Amy Lin and Kevin Straughn, both third-year Pharm.D. candidates, have won nationally competitive research grants. Both students are members of the Research and Scholarship in Pharmacy program, a pathway in the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy built around a mentored, in-depth scholarly project.
Lin was awarded the American Foundation for Pharmaceutical Education’s Gateway to Research Scholarship. Her project is titled, “Developing Hippeastrine Derivatives to Treat and Understand Zika Virus Infection.” Her mentor is Qisheng Zhang, Ph.D., and her award was $5,000.
Straughn was awarded the American College of Clinical Pharmacy Research Institute’s Futures Grant Student and Resident Investigator Award. His project is titled, “Design and Optimization of Polymyxin-Based Triple Combination Regimens against Carbapenem Resistant Klebsiella Pneumoniae,” and he is the only current Pharm.D. among the ACCP winners; the other three are post Pharm.D. trainees. His mentor is Gauri Rao, Pharm.D., M.S., and his award was $5,000.
“A key component of the RASP pathway is the requirement for each student to write a project proposal during the PY2 year,” said Craig Lee, Pharm.D., Ph.D., associate professor in Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics and director of the RASP program.
“We are thrilled that Amy, Kevin and their faculty mentors used the proposal assignment as the foundation for their application to these highly competitive national awards,” Lee said.