💘 Love is in the air at the UI College of Pharmacy! 💘 

For some students, college is where you meet your significant other and for others, college is a journey you embark on together. Such is the case for our pharmacy sweetheart couples below: 
 

Wesam Ismail and Esra'a Khader

PhD students Wesam Ismail and Esra’a Khader met after their graduation from Jordan University of Science and Technology and married in 2015 in Jordan. They then moved to Saudi Arabia and worked at the College of Pharmacy King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences. During their time in Jordan, they welcomed their first child, a son named Al Walid. The couple then moved to Iowa City in 2019, when Ismail started his PhD program in Health Services Research at the UI College of Pharmacy. Khader joined the program two years later, after the birth of their second child, a daughter named Jeanine.  

Ismail’s research focuses on the safety of kidney transplant medications in children, while Khader’s focuses on detecting hypertension in young adults in the United States. 

Ismail and Khader spend most of their time with their children and love to cook together. After their PhD programs conclude, the pair hopes to find a place where they can work together in the future. Said Ismail, “Our partnership has been successful so far, and we believe it will continue to be so in the next phase.” 
 

Matthew Yeates and Kaitlyn Pegump

Alumni Matthew Yeates, '21 PharmD and Kaitlyn Pegump, '21 PharmD, '22 R, met in 2017 during their first year of pharmacy school. They remained friends throughout pharmacy school and were both heavily involved with Kappa Psi. Yeates moved to Washington state after graduation and Pegump stayed in Iowa. They rekindled their friendship and ultimately started their relationship at a mutual pharmacy friend’s wedding in November 2022. They had a long-distance relationship for a year and then Yeates moved back to Iowa in October 2023. Shortly after his return, Yeates surprised Pegump with a proposal!

The couple is getting married this April in Des Moines and will honeymoon in Aruba in June. In their free time, they enjoy going to the gym and attending West Coast Swing dance classes.

Both Yeates and Pegump work for Towncrest Pharmacy Corporation in Iowa City. Yeates is the director of New Practice Initiatives and manager at Towncrest Wellness Apothecary. Pegump is the director of Clinical Operations and manager for Towncrest Pharmacy in Iowa City.