Heather Lyons-Burney, a clinical associate professor and assistant director of experiential learning at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) School of Pharmacy, has been named the 2025 Outstanding Faculty Liaison of the Year by the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) Foundation. The award was presented during NCPA’s Annual Convention in New Orleans, Louisiana, which took place from October 18 to 21.
The Outstanding Faculty Liaison of the Year award is given to a faculty member who shows strong leadership and dedication to independent pharmacy, their NCPA Student Chapter, and their local community. The selection process for this recognition involved blind judging to ensure impartiality.
Lyons-Burney has been with UMKC since 2014. During her tenure, she has served as an NCPA faculty adviser and mentored student teams in competitions such as the Good Neighbor Pharmacy NCPA Pruitt-Schutte Student Business Plan Competition. She also teaches topics like compounding, self-care pharmacotherapy, leadership, management, and innovation. Her work includes providing experiential learning opportunities focused on reducing health disparities in rural and underserved areas.
After completing her residency, Lyons-Burney worked as a pharmacist in neonatal and perinatal care units at Cox Health Systems in Springfield, Missouri. She later owned a community pharmacy in Branson that expanded into three locations. In 2010, she collaborated with local leaders to establish a charitable primary care clinic offering affordable health services to underserved populations. As part of her board service, she helped open My Neighbor’s Charitable Pharmacy in February 2023—the first designated charitable pharmacy in Missouri—offering uninsured individuals access to medications, immunizations, lab tests and screenings, and pharmacist care. She also serves on boards such as the Taney County Health Department Board.
Her involvement extends to substance use disorder prevention efforts through county coalitions and Missouri’s ECHO program. Lyons-Burney has contributed to grants aimed at improving opioid prescribing practices and preventing opioid use disorder. Recently, she has worked on initiatives to increase colorectal cancer screening rates in rural communities by using community pharmacies as access points.
Lyons-Burney’s contributions have previously been recognized with several awards: UMKC School of Pharmacy Alumni Achievement Award (2017), Branson Chamber Mary Award (2021), Pharmacy Bowl of Hygeia Award (2023), and Humanitarian of the Year from the Community Foundation of the Ozarks (2023).
Reflecting on her career and personal life achievements—including nearly three decades married to her husband Brian and raising three children—Lyons-Burney values both family partnerships and professional relationships built over years in pharmacy.
Josh Henderson, a pharmacy student who nominated Lyons-Burney for this award said: “Her leadership style seamlessly blends autonomy with unwavering support, fostering trust, independence, and accountability. She encourages initiative while remaining a constant source of guidance, insight, and encouragement. Her words shaped my leadership, and her role in the business plan competition further demonstrates her commitment to fostering innovation in independent pharmacy.”
The NCPA Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded in 1953 that supports independent community pharmacists through education and charitable programs designed to improve healthcare accessibility at the community level. More information about its mission can be found at www.ncpafoundation.org.
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