Our Team

Lars Brichta, PharmD, PhD

COO and Director of Clinical and Scientific Affairs

Lars graduated from pharmacy school at the Martin Luther University in Halle, Germany and received his PhD in Neurogenetics from the Universities of Bonn and Cologne. Before moving to the United States, he worked in hospital and retail pharmacies in Germany. He also gained experience in the Research and Development department of Novartis Pharma AG in Basel, Switzerland, where he studied the impact of pharmaceutical excipients on the pharmacokinetic behavior of antihypertensive drugs.

Lars is an expert in the field of neurologic and neurodegenerative disorders. After training at the National Institutes of Health, he studied the degeneration of motor neurons in spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a rare genetic disease that mainly affects children, and discovered the therapeutic potential of histone deacetylase inhibitors. From 2006 until 2015, he carried out research focusing on the molecular underpinnings of dopaminergic neuron degeneration in Parkinson’s disease at the Rockefeller University in New York in the laboratory of Nobel Laureate Paul Greengard and identified novel proteins involved in the loss of these neurons. Lars published a number of articles in several renowned scientific journals. 

At Chemistry Rx, Lars provides consultations on novel and specialty medications to practitioners and patients and supports practitioners in obtaining prior authorizations. He specializes in the development of novel formulations for various disorders with a focus on dermatologic conditions in children and adults as well as mitochondrial, metabolic and other rare disorders. One of the recent projects in which Lars has been involved was the development of topical Janus kinase inhibitors for pediatric alopecia.

Vivi Jung, PharmD, RPh

Pharmacist in Charge 

Vivi Jung graduated with honors from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy in 2014 with a Bachelor of Science in Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Studies and a Doctorate in Pharmacy. As the Pharmacist in Charge, she handles all licensing, accreditation and credentialing for the pharmacy to maintain the highest standards for compounding and patient care. 

Vivi oversees regulatory affairs and accreditation compliance, as well as precepts pharmacy students and interns.  She also provides other healthcare professionals with clinical information and support for prior authorizations. 

Houry Lepedjian, PharmD, RPh

Pharmacist

Houry graduated with honors from the Lebanese American University in Beirut, Lebanon in 2015 with a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy. In 2016, she received her Doctorate of Pharmacy degree after finishing a 5 month internship at the Methodist Hospital in Houston, TX.  She then accepted an internship at Chemistry Rx Pharmacy, which opened her eyes to the variety of disease states and the fast-paced world of specialty pharmacists.  

Multilingual in Arabic, Armenian, Turkish and basic French, Houry helps to ensure international patients receive exceptional care and support they can rely on.   

Mary Campbell, RN BSN

Senior Nurse Coordinator

Mary is a Registered Nurse with over 12 years of experience in nursing education, medical-surgical, pedia​​trics, oncology and women’s health. At Chemistry Rx, she works to provide patient education, support practitioners in obtaining prior authorizations and acts as liaison between patients and their insurance providers. Mary helped to found the first ambulatory care Shared Governance Council at Penn Medicine and the University of Pennsylvania, for whom she served as their Chairperson for 2 years.

Krupesh Patel, BS – Pharmacology

Director of Quality Assurance

Krupesh Patel graduated from the University of Sciences, Philadelphia with a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacology in 2015. He started working at Chemistry Rx in 2014 and received extensive training at PCCA.  Since 2015, Krupesh is the lead compounding technician and enjoys working with our pharmacists to formulate novel medications. He is also in charge of the pharmacy’s employee safety initiatives and takes care of IT and other technical operation issues that may arise.

Krupesh is currently working towards his Masters degree in Regulatory Affairs at Temple University.  

Eric Pauly, CPhT

Compounding Technician

Eric Pauly, CPhT attained pharmacy technician certification in November 2003.  He has worked in pharmacy practice settings including insurance research analyst, billing, hospice compounding, and now specialty compounding at Chemistry Rx.   

Rachael Innerst

Director of Marketing

Rachael joined Chemistry Rx in 2018 focusing on marketing, brand management, and website development.  She has 7 years of experience building brand identities through content creation and curation that drives both marketing strategies and social engagement.

After graduating with a Bachelors degree from Temple University, Rachael was a freelance graphic designer focusing on building a diverse portfolio.  She then accepted a position as Creative Director at a skincare company, where she oversaw all design aspects, advertising, and consumer outreach. 

While her work with Chemistry Rx is relatively new, she looks forward to driving marketing efforts and enhancing Chemistry Rx’s brand identity.