HOPA Fellow Reflects on Mentorship, Leadership, and the Future of Oncology Pharmacy

At the HOPA Annual Meeting 2025, Pharmacy Times spoke with Alexandra Wolff, PharmD, BCOP, FHOPA, clinical pharmacist coordinator and PGY2 oncology residency program director at Atrium Health, about her work in oncology pharmacy, the Fellow award she received, and the significance of meetings like HOPA. Wolff emphasizes the importance of staying curious and adaptable in the rapidly evolving field of oncology.

Pharmacy Times: Can you introduce yourself?

Alexandra Wolff, PharmD, BCOP, FHOPA: My name is Alexandra Wolff. I go by Alex. I went to West Virginia University for both my undergraduate and pharmacy school training. I then stayed at WVU Medicine to complete my PGY1 and PGY2 residency training.

After residency, I took a position in the outpatient cancer center there, where I launched the clinical pharmacy presence in the outpatient stem cell transplant clinic. I was the first pharmacist in that space and helped to develop and pioneer the program. I spent four years there working with that team and had some amazing mentors during that time.

In 2017, I moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, and joined Atrium Health at the Levine Cancer Institute, which is where I am now. I currently serve as the residency program director for our PGY2 oncology program. I’ve mentored about 15 residents over the years, both at West Virginia and now at Atrium Health.

At Atrium, I work in a variety of capacities, primarily within hematologic malignancies, stem cell transplant, and cell therapies. I cover both acute inpatient and outpatient clinics in areas like multiple myeloma, lymphoma, and leukemia. Most recently, I’ve been involved in opening our outpatient stem cell transplant unit, which launched in November. We’re now offering CAR T-cell therapies, cellular therapies, and stem cell transplants in an outpatient setting where patients can receive care and then return home. So that’s been a really exciting development.

Pharmacy Times: What is the importance or significance of the HOPA Annual Meeting?

Wolff: HOPA is a great organization—it’s a professional resource and a place full of mentors, friends, and opportunities. HOPA does an excellent job advocating for both our patients and our profession. They ensure that pharmacists are part of critical conversations and that our skill set is fully utilized.

I’ve been involved with HOPA since the beginning of my career in a variety of roles. I spent time on the Leadership Development Subcommittee, helped get the mentorship program up and running, and most recently, I’ve been serving on the POPBC Committee. That’s the Professional Outcomes and Benchmarking Committee—it has a fun acronym, but it’s really meaningful work.

Pharmacy Times: You were awarded a Fellow of HOPA. What does this honor mean to you?

Wolff: Being recognized by HOPA is a huge career milestone. It’s very validating to be honored by people I deeply respect—colleagues within HOPA and in other organizations I’ve looked up to and worked with for years. It’s an incredible feeling to have your work acknowledged in this way. That said, I really see it as a reflection of the collaboration and support I’ve received over the course of my career. I wouldn’t be where I am without excellent mentors and amazing teams, and I’m very grateful for that.

Pharmacy Times: What advice do you have for oncology pharmacists and residents?

Wolff: But I always tell my residents to stay curious. I think that makes a good clinician. It makes you active and engaged and innovative.

And I think that oncology—and I tell my residents this all the time—is a field that is rapidly changing all the time. And so being dynamic, being flexible, and being adaptable to all of those changes is something that you're going to have to take as the healthcare system in general evolves, as oncology practice evolves, and as the way we practice patient care evolves.

You know, telehealth has become a new thing, and remote health monitoring. And I think adaptability and that curious nature that we have as students and residents—keeping that—really helps to keep you engaged throughout.

So I like to tell my residents to stay curious, stay engaged. Don't get to the point where you don't care anymore. Most of us get into oncology because we care about something—someone, some process, some passion that was lit on fire at some point.

And I want us to hang on to that. It does get burdensome in oncology sometimes, from an emotional standpoint—it’s very emotionally deep. And so, trying to keep it light, trying to connect to the parts and pieces and those emotional aspects that you can, and staying curious to the science part of it—asking the good questions. Always ask the hard questions.