Clinical Assistant Professor
Professional Programs
Barry and Judy Silverman College of Pharmacy
San Juan - Puerto Rico
Dr. Kalumi Ayala is Clinical Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice Department at Nova Southeastern University, College of Pharmacy-Puerto Rico Regional Campus. She developed the first faculty-run HIV-focused Clinical Pharmacy Services in Ponce, Puerto Rico and currently serves as an HIV/AIDS Clinical Pharmacist at Centro Ararat. She is also part of the faculty of the Northeast/Caribbean AIDS Education and Training Center and provides training to health care providers in the areas of management of drug interactions with antiretroviral therapy (ART), management of ART-related adverse effects and appropriate natural products use among patients with HIV. Dr. Ayala completed her doctorate degree in pharmacy at Nova Southeastern University, College of Pharmacy-Puerto Rico Regional Campus in 2005 and completed a Primary Care Pharmacy Practice Residency in 2006 at Florida Hospital-Celebration Health. She has over 15 years of experience in primary care clinics in where she has provided clinical pharmacy services in anticoagulation management, dyslipidemia, smoking cessation, and HIV/AIDS. In 2010, she completed a Traditional Chinese Medicine Certification at the University of Beijing, China, and since 2012, she has been credentialed as a Certified HIV Pharmacist by the American Academy of HIV Medicine. During the last 12 years, she has been working with the Hispanic population providing clinical pharmacy services within a multidisciplinary primary care facility focusing on the HIV/AIDS population, mainly helping patients with medication adherence issues, drug-drug interactions, and drug-herbal interactions.
Dr. Ayala's main research interest is to assess natural products use among patients living with HIV and the impact it may have on antiretroviral therapy adherence and pharmacokinetic parameters. In addition, she is interested in evaluating the impact of implementation of HIV -focused clinical pharmacy services in a primary care setting in Puerto Rico.
Research Interests keywords:
HIV, antiretroviral pharmacokinetics, adherence, complementary and alternative medicine, natural products, clinical pharmacy services, primary/ambulatory care services