Dr. Aspinall is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmacy and Therapeutics. She is also a National Program Manager and PGY2 Residency Program Director in Medication Use Safety and Policy with the VA Center for Medication Safety (VA MedSAFE), which is part of VA Pharmacy Benefits Management Services, and a Core Investigator in the Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion (CHERP) at the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System. Dr. Aspinall has been engaged in VA health services research since joining CHERP in 2002 and successfully competing for a VA HSR&D Research Career Development Award in 2004. As a well-trained researcher in the areas of outcomes, health services, and pharmacoeconomics research, her work focuses on the safe, appropriate, and cost-effective use of medications. In addition, through her roles in VA MedSAFE and CHERP, she has contributed to the development, implementation, and evaluation of multiple interventions to improve VA medication prescribing safety and quality.
Dr. Aspinall's research interests focus on understanding the prescribing practices of high-risk and/or high-use medications, as well as medication use in at-risk Veterans. She is also interested in evaluating the impact of interventions on safe and appropriate medication use, as well as changes in clinical outcomes. Much of her work focuses on the elderly, who are a vulnerable population. Finally, Dr. Aspinall is the Director of a PGY2 Medication-use Safety & Policy Pharmacy Residency at VA MedSAFE and mentors pharmacy residents and fellows on their research projects.
Aspinall SL, Sylvain NP, Zhao X, Zhang R, Dong D, Echevarria K, Glassman PA, Goetz MB, Miller DR, Cunningham FE. Serious cardiovascular adverse events with fluoroquinolones versus other antibiotics: a self-controlled case series analysis. Pharmacol Res&Perspec. 2020;8:e00664.
Kindelin N, Anthes A, Providence S, Zhao X, Aspinall SL. Efficacy of a calculation-free weight-based unfractionated heparin nomogram with anti-Xa level monitoring compared to activated partial thromboplastin time. Ann Pharmacother. 2020: Sep 23. doi: 10.1177/1060028020961503.
Niznik JD, Li X, Gilliam MA, Hanson LC, Aspinall SL, Colon-Emeric C, Thorpe CT. Are nursing home residents with dementia appropriately treated for fracture prevention? J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2021;22:28-35.
Carico RL, Aspinall SL, Good CB. Fatalities possibly associated with hyaluronic acid injections: a review of events reported to the FDA. Drugs Ther Perspect. 2021;37:137-40.
Niznik JD, Aspinall SL, Hanson LC, Gilliam MA, Li X, Kelley CJ, Thorpe CT. Patterns of oral bisphosphonate deprescribing in older nursing home residents with dementia. Osteoporos Int. 2021 Sep 4. doi: 10.1007/s00198-021-06141-9. Epub ahead of print.
Vu M, Smith KJ, Aspinall SL, Clancy CJ, Buehrle D. Exploratory cost-effectiveness analysis for treatment of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infections: is linezolid or daptomycin favored over vancomycin? Clin Drug Investig. 2021;41:885-94.
Aspinall SL, Vu M, Moore V, Jiang R, Au A, Mark Bounthavong M, Glassman PA. Estimated Costs of Severe Adverse Drug Reactions Resulting in Hospitalization in the Veterans Health Administration. JAMA Network Open. 2022;5:e2147909.
Niznik JD, Zhao X, Sileanu F, Mor MK, Aspinall SL, Gellad WF, et al. Effect of de-intensifying diabetes medications on negative events in older Veteran nursing home residents. Diabetes Care. 2022;45:1558-67.
Gromek KR, Thorpe CT, Aspinall SL, Hanson LC, Niznik JD. Co-prescribing of anticholinergics and cholinesterase inhibitors in nursing home residents: a potential deprescribing cascade. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2022;1-12.
Eloso J, Awad A, Zhao X, Cunningham FE, Zhang R, Dong D, Kelley C, Glassman PA, Aspinall SL. PCSK9 inhibitor use and outcomes by concomitant lipid-lowering therapies in the Veterans Health Administration. Am J Med Open. 2023 (in press)
Alabbas SA, Jiang R, Au A, Vu Michelle, Moore, VR, Cunningham FE, Stroupe K, Bounthavong M, Glassman PA, Good CB, Salone, C, Aspinall SL. Comparison of hospitalization costs for the same adverse reaction with different medications. Am J Health-Syst Pharm. 2023 (in press)
Prevalence and factors predicting aspirin use for secondary prevention in Veteran Affairs (VA) nursing home residents with limited life expectancy on admission. 2019 Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Geriatrics Society, Portland, OR, May 2019.
Factors associated with de-prescribing acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AChEIs) in older nursing home (NH) residents with severe dementia. 2019 Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Geriatrics Society, Portland, OR, May 2019.
Adverse drug event reporting among patients who discontinued empagliflozin or apixaban in the Veterans Health Administration. ISPE’s 35th International Conference on Pharmacoepidemiology and Therapeutic Risk Management, Philadelphia, PA, August 2019.
Fluoroquinolone adverse drug events: results of an active surveillance project. ISPE’s 35th International Conference on Pharmacoepidemiology and Therapeutic Risk Management, Philadelphia, PA, August 2019.
Outcomes of discontinuing cholinesterase inhibitors in nursing home residents with severe dementia. Accepted for podium presentation, 2019 Annual Scientific Meeting – The Gerontological Society of America, Austin, TX, November 2019.
Adverse drug event reporting among patients who discontinued empagliflozin or apixaban in the Veterans Health Administration. HSR&D/QUERI National Conference, Washington, DC, October 2019.
Fluoroquinolone adverse drug events: results of an active surveillance project. HSR&D/QUERI National Conference, Washington, DC, October 2019.
Exploratory cost-effectiveness analysis for treatment of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infections: are daptomycin and linezolid favored over vancomycin and other antibiotics? (IDWeek Trainee Award) IDWeek 2020, Virtual conference, October 2020.
Calculation-free heparin nomograms with anti-Xa levels versus activated partial thromboplastin time. 50th Critical Care Congress Virtual Event, January 2021.
Factors associated with deprescribing bisphosphonates in nursing home residents with dementia. Poster presentation at the American Geriatrics Society Annual Meeting 2021. May 2021 (online).
Supratherapeutic unfractionated heparin anti-Xa levels due to treatment-dose enoxaparin exposure. 51st Critical Care Congress (virtual). April 2022.
Estimated costs of severe adverse drug reactions resulting in hospitalization in the Veterans Health Administration. 38th International Conference on Pharmacoepidemiology & Therapeutic Risk Management (ICPE). August 2022.
