Category: Divisions
Steve Caiola Receives Eckel Award
September 15, 2017Steve Caiola, M.S., professor emeritus in and former chair of the School’s Division of Practice Advancement and Clinical Education, received the Fred M. Eckel Pharmacy Leadership Award for 2017. The award in honor of Fred M. Eckel, M.S., is jointly given by the School and UNC Hospitals. Eckel created the UNC Hospital Pharmacy Residency Program in 1967 and the award is meant to honor someone associated with UNC Hospitals and Clinics post-graduate pharmacy training programs who has remained dedicated to pharmacy practice throughout his or her career. “I am not sure that you could name a single legacy for Steve … Read more
Scott to Chair ASHP Section of Ambulatory Care Practitioners
September 14, 2017Mollie Ashe Scott, Pharm.D., clinical associate professor and regional associate dean of the School’s Asheville satellite campus, was elected to chair the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists Section of Ambulatory Care Practitioners. She will serve as chair-elect for the upcoming year and will be installed as chair at the summer meeting in 2018. Scott recently completed a three-year term as director at large for the section’s executive committee. She said she thoroughly enjoyed her time in this position and was inspired by the important role the ASHP and the section are playing in advancing ambulatory care pharmacy practice. As chair-elect, … Read more
Anksorus Receives Kappa Epsilon Alumni Award
September 12, 2017Heidi Anksorus, Pharm.D., was awarded Kappa Epsilon’s Unicorn Award for recognition of her service to the organization as an adviser. The award is given biennially and recognizes alumni participation and involvement within the fraternity. Anksorus has been at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy since October 2010. She’s been adviser to the fraternity since fall 2012. As adviser, Anksorus attends chapter and executive board meetings, participates in rush events each fall, donates items and activities to the silent and live auctions and attends all the fundraising events she can. Anksorus also hosts “Crafternoons with Dr. A,” has sung at karaoke, … Read more
Savings Less than Expected for Generic Oral Chemotherapy, Researchers Find
September 11, 2017A study by researchers at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy and Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center determined the cost savings for a generic version of an orally administered cancer treatment were less than expected — a finding that questions the effect generic drugs can have on controlling health-care costs. The researchers report in the Journal of the American Medical Association Internal Medicine that the cost for one fill of the generic form of the chemotherapy treatment capecitabine was $2,328 last year. That price was 36 percent lower than the projected branded drug price in 2016 — a savings the researchers … Read more
New Synthetic Anticoagulant Developed at UNC Ready for Clinical Trials
September 6, 2017A new synthetic version of the widely used anticoagulant heparin developed at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill can now be made in commercially viable quantities and promises to be safer than existing drugs. It is ready to begin human trials. Researchers at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy have created a synthetic form of low-molecular-weight heparin, which is typically used to treat and prevent deep vein thromboses. A DVT is a blood clot that forms in a deep vein, usually in the leg, and is dangerous because part of the clot can break off and block blood … Read more
Vaccines Save 20 Million Lives, $350 billion in Poor Countries since 2001
September 1, 2017Vaccination efforts made in the world’s poorest countries since 2001 will have prevented 20 million deaths and saved $350 billion in health-care costs by 2020, according to a new analysis from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In addition, the researchers put the broader economic and social value of saving these lives and preventing disabilities at $820 billion. Researchers led by Sachiko Ozawa, Ph.D., an associate professor at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, studied the economic impact of Gavi, the global vaccine alliance launched in 2000 to provide vaccines to children in the world’s poorest countries. Gavi … Read more
Rhoney, Cox Named to New Associate Dean Roles
August 29, 2017Denise Rhoney, Pharm.D., has been named associate dean for curricular innovation at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, and Wendy Cox, Pharm.D., is now the associate dean for professional education. Rhoney is the Ron and Nancy McFarlane Distinguished Professor and currently chairs the Division of Practice Advancement and Clinical Education. Stephen Eckel, Pharm.D., M.H.A., clinical associate professor and associate dean for global engagement, will step in as interim chair of PACE as Rhoney assumes her new responsibilities. “The UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy is in a unique position to pursue extraordinary and unprecedented opportunities,” said Bob Blouin, Pharm.D., dean of … Read more
$10 Billion in UNC Startup Revenue Delivers Economic Boost to NC
August 17, 2017Falcon Therapeutics, a company spun out of Assistant Professor Shawn’s Hingtgen’s work treating brain cancer, is one of the ventures contributing to a rise in the economic value of startups connected with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, according to a biannual report on Carolina’s commercial and social ventures. Falcon Therapeutics is advancing a new approach using tumor-homing stems cells to treat glioblastoma cancer, the most common form of primary brain cancer and also one of the deadliest. The company recently raised $700,000 in a private equity stock offering, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. It … Read more
Aubé Receives Edward Leete Award for Teaching and Research
August 16, 2017Jeffrey Aubé, Ph.D., is the recipient of the 2017 Edward Leete Award from the American Chemical Society’s division of organic chemistry. The award recognizes outstanding contributions to teaching and research in organic chemistry. Aubé is a Fred Eshelman Distinguished Professor in the School’s Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry. He researches the chemistry of heterocyclic compounds and their applications to problems in medicinal organic chemistry. The Leete Award noted his current work in opioid pharmacology, steroid biosynthesis inhibitors and the discovery of anti-tuberculosis agents. Aubé is the author of more than 205 scholarly articles. Aubé’s other accomplishments include co-authoring … Read more
Williams, Campbell Appointed to BPS Specialty Council
August 16, 2017Associate Professor Dennis Williams, Pharm.D., and Assistant Professor of Clinical Education Kristen Campbell, Pharm.D., were appointed to the Board of Pharmacy Specialists Specialty Council. The council appointed only 27 pharmacists out of the more than 100 who applied. Williams is vice chair for professional education and practice in the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics. Campbell is member of the Division of Practice Advancement and Clinical Education and a clinical pharmacist at Duke University Hospital. The BPS Specialty Councils recommend the BPS standards for certification and recertification of pharmacists in the specialty, develop and administer examinations for certification and recertification … Read more