Category: Divisions
Graduate Student Schuck Receives TraC$2K Grant
October 12, 2009Bob Schuck, PharmD, a graduate student at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, has received a $2,000 grant from the North Carolina Translational and Clinical Sciences Institute for research looking into the role of an enzyme in the development of cardiovascular disease. The grant will support Schuck’s dissertation research study of the enzyme 5-lipoxygenase (ALOX5). ALOX5 synthesizes fatty molecules called leukotrienes, which promote inflammation. Genetic variation in ALOX5 has been associated with the development of cardiovascular disease, but the reason remains unclear. Schuck’s study will try to determine whether cardiovascular disease patients with a genetic variant in their ALOX5 have … Read more
School Researchers Attract $2 Million in ARRA Stimulus Funding
October 6, 2009Faculty members at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy have been awarded grants totaling more than $2 million from the National Institutes of Health through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, commonly known as the economic stimulus bill or recovery act. At the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, we believe we have a special obligation to our fellow citizens to report on the projects funded with this money. This page will be updated as new projects are funded. Stephen Frye, PhD, “Discovery of Small Molecule MBT Domain Antagonists” Frye received a two-year $873,000 challenge grant to study proteins involved in … Read more
AAPS Honors Pollack with Manuscript Award
October 1, 2009A paper coauthored by Gary Pollack, PhD, has been selected by the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists for the 2009 AAPS Pharmaceutical Research Meritorious Manuscript Award. The paper, “Kinetic Considerations for the Quantitative Assessment of Efflux Activity and Inhibition: Implications for Understanding and Predicting the Effects of Efflux Inhibition,” proposed a new way of analyzing data from experiments that examine how drugs move through the body. “In the old days, we used to believe drugs moved passively through the body, diffusing from areas of high concentration to areas of low concentration,” Pollack says. “Now we know that proteins play an … Read more
DNA Direct Founder to Receive UNC IPIT Patient-Care Award
September 30, 2009Ryan Phelan, CEO and founder of DNA Direct, is this year’s recipient of the Award for Patient Service from the Institute for Pharmacogenomics and Individualized Therapy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. When Phelan launched DNA Direct in 2005, she believed that genomics would transform health care, she says. “My promise at that time was to start with the people we knew would benefit most, and evolve our offerings as the landscape unfolded,” Phelan says. ”So we began with services for consumers. By helping consumers access state-of-the-art genetic testing and interpretation, we knew we could make a … Read more
Chemistry Dean Crimmins Receives ACS Guenther Award
August 31, 2009The American Chemical Society has announced that Michael T. Crimmins, senior associate dean for the natural sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences, has been awarded the 2010 Ernest Guenther Award for outstanding achievement in the chemistry of natural products. Crimmins holds a joint appointment in the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy as a professor in the Division of Medicinal Chemistry and Natural Products and is the Mary Ann Smith Professor of Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry. The award recognizes and encourages outstanding achievements in the analysis, structure elucidation, and chemical synthesis of natural products. In selecting the … Read more
Craig Lee Receives NIH Grant to Find New Inflammation Treatment
August 27, 2009Craig Lee, PharmD, PhD, an assistant professor at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, has received a grant from the National Institutes of Health for a study that could lead to more treatment options for inflammation. The grant, worth up to $1.55 million over five years, will fund research investigating the role of a family of enzymes called cytochromes P450 — CYP for short — in the regulation of inflammatory responses in the liver and other tissues. “Inflammation plays an integral role in the development of numerous diseases and conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, asthma, cancer, and septic shock,” says … Read more
Rodgers Named ACCP Fellow
August 17, 2009Jo Ellen Rodgers, PharmD, has been elected a fellow of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy. Fellowship is the highest honor the college can bestow upon a member. Rodgers is a clinical associate professor in the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics. Rodgers will be officially inducted as a fellow at a special ceremony on October 18 during ACCP’s 2009 Annual Meeting in Anaheim, California.
Frye Leads UNC Team Selected for NCI Drug-Discovery Initiative
August 13, 2009A team of scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina Central University, and the Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences will be working with the National Cancer Institute as part of a national effort to bring more targeted cancer therapies to patients as quickly as possible. The effort is led by Stephen Frye, PhD, a professor in the Division of Medicinal Chemistry and Natural Products and the director of the Center for Integrative Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery in the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. Frye is also a member of UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. The … Read more
Ferreri Honored by NACDS
August 13, 2009The National Association of Chain Drug Stores and the NACDS Foundation named Stefanie Ferreri, PharmD, as first runner-up for its new Community Pharmacy Faculty Award at the 2009 NACDS Pharmacy & Technology Conference held August 10 in Boston. The award, supported by Wyeth, was established to recognize a pharmacy school full-time or shared faculty member who has made significant contributions to the practice of community pharmacy through innovations in patient care. Faculty members are assessed on their accomplishments in advancing patient care through community pharmacy as well as preparation of future leaders in pharmacy care. Ferreri is a clinical associate professor in … Read more
NIH Funds Xiao’s New Approach to Treating Muscular Dystrophy
July 29, 2009Xiao Xiao, PhD, the Fred Eshelman Distinguished Professor of Gene Therapy in the Division of Molecular Pharmaceutics, has received a five-year grant worth up to $1.66 million from the National Institute of Arthritis and Muscoskeletal and Skin Diseases of the NIH to support his research into treatments for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The grant will support Xiao’s project, “Myostatin Inhibition in DMD Dogs by Gene Transfer.” Muscular dystrophies are genetic diseases characterized by progressive muscle wasting. Duchenne muscular dystrophy occurs when a genetic mutation prevents the production of dystrophin, an essential muscle protein. Without this protein, individuals with DMD experience progressive … Read more