Two faculty members from UH Hilo’s pharmacy college appointed to statewide boards

The gubernatorial nominations of Associate Professor Cherie Chu and Associate Professor Sheri Tokumaru were recently approved by the Hawaiʻi State Legislature.

Cheri Chu and Sheri Tokumaru are pictured.
Associate Professor Cherie Chu (left) and Associate Professor Sheri Tokumaru. (Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy/UH Hilo)

College of Pharmacy pictured
UH Hiloʻs Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy

Two faculty members from the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo’s Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy have been named to statewide industry boards.

The gubernatorial nominations of Associate Professor Cherie Chu to the Health Planning Council for the Windward Oʻahu Subarea, and Associate Professor Sheri Tokumaru to the Hawaiʻi Board of Pharmacy, were recently approved by the Hawaiʻi State Legislature.

Cherie Chu

Associate Professor of Pharmacy Practice Chu, an alumna of UH Hilo’s Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy (2011), is a board-certified intensive care unit pharmacist at Adventist Health Castle on Oʻahu. Following postgraduate training in Arizona, Chu returned to Hawaiʻi where she serves patients on Oʻahu and students in the UH Hilo doctor of pharmacy program.

As a member of the Statewide Health Coordinating Council, Chu will serve the Windward Oʻahu Subarea. The council reviews certificates of need submitted to the committee and provides input and concerns from a community perspective regarding health needs.

Chu’s healthcare knowledge and clinical experiences in Windward Oʻahu will allow her to provide valuable perspectives regarding patient care needs in this area, states a media release on the appointment.

Sheri Tokumaru

Associate Professor of Pharmacy Practice Tokumaru is a board-certified, critical care pharmacist in the neuro intensive care unit at The Queen’s Medical Center on Oʻahu. She received extensive pharmacy training at highly competitive programs in Michigan, California, and Kentucky, and subsequently worked in hospital intensive care units in San Diego and Chicago. She served on the faculty at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Pharmacy.

A media release on the appointment states that in 2010, Tokumaru joined UH Hiloʻs pharmacy faculty and has served with distinction, teaching advanced topics, precepting pharmacy students on clinical rotations, and serving as the director of interprofessional education for the college.

She served as director of the postgraduate year-two residency program at The Queen’s Medical Center to provide specialty training in critical care.

Tokumaru recently served as a member of an elite group of 12 professionals selected nationally to create medical guidelines related to her area of specialization. The resulting guidelines were published in a reputed medical journal, and received endorsements from many health professional organizations, including the Society of Critical Care Medicine and the American Academy of Neurology.

-See full media release.


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