, and boldness in advancing the stature of the pharmaceutical profession,” one of his nominators said.

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Benet has served as president of the APhA Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences, the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists, and the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, as well as chair of the FIP Board of Pharmaceutical Sciences. In 1987, he was elected to membership in the Institute of Medicine of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. He received his pharmacy degree from the University of Michigan and his PhD in pharmaceutical chemistry from the University of California – San Francisco.