Category: Divisions
New Algorithm Increases Success Rate of Drug-Compound Screening
December 15, 2014Scientists developing new drugs increasingly turn to massive online catalogs of prospective compounds to test. The trouble is that very few those chemical contenders even have the potential to be useful because of inaccuracies in the computerized screening process that identified them. Researchers at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy have created SPLIF, a new, freely shared algorithm that greatly improves the chances of finding a chemical compound that actively connects with a disease target. Swing and a Miss The discovery of new medicines usually starts by screening a large collection of chemical compounds against a specific protein target that … Read more
Bailey, Fang Receive $1.6 Million Grant to Map Health Literacy
December 12, 2014Two researchers from the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have received a $1.6 million grant to estimate and map the health literacy of neighborhoods across America. The team plans to use the project to examine health literacy’s effect on hospital readmission rates. Hospitals are penalized by the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services if patients who come in for certain conditions return to the hospital within thirty days after discharge. Hospitals Unfairly Penalized? Stacy Bailey, PhD, MPH, and Gang Fang, PharmD, PhD, will use the four-year grant from the National Institute … Read more
UNC Hospitals Pharmacists Recognized for Dramatically Reducing Readmissions
November 24, 2014Pharmacists and physicians at UNC Hospitals created a pilot clinic that reduced thirty-day readmission rates for its patients by 65 percent and is now projected to save the hospital $1.1 million per year. This innovation has earned UNC Hospitals a fourth consecutive Best Practices Award from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. The clinics were set up by faculty from the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy and the UNC School of Medicine to schedule follow-up visits for patients recently discharged from the hospital. Reducing Readmissions Hospital readmissions cost the U.S. health-care system an estimated $17.4 billion a year. More than … Read more
Cox Promoted to Clinical Associate Professor
November 17, 2014Wendy Cox, PharmD, has been promoted to clinical associate professor in the Division of Practice Advancement and Clinical Education. She is assistant dean for professional education at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. Cox has been with the School since 2005. She received her doctor of pharmacy from the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy in 1998. In 1999, Cox completed a pharmacy practice residency at the Medical University of South Carolina, and then completed a primary care residency affiliated with Campell University in 2000. Before joining the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy in 2005, Cox worked as coordinator of pharmacy … Read more
CBMC’s Bryan Roth Elected to Institute of Medicine
November 11, 2014Bryan Roth, MD, PhD, has been elected to the Institute of Medicine, a prestigious national organization of the top professionals in various fields inside and outside of medicine dedicated to independent analysis and science-based recommendations on important health issues. Roth is a professor in the School’s Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, the Michael Hooker Distinguished Professor of Protein Therapeutics and Translational Proteomics in the Department of Pharmacology, and a member of the UNC Neuroscience Center and the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. He is a world-renowned scientist best known for creating an innovative scientific method that allows neuroscientists … Read more
UNC Study: Patients Getting Free Meds Take Them as Well as Those Who Pay
November 10, 2014Patients receiving free or low-cost medications may not stick to their prescription perfectly, but they’re not much different than patients with insurance, according to a study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. UNC researchers studied patients enrolled in the UNC Health Care Pharmacy Assistance Program from 2009 through 2011 who received medication for high blood pressure, diabetes, or high cholesterol. The program provides free or reduced-cost medication to low-income patients. “Low-income patients who have chronic diseases but not insurance have a difficult time getting medications reliably, which often leads to serious, unnecessary, and costly health problems,” says … Read more
Pete Koval appointed to BPS Board of Directors
November 7, 2014Peter Koval, PharmD, has been appointed to serve a three-year term on the Board of Pharmacy Specialties Board of Directors. The Board of Pharmacy Specialties was established in 1976 by the American Pharmacists Association with the goal of improving patient care and recognizing specialized skill in pharmacy. Koval will serve as a board-certified pharmacist member of the BPS Board of Directors. Koval received his doctor of pharmacy from Campbell University in 1994. He completed a pharmacy practice residency at Cone Health System in Greensboro, North Carolina, and then went on to complete a second year of primary-care residency in St. … Read more
Watkins Receives ASCPT Rawls-Palmer Progress in Medicine Award
October 31, 2014Paul Watkins, MD, is the recipient of the the 2015 Rawls-Palmer Progress in Medicine Award from the American Institute of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics for multiple contributions to the field of clinical pharmacology. Watkins is a professor in the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy and a professor of toxicology at the UNC Gillings School of Public Health. He is director of the Hamner–UNC Institute for Drug Safety Sciences. Established in 1978, the Rawls-Palmer award is given to those who contribute meaningful research that improves patient care. Watkins has been invited to give … Read more
Oni-Orisan Receives ACCP Best Resident and Fellow Poster Award
October 24, 2014Akinyemi Oni-Orisan, PharmD, was awarded the Best Resident and Fellow Poster Award from the American College of Clinical Pharmacy during the 2014 ACCP Annual Meeting in Austin, Texas. Oni-Orisan is a PhD candidate in the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics, and his poster was competing against more than 400 other posters for the award. He received a plaque and a $350 gift card for winning the award. Oni-Orisan’s poster was titled “Initial Characterization of Cytochrome P450-Derived Eicosanoids as a Predictive Biomarker in Coronary Artery Disease Using Metabolomics” and presented research on molecular indicators in the blood that could give … Read more
Sleath Gets $1.9 Million to Involve Teens More in Managing Asthma
October 22, 2014Teens with asthma aren’t great at taking an active role during doctor visits. A team at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy believes changing that is a matter of asking the right questions. Working with a group of teens and parents, a research group led by Betsy Sleath, PhD, has developed a set of questions teens can use as prompts for discussing their asthma with their physician. Sleath has received a three-year, $1.9 million contract grant from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute to produce an educational video in English and Spanish that will encourage teens and parents to use the … Read more