Chapman University’s Vice President for Research, Thomas Piechota, hosts Ask the Experts Virtual Town Hall: Vaccine Hesitancy on Thursday, September 16, Noon – 1 PM, featuring faculty experts Jeff Goad, PharmD., MPH (School of Pharmacy), Jennifer Totonchy, Ph.D. (School of Pharmacy), Gary Fong, PharmD. (School of Pharmacy) and Michael Shermer, Ph.D. (Presidential Fellow) who will speak on the current status of COVID-19 vaccines and discuss hesitancy surrounding the vaccine experienced in the community.  This will be interactive with Q&A moderated by Vice President for Research Tom Piechota.  

The entire Chapman community (staff, faculty, and students) and the broader community are invited to join. Click here to register for the Zoom webinar. Visit www.chapman.edu/asktheexperts  for more information on the Ask the Experts series. 

Expert Biographies

Jeff Goad, PharmD., MPH., Professor, School of Pharmacy

Jeff Goad is the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and Professor and Chair in the Department of Pharmacy Practice at the School of Pharmacy. Dr. Goad runs the Travel Clinic at the Student Health Center and his research program focuses on the social and behavioral aspects of consumer and healthcare professional’s decision-making process and outcomes related primarily to immunizations and travel medicine.

Gary Fong, PharmD., Assistant Professor, School of Pharmacy

Gary Fong is an Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice at the School of Pharmacy who teaches infectious diseases and clinical pharmacokinetics. He practices at Harbor UCLA Medical Center where he works closely with antimicrobial stewardship and infectious diseases consult services. His research interests include antimicrobial stewardship, clinical pharmacokinetics and antifungal therapies.

Michael Shermer, Ph.D., Presidential Fellow

Michael Shermer is a Presidential Fellow at Chapman University. He teaches the course Skepticism 101, which is affiliated with the First-year Foundations Program. He regularly contributes opinion editorials, essays, and reviews to the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, Science, Nature, and other publications, while also appearing on shows such as The Colbert Report, 20/20, Dateline, Charlie Rose, Oprah, and Larry King Live. Dr. Shermer was the co-host and co-producer of the 13-hour Family Channel television series, Exploring the Unknown. 

Jennifer Totonchy, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, School of Pharmacy

Jennifer Totonchy is an Assistant Professor of Immunology and Immunotherapeutics at the School of Pharmacy. She teaches immunology and vaccine formulation in the Doctor of Pharmacy program. She is an accomplished viral immunologist and has worked on host-virus interactions for both DNA and RNA viruses. Her laboratory is currently focused on infection of human B cells with Kaposi Sarcoma Herpesvirus.

For more information about this Town Hall, contact:

The Office of Research: Thomas Piechota, Vice President for Research, piechota@chapman.edu or (714) 628-2897.