Category: Centers
Lai Receives Development Award to Study PEG Immunity
January 30, 2013Sam Lai, PhD, has received a $7,500 UNC Junior Faculty Development Award from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to study the prevalence and properties of preexisting immunity in humans to PEGylated drugs, which could potentially diminishes the efficacy of many PEGylated nanomedicines and therapeutics. PEGylated therapeutics are obtained by modifying drug molecules with polyethylene glycol, or PEG, which markedly reduces interactions with blood proteins and helps the drugs remain active in the bloodstream for longer. However, animal studies suggest that the immune system can develop antibodies against PEG, which can neutralize the polymer’s stealth properties. Preexisting immunity … Read more
UNC Nanomedicine Researchers Uncover High Potential for Low-Frequency Magnetic Fields
November 16, 2012A team of researchers led by scientists at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy has discovered effects of low-frequency magnetic fields that might pave the way for new approaches to designing remote-control nanomedicines. In a paper published online October 18 in the journal Angewandte Chemie, the researchers describe an experiment in which they attached an enzyme to magnetic nanoparticles, exposed them to nonheating, low-frequency magnetic fields, and observed the resulting changes in the enzymes’ structure, conformation, and catalytic activity, which were different from changes induced by heating up the nanoparticles. The results demonstrated for the first time magneto-mechanical effects triggered … Read more
Kabanov Leads Nanomedicine Team from Nebraska to UNC Pharmacy
October 4, 2012A group of twenty researchers from the University of Nebraska moved halfway across the country this summer to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to join the Center for Nanotechnology and Drug Delivery in the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. Led by Alexander “Sasha” Kabanov, PhD, who will direct the center, the group comprises Elena Batrakova, PhD, and a team of eighteen that includes three research faculty, postdoctoral fellows, research managers, and technicians, along with five graduate students who transferred to Carolina to continue their education. Kabanov’s group brings to UNC a research program that will receive more … Read more
Roth, Jin Receive NIH Grant to Develop New Schizophrenia Drugs
September 17, 2012Two faculty members at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy are part of a multi-investigator team that has received a five-year, $7.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to create novel drugs for the treatment of schizophrenia and related disorders. Bryan Roth, PhD, MD, a Michael Hooker Distinguished Professor in the UNC School of Medicine and the pharmacy school, is one of the lead investigators on the grant. Jian Jin, PhD, an associate professor and the associate director of medicinal chemistry at the pharmacy school’s Center for Integrative Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery, is the principal investigator for … Read more
Frye Awarded $1 Million Eshelman Professorship
July 26, 2012The UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy has named Stephen Frye, PhD, as the recipient of a $1 million Eshelman Distinguished Professorship. Frye is the director of the School’s Center for Integrative Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery, a research group bringing dedicated medicinal chemistry expertise to bear on biological targets of therapeutic relevance that are under investigation by UNC faculty. CIBDD project teams work with other groups on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus to move potential drug targets through the drug discovery and development process. “The Eshelman professorships support outstanding scholars and researchers like Dr. Frye who are working at the forefront … Read more
Grant Funds Dressler’s Study of Disparity Between Participation of Blacks and Whites in PGx Research
June 27, 2012Lynn Dressler, DrPH, has received a grant of approximately $15,000 to examine the attitudes and experiences of different ethnic groups towards the genomic-research component of cancer clinical trials. In a previous NCI sponsored study involving more than 8,000 cancer patients, African American patients were significantly less likely to participate in the pharmacogenomic portion of a cancer clinical trial compared to Caucasians. The African American patients were already participating in the cancer clinical research trial but did not participate in the component that required blood to be contributed in order to study inherited responses to cancer treatment. “The new funding will … Read more
McLeod Honored with Coriell Scientific Award
May 21, 2012Howard McLeod, PharmD, is a recipient of a 2012 Coriell Personalized Medicine Research Award from the Coriell Institute for Medical Research. McLeod is a Fred Eshelman Distinguished Professor and director of the Institute for Pharmacogenomics and Individualized Therapy at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. 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 … Read more
UNC Awarded $2.4 Million to Study Genetic Variation in Diabetics
May 3, 2012Scientists at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy and the UNC School of Medicine have received a $2.4 million grant to study genetic variations in people with diabetes. The goal of the study is to identify genetic variations that may help predict the response to various treatment options for type 2 diabetes to reduce cardiovascular disease. Michael Wagner, PhD, and John Buse, MD, are coprincipal investigators on the grant. Wagner is a research professor in the School’s Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics and a member of the Institute for Pharmacogenomics and Individualized Therapy. Buse is director of the Diabetes … Read more
UNC Research Center Receives Contract to Fight Kidney Cancer
March 8, 2012The Center for Integrative Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has received a contract from SAIC-Frederick, Inc. to develop potential drug leads for treating renal cell carcinoma, the most common type of kidney cancer in adults. The contract, which is part of the National Cancer Institute’s Chemical Biology Consortium program, will provide more than $843,000 over eighteen months to support research led by William Janzen and Kimryn Rathmell, MD, PhD. Janzen is the director of assay development and compound profiling at the CICBDD, while Rathmell is an associate professor in the UNC … Read more
Roederer Named Section Adviser for APhA Newsletter
February 6, 2012The American Pharmacists Association has tapped Mary Roederer, PharmD, as the section adviser for the new “Pharmacogenomics Corner,” a new section of the APhA DrugInfoLine newsletter. “Pharmacogenomics Corner” will provide practicing pharmacists with interpretative summaries of newly published clinical articles in the field of pharmacogenomics and pharmacogenetics. With the Drug Interactions Corner, the Pharmacogenomics Corner is accessed through the Personalized Care button on the ADIL website, aphadruginfoline.com, and Apple app. As a section adviser, Roederer will suggest topics for coverage, review articles for accuracy and relevance, provide feedback and advice about the APhA DrugInfoLine, and serve as an ambassador for the … Read more