Category: Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics
Associate Professor awarded $2 million to study the effect of antibody-based therapies
February 7, 2024Associate Professor Carter Cao, Ph.D., in the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy’s Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics, is harnessing the power of quantitative systems pharmacology (QSP) and cutting-edge computational modeling and simulation tools to understand how antibody-based treatments interact among diverse biological contexts. Cao’s research looks at the dynamics and mechanisms of the immune system in response to the constantly evolving diseases in our world. Using QSP, computational modeling and simulation tools will provide multi-dimensional data that navigates the body’s dynamic physiology. It will study how each immune system, diseases and antibodies interact with each other, with the hope … Read more
Fellow receives two awards from ASCPT
February 5, 2024UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy fellow, Miramar Kardouh, Pharm.D., was selected as a recipient of the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (ASCPT) 2024 Presidential Trainee Award and the 2024 David J. Goldstein Trainee Award. The Presidential Trainee Award is given by the scientific program committee who selects the top scoring abstracts by clinical pharmacologists and translational scientists in training. The David J. Goldstein Trainee Award is given to the highest scoring trainee abstract in honor of the longtime ASCPT member, who was committed to trainees and the future of the discipline of clinical pharmacology. “I’m ecstatic to get … Read more
New leaders in pharmacy: Derek Bartlett
January 16, 2024Derek Bartlett, Ph.D., joined the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy as an assistant professor in the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics (DPET) in July 2023 after 15 years working in the pharmaceutical industry. “I am thrilled to be a part of the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy and have thoroughly enjoyed getting plugged into the Carolina community,” said Bartlett. “I love the energy, curiosity and optimism of the university environment, and I appreciate the uniquely collaborative culture here.” He completed a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering at Stanford University and received a master’s and doctorate in chemical engineering at … Read more
Erin Heinzen granted tenure in DPET
January 3, 2024Erin Heinzen, Pharm.D., Ph.D., associate professor in the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics (DPET) at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, has been granted tenure. She also holds a joint appointment in the UNC Department of Genetics. “Tenure is a great honor to receive. I am very thankful for the support of the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy and School of Medicine. I look forward to our continued successes,” Heinzen said. Heinzen joined the School in 2020 from Columbia University where she previously served as deputy director of the Institute of Genetic Medicine and was the Herbert Irving Assistant … Read more
CBD effects on the liver
November 8, 2023Cannabidiol (CBD) has gained popularity in the U.S. and Europe and is widely consumed and promoted to improve a variety of health conditions. Although safe for most, in rare instances, people receiving high daily doses of CBD can develop abnormalities in liver blood tests consistent with liver toxicity. In a recent study led by Dr. Paul Watkins, Howard Q. Ferguson Distinguished Professor in the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, he and his colleagues looked at the risk of this potential liver injury when CBD was combined with Valproate (VPA), another medication … Read more
New center to help advance placenta and fetal health
October 23, 2023The UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy is partnering with Rutgers University, Tulane University, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Rochester to launch the Integrated Transporter Elucidation Center (InTEC) supported by a $5 million grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The goal of InTEC is to better understand the placental transport proteins involved in the prenatal disposition of nutrients, drugs and toxic chemicals. This work will support drug development and post-marketing drug safety for medications used during pregnancy. “We will fill the knowledge … Read more
Research to help eliminate barriers patients face when taking oral chemotherapy drugs
September 13, 2023Benyam Muluneh, Pharm.D. ‘10, assistant professor in the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy is starting a new project focused on optimizing the delivery of cancer care for North Carolinian patients taking orally administered chemotherapy drugs. With the support of a $1 million National Cancer Institute grant, Muluneh’s end goal for the project, which will be piloted in urban community and rural cancer centers, is to better understand the barriers patients face in being able to start and then stay on their oral anticancer drugs, which will lead to a patient-centered intervention that … Read more
Dumond receives $3.4 million from NIH to improve HIV treatment outcomes
August 4, 2021Julie Dumond, Pharm.D., M.S., is focused on improving the lives of patients living with HIV. Dumond, a faculty member in the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy’s Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics (DPET) is primarily focused on the pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics of antiretrovirals for HIV treatment and prevention. Her recent five-year, $3,453,929 grant from the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, will help propel her latest research, “Quantifying Sex-and-Age-Related Differences in Antiretroviral Exposure and Adverse Effects in the MACS/WIHS Combined Cohort Study.” MACS/WIHS, meaning Multicenter AIDS Clinical Study/Women’s Interagency HIV Study. The long-term objective of the … Read more
Craig Lee, Pharm.D, Ph.D. promoted to professor in Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics
July 28, 2021Craig Lee, Pharm.D, Ph.D., has been promoted to full professor in the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy’s Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics (DPET), effective July 1. “I am very honored to receive this recognition from the School and University, which would not be possible without the tremendous support I have received from my family and so many wonderful mentors, collaborators, students, fellows, and staff,” Lee said. “I am eager to advance our research that focuses on developing and evaluating more precise medication selection and dosing strategies that improve patient health, and to help train the next generation of … Read more
Klarissa Jackson secures $1.9 million from NIH to study drug metabolism in ethnically diverse populations
July 23, 2021Klarissa Jackson, Ph.D., is the recipient of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award for Early-Stage Investigators (R35). The five-year award totals $1,908,009 and will support her project titled, “Interindividual Variability in Drug Metabolism in Ethnically Diverse Populations.” Jackson said the goal of her project is to better understand how genetic and non-genetic factors affect drug metabolism and drug response in patients from understudied ethnic backgrounds. “We believe this research is important to individualize drug treatment for patients to be able to maximize beneficial drug effects and minimize serious adverse effects,” she said. Jackson, along with … Read more