A Texas Pharmacy education can be the beginning of many different paths. For this year's Alumni Award recipients, those paths have led to infectious diseases practice, substance use disorder research, pharmaceutical leadership and regulatory affairs, as well as decades spent educating future pharmacists. Along the way, each has remained connected to the people, experiences and opportunities that helped shape their journey at The University of Texas at Austin College of Pharmacy.
The 2026 Texas Pharmacy Alumni Awards recognize four graduates whose contributions span generations and areas of the profession: Rachel S. Britt, Pharm.D., BCIDP, and Tyler J. Varisco, Pharm.D., Ph.D., recipients of the Distinguished Young Alumnus Award; Cheryl Beal Anderson, Pharm.D., MBA, recipient of the William J. Sheffield Outstanding Alumnus Award; and Ken Lawson, Ph.D., recipient of the Legend of Pharmacy Award.
Together, their stories reflect not only where a Texas Pharmacy education can lead, but the many ways alumni continue to give back through mentorship, discovery, leadership and service. The four honorees will be recognized at the College of Pharmacy's annual Dose of Distinction celebration on November 6, 2026.
Rachel S. Britt, Pharm.D., BCIDP
Distinguished Young Alumnus Award
For Rachel S. Britt, Pharm.D., BCIDP, mentorship helped shape a career and create a legacy she now carries forward with the next generation of pharmacists.
Rachel earned her Pharm.D. from The University of Texas at Austin College of Pharmacy in 2017 before completing PGY1 Pharmacy Practice and PGY2 Infectious Diseases Pharmacy residencies at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. Today, she is a Clinical Pharmacy Specialist in Infectious Diseases at University Health in San Antonio, where she also serves as coordinator of the PGY2 Infectious Diseases Pharmacy Residency Program and precepts pharmacy residents and Texas Pharmacy students.
Her leadership extends nationally through service with organizations including the Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists (SIDP), the American College of Clinical Pharmacy Infectious Diseases Practice and Research Network and the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. She has shared her expertise at national and international meetings and previously served as executive producer and host of the SIDP Breakpoints podcast.
But when Rachel reflects on the experiences that set her career in motion, she returns to mentorship at Texas Pharmacy. After taking Christopher Frei's Health Leadership elective, Rachel was invited to join his research group. The experience led to several manuscripts and abstracts, including her first publication as primary author, while helping spark her interest in infectious diseases.
"What has stayed with me most, however, is not simply the research experience or the publications, but the investment Dr. Frei made in me as a student," Rachel said.
Today, Rachel strives to make that same investment in her own students and residents. "In many ways, my most lasting connection to Texas Pharmacy is the opportunity to carry that legacy of mentorship forward," she said.
Tyler J. Varisco, Pharm.D., Ph.D.
Distinguished Young Alumnus Award
For Tyler J. Varisco, Pharm.D., Ph.D., returning to Texas Pharmacy as a faculty member offered an opportunity to give back to the community that helped shape him.
Tyler earned his Pharm.D. from the college in 2017 and later completed his Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Health Outcomes and Policy at the University of Houston College of Pharmacy. After serving as University of Houston faculty, he returned to the Forty Acres in 2025. Today, he is an assistant professor in the Division of Health Outcomes and director of the Pharmacy Addictions and Medicine (PhARM) Program at Texas Pharmacy.
Tyler's research focuses on improving access to high-quality care for people with opioid use disorder, with particular emphasis on expanding the capacity of pharmacists and other healthcare professionals to provide and support evidence-based treatment. His work has contributed to clinical practice guidelines, implementation efforts and federal guidance related to medications for opioid use disorder, and he has provided expertise to organizations in the U.S. and internationally.
Outside of teaching and research, Tyler serves as vice president of the board of Moving Waters, a Houston-based homeless services provider, and as a Houston/Galveston representative for the UT College of Pharmacy Alumni Association.
Tyler credits mentors and role models at Texas Pharmacy—including Jamie Barner, Diane Ginsburg, Patrick Davis and M. Lynn Crismon—with influencing both his career and the way he now approaches teaching and mentorship.
"I'm not sure that I've changed the world, but I do know that my time at the college changed me for the better," Tyler said. "Being able to give back to a community that has given me so much makes this recognition especially meaningful."
Cheryl Beal Anderson, Pharm.D., MBA
William J. Sheffield Outstanding Alumnus Award
Throughout a career spanning clinical practice, academia, the pharmaceutical industry and regulatory affairs, Cheryl Beal Anderson, Pharm.D., MBA, has continued to evolve and to carry with her lessons first learned at Texas Pharmacy.
Cheryl earned both her B.S. in Pharmacy and Pharm.D. from The University of Texas at Austin College of Pharmacy. In 1984, she became the first African American woman to earn the advanced/graduate Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Texas Pharmacy. After completing a postdoctoral clinical residency in psychiatric pharmacy practice, she began a career in academia that included serving as an Assistant Clinical Professor at UT Austin.
She later built a career of more than 30 years in the pharmaceutical industry and regulatory affairs, holding leadership roles at Pfizer Global R&D, Eli Lilly and Company, Lundbeck and Upsher-Smith Laboratories. In 2022, Cheryl returned to Texas and founded ACE Regulatory Affairs Consulting, LLC, where she advises life sciences companies developing innovations for serious diseases with unmet medical needs.
She has also remained connected to pharmacy education throughout her career as a preceptor, lecturer and mentor. Today, she mentors Texas Pharmacy students, serves on the college's Advisory Council and returned to the Forty Acres in 2025 as the keynote speaker for the College of Pharmacy Commencement.
One experience from her student days continues to shape how Cheryl thinks about leadership. As a student representative on the College of Pharmacy Admissions Committee, she found herself sitting alongside faculty and staff she deeply respected, reviewing applications and contributing her perspective to consequential decisions.
Most importantly, she realized her opinion mattered. Looking back, Cheryl sees that experience as an early lesson in both opportunity and responsibility. "Being invited to the table is an opportunity, but having a voice at the table comes with responsibility," Cheryl said.
Receiving the William J. Sheffield Outstanding Alumnus Award, the college's highest alumni distinction, brings added meaning to a career built on embracing new opportunities. "Texas Pharmacy exposed me to pathways I did not know existed," Cheryl said. "My experiences at Texas Pharmacy laid a solid foundation for my career and gave me the confidence to explore unexpected opportunities."
Ken Lawson, Ph.D.
Legend of Pharmacy Award
As a member of the Texas Pharmacy faculty for more than three decades, Ken Lawson, Ph.D., has taught thousands of students, mentored generations of researchers and contributed extensively to pharmacy education and scholarship. But for Ken, the numbers tell only part of the story.
Ken's connection to Texas Pharmacy spans more than 50 years. After graduating from the college in 1975, he practiced in community and institutional settings for more than a decade before returning to UT Austin to earn his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Pharmacy Administration. He joined the College of Pharmacy faculty in 1992 and is now the SmithKline Centennial Professor Emeritus in the Division of Health Outcomes.
During his faculty career, Ken supervised 21 Ph.D. students and 21 M.S. students, served on supervisory committees of more than 120 additional graduate students and supported numerous research projects involving pharmacy, honors, Plan II and residency students. Alongside collaborators, he published 118 peer-reviewed research articles and delivered more than 320 poster and podium presentations.
His contributions extended throughout the college and profession through extensive committee, advisory and professional service, including leadership of the college’s Health Outcomes and Pharmacy Practice Division from 2011 to 2016. His commitment to teaching has earned him numerous honors, including the Regents Outstanding Teaching Award and multiple Texas Excellence Teaching Awards.
Still, when Ken reflects on his career, he comes back to people. He estimates that he taught more than 4,200 pharmacy students and 270 graduate students during his time as a faculty member, but considers the relationships formed through those countless classroom conversations, research projects and mentoring experiences far more meaningful than the totals themselves.
"Being able to interact with the students, learn from them and contribute to their academic and professional growth has been deeply rewarding," Ken said.
He is equally grateful for the faculty and staff colleagues who made Texas Pharmacy home throughout his career. "Whatever I achieved in my career is because of the support and encouragement I have received from my family and from the wonderful students, faculty and staff I have had the privilege of working with," he reflected.
Across different generations, disciplines and career paths, Rachel, Tyler, Cheryl and Ken reflect the many ways a Texas Pharmacy education can shape lives long after graduation. Through the patients they serve, the students they mentor, the discoveries they advance and the communities they strengthen, each has carried their Texas Pharmacy experience forward to create opportunities for those who follow.
The College of Pharmacy is proud to celebrate our 2026 Texas Pharmacy Alumni Award recipients and to honor the remarkable paths they've taken at this year's Dose of Distinction.