[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 60 (Monday, April 5, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E342]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  RECOGNIZING TAMPA'S HEALTH CARE HERO, DR. KEVIN SNEED, IN HONOR OF 
                          BLACK HISTORY MONTH

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. KATHY CASTOR

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, April 5, 2021

  Ms. CASTOR of Florida. Madam Speaker, in honor of Black History 
Month, I am celebrating Tampa's health care heroes. I rise today in 
admiration and respect for the service and leadership of Dr. Kevin 
Sneed, a tenured professor and the founding dean of the University of 
South Florida (USF) College of Pharmacy. Born in 1968, he was raised in 
Orlando, FL. His parents were both public school teachers and were part 
of the initial wave of educators to desegregate Orange County public 
schools. As a student at Edgewater High School, he was a shining star--
senior class vice president, a member of the National Honor Society and 
a football and track athlete.
  He attended the University of Central Florida to earn his bachelor's 
degree in biology with a concentration in microbiology. While it is 
apparent that he was drawn to the sciences, it was a significant 
illness while in college that furthered his appreciation for health 
care and inspired him to enter this field. Dr. Sneed then received his 
Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Xavier University of Louisiana College 
of Pharmacy, where he received numerous clinical and leadership awards. 
He returned to Florida to complete an Ambulatory Care/Primary Care 
Pharmacy Practice Specialty Residency at Bay Pines Veteran's 
Administration Medical Center.
  Prior to joining USF, Dr. Sneed was a faculty member at Florida A&M 
University College of Pharmacy. He joined USF Health as assistant dean 
and then founded its College of Pharmacy, which this year will 
celebrate its 10-year anniversary since welcoming its first charter 
class. In 2019, the College of Pharmacy received a $10 million donation 
from the Taneja Family Foundation, marking a transformational milestone 
for the young school and validating the innovative education experience 
that centers around the Primary Care Clinical Pharmacist, which trains 
pharmacists and physicians together. USF is a pioneer of this in 
Florida.
  One of Dr. Sneed's research and clinical interests is examining 
health care disparities. He regularly partners with organizations, such 
as the American Heart Association and REACHUP, Inc., to shine a light 
on these disparities and improve health outcomes, and his efforts were 
more critical than ever this past year during the COVID-19 pandemic. 
During this time, Dr. Sneed has been dedicated to educating African 
American and Latino communities on how to understand the coronavirus 
and prepare for the vaccine, while working with the medical research 
community to help ensure equitable distribution among communities of 
color. Black and Hispanic populations that contract COVID-19 have a 
higher death rate by 2.8 times their white counterparts, according to 
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The same dataset also 
demonstrates even higher hospitalization rates for Black and Hispanic 
populations. Dr. Sneed's efforts surely will save lives.
  Dr. Sneed is active in national and state organizations, among which 
include the American Heart Association, Association of Black 
Cardiologists, National Pharmaceutical Association, American Society of 
Health-System Pharmacists, American Association of Colleges of 
Pharmacy, Florida Pharmacy Association, Florida Society of Health-
System Pharmacists, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc, and Sigma Pi Phi 
Fraternity. His work has been published in numerous peer-reviewed 
journals, book chapters, abstracts, poster presentations, and he has 
participated in multiple federal and industry sponsored grant projects. 
Notably, Dr. Sneed served as a site principal investigator and co-
investigator on medication clinical trials.
  Madam Speaker, on behalf of a grateful nation in the midst of a 
public health crisis and the Tampa Bay community, I am proud to 
recognize the service and leadership of Dr. Kevin Sneed, and his 
audacious, inspiring vision to transform health care in a way that 
empowers the clinician, but more importantly, the patient.

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