Lt. Cmdr. Autrey Wins Top Award

Lt. Cmdr. Dr. Kali Autrey, a Kimball High School graduate, was presented with the Junior Pharmacist of the Year Award on June 26.

Autrey serves as a pharmacotherapy subject matter expert and reimbursement lead at the Center for Disease Control Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity.

She graduated from Kimball High School in 2009 and attended the University of Wyoming, where she received her doctorate in pharmacy. She moved to Farmington, N.M., and joined the U.S. Public Health Services branch of the military and is now a lieutenant commander.

Autrey was working at Indian Health Services in Crownpoint, N.M., and went to work for the CDC in June. She was deployed once during the pandemic.

In her CDC role, she contributes to a $40 million portfolio of child obesity research and clinical quality improvement and is responsible for coordinating innovative approaches, improving reimbursement mechanisms for health services, and leading sustainability efforts in treatment strategies for the more than 35 million U.S. children who are overweight or obese.

In her prior role, Autrey served the Indian Health Service in a model of highly advanced clinical pharmacy practice. Having gained multiple clinical credentials (PhC, BCPS, NCPS) and medical staff privileges, she effectively reduced disparities by expanding access to buprenorphine and diabetes treatment in a rural community while directly generating $750,000 in revenue a year. Her efforts to sustain primary care services allowed physicians to address acute care surges within a chronically under-resourced isolated hardship health system.

Autrey's ethic of leadership, commitment to officer visibility, and furthering of clinical expertise within the pharmacy category are evidenced through her contributions as PharmPAC History Workgroup lead, USPHS delegate to the ASHP House of Delegates, PGY-1 pharmacy residency and student preceptor, and PHS Certification Study.

– Daria Anderson-Faden contributed to this report.