Q&A: Award winner changes career focus after diabetes diagnosis
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Shortly after graduating pharmacy school, Joshua J. Neumiller, PharmD, CDCES, FADCES, FASCP, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Learning how to manage the disease while also going through pharmacy training was overwhelming, he said.
“I found myself reflecting on all the people I had interacted with in the pharmacy,” Neumiller, a clinical pharmacist at Providence Health & Services and vice chair and Allen I. White Distinguished Professor in the department of pharmacotherapy at Washington State University (WSU) College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, told Healio. “I wondered whether I had done enough to educate these individuals, many of whom did not have the same background knowledge I had when I was diagnosed with diabetes.”
Neumiller was inspired to change his career goals and began working in the field of diabetes care and education to help others learn how to live with their diabetes and self-manage treatments.
Due to his dedication to diabetes research and education, Neumiller is this year’s recipient of the American Diabetes Association’s 2024 Outstanding Educator in Diabetes Award.
Healio: What area of research in endocrinology most interests you right now? What advancements have you seen in your career?
Neumiller: The area of diabetes research that I am particularly interested in currently is related to management of people with diabetes and chronic kidney disease. Although there has been a recent explosion of therapies to improve outcomes in people with type 2 diabetes and CKD, including SGLT2 inhibitors, nonsteroidal mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists and GLP-1 receptor agonists, data indicate that these guideline-directed therapies are underutilized in many patients who could benefit. I’m privileged to currently collaborate with a talented multidisciplinary team of researchers and clinicians working to develop and test implementation strategies to optimize use of these therapies and improve outcomes for people with cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic conditions.
Healio: Have you ever been fortunate enough to witness or to have been part of health care history in the making?
Neumiller: Early in my career, I was fortunate to participate as a site investigator on several large cardiovascular outcome trials (CVOTs) at Washington State University. I was also privileged to serve on the ADA’s Professional Practice Committee — the committee that updates the ADA Standards of Care in Diabetes each year — when the first SGLT2 inhibitor and GLP-1 receptor agonist CVOTs reporting benefit were published. Witnessing firsthand how learnings from these trials rapidly transformed the standard of care for people living with type 2 diabetes was an incredible experience.
Healio: Whom do you admire and what would you ask that person if you had 5 minutes with them?
Neumiller: I have been so fortunate to benefit from the guidance of many amazing mentors thus far in my career. One of the most influential was my late mentor, R. Keith Campbell, RPh. Professor Campbell, who also lived with type 1 diabetes was one of the first pharmacists in the country to specialize in diabetes care and education. Keith introduced me to the ADA, and he was the recipient of the 1989 Outstanding Educator in Diabetes Award. I’m so honored to be following in his footsteps to receive the 2024 ADA Outstanding Educator in Diabetes Award, and I’d love to have another 5 minutes with Keith to soak up his words of wisdom.
Healio: If you weren’t a pharmacist and diabetes care and education specialist, what would you be doing?
Neumiller: Before I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, I was pursuing a PhD in immunology. At the time, I loved working in a basic science laboratory and had the long-term goal of working in drug development in the pharmaceutical industry. My type 1 diabetes diagnosis changed my career goals and perspective. I couldn’t be happier in my current role on faculty in the WSU College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, and working in a variety of service roles with the ADA has been a highlight of my career.
Healio: Who are you outside of your job? What interests you outside of diabetes research and education?
Neumiller: When not working I enjoy spending time with my immediate and extended family. I have been married to my wife, Angie, for 23 years. We are blessed with three wonderful children — Haley (20), Heidi (17) and John (13). We live on a small hobby farm north of Spokane, Washington, complete with horses, pigs and chickens. During the summer months we enjoy spending time on the lake fishing, tubing and swimming.
For more information:
Joshua J. Neumiller, PharmD, CDCES, FADCES, FASCP, can be reached at jneumiller@wsu.edu.
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