Category: Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics
Herb Patterson receives 2021 Fred M. Eckel Pharmacy Leadership Award
July 21, 2021UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy’s Herb Patterson, Pharm.D., is the recipient of UNC Health’s 2021 Fred M. Eckel Pharmacy Leadership Award. The award is presented annually in recognition of an individual associated with the UNC Hospitals and Clinics post-graduate pharmacy training programs who has demonstrated sustained professional contributions to pharmacy practice throughout his or her career. “To win any award from the UNC Department of Pharmacy is an honor and particularly one named after one of my mentors, Fred Eckel. When I saw the list of previous winners it is very humbling to now be a part of that group,” Patterson said. The … Read more
Three Ph.D. students receive American Foundation for Pharmaceutical Education fellowship
July 14, 2021UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy Ph.D. students, Daisy Zhu, Pharm.D., and Aaron Devanathan, Pharm.D., as well as incoming Ph.D. student Patricia Maglalang, Pharm.D., are this year’s recipients of an American Foundation of Pharmaceutical Education (AFPE) fellowship. The pre-doctoral fellowship is designed to positively affect patient and public health by supporting high performing Ph.D. students who possess the skill and aptitude to become outstanding scientists and leaders in the pharmaceutical industry, academia, and government/nonprofit sectors, according to the AFPE. The fellowship stipend allows students to make progress in their pursuit of a Ph.D. degree. Each of the School’s recognized students work … Read more
Meet Matthew Loop, new faculty member in the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics
October 30, 2020The UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy’s Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics (DPET) welcomes new Assistant Professor, Matthew Loop, Ph.D., FAHA. Matthew joined the team on Aug. 1 and comes from UNC’s Gillings School of Global Public Health, where he was an assistant professor in the Department of Biostatistics for four years. At the School of Pharmacy, he will be teaching Quantitative Methods in Clinical Research within the DPET Ph.D. program, collaborating with fellow faculty, students, and fellows on projects within the Partnership in Patient Care, and driving forward his own new research program on precision treatment and outcomes of … Read more
School of Pharmacy, School of Medicine work together to combat cystic fibrosis
October 26, 2020More than 30,000 people in the United States are living with cystic fibrosis and an estimated 1,000 new cases are diagnosed each year, according to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Patient Registry. Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a genetic disease that affects glands in all body systems and can lead to recurrent and chronic bacterial infections of the lungs, or premature death. That’s why Gauri Rao, Pharm.D., M.S., with the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy and Marianne Muhlebach, MD, with UNC’s Department of Pediatrics are joining forces with their respective expertise to find better ways to treat those chronic infections. The research … Read more
Heinzen awarded two grants totaling $7 million to identify, study genetic variants that cause epilepsy
October 9, 2020Erin Heinzen, Pharm.D., Ph.D. recently received two collaborative R01 grants totaling $7 million from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke to identify and study epilepsy-causing genetic variants that arise during brain development. One grant focuses on identifying genetic variants that are responsible for seizures by studying the brain tissue of individuals with epilepsy who undergo surgery to treat persistent seizures. “As a first priority we seek to identify the causes of seizures in children and adults who suffer from seizures that do not stop with any available medication. Once we know the cause we can then study what the … Read more
Team awarded $3.5 million grant to study outcomes on use of genetic information to guide therapy to prevent blood clots
July 31, 2020Researchers from the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, the UNC School of Medicine, and the University of Florida have teamed up to study the effect of using genetic information to guide treatment after an angioplasty heart procedure on preventing heart attacks and strokes. The group recently received a $3.5 million grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) to pursue their work. Blood clots leading to heart attack or stroke are one of the most common complications following an angioplasty, also known as a percutaneous coronary intervention. In the procedure, doctors place a stent to open blocked or … Read more
Researchers team up through $1.6 million NIH grant to understand medication dosing in pregnant women
May 27, 2020It has been estimated that up to 80 percent of pregnant women take at least one medication during pregnancy. The problem with that, according to Craig Lee, associate professor in the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, is that most medications prescribed during pregnancy lack dosing information specific to that vulnerable population. This often results in off-label prescribing, trial-and-error drug dosing, therapeutic failures, and toxic effects. Lee, along with a team of researchers from across the UNC-Chapel Hill health science campus, are teaming up to find out how pregnancy hormones affect the elimination … Read more
Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics adds new associate professor
January 27, 2020Erin Heinzen, Pharm.D., Ph.D., has been hired as an associate professor at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy in the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics with a joint appointment in the UNC Department of Genetics. Heinzen received her Pharm.D. (2001) and her Ph.D. (2004) in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She then went on to do postdoctoral training with Dr. Richard Mailman in the UNC Department of Psychiatry and Dr. David Goldstein at Duke University. Heinzen comes to the School from Columbia University where she previously served as Deputy Director of the Institute … Read more
Schools of Pharmacy, Medicine unite through pilot grant to improve care of older adults in nursing homes
November 19, 2019Dr. Christine E. Kistler of the UNC School of Medicine has dedicated her entire career to improving the care of older adults, especially those in nursing homes. She said evidence suggests that two-thirds of nursing home residents in the United States experience an adverse event from a medication in any four-year period. One in seven of those adverse events leads to a hospitalization. “Seeing the harms of adverse events from medications, I have wondered if pharmacogenomics might improve safe prescribing and reduce patient harm,” she said. That’s where a team of researchers at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy come … Read more
Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics welcomes two team members
July 12, 2019Two new faculty members joined the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy’s Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics on July 1. Get to know Benyam Muluneh, Pharm.D., BCOP, CPP, and Klarissa Jackson, Ph.D.: Q: What is your hometown? Benyam: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Klarissa: Tyler, Texas Q: What are you looking forward to about your new role? Benyam: I am looking forward to contributing to the teaching and scholarship missions at the School with the ultimate goal of improving the lives of patients. I am excited about collaborators and mentors within the Eshelman School of Pharmacy in … Read more