Nishaminy Kasbekar is vice president and chief pharmacy officer at Penn Medicine, where she was named the health system’s inaugural CPO in 2023.
Her tenure at Penn Medicine spans more than 25 years, beginning in 1997 as a clinical pharmacy specialist in infectious diseases before she advanced to director of pharmacy and then chief pharmacy officer of Penn Presbyterian Medical Center. In her systemwide role she leads pharmacy strategy and operations across one of the nation’s leading academic health systems. Dr. Kasbekar is a past president of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, the first Indian American elected to lead the organization, reflecting her national stature in the profession.
She earned her bachelor of science in pharmacy and her doctor of pharmacy from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science and completed residencies in pharmacy practice and infectious diseases at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. She has received numerous honors, including recognition as a fellow of ASHP, the PSHP Pharmacist of the Year Award and an honorary doctorate from Saint Joseph’s University.
Her career reflects deep expertise in infectious diseases pharmacy, health-system leadership and the advancement of the profession at a national level.