MONROE, LA – The University of Louisiana Monroe College of Pharmacy has been awarded a grant in the amount of $10,436 from the Living Well Foundation to support the Rural Health Stroke Education Project. The grant was recognized at a ceremony at the College of Pharmacy on September 17, 2025. The initiative focuses on education and technology to help frontline providers deliver lifesaving treatment faster and more safely.
The Rural Health Stroke Education Project is led by Emily McGee, PharmD, BCEMP, BCPS, NREMT, Clinical Assistant Professor in the College of Pharmacy and Emergency Medicine Clinical Pharmacy Specialist.
“This initiative is about building confidence, reducing delays, and ultimately impacting the lives of our patients in Ouachita Parish and surrounding areas. By equipping rural providers with education and tools, we can improve outcomes for patients who might otherwise face devastating consequences of stroke,” said McGee.
Stroke is one of the leading causes of death and disability in the United States. In rural communities, limited resources and longer response times often lead to worse outcomes. Timely administration of clot-busting medications is proven to improve stroke outcomes and recovery, but their use can be complicated.
With the grant from the Living Well Foundation, the ULM College of Pharmacy is launching a comprehensive educational program that includes on-site training at rural emergency departments and EMS bases, quick-reference tools, and hands-on practice for rural healthcare providers. The program also features a new webpage and mobile app developed in collaboration with ULM Computer Science students that provides real-time stroke management guidance and clinical pharmacy expertise.
“We are pleased to be a part of an important education project with the ULM College of Pharmacy,” said Alice Prophit, President and CEO of the Living Well Foundation. “These life-saving stroke medication interventions are vital to the well-being of people in our rural parishes in northeast Louisiana. The perspectives Dr. McGee has developed for the support of those frontline providers to be prepared for services at the point of first intervention will save lives within the most crucial moments of a stroke. We’re proud of our ULM College of Pharmacy and the opportunities for students to learn from these important strategies,” Prophit added.
McGee states that the project not only strengthens rural healthcare but also highlights the growing role of pharmacists in emergency medicine and emphasizes their role as members of the interdisciplinary team. Pharmacy students will join the sessions to gain valuable interdisciplinary experience working alongside EMS, nurses, and physicians.
Also contributing to the project are College of Pharmacy faculty Ashley Barbo, PharmD, and Angela Moore, PharmD, BSN, as well as Computer Science Program Chair Prasanthi Sreekumari, Ph.D.
Student contributors include, from the College of Pharmacy Jodi Bourgiois, Caitlyn Breedlove, Kaitlyn Edwards, Marie Grisaffe, and Anaya Whitney, and from the Computer Science Program, Abhishek Amgain and Dinesh Chhantyal.
McGee says the project began in the summer of 2025, with the group making preparations to provide education to rural emergency departments and EMS bases in and surrounding Ouachita Parish. The first training session will take place on October 2, and sessions will continue throughout the region through November 2026.
The webpage created for the project is currently live and will be introduced to healthcare providers at each session. The page is a reference designed to provide rapid access to essential information in time-sensitive stroke management, offering guidance on medication use, including complex dose calculations and eligibility criteria that are critical for safe and effective stroke management. The webpage can be viewed at codestrokepro.org.
The Living Well Foundation is a non-profit public charity created from the sale of a local public hospital in 2006. Grants and initiatives are funded to improve the health and well-being of populations in 8 parishes within northeast Louisiana. More information can be found at livingwellfoundation.net.
