By Seth Humble, Digital Content Specialist

Bruce Biundo, one of PCCA’s clinical compounding pharmacists, is a man given over to a tranquil demeanor. He carries about him a venerable gentility. His eloquence is moderated by a vocabulary that runs deep and straight. Bruce, in other words, is a man who says what he means and looks you in the eye authoritatively while saying it, but without any kind of hubris. The word to describe him is — genuine. 

“I was born in Independence, Louisiana. It’s a small town with a population of about 1,800 people, close to New Orleans. When I grew up, there was no interstate, so there was just highway running through town.” 

“What was it like for you there?” I ask. 

“It was a time when small towns did pretty well. It was largely a strawberry-farming community, so people did all of their shopping locally. My father was a pharmacist, and my mother worked in the pharmacy, too. They owned the pharmacy after working seven days a week for years. It was an enormous part of our lives. We lived above the pharmacy, which people might find hard to believe now. One of my first jobs, after my dad installed a soda fountain, was as a Soda Jerk. I have many fond memories of it.”

There is a passing whimsy that tugs at the line of Bruce’s mouth, a smile threaded to a memory. 

“How have those memories shaped you in adulthood?” I ask.

Bruce lets out a low, slow breath as he considers. “It’s about answering one question at a time to ensure that a person gets the exact answer they need — one pharmacy at a time.” 

Bruce mentions that whenever he goes on vacation or a road trip, he likes to stop inside small community pharmacies along his path, just to check in and see how they are doing. He expresses a deep and abiding commitment to maintaining those relationships. He would never say it himself, but this commitment is likely one of the many reasons Bruce was named the Texas Pharmacy Association’s Pharmacist of the Year in 2013, among his many other accolades. This is an award that recognizes a pharmacist who possesses a record of unquestionable integrity, outstanding service to the local or state association, and a personal record of exemplary service to the pharmacy community. And if there is one particular branch of pharmacy compounding that Bruce is renowned for assisting with, it is hormone replacement therapy (HRT). After having read his recent article on how to establish yourself as a men's health consultant onThe PCCA Blog, I wanted to ask Bruce about his thoughts on the prevalence of HRT.

“HRT has exploded in the last 20 years. How did that happen?” I ask.

“I’m not sure there is any one thing. It was beginning to happen a few years before that. It was beginning to become interesting because we knew, as pharmacists, that it would provide a unique opportunity to begin educating people about it. So we started hormone education events. I don’t remember exactly what we said at those early events, but I do remember everyone who was there.”

That statement about remembering the specific people gets a smile out of me, but Bruce is in the zone; he’s educating me now, seemingly unaware of the wonderful statement he just made. 

I remember everyone who was there. 

Bruce continues, naming the important folks who worked with him. “Then, not too long after, I realized that our information was heavily focused on women’s HRT, so I began looking for clinical data on what HRT could do for men. I read every book I could find, investigated the research. I first presented on men’s HRT at International Seminar in April of 1999 — 21 years ago. Over the years, more clinical data continued to come out. And now, with bioidentical hormones …” 

What happens next is something that is wonderful and only possible when in the hands of a true expert. Bruce Biundo summarizes the history of HRT and the nuances between traditional hormones and bioidentical hormones. He describes how those two things shaped the development of HRT as both a medical necessity and as a commercial opportunity that contributed to the prevalent anti-aging culture in America. He provides a detailed explanation as to why the delivery vehicle for testosterone matters and why patients see different results when using those varying bases. He calls these things the basics, the simple foundational pieces to understanding modern HRT. 

He summarizes all this in three minutes. 

Concise. Never belittling, always intentional. He does this thing, this practiced, almost magical thing, and when he stops talking, I catch myself hoping he will go on. Bruce has done what only the consummate teacher can do: remind you how much, as humans, we love to learn. 

“So what would you say has made the most meaningful impact on you during your time at PCCA?” I ask. 

For the first time since we started speaking, Bruce’s eyes fall away from mine after a question. His index finger curls around the cleft of his chin, and he thinks for what seems a long measure of time.

“There is something about being at PCCA that is analogous to being a small community pharmacist,” he eventually replies. “You see the same people over a long period of time — develop relationships, trust. Over 21 years ago, I gave my first presentation on HRT, and I still talk with people who were there.” 

He shifts in his chair, straightening up. 

“When people ask me what I do at PCCA, I tell them, ‘I talk to my friends on the phone, and I try to help them.’ That’s what it means to me — to be able to help your friends.” 

This is Bruce Biundo — a man who grew up among the strawberry fields of Independence, Louisiana, as the son of a pharmacist who knew from a time when he was very young that he wanted to help people through pharmacy care. He is a kind man, though fiercely knowledgeable. And he embodies PCCA’s spirit that seeks to empower compounding pharmacies and ensure they get the very best information for the challenges they face.