Larrat resumes his teaching, research role in the college after 11 years at the helm
During the last 11 years, the URI College of Pharmacy has tripled its research funding; launched the Pharmaceutical Development Institute; helped establish the George & Ann Ryan Institute for Neuroscience; played an instrumental role in the fight against COVID-19; and increased its faculty size by 30 percent as it has expanded its offerings. And the College has maintained an exemplary educational program that has seen almost all students employed upon graduation.
While he is quick to pass the credit to the College’s dynamic faculty and staff members — and, especially, on its talented students — Dean Paul Larrat has been at the helm of the College during its recent decade-long expansion. The fall 2023 semester was Larrat’s last as dean after he announced last year he would return to the ranks of faculty and researcher in the College. Professor and Department Chair Kerry LaPlante, an internationally recognized expert in antimicrobial resistance and infectious diseases, takes over as dean beginning in the spring 2024 semester.
“After 10 years, it’s probably time for new ideas and new blood to come in; new enthusiasm for different types of projects,” Larrat said. “The continued excellence of our students is, I think, the biggest success we’ve had. We’ve enhanced our reputation there; we compare well with everyone in the country. The surge in the research has made us stand out among our peers. It’s pretty remarkable; if you look at the top 25 universities in terms of research, every one of them is attached to a medical center and a medical school, except us. But we are always in the top 20—easily—in the research dollars we bring in.”
Indeed, the research funds the College has brought into URI has ballooned from $6 million to $20 million during just the last six years. The College currently ranks 14th in the nation among pharmacy schools, and was ranked in the top 10 in the country two years ago. The College has also expanded its faculty, both in its size and impact on health and health care.
“What’s really remarkable is the quality of the new faculty, researchers and clinical faculty. They are fantastic. I can’t wait to see where they go five years from now,” Larrat said. “Our folks are always out there, always involved outside the university as health care professionals and scientists. We’re very well represented, very visible. That’s something we’ve encouraged and accelerated.”
Perhaps no period has defined the impact the URI College of Pharmacy has on society than the COVID-19 pandemic. Faculty and staff members, students, and alumni helped lead the public health effort against the pandemic. Faculty members trained hundreds of immunizers, administered thousands of vaccines themselves, and led dozens of community immunization and testing clinics. One professor developed a novel non-PCR based COVID-19 test, while others volunteered to fill the severe shortage of pharmacists at state field hospitals and clinics—with one even leading the construction and administration of the pharmacy in the state field hospital in Cranston—and worked directly with the state performing outreach to COVID-positive patients. The college donated and supported the distribution of electronic tablets to patients isolated in hospitals and nursing homes, and the Pharmaceutical Development Institute produced hand sanitizer when it was in short supply at the start of the pandemic.
“Probably our most defining moment was during COVID,” Larrat said. “We played a special role in that two-year period. This really was their best moment—faculty, staff, students and alumni. As I told our students, what better time to be learning about public health, pharmaceutical treatment, and our role in the health care system than during a pandemic? Get out there and learn by doing. To their credit, that’s what they did.”
That kind of interaction and mentorship with students has been the best part of the job of dean, Larrat said. He will continue preparing the next generation of pharmaceutical professionals as he returns to his role as professor and researcher at URI after a sabbatical during the spring 2024 semester, during which he plans to wrap up a couple of research papers and work with U.S. News & World Report on its algorithm for ranking colleges.
Larrat, who also has a background as an epidemiologist, previously focused his teaching and research on health care policy and pharmacoeconomics. He plans to continue in that vein, also adding clinical classes, and working to create a new course for sophomore pre-pharmacy students focusing on professional development, pharmacy leadership and career paths. He said he is excited to work more closely with colleagues on research projects, and especially with students in the classroom.
“I think that’s my favorite part, the interaction with our students, as they go from being students to professional colleagues over their six years,” he said. “That’s why we do it. It’s a pretty cool thing.”
While he said he will miss serving the college as dean, Larrat said he knows he is leaving the college’s administration in good hands. “Kerry’s great. She and I have worked closely together over the years. She has great enthusiasm. She has great perspective on the profession,” he said. “She’s going to do a fabulous job. She’s going to do it differently, of course. There are going to be changes, and people will have to get used to that. But it’s all headed in the right direction. She has a firm foundation and she’s going to take it to the next level, no doubt about it.”
While Larrat said he doesn’t know how long he’ll continue teaching full-time before finally retiring, but that he’s not ready to stop working just yet. And, he suspects, he’ll always serve a role of some sort in the pharmaceutical industry, and specifically at URI.
“I’m always going to be attached some way, as a supportive alum or as dean emeritus; I’ll still be here when I die,” said Larrat, who has already been named dean emeritus for the college and who, in his typical, humble fashion, downplays the significant honor. “You work for 11 years and you get a nice title, I guess.”