Category: Divisions
Study: Genetic Information Improves Warfarin Dosing
February 19, 2009Roy Fagerberg, age eighty-two, of Chapel Hill, is among more than 1.5 million Americans taking the blood thinner warfarin. The typical starting dose is five milligrams a day, but he needs only three. Two milligrams in difference are important when the drug has also been used as rat poison for fifty years. Finding the right dose of warfarin for each patient is time-consuming trial and error, but a new study by an international group that includes UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy scientists suggests that looking at a patient’s genes can speed up the process. Warfarin is tricky: the dose needed … Read more
Graduate Student Wang Wins Scientific Art Competition
January 22, 2009Sheena Wang, a graduate student at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, has won first place in the Scientific Art Competition at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The contest, coordinated by the Chapel Hill Analytical and Nanofabrication Laboratory through the Institute of Advanced Materials at UNC-Chapel Hill, showcased scientific data that had artistic appeal. Submissions were evaluated for their title, description, artistic value, and scientific significance. Wang took the $150 first-place prize with her entry, “The Haunted House”, an electron microscope image of particles in a dry-powder formulation for a nasal vaccine. All entries are on display … Read more
UNC Study Asks Latinos about Sources of Medicine, Information
December 17, 2008A study by researchers at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy found that 42 percent of Latinos in North Carolina who take prescription drugs have purchased medicines at grocery stores known as tiendas and 30 percent have bought medicines from outside the United States for their own use. Researchers worry that some of those medicines are prescription drugs that are being bought without a prescription. “In Mexico and in Central and South America, there are many drugs available over the counter that you can’t get without a prescription in the U.S.,” says Betsy Sleath, PhD, lead author of the study. … Read more
Hansen, Persky Receive Promotions
December 9, 2008UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy faculty members Rick Hansen, PhD, and Adam Persky, PhD, recently received promotions. Hansen is now an associate professor with tenure in the Division of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy. His research focuses on secondary database analysis, systematic review, and pharmaceutical policy analysis. In general, Dr. Hansen studies health outcomes as a function of clinical intervention. He is especially interested in understanding real-world parameters such as access, adherence, cost, patient preferences, and promotion that influence treatment decisions and subsequent health outcomes. Persky is now an associate clinical professor in the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics. His primary … Read more
Bethea Receives Off-Campus Dissertation Research Fellowship
December 4, 2008Heather Bethea, a graduate student at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, has received an Off-Campus Dissertation Research Fellowship from the Graduate School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Bethea, the first student from the School to receive the fellowship, will receive a $7,350 stipend to support her study of heparan sulfate, a carbohydrate that is synthesized in mammalian cells by a series of enzymes. It is involved in many physiological functions, including regulation of cell growth and blood coagulation, and also has been found to inhibit an enzyme that enhances the onset of Alzheimer’s. Bethea’s work … Read more
School Scientists Teach Enzyme to Make Synthetic Heparin in More Varieties
November 24, 2008Scientists at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy have learned to customize a key human enzyme responsible for producing heparin, opening the door to a more effective synthetic anticoagulant as well as treatments for other conditions. Jian Liu, PhD, and colleagues have learned to modify the enzyme heparan sulfate 2-O-sulfotransferase, which produces heparin in the human body in addition to other heparin-like molecules. By modifying 2-O-sulfotransferase, researchers will be able to create customized forms of synthetic heparin with different properties. “Previously it was nearly impossible to change the nature of the heparin generated by the enzyme,” says Liu, an associate … Read more
Askew Named Distinguished Young Pharmacist of the Year
November 18, 2008The North Carolina Association of Pharmacists has named Jennifer Askew, a preceptor for the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, the 2008 Distinguished Young Pharmacist of the Year in the state. Askew has been working at New Hanover Regional Medical Center for five years. She received her doctor of pharmacy from the School in 2003 and has been a UNC pharmacy preceptor since 2006. She has precepted more than twenty UNC pharmacy students in introductory and advanced hospital, community, and practice management rotations. She was named the School’s Hospital Pharmacy Preceptor of the Year for 2008. Askew is also an active participant … Read more
Diabetes Care Program at UNC Health Care Receives NCQA Recognition
November 14, 2008The Internal Medicine Clinic at UNC Health Care has received recognition from the National Committee for Quality Assurance Diabetes Physician Recognition Program, a widely recognized indicator of high-quality care. The Diabetes Care Program at the Internal Medicine Clinic is directed by Robb Malone, PharmD, CDE, CPP, who is also a clinical assistant professor at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. In order to be recognized by the NCQA, organizations must first pass a rigorous, comprehensive review and must annually report on their performance. The NCQA seal is a reliable indicator that an organization is well-managed and delivers high-quality care and … Read more
Students to Present Posters at AAPS Annual Meeting
November 14, 2008Graduate students from the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy will present posters on November 18-19 at the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists Annual Meeting at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Georgia. The students who will make presentations: Tuesday, November 18 Submission Authors: Brandon Swift, Xianbin Tian, Kim Brouwer Poster #: T2316 Submission ID: AM-08-00997 Title of Abstract: EVALUATION OF TRANSPORT PROTEINS RESPONSIBLE FOR BILIARY EXCRETION OF FEXOFENADINE IN RATS AND HUMANS r s Session Date: Tuesday, November 18, 2008 Session Time: 08:00 am – 12:00 pm Location: Exhibit Hall Submission Authors: Jin Kyung Lee, Kim Brouwer Poster #: … Read more
UNC Announces Fourth Annual Chapel Hill Drug Conference
November 14, 2008Application of nanotechnology to cancer, siRNA delivery, infectious diseases and vaccines, imaging and diagnostics, as well as nanomaterials engineering and nanotoxicology will be the topics of this year’s Chapel Hill Drug Conference at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The conference, titled “The Use of Nanotechnology to Create Safe and Effective Therapeutic and Diagnostic Products,” will be hosted by the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy and held in Kerr Hall on May 13 and 14. Nanotechnology is the control and manipulation of structures at the atomic and molecular level, generally those smaller than 100 nanometers in size. A … Read more