Category: Divisions
Sleath Survey: New Mothers Often Not Asked about Depression
May 31, 2007The majority of doctors in North Carolina are unlikely to probe for signs of postpartum depression in new mothers, according to a survey conducted by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Of the 228 physicians responding to the survey who said they had seen women for postpartum visits in the previous three months, 79 percent said they were unlikely to formally screen the patients for depression. An estimated 13 percent of new mothers are affected by postpartum depression. The study will be published June 6 in the North Carolina Medical Journal. “We believe that it is … Read more
FDA, Genetic Alliance Leaders Receive UNC Individualized Therapy Awards
May 21, 2007The Institute for Pharmacogenomics and Individualized Therapy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill presented its 2007 awards at the Second Annual Chapel Hill Drug Conference on May 19. Janet Woodcock, MD, chief medical officer of the Food and Drug Administration, was named the recipient of the IPIT Award for Clinical Service. This award honors a person who has made significant direct contributions to the advancement of individualized therapy in clinical practice. Larry Lesko, PhD, director of the FDA Office of Clinical Pharmacology and Biopharmaceutics, received the IPIT Award for Public Service. This award is presented to honor … Read more
White Harris Is School’s New Director of Recruitment, Diversity
May 21, 2007Carla White Harris has been named the new director of recruitment and diversity initiatives at the UNC School of Pharmacy. She is also the new Chapel Hill–based director of the UNC/ECSU PharmD Partnership Program. It will be her responsibility to develop and execute a student-recruitment plan for the doctor of pharmacy program with the long-term goal of enhancing the quality and the diversity of students applying to the School of Pharmacy. She will also chair the School’s Admission Committee and serve as the primary liaison with Elizabeth City State University. White Harris says she is looking forward to the challenge … Read more
Four Receive APhA Incentive Grants to Improve Care
May 16, 2007Four pharmacists from the School of Pharmacy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have received incentive grants from the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) Foundation. Three of the four recipients—John Clark, Daniel Forrister, and Debbie Pruss—are residents in the School’s Community Pharmacy Residency Program, while the fourth, Ron DeVizia, is a preceptor. They each received a $1,000 incentive grant. The APhA incentive grants, which began in 1993, provide pharmacists with seed funding to explore new methods and services to provide better health care. The program also aims to focus pharmacists’ attention on incorporating technology in their practices to … Read more
Hansen, Roth Co-Investigators on Grant
May 14, 2007Two professors from the UNC School of Pharmacy’s Division of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy are co-investigators on a one-year, $140,000 grant from the School of Medicine’s “Investments for the Future” Project. Richard Hansen, PhD, and Mary Roth, PharmD, MHS, will be part of a project that aims to enlist pharmacist intervention to reduce drug therapy problems, such as incorrect usage, in older psychiatric patients. The focus of the project will be to establish a pharmacist-run clinic in psychiatry. The project leader is Lea C. Watson, MD, MPH, an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry. The funding is for pilot … Read more
Murray Study: Heart-Failure Patients Benefit from Pharmacist Care
May 14, 2007Heart-failure patients take their medicine more reliably when under the care of a pharmacist, resulting in fewer emergency-room visits and hospital stays and lower health-care costs, according to a study led by Michael D. Murray, PhD, the Mescal S. Ferguson Distinguished Professor at the School. According to the American Heart Association, more than five million people in the United States are in various stages of heart failure with total health-care costs exceeding $29 billion. The study, published in the June 2007 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine, studied 314 low-income patients with heart failure. The participants were studied as … Read more
Caiola Receives NCAP Award
May 7, 2007Steve Caiola, MS, an associate professor at the UNC School of Pharmacy, has received the 2007 Acute Care Practice Forum Pharmacist of the Year Award from the North Carolina Association of Pharmacists. Caiola is the NCAP’s director of postgraduate education and training. He also has served as the director of the Postgraduate/Continuing Education Program at the School since July 1998. John Kessler, president of the health-care software company SecondStory Health, LLC, presented the award to Caiola for “his decades of work in improving the practice of hospital pharmacists in the state.” “If you were educated at UNC, he improved your education. … Read more
Farley Receives Pfizer Grant
May 4, 2007Joel Farley, PhD, an assistant professor at the UNC School of Pharmacy, has received a two-year, $130,000 grant from Pfizer Inc. for his research on the effect of Medicaid prescription restrictions on patients with mental illnesses. Farley, who is in the Division of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy, received the 2007 Scholars Grant in Health Policy. The supporting sponsor on the grant is Susan Blalock, PhD, Farley’s mentor and an associate professor in the division. The grant is part of Pfizer’s Medical & Academic Partnerships program, which is intended to support the career development of junior faculty. Farley will use his … Read more
Undergraduate in Singleton Lab to Present Research
April 26, 2007Bacterial resistance to antibiotics is an escalating healthcare concern. Hala Borno, an undergraduate student conducting research with Associate Professor Scott Singleton at the UNC School of Pharmacy, has produced promising results that could become the first step in a finding new solution to that problem. Borno, a junior chemistry major, will present her findings Friday, April 27, at 2:00 p.m. at the Eighth Annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research at UNC-Chapel Hill. The event will be held at the Center for Dramatic Art from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. More than ninety students across campus disciplines will present their work. Borno is … Read more
Associate Professor Scott Singleton Receives Tenure
April 25, 2007The UNC School of Pharmacy has extended Associate Professor Scott Singleton’s appointment with tenure. Singleton, PhD, joined the School’s Division of Medicinal Chemistry and Natural Products in 2003 as a nontenure associate professor. Before coming to UNC-Chapel Hill, he was an assistant professor in Rice University’s Department of Chemistry and Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology. Singleton earned bachelor’s degrees in chemistry and biology at Trinity University in San Antonio, TX, and obtained his doctorate in organic chemistry from the California Institute of Technology. He did his postdoctoral fellowship at Penn State University. Singleton’s research focuses on the interface of … Read more