WILLIAM SIMONSON, PHARMD, BCGP, FASCP
William Simonson is an independent, consultant pharmacist responsible for developing clinical and educational initiatives designed to optimize drug therapy in the elderly. He is active in lecturing, research and senior care pharmacy practice and has been involved in consultant pharmacy practice with nursing home and assisted living residents. He is a licensed pharmacist in Oregon, Virginia and Rhode Island.
Dr. Simonson received the Bachelor of Science degree in Pharmacy from the University of Rhode Island. After practicing as a hospital pharmacist, he earned the Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Michigan. He also completed a clinical pharmacy residency at the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor. Simonson is a board certified geriatric pharmacist.
Simonson has served as a full-time tenured faculty at Oregon State University College of Pharmacy and as an Associate Professor of Pharmacy Practice and Adjunct Associate Professor of Medicine (Geriatrics) at Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland, OR. His responsibilities included teaching BS, PharmD, nursing, and PA students. He presently has a part-time faculty appointment with the Oregon State University College of Pharmacy in Corvallis, OR. In this capacity he has served as a faculty member with the Oregon Geriatric Education Center on a five year falls prevention grant and he currently is responsible for teaching geriatric curricular content to PharmD students.
Dr. Simonson has more than 200 publications on pharmacy and medication-related topics, is the author of two books, Medications & the Elderly: A Guide for Promoting Proper Use and Consultant Pharmacy Practice (editions 1 and 2), and has delivered more than 800 scientific presentations at local, national and international symposia. He is the author of a bi-monthly pharmacy column in “The Director,” the official publication of the National Association of Directors of Nursing Administration, and is the author of a quarterly column in “Geriatric Nursing.”
Simonson served four terms as a member of the United States Pharmacopeia Advisory Panel on Geriatrics. He served two terms on the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists (ASCP) Board of Directors and has also served as Vice President, President and Chairman of the Board of that organization. His responsibilities with the Commission for Certification in Geriatric Pharmacy (CCGP) have included serving as Commissioner, Secretary/Treasurer, Chair, and Immediate Past Chair. He is currently in his second term as a member of the CCGP Board Certification Examination Development Committee and is the chair of that committee. Simonson has also served as a member of the American Medical Directors Clinical Practice Guideline Steering Committee.
Simonson has served as a member of the National Council on Aging (NCOA) Delegate Council, Health Promotions Institute, and as the Senior Care Pharmacy Consultant for the National Council on Aging and as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Society. He served for eight years as the pharmacy consultant for the Oregon Department of Human Services nursing home surveyors and recently worked with the Oregon “Partners in Dementia Care” initiative to reduce the use of antipsychotic medications in the long-term care environment. With that organization he developed the geriatric curriculum for a statewide training initiative.
Simonson is a recipient of ASCP’s George F. Archambault Award and was chosen as Scholar in Residence of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy in Alexandria, VA. He was also chosen as “Outstanding Professional of the Year” by the Oregon Gerontological Association and is a recipient of the Janssen ElderCare Lifetime Achievement Award.