University of Michigan College of Pharmacy Spotlights Parcel Health
Markie Heideman’s feature entitled, “PharmD Alum Donning Maize and Blue, but Committed to Being ‘Green’” published November 11, 2024, kicked off by telling the story of how our CEO and Co-founder, Melinda Su-En Lee, felt compelled to find an alternative to orange plastic vials.
Snippet from the feature, “PharmD Alum Donning Maize and Blue, but Committed to Being ‘Green’,” published November 11, 2024
“I overheard a patient complaining about how much plastic she received from just pill bottles. At that moment, a tiny spark began to ignite,” the feature explained, quoting Dr. Lee.
The article goes on to describe how Dr. Lee forged a partnership with Mallory Barrett, an award winning designer from North Carolina, and the two pitched to the flagship entrepreneurship prize at the Ross School of Business.
“We were shocked when we won first place. We won in all three categories: the Siegel Impact Track, the OneMagnify Best in Business, and the student-voted Michigan Investment Challenge prize,” recounts Dr. Lee.
Between the support from the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, College of Pharmacy, and the Leadership Scholar Program (LSP), of which Lee was the 2019 Joseph D. Williams Scholar, Parcel Health’s roots began sprouting in Ann Arbor. It was there, as part of the LSP program, she met Dr. Jim Stevenson, Professor Emeritus at University of Michigan College of Pharmacy and connected over entrepreneurship in pharmacy.
Dr. Stevenson served as an early advisor for Parcel Health, helping the company navigate regulatory compliance and pharmacy automation considerations. Today, Dr. Stevenson continues to serve as an advisor to Parcel Health.
We are so grateful for this effort by the College of Pharmacy to tell our story and continue the support of our mission to fill medicine cabinets with safe parcels, not plastics.
Go Blue!