Faculty

Dr. Karwa’s primary interest area is in the development of clinical and educational programs in underserved populations.  Through her work in Kenya, she has conducted research on pharmacovigilance, the detection and reporting of adverse events, in HIV infected patients.  Her work on pharmacovigilance lead her to create a successful HIV peer educator program where she is working on determining the true impact on patients.  Because Dr. Karwa leads the Advance Pharmacy Practice Experience in International Health in Kenya, she is able to work with students to develop service learning projects for this underserved population.  In addition, Dr. Karwa is collaborating with University of Notre Dame scientists to implement the use of a paper-based counterfeit medication detection device.  

PHRM 880, Purdue International Health APPE Rotation

CLPH 457, Pharmaceutical Care in Developing Countries

PHPR 827, Public Health Residency Director, Global Health Pharmacy Residency

Chaney Family Faculty Preceptor of the Year

C. Peter Magrath Engagement Award of Land Universities of North America, Regional Winner

The Engagement Scholarship/W.K.Kellog Foundation Engagement AwardPurdue University Corps of Engagement Award

Dr. Karwa focuses her clinical practice on building care and educational programs in Kenya.  Her primary practice site of Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital is a 1000 bed tertiary academic medical center in Eldoret, Kenya.  Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital is 1 of 2 referral hospitals in Kenya.  Dr. Karwa provides pharmaceutical care on the adult internal medicine wards with an interdisciplinary medical team consisting of physicians, nurses, nutritionists and clinical officers.  She also leads the HIV peer educator program on the inpatient wards.  This program connects HIV infected patients with trained HIV infected patients who provide education and counseling on HIV care and follow up after discharge.  Outside of clinical care, Dr. Karwa is training local providers in clinical pharmacy through an internship, post-graduate diploma and master’s program in clinical pharmacy.  

1. Karwa R, Maina M, Mercer T, Njuguna B, Wachira J, Ngetich C, Some F, Jakait B, Owino RK, Gardner A, Pastakia S. Leveraging peer-based support to facilitate HIV  care in Kenya. PLoS Med. 2017 Jul 14;14(7):e1002355.
2. Kanyi J, Karwa R, Pastakia SD, Manji I, Manyara S, Saina C. Venous Thromboembolism Requiring Extended Anticoagulation Among HIV-Infected Patients in a Rural, Resource-Constrained Setting in Western Kenya. Ann Pharmacother. 2017 May;51(5):380-387. doi: 10.1177/1060028016686106. Epub 2017 Jan 6.
3. Njuguna B, Gardner A, Karwa R, and Delahaye F. Infective Endocarditis in Low- And Middle-Income Countries.  Cardiol Clin 35 (2017) 153–163.
4. Grzesiak, Karolina M.; Vargo, Craig A.; Schellhase, Ellen M.; Miller, Monica L.; Karwa, Rakhi; Pastakia, Sonak D.; and Jakait, Beatrice (2016) "Learning to Sew: A Student Pharmacist’s Service-Learning Experience," Purdue Journal of Service-Learning and International Engagement: Vol. 3: Iss. 1, Article 13.
5. Miller M and Karwa R. A first-hand experience in global health. Student Pharmacist. May 10th 2016. http://www.pharmacist.com/first-hand-experience-global-health.
6. Rachlis B, Karwa R, Chema C, Pastakia S, Olsson S, Wools-Kaloustian K, Jakait  B, Maina M, Yotebieng M, Kumarasamy N, Freeman A, de Rekeneire N, Duda SN, Davies MA, Braitstein P. Targeted Spontaneous Reporting: Assessing Opportunities to Conduct Routine Pharmacovigilance for Antiretroviral Treatment on an International Scale. Drug Saf. 2016 Oct;39(10):959-76.
7. Schellhase E, Miller M, Karwa R, Thirikwa D. International Pharmaceutical Federation – FIP (2016). Transforming Our Workforce. The Hague, The Netherlands: International Pharmaceutical Federation.  Purdue Kenya Project. Building a robust student pharmacist and Kenyan pharmacy intern-training programme.  Pages 45 – 47.
8. Miller ML, Karwa R, Schellhase EM, Pastakia SD, Crowe S, Manji I, Jakait B, Maina M. Meeting the Needs of Underserved Patients in Western Kenya by Creating the Next Generation of Global Health Pharmacists. Am J Pharm Educ. 2016 Mar 25;80(2):22.
9. Crowe S, Maina M, Pekny C, Obulinji F, Karwa R, Pastakia SD. International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP). Interprofessional Education in a Pharmacy Context: Global Report 2015. The Hague: International Pharmaceutical Federation; 2015.
10. Pastakia SD, Karwa R, Maina M.  Reframing the focus of international health experiences.  Pharmacy Times.  Nov 15 2013. (http://www.pharmacytimes.com/publications/health-system-edition/2013/November2013/Reframing-the-Focus-of-International-Health-Experiences).
11. Tomlin CR, Miller ML, Schellhase E, New G, Karwa R, Ouma MN. Assessing reverse culture shock following an international pharmacy practice experience. Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning , Volume 6, Issue 1, 106 – 113.