February 3, 2014
Two community pharmacy residents at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy have received $1,000 Incentive Grants from the American Pharmacists Association Foundation to support their research projects.
The grants provide seed money to help pharmacists implement or support innovative patient-care services within their pharmacy practice. The School’s 2014 recipients are Ben Culpepper, PharmD, and Charlie Frye, PharmD.
Culpepper is a resident in the School’s PGY2 community pharmacy residency program. He received his doctor of pharmacy from the South Carolina College of Pharmacy and completed a PGY1 community pharmacy residency through the University of Georgia before coming to UNC-Chapel Hill. For his research project, Culpepper is examining all seventy-six Kerr Drug/Walgreens locations to determine whether and how a pharmacy can affect Medicare Part-D Star Ratings, which evaluate the performance of prescription drug plans.
Frye is a 2013 graduate of the School’s PharmD program and is completing his PGY1 community pharmacy residency at Brame Huie Pharmacy in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. He is using his incentive grant to establish a collaborative practice between Brame Huie Pharmacy and Wilkes Regional Medical Center to improve transition of care for patients who have suffered heart failure, myocardial infarction, pneumonia, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Brame Huie is providing pharmacist services during those patients’ hospitalization and after discharge to reduce readmission rates.