BCBS made generic medications for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, congestive heart failure, and diabetes free to nearly 75,000 patients, which resulted in statistically significant improvements in patients’ adherence to their medication, researchers at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy found. The copayment for brand-name drugs was also lowered.
Over a two-year period, adherence improved by 2 percent to 5 percent across six drug classes compared to patients who were not enrolled in the program with lower drug costs. Patients who were historically bad about not taking their medicines (defined by the researchers as patients who used their medication correctly less than half the time) improved their adherence by 3 percent to 9 percent over the same period. Their findings were published in the June issue of the American Journal of Managed Care.
“Our study suggests that cost is a significant burden for patients who need medications for important chronic illnesses,” says Joel Farley, PhD, lead author of the study. “Reducing that burden on patients can improve their adherence to their prescribed treatment. This could result in better health outcomes, which is something we are currently evaluating.”
Farley is an assistant professor in the Division of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. His coauthors on the study are Daryl Wansink, PhD, of BCBS; Jennifer H. Lindquist, MStat, Durham Veterans Affairs; John C. Parker, PhD, BCBS; and Matthew L. Maciejewski, PhD, of Duke University Medical Center.
This work was supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Health Care Financing and Organization Initiative (#67641) and BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina. Maciejewski was also supported by a Research Career Scientist Award from the Department of Veterans Affairs (RCS 10-391).
]]>McLeod will be honored with Coriell’s Scientific Award at a reception on May 23 at the Union League of Philadelphia. The institute also presents a humanitarian award and an ambassador award.
As an internationally recognized expert in the field of pharmacogenomics, McLeod has helped identify genetic variations that predispose patients to risk of severe side effects or inadequate benefit from drugs. His research also modified FDA dosing guidelines for warfarin, a blood thinner prescribed to more than two million people in the United States.
The Camden, New Jersey–based Coriell institute is an independent nonprofit research center dedicated to the study of the human genome. The Coriell Personalized Medicine Collaborative research study is seeking to understand the usefulness of genetic risk and pharmacogenomics in clinical decision making and health-care management.
]]>]]>
Lai has received a Career Award from the National Science Foundation, the NSF’s most prestigious award for the development of junior faculty. The five-year, $400,000 award will support his research into stopping pathogens in the body’s mucous membranes. He will also be part of several educational efforts, including working with a precollege science-education program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to develop a curriculum to teach middle and high school students about the health functions of mucus.
Most infections do not begin in the blood or enter through undamaged skin. Instead, they are transmitted at exposed mucosal surfaces such as the pulmonary, gastrointestinal, and reproductive tracts, Lai says. That makes mucus—the slimy and sticky secretions that line mucosal surfaces—the first line of defense against pathogens such as viruses. Despite the importance of mucous membranes in protecting against foreign substances, Lai says, few people have thought to take advantage of mucus in developing methods to prevent infections.
“In this project, we will explore how the immune system can be tuned to transform mucus into a sticky mesh against diverse pathogens, effectively trapping them in mucus and reducing infections in the process,” he says.
Lai is collaborating with two applied mathematicians—Greg Forest, PhD, and Scott McKinley, PhD—to create models to predict how effectively antibodies can immobilize a wide range of viruses in mucus. Forest is the Grant Dahlstrom Distinguished Professor of Mathematics & Biomedical Engineering in the Department of Mathematics at UNC-Chapel Hill, while McKinley is an assistant professor at the University of Florida.
As part of the project, Lai will work with the DESTINY Traveling Science Learning Program at the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center to develop a curriculum for middle and high school students and teachers. DESTINY works to improve precollege science education in the state by developing and delivering hands-on curricula for students and teachers and providing professional development for teachers. The program has benefited more than 250,000 students and 400 teachers since its inception in 2000.
The team will develop a curriculum that uses simple, hands-on experiments to help explain real-life experiences and discuss the biology, chemistry, and physics illustrated through pathogens and mucus.
“Mucus is the reason why we can blink, eat, digest, reproduce, and breathe without getting sick constantly,” Lai says. “Mucus is a topic that catches the attention of many young students, making it a fun and effective platform to teach important principles in science and research. We hope the experience will help encourage students to pursue careers in science and medicine.”
Additionally, Lai will provide a research-immersion experience in his lab each year for at least one student from the North Carolina School of Science and Math. He will also be working with the UNC PREP program to help prepare students from groups traditionally underrepresented in the sciences for entry and success in top biomedical PhD programs.
]]>The honorees were:
Jane Yen Revollo
This award, sponsored by TEVA Pharmaceuticals, is given to the graduating student who has excelled in the study of pharmacy.
Juliana Maykish Kyle
This award is based on a student’s personal involvement in an intervention case that best illustrates the profession of pharmacy in action. Candidates submit a paper describing their professional involvement with a patient in the area of health promotion and disease prevention. Funding for this award is provided by the Pharmacy Foundation of North Carolina and given in memory of T. Roy Burgiss, BSPhar ’25, by family members Patsy Burgiss Sanders, BSPhar ’48, and Thomas Reeves Burgiss, BSPhar ’53.
Amanda Katherine Gates
This award is given each year to a third- or fourth- professional-year student who has expressed a keen interest in a career in community pharmacy and has performed well in relevant classes. Candidates are judged on an essay they prepare, as well as relevant coursework. Funding for this award is provided by the Pharmacy Foundation of North Carolina and is given in honor of Ralph P. Rogers Sr., BSPhar ’13, a prominent Durham area pharmacist, and is given by his family.
Peter Pappas Graham
This award is presented for outstanding performance by a first-, second-, or third-year student in the Pharmaceutical Care Laboratory who demonstrates excellence in professionalism, written and verbal communications, pharmaceutical compounding, medication administration, and patient care. This award is funded by the Pharmacy Foundation of North Carolina and is given by E. Scott Ballenger, BSPhar ’91, and Jennifer Smith Ballenger, AB ’87, to honor William L. Ballenger’s twenty-three years of mathematics teaching at NCSU and Robert L. Smith’s twenty-six years as a lab instructor at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy.
Jane Yen Revollo
The Division of Molecular Pharmaceutics selects a graduating student whose overall performance in the divisional course sequence is judged to be superior.
Juliana Maykish Kyle
The Division of Pharmacy Practice and Experiential Education recognizes a graduating student who demonstrates the highest level of professionalism while providing exemplary patient care during his or her pharmacy practice clerkships.
Suzan Nadimi Kalantar
The Division of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy selects a graduating student whose overall performance in relevant coursework, research, and other activities related to pharmaceutical outcomes is judged to be superior.
Elizabeth Lynn Alford
The Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics selects a graduating student who has demonstrated a high degree of professional motivation and concern about the role of the pharmacist in the delivery of health care.
Xuefang Bai
The Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry selects a graduating pharmacy student who achieved excellence in medicinal chemistry coursework and research. This award is funded by the Pharmacy Foundation of North Carolina and is named in honor of M. L. Jacobs, a medicinal chemist who was dean of the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy from 1946 to 1950.
Thomas P. Winkler
The award is presented to a student in the Honors Program in recognition of the best honors paper. Funding for this award is provided by the Pharmacy Foundation of North Carolina and is given by Fred O. Bowman Jr., MD ’50, in honor of his father, who served as general counsel to the NCPhA and the N.C. Board of Pharmacy.
Amanda M. Woods
The Lambda Chapter of Kappa Epsilon recognizes a student who has demonstrated qualities of leadership, character, service, and scholarship.
David Robert Steeb
The Epsilon Chapter of Phi Lambda Sigma recognizes a student who has most noticeably developed and exercised effective leadership skills within the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy by creating positive change, developing relationships, and empowering others.
Sarah Ashley Johannes
The student body presents this award as peer recognition for all-around service and dedication to the profession of pharmacy. The award was established in 1998 by the Student Senate and named in honor of Boka W. Hadzija, PhD, a retired pharmacy faculty member, in recognition of her many contributions to the students and educational programs of the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. The award is funded by the Pharmacy Foundation of North Carolina.
Jesse M. Fletcher
This award is given in memory of Ginny Stroud, Class of 2001, to a second-year pharmacy student who exhibits the qualities that were representative of Stroud’s character. The selected recipient must be well-rounded, trustworthy, caring, and genuine; exhibit concern for others over themselves; and demonstrate genuine concern for patients and their well-being. Funding is provided by the Pharmacy Foundation of North Carolina.
Jeremy Dale Moretz
The student body recognizes a member of the graduating class who has demonstrated the highest qualities of character, deportment, scholarship, participation in extracurricular activities, and promise of future distinction in the profession of pharmacy. This award is given by the Student Senate and is in honor of George H. Cocolas, PhD ’56, retired associate dean of the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy.
Divya Vinod Chandiramani
This award was established in 1937 and continued by David R. Davis, BSPhar ’58, of New Bern, in honor of his great-uncle, a well-known pharmacist of New Bern. The funding is provided by the Pharmacy Foundation of North Carolina and is awarded annually to a student who excels in campus citizenship and scholarship.
Jenna Marie Siskey
This award is given to a student who has demonstrated the development and implementation of programs that advance the goals stated in “Healthy People 2010” and who participates in programs that support the philosophy and goals of the U.S. Public Health Service.
Lindsey Victoria Green
This award is given in memory of Kristen Carol Burke, Class of 2012, to a third-year pharmacy student who exhibits the qualities that were representative of Burke’s character — integrity, compassion, perseverance, caring, and leadership. The recipient shares concern for others over themselves while inspiring others to do their best. Funding is provided by the Pharmacy Foundation of North Carolina.
Russell Mumper, PhD, John McNeill Distinguished Professor and Vice Dean, Division of Molecular Pharmaceutics
The PY1 Class recognizes a faculty member who teaches coursework in the first year of the professional curriculum in recognition of high qualities of instructional ability and interest in the students and the educational programs of the School.
Dennis Williams, PharmD, Associate Professor, Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics
The PY2 Class recognizes a faculty member who teaches coursework in the second year of the professional curriculum in recognition of high qualities of instructional ability and interest in the students and the educational programs of the School.
Jay Campbell, JD, Adjunct Assistant Professor
The PY3 Class recognizes a faculty member who teaches coursework in the third year of the professional curriculum in recognition of high qualities of instructional ability and interest in the students and the educational programs of the School.
Dennis Williams, PharmD, Associate Professor, Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics
The graduating class recognizes a faculty member who has demonstrated the highest qualities of instructional ability and interest in the students throughout the four years of the professional program.
Ralph Raasch, PharmD, Associate Professor, Division of Pharmacy Practice and Experiential Education
The graduating class recognizes an experiential faculty member for outstanding contributions to the educational development of future pharmacists. This individual has demonstrated high standards of professionalism, leadership, ethics, and clinical practice.
Kamakshi Rao, PharmD, UNC Hospitals
Monique Alford, PharmD, AccessCare of Robeson County/Community Care of North Carolina
The graduating class recognizes a preceptor for outstanding contributions to the educational development of future pharmacists. This individual has demonstrated high standards of professionalism, ethics, and clinical practice.
Jody L. Church, 2014 PharmD Candidate
Don Heaton ‘75, BS Phar
This award is presented to members of the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy family who exhibit outstanding and unselfish civic, community, or church volunteer service provided outside the scope of regular pharmacy practice. One award is presented to a student currently enrolled in the School. The second is awarded to an alumnus of the School or to a husband-and-wife team, at least one of whom is an alumnus. This award is funded by the Pharmacy Foundation of North Carolina and is given by the Burrus family in memory of Samuel B. Burrus, who graduated in 1915 from the Southern College of Pharmacy in Atlanta.
Keith Krumpe, PhD
This award is given to an individual whose accomplishments and contributions have enhanced the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy as well as the profession of pharmacy at the local, state, national, or international level. In particular, the recipient has provided distinguished service to the School and is therefore considered an exceptional supporter of the School’s service and outreach initiatives.
The goal of Phi Lambda Sigma is to recognize outstanding leaders in the profession of pharmacy. Phi Lambda Sigma members are expected to uphold the high standards of the society and of the profession and to dedicate themselves to further the advancement of pharmacy through exemplary leadership, character, and achievement.
Rho Chi’s fundamental objective is to stimulate and recogize academic excellence. Those elected to membership have displayed a capacity for achievement in the science and art of pharmacy and the allied sciences and a strength of character, personality, and leadership.
]]>
The program is funded by a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award Institutional Research Training Grant, known as a T32 grant, from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the NIH. The NIH established the T32 program to prepare qualified individuals for careers that have a significant impact on the health-related research needs of the nation. This is the first T32 training grant based in the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy.
Duke’s clinical research training programs combined with the clinical pharmacology expertise of the UNC pharmacy school proved to be the winning combination that helped gain approval for the grant, says Kim Brouwer, PharmD, PhD, William R. Kenan Distinguished Professor at the School and one of the program’s principal investigators.
The NIH has increased its focus on translational research, Brouwer says, and this imperative to move discoveries from the bench to the bedside has heightened awareness of the need for specialty training in clinical pharmacology.
“This is a unique training program that is preparing a new generation of clinician-scientists to address critical problems in drug therapy, particularly in understudied areas such as pediatric therapeutics and drug safety,” Brouwer says. “Our program is one of only a handful of T32 clinical pharmacology postdoctoral training programs in the U.S. It brings the best and brightest clinicians to UNC and Duke to learn cutting-edge research in clinical pharmacology.”
Fellows spend two years specializing in clinical pharmacology and learning how drugs work in the body and how that knowledge can be applied to improve patient care and safety. The program focuses on drug disposition and action, pharmacogenomics, drug safety, quantitative pharmacology, and clinical trial design. Trainees learn to design and conduct basic and clinical research necessary to investigate the effects and mechanisms of drug actions, and to optimize drug therapy, in pediatric and adult patients.
UNC and Duke share funding for this collaborative program that began last July and is funded through 2016. The first cohort of fellows was selected in spring 2011. Three physicians and four PharmDs currently are enrolled in the training program. Effective July 1 of 2012, the program will comprise nine trainee positions, five of which are funded by the NIH.
The collaboration is led by Brouwer and coprincipal investigators Danny Benjamin, MD, PhD, professor of pediatrics at Duke; and Paul Watkins, MD, director of the Hamner Institute for Drug Safety Sciences in Research Triangle Park and a professor at the pharmacy school. Brouwer is chair of the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics at the School. Benjamin is the director of the Duke Clinical Research Unit pediatrics program and associate director of the Duke Clinical Research Institute. Watkins is also a professor of medicine at the UNC School of Medicine and a professor of toxicology at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. Angela Kashuba, PharmD, a professor at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, and Robert Noveck, MD, PhD, an associate professor of medicine at Duke, run the program’s daily operations.
For more details about this clinical pharmacology postdoctoral fellowship program and application information, see pharmacy.unc.edu/t32.
]]>The University Diversity Award recognizes significant contribution to the enhancement, support and/or furtherance of diversity on the campus and in the community. The award is given annually in eight categories.
“We have worked very hard over the past few years to strengthen our contributions in this most important area,” says Dean Bob Blouin, PharmD. “Carla White, our director of recruitment and diversity initiatives, has provided incredible leadership within our School and deserves much of the credit for this award.”
Criteria for the awards include a demonstrated and sustained passion for the advancement of diversity, demonstrated and sustained contribution to the state of diversity at Carolina, demonstrated and sustained commitment to the advancement of some aspect of diversity, and achievements in support of the diversity plan’s goals or demonstrated diversity improvement efforts.
The School launched a number of initiatives in support of diversity, including a LEADership Academy and Recruitment Ambassadors Program for current students and a Leadership Excellence and Development Program, Carolina Pre-Pharmacy Club, open houses, and PCAT review for prospective students. The School has worked extensively with undergraduate admissions and strengthened its relationships with pipeline programs geared toward the recruitment and development of underrepresented students (such as the North Carolina Health Careers Access Program, Project Seed, Project Uplift and Summer Bridge) and forged stronger ties with public and private minority-serving colleges and universities.
]]>Three student-faculty teams from the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy have been named Walmart Scholars by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, marking the sixth consecutive year that the School has had at least one recipient for the award.
The School’s 2012 winners are
The Walmart Scholars Program aims to strengthen the award recipients’ skills and commitment to a career in academic pharmacy through their participation at the AACP Annual Meeting. Each student-faculty pair receives a $1,000 scholarship to help cover registration and travel costs for the meeting, which will be held this year in Kissimmee, Florida, on July 14–18.
Parsons, a third-year PharmD student, served as a teaching assistant in the School’s Pharmaceutical Care Lab during her PY3 year. She has served as president of her class and vice president of the UNC Graduate and Professional Student Federation. She has also been a member of the School’s Curriculum Committee and Academic Calendar Committee, where she provides feedback to faculty regarding course development, review, and redesign. In addition, Parsons has held leadership positions in the School’s chapter of Phi Delta Chi.
Riendeau, a graduate of the School’s PharmD program, is a PGY2 resident in geriatrics at UNC Hospitals and Clinics. At her residency, she works as part of a geriatric interdisciplinary team where she adjusts complex medication regimens, provides education to patients and caregivers, and uses other health-care professionals on the team to provide comprehensive patient care. She has also presented and lectured to pharmacy students and geriatric medicine fellows. She is currently codirecting the Geriatric Pharmacy elective with Ivey Burkhart, her residency director, and helping to precept PY4 students on rotation at her clinical site.
Waitzman, an alumna of the School’s PGY1 Community Pharmacy Residency Program, is the first academic fellow in the Pharmaceutical Care Lab. She has coordinated PCL courses, taught electives, advised student groups, served on the School’s curriculum committee, conducted research, reviewed articles for pharmacy journals, and maintained a clinical practice at UNC Hospitals and Kerr Drug. Her fellowship research project is an evaluation of the top two hundred drug-information exercises used in the PCL to identify the strengths of the current system, as well as areas for improvement. Waitzman has also been an active member of the American Pharmacists Association and the North Carolina Pharmacists Association.
]]>The Graduate School recognized Talameh for her “impressive research, teaching, leadership, and community-outreach achievements,” says Leslie Lerea, the Graduate School’s associate dean for student affairs, who presented the award to Talameh at the Graduate Student Recognition Celebration on April 4.
Talameh entered the PhD program at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy in 2008 after receiving her doctor of pharmacy from the University of Pittsburgh. She is a first author on five publications during her time at the School. She has received several research grants from the National Institutes of Health and the American Foundation for Pharmaceutical Education, and her research in the field of heart disease and heart failure has been recognized by the American College of Cardiology.
On the teaching front, Talameh serves as a teaching assistant and volunteers to facilitate case discussions on a variety of therapeutic areas for her student peers. She has been named a “Super Teaching Assistant” by the School for her strong teaching performance.
Talameh is also an elected senator representative of the pharmaceutical sciences for the UNC Graduate and Professional Student Federation, as well as the lead graduate student recruitment ambassador for the School. She has also volunteered with the IFC homeless shelter clinic in Chapel Hill and TABLE, a nonprofit hunger-relief organization.
]]>
The top poster presentations were:
]]>
The Impact Awards recognize outstanding graduate students whose research covers a variety of areas: education, the environment, economic development, health, public administration and more. Recipients present their research at the Graduate School's Annual Graduate Student Recognition Celebration and receive a cash award for their accomplishments.
Heparin is one of the oldest drugs currently in clinical use; it is essential for kidney dialysis and has uses related to stroke and thrombotic disorders, among other health concerns. Yet heparin creates its own health concerns: The compound varies widely, including the amount of time it takes to clear the body's system. When used as an anticoagulant during surgery, ideally clearance would occur in a short period of time. For treatment of thrombotic diseases, clearance would occur over a longer term. Creating a controlled clearance rate for heparin would increase effectiveness and decrease the risk of the drug.
“Given the current heparin therapies and their drawbacks, my project aims to prepare heparin drugs to meet currently unfulfilled needs,” Pempe says.
Pempe is studying heparin structures for clues into the mechanism that controls the drug's clearance. In 2008 the heparin clearance receptor stabilin-2 was identified. Now Pempe is collaborating with Edward Harris, PhD, the researcher who identified this receptor, on a component of her research project. While the receptor has been identified, the mechanism behind heparin clearance (how the structure binds to the receptor) has not. Pempe and postdoctoral associate Yongmei Xu formed ten differently patterned heparin compounds and studied how Harris's stabilin-expressing cells reacted in the presence of each compound to learn more about possible clearance triggers.
She followed up on this research by investigating the minimum length of the compound necessary for it to bind to Stabilin receptors, and the next phase will advance to a rat model study. Her several research projects all center on one goal, she says.
“Ms. Pempe developed this research project by herself, and the project turns out to be a highly important topic,” says Jian Liu, PhD, Pempe's dissertation adviser.
According to government data, 7,679 men in North Carolina were diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2011. Prostate cancer is typically a slow-growing disease, which means that most patients will die with—and not from—this cancer. However, some patients will develop a deadly aggressive form. Research has not yet uncovered an effective way to distinguish between the two types of prostate cancer at the time of diagnosis. Being able to determine whether a man's prostate cancer is slow-growing or aggressive could prevent unnecessary, costly, and potentially risky treatments.
The protein Src kinase regulates cell function and has been proven to affect progression of prostate cancer. Xu studied whether a relationship exists between this protein's activity and prostate cancers of varying aggressiveness. She also wanted, ultimately, to measure Src activity in a way that could translate into a rapid patient screening test. She employed capillary electrophoresis to measure Src activity, a highly sensitive technique that allows for rapid sample handling and has proven effective with patient biopsies.
Using a series of prostate cell lines, Xu discovered that total Src activity decreases with increasing prostate cancer cell line aggressiveness. This was surprising, but further investigation indicated that aggressive cell lines also have less total Src content. Xu subsequently discovered that a direct correlation exists between prostate cancer aggressiveness and the fraction of Src that is active. In doing so, she found a potential biomarker for aggressive prostate cancer.
“We suspect that the development of multiple biomarkers will be helpful in providing an accurate diagnosis and prognosis. Our ultimate goal is to apply this technology in the evaluation of prostate cancer patient samples,” Xu says.
She is collaborating with UNC-Chapel Hill faculty members Nancy Allbritton, MD, PhD, and David Lawrence, PhD, to study other potential biomarkers. Lawrence is a Fred Eshelman Distinguished Professor and chair of the School’s Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry.
“If, as we anticipate, her technology proves useful in distinguishing between aggressive and nonaggressive prostate cancer, then many men of North Carolina will be spared unnecessary surgery, whereas others may be saved through aggressive therapeutic intervention,” says Lawrence, in whose laboratory Xu conducts her research.
The Impact Awards are privately funded through the generous support of the Graduate School's Graduate Education Advancement Board. For information on other winners, visit http://gradschool.unc.edu/student/awards/impact/2012.html.
]]>