Skip to main content

Juliane Nguyen inducted into AAPS College of Fellows

November 13, 2024

Nguyen being recognized as an AAPS Fellow (Photo by Jeff Pinette) Professor Juliane Nguyen, PhD, was one of eight people recently inducted into the prestigious American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) College of Fellows.   Established in 1986, AAPS is a professional and scientific organization with around 7,000 members from academia, industry, government, and various pharmaceutical science research institutes globally. AAPS aims to enhance the ability of pharmaceutical scientists to create products and therapies that promote global health.  Fellows are selected due to their professional excellence and positive impact on global health and the AAPS community. Nguyen was selected by … Read more


Research aims to help repurpose approved medications for rare diseases 

May 16, 2024

Alex Tropsha, Ph.D., at the White House for the ARPA-H announcement. The UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, in collaboration with the Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is using data science and artificial intelligence (AI) to identify and validate clinical new uses of existing drugs for rare diseases, also known as drug repurposing.   The School and RENCI received a $3.2 million award from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), the first award in which Carolina is named by the agency. Being able to identify and validate new uses of drugs requires … Read more


Developing new ways to treat heart attacks without surgery 

April 15, 2024

According to Professor Juliane Nguyen, Ph.D., although cardiovascular disease is still the number one cause of death world-wide, the way heart attacks are treated hasn’t changed much in the last 20 years. With a $2.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Research Project Grant Program (R01), her lab will take the next steps toward developing a new therapy that could impact the way all heart attack patients are treated.   “Effective delivery of therapeutics to the heart is quite challenging. When we inject therapeutics, they typically disperse throughout the entire body. However, the heart is small and receives … Read more


Alexander Kabanov receives millions from NIH to develop effective therapeutics for triple-negative breast cancer

August 27, 2021

Alexander “Sasha” Kabanov, Ph.D., Dr.Sci. Alexander “Sasha” Kabanov, Ph.D., Dr.Sci., recently received funding from the National Institutes of Health’s National Cancer Institute to help combat triple-negative breast cancer, a disease that has fewer treatment options than other types of breast cancer. The four-year funding totaling $2,452,236 will support his project, “Toward Translation of Nanoformulated Paclitaxel-Platinum Combination.” The goal of Kabanov’s project is to obtain pre-clinical data to enable the translation of a novel nanotechnology-based immunotherapeutic drug to treat triple-negative breast cancer. The disease is currently associated with a poor prognosis, and according to the American Cancer Society, the 5-year relative survival … Read more


Tropsha, Muratov, partners identify potential drug candidates for COVID-19, land on National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences 2020 Papers of the Year list

February 12, 2021

Alex Tropsha, Ph.D. (left) and Eugene Muratov, Ph.D., both in the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy’s Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) recently announced UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy faculty paper “Computational modeling identifies drug candidates for SARS-CoV-2” as one of the organization’s 2020 Papers of the Year. The publication, with Alex Tropsha, Ph.D. and Eugene Muratov, Ph.D., both in the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy’s Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, as senior authors along with co-authors at the NIEHS and members of the Tropsha lab, was selected as one of … Read more


Carolina Nanoformulation Workshop, Nanomedicine Drug Delivery Symposium tops 800 virtual participants, largest turnout in 18 years

September 28, 2020

The most recent advances on COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics were discussed by leaders of industry at the 2020 Virtual Carolina Nanoformulation Workshop & Nanomedicine Drug Delivery Symposium. The Carolina Nanoformulation Workshop and the Nanomedicine Drug Delivery Symposium (NanoDDS) combined to host the 2020 Virtual Carolina Nanoformulation Workshop & Nanomedicine Drug Delivery Symposium on September 14-16, 2020. BUILDING ON AN 18-YEAR LEGACY The one-day virtual NanoDDS symposium welcomed more than 800 registered participants, the largest turnout in the past 18 years, said Alexander “Sasha” Kabanov, director of the UNC Center for Nanotechnology in Drug Delivery, which supported the event. Nearly 400 … Read more


T32 Carolina Cancer Nanotechnology Training Program renewed for another five years

August 12, 2020

Alexander “Sasha” Kabanov, Ph.D., Dr.Sci. Alexander “Sasha” Kabanov, Ph.D., Dr.Sci., recently received a five-year renewal of his T32 Carolina Cancer Nanotechnology Training Program (CCNTP), totaling more than $2.3 million in funding. The Carolina Cancer Nanotechnology Training Program is a 24-to 36-month National Cancer Institute–sponsored T32 postdoctoral training program offered at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. The overarching goal of the CCNTP is to equip a cohort of outstanding young scientists with the multidisciplinary concepts and skills needed to improve cancer diagnosis and therapy based on concepts, tools and discoveries made in nanoscience and nanotechnology. Following the program, Kabanov said … Read more


UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy on the COVID-19 Frontlines

April 22, 2020

UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy faculty, staff, students and alumni have come together while apart to serve patients in need during the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers and labs are actively pursuing solutions to combat the COVID-19 virus, while students are finding unique ways to connect community members virtually while in isolation, and alumni are directly delivering patient care. Together while apart, the School continues Advancing Medicine for Life. Meet the team:   Thank You! A Thank You message from the UNC One Pharmacy Community to all Carolina Pharmacy Healthcare professionals, Healthcare workers, First Responders, and Essential Employees working hard to keep … Read more


Ainslie receives NIH grant for influenza research

February 4, 2020

According to the Centers for Disease Control, the flu vaccine for the 2018-19 season was only 29 percent effective. Kristy Ainslie, Ph.D., wants to improve that number with the help of a $2.8 million grant. “All of us have been exposed to influenza,” she said. “When it happens to the sick, the young or the old, then it can become lethal.” Ainslie, a professor and vice chair of the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy’s Division of Pharmacoengineering and Molecular Pharmaceutics, recently received a prestigious R01 grant from the National Institutes of Health. The grant will support research for a more … Read more


Professor becomes first Russian-American scientist elected to Russian Academy of Sciences

November 27, 2019

Alexander “Sasha” V. Kabanov, Ph.D., Dr.Sc., M.A.E., FNAI, became interested in research at an early age. From his home in Moscow, he marveled at the work of his father, Viktor Kabanov, an award-winning polymer chemist and Chernobyl “liquidator,” whose advances in science and personal work on the contaminated soil helped lead cleanup solutions following the Chernobyl accident. His father donned roles in notable academies around the world, including the Royal Belgian Academy, the European Academy, and the Russian Academy of Sciences. Today, Sasha Kabanov’s scientific achievements mirror those of his father’s, who he credits for his love of science. Most recently, … Read more