Category: Divisions
Carolyn Thorpe Joins DPOP as Associate Professor
August 30, 2018Carolyn Thorpe, Ph.D., M.P.H., has been hired as an associate professor with tenure at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. She joins the Department of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy while having continued affiliation with the Veterans Affairs Pittsburgh Health System. This new partnership between the School and the VAPHS’s Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion will provide new training and research opportunities for postdoctoral fellows and graduate students at the School. Thorpe earned her Ph.D. at UNC Gillings School of Public Health in 2006 and her M.P.H. in epidemiology at George Washington University in 2001. She served as a … Read more
Stem Cells Show Promise as Drug Delivery Tool for Childhood Brain Cancer
August 28, 2018The latest in a series of laboratory breakthroughs could lead to a more effective way to treat the most common brain cancer in children. Scientists from the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy and University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center reported results from early studies that demonstrate how cancer-hunting stem cells, developed from skin cells, can track down and deliver a drug to destroy medulloblastoma cells hiding after surgery. Previously, UNC Lineberger’s Shawn Hingtgen, PhD, and his collaborators showed in preclinical studies they could flip skin cells into stem cells that hunt and deliver cancer-killing drugs to glioblastoma, the deadliest … Read more
In Memoriam: Alan Forrest, Pharm.D.
August 27, 2018Alan Forrest, Pharm.D., 66, a clinical professor at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy and expert in pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamics modeling, died Saturday, Aug. 25, at UNC Hospitals. “Alan contributed to the field of pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic modeling for well over 30 years as a highly productive and innovative researcher and an educator,” said Dhiren Thakker, Ph.D., interim dean of the School. “He was world-renowned for his work on the use of quantitative approaches and mathematical modeling to optimize patient therapy, and he significantly impacted drug development and pharmacotherapy through his contributions in evolving the field of pharmacometrics. “Alan will … Read more
Amanda Corbett Appointed Assistant Dean of Professional Curriculum
August 27, 2018Amanda Corbett, Pharm.D., has been appointed assistant dean for the professional curriculum of the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. Corbett is a clinical associate professor in the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics and serves as the associate director of global engagement at the School. She is also a clinical associate professor in the UNC School of Medicine and global pharmacology coordinator for the UNC Institute of Global Health and Infectious Diseases. As assistant dean, Corbett will work with the faculty and students to implement educational innovation into the professional curriculum and integrate it with the School’s residential, experiential, global … Read more
Casey Tak Joins DPOP as Assistant Professor
August 24, 2018Casey Tak, M.P.H., Ph.D., has been hired as an assistant professor at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. He will join the Division of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy and work from the School’s Asheville satellite campus. Tak earned his Ph.D. in pharmacotherapy outcomes research and health policy at the University of Utah. He received his Masters of Public Health from Westminster College in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 2014. Prior to joining the School, Tak served as a graduate assistant and a clinical research coordinator at the University of Utah. As a graduate student, he was honored at the AMCP … Read more
UNC Builds Better Particle Tracking Software Using Artificial Intelligence
August 23, 2018Scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have created a new method of particle tracking based on machine learning that is far more accurate and provides better automation than techniques currently in use. Single-particle tracking involves tracking the motion of individual particles, such as viruses, cells and drug-loaded nanoparticles, within fluids and biological samples. The technique is widely used in both physical and life sciences. The team at UNC-Chapel Hill that developed the new tracking method uses particle tracking to develop new ways to treat and prevent infectious diseases. They examine molecular interactions between antibodies and biopolymers … Read more
McLaughlin Receives AHEC Innovation Grant for Rural Education Research
August 22, 2018The North Carolina Area Health Education Centers awarded an Innovation Grant to Jacqui McLaughlin, Ph.D., for a project investigating challenges associated with student rotations in rural clinical sites. “The primary goal of the project is to define the educational challenges encountered at clinical sites in rural regions and generate potential solutions to address these problems in an effort to increase the number of students rotating to those areas,” said McLaughlin, an assistant professor at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy and the director of the School’s Center for Innovation in Pharmacy Education and Research. Over the last 40 years in … Read more
Joshua Thorpe Joins DPOP as Associate Professor
August 21, 2018Joshua Thorpe, Ph.D., M.P.H., has been hired as an associate professor with tenure at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy in the Division of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy. He will work closely with the Carolina Health Informatics Program while having continued affiliation with the Veterans Affairs Pittsburgh Health System where he serves as director of analytics and research for the VA’s National Palliative and End-of-Life Care Center. Thorpe earned his Ph.D. at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy in 2005 and his M.P.H. in epidemiology at George Washington University in 2000. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Duke University … Read more
CMOPP Changes Name to Center for Medication Optimization
August 15, 2018The Center for Medication Optimization through Practice and Policy at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy is now the Center for Medication Optimization. “This sharper name better reflects our focus on collaborative research that both informs systems change and prepares our students to be leaders in pharmacy practice,” said Jon Easter, director of the center. The Center for Medication Optimization’s mission is to bring together health care stakeholders to create impactful real-world research, generate evidence, disseminate best practices and advance education that integrates medication optimization into value-based care delivery and payment models. We do this by serving as a neutral, … Read more
Only One State Requires Suicide Prevention Training for Pharmacists, Study Finds
August 15, 2018Despite a wealth of suicide prevention training available to health care professionals, only the state of Washington requires pharmacists to complete suicide prevention training, according to a study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Sixteen suicide prevention training resources, and five developed specifically for pharmacists, were identified in the study, which was led by Delesha Carpenter, Ph.D., M.S.P.H., at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. The study was published in the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association. Suicide rates have increased 24 percent from 1999 to 2014, making suicide the 10th leading cause of death in the … Read more