Category: Divisions
Rodgers Updates Guide for Heart Failure Patients
April 20, 2016Jo Ellen Rodgers, Pharm.D., associate professor at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy and Carla A. Sueta, M.D., Ph.D., professor in the Division of Cardiology at UNC School of Medicine, have recently completed a fourth edition of their heart failure guide for patients, Learning to Live with Heart Failure. The book provides information and advice to patients with heart failure. For the first time, a Spanish-language version of the heart failure guide will also be made available. It includes contributions from UNC Health Care providers at UNC Medical Center and UNC Rex Healthcare, as well as the University of Maryland … Read more
Older Women, Especially Blacks, Receive Targeted Breast Cancer Treatment at Low Rates
April 12, 2016The advent of targeted drugs for a specific type of breast cancer – HER2 positive – has dramatically improved survival rates for women with the disease. But a study led by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill reveals low rates of use of a targeted drug among older women with early-stage breast cancer of this type, and even lower rates for older black women. “This is significant because we know that there is a large number of women here who are not receiving a therapy that we know would give them a better chance of survival,” … Read more
Inaugural Carolina Nanoformulation Workshop Shares Discoveries in Nanomedicine
March 24, 2016From March 14 to 18, scientists from industry and academia converged on the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy to learn about and to get hands-on experience with the latest advances in nanomedicine at the inaugural Carolina Nanoformulation Workshop. The workshop is a unique blend of classroom and hands-on training that stresses application and participation. It featured nearly two dozen speakers and two days of seminars for 17 participants followed by three days of practical experience in the laboratories of the School’s Center for Nanotechnology in Drug Delivery. The goal of the CNW is to provide safe and effective solutions for … Read more
New Kinase Inhibitor Effective against Drug-Resistant Leukemia, Preclinical Study Finds
March 21, 2016A novel compound developed at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has shown promise in preclinical studies as a treatment for acute myeloid leukemia, more than doubling median days of survival even in a drug-resistant form of the disease. Researchers at UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Aflac Cancer & Blood Disorders Center in Atlanta, Emory University School of Medicine and other institutions report that the investigational compound MRX-2843 blocked the growth of acute myeloid leukemia cells, led to a significant level of cancer cell death and more than doubled the median days … Read more
Jon Easter Joins School as Director of CMOPP
March 7, 2016Jon Easter has joined the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy as the director of the Center for Medication Optimization through Practice and Policy and a professor of the practice. The center, which is embedded within the Division of Practice Advancement and Clinical Education and launched in April 2015, seeks to solidify the role of pharmacy practice within value-based health care payment and care-delivery models by building a hub to support internal and external collaboration, research and education. Easter said CMOPP will develop a robust, real-world-practice research capability by securing a variety of grants, facilitate strategic collaborations with interdisciplinary partners to … Read more
PGY1 Community Pharmacy Residents Receive APhA Foundation Incentive Grants
March 7, 2016Three PGY1 community pharmacy residents at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy are recipients of APhA Foundation Incentive Grants. They will be recognized at the APhA 2016 Annual Meeting and Exposition March 4–7 in Baltimore. Hannah Renner, Laura Rhodes and Breanna Sunderman were selected for the grant; Sunderman was also selected to present an APhA Patient Care Services Pearl, a 15-minute presentation about an innovation that would benefit pharmacists. Macary Marciniak, Pharm.D., is the director of the PGY1 Community Pharmacy Residency Program and a clinical associate professor in the Division of Practice Advancement and Clinical Education. “I think it speaks … Read more
Study Explains Why Women Need More Truvada than Men to Prevent HIV Infection
March 3, 2016Women need daily doses of the antiviral medication Truvada to prevent HIV infection while men only need two doses per week due to the way the drug accumulates in different body tissues, according to a new study from researchers the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. The study, published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, represents an important paradigm shift for HIV prevention strategies and could have major implications for clinical trial designs, said Angela Kashuba, Pharm.D., senior author of the study and the John and Deborah McNeill Distinguished Professor in the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics. “Our data highlight … Read more
Using New Screening Tool, UNC Researchers Identify Potential Treatments for Ewing Sarcoma
March 1, 2016In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have discovered and applied a new screening technique capable of testing thousands of potential drug compounds to see if those compounds can reverse the abnormal DNA unwinding that marks a pediatric bone cancer known as Ewing sarcoma. Ewing sarcoma is a bone and soft tissue cancer that is most common in teens and young adults. In the sarcoma, DNA is unwound abnormally from a condensed, compact state, leaving gaps in the genetic code. With key sections of the code left open, certain genes are turned on … Read more
UNC Scientists First to Hunt Brain Cancer with Skin Cells Converted to Stem Cells
February 24, 2016Scientists at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy are using the newest version of a Nobel Prize–winning technology for the first time to build cancer-killing stem cells that hunt down and mop up the remnants of invasive brain tumors, promising a new and more effective treatment for glioblastoma, a cancer with very low survival rates. “Glioblastoma patients desperately need something better, and we are trying to provide that with a better drug-delivery system,” said Shawn Hingtgen, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the School’s Division of Molecular Pharmaceutics and a member of UNC Lineberger who led the research effort. With the … Read more
Pediatric Medication Safety Is Focus of Chapel Hill PharmSci 2016 Conference
February 11, 2016Research into the safety of pediatric medications is the focus of Chapel Hill PharmSci 2016 hosted by the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy May 12-13 and sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, and the NC TraCS Institute. The 2016 conference is designed for health services researchers, clinicians and clinician scientists, pharmacists, health educators, insurers, regulators and students with an interest in pediatric medication safety. It will be held in Kerr Hall on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. More information and registration can … Read more