Dr. Norm Hooten ’16, a pharmacy alumnus and Army Special Forces veteran, will keynote the university’s annual Interdisciplinary Research Conference this week.
The conference gives students and faculty across various disciplines the opportunity to present their scholarly work to the Palm Beach Atlantic University community. Hooten will begin the conference with a message entitled “Pharmacists – Warriors in the Battle Against Opioids.” He will speak at the opening session 11 a.m. Tuesday in the Lassiter Rotunda of the Warren Library.
Hooten came to the Lloyd L. Gregory School of Pharmacy as a veteran of the Army’s Delta Force, having led a team into what became the Battle of Mogadishu. The battle inspired the book and movie “Black Hawk Down.”
Hooten completed two years of post-graduate residency at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ West Palm Beach and Orlando medical centers. As a clinical pharmacy specialist with the VA center in Orlando, he sees many victims of opioid overdoses. His goal is to increase the role that pharmacists play in solving the problem for veterans.
“We can make a difference in their lives,” Hooten said. “Not just from managing their medications but in being that person who gives them the support and encouragement they need along the way, that helps guide them and give them hope for the future so they can prosper.”
Poster presentations will follow noon to 1 p.m. Tuesday in the Lassiter Rotunda. Undergraduate, graduate and faculty presentations are 1 to 5 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday in the Lassiter Rotunda and Rinker Boardroom, also in the library. Students are encouraged to leverage their work to explore future career possibilities.
A copy of “Enlightening Minds: Research Review 2018,” a companion publication, will be available at the conference registration table.
