Category: Faculty
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
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
Many N.C. Pharmacists Have Not Offered or Dispensed Naloxone, UNC Study Finds
August 13, 2018Nearly one-third of North Carolina community pharmacists have never offered patients the opioid reversal agent naloxone, and approximately 20 percent have never dispensed it according to a survey conducted by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. More than 80 percent of pharmacists who responded to the survey worked in pharmacies that stocked naloxone. However, many pharmacists never offered or dispensed naloxone despite the drug’s wide availability and the existence of a statewide standing order that allows pharmacists to dispense naloxone to patients and caregivers who may benefit from it, according to the study led by Delesha … Read more
Fake, Low-Quality Medicines Burden Developing World, UNC Study Finds
August 10, 2018More than 13 percent of essential medicines in low- and middle-income countries are substandard or fake, according to recent findings from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Sachiko Ozawa, Ph.D., M.H.S., an associate professor at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, led a meta-analysis of 96 studies that examined the problem of substandard or falsified medicines in low- and middle-income countries. The researchers found that 13.6 percent of medicines were substandard or falsified, including 18.7 percent of medicines in African countries. “The prevalence of substandard and falsified medicines is a substantial public health problem,” she said. “Our study … Read more
Pharmacy Faculty and Students Present at AACP Annual Meeting
August 9, 2018The UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy was represented by 13 speakers and over 30 poster presenters at the 2018 American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy annual meeting in Boston. Additionally, four student-faculty pairs were also honored with the AACP Walmart Scholars award — the most winners from the School in the award’s 14-year history, and more than any other school in 2018. Faculty speakers included: Admissions Workshop: Multiple Mini-Interview (MMI): Point/Counterpoint — Wendy Cox, Pharm.D. Joseph T. DiPiro Excellence in Publishing Workshop — Adam Persky, Ph.D. Mini Session: Combining Your Teaching & Research Efforts: Integrating Student Learning Experiences Into Your … Read more
White Promoted to Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion
August 7, 2018Carla White has been promoted to associate dean of organizational diversity and inclusion at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. White is a clinical assistant professor in the Division of Practice Advancement and Clinical Education and has served as assistant dean for innovative leadership and diversity since 2015. White established the School’s primary diversity initiative in 2007 as the head of the Office of Leadership and Diversity. Her flagship projects launched during this time include the Recruitment Ambassadors Program; the Leadership, Excellence and Development Program; M-FLIP; the Leadership Academy; Undergraduate Students for Diversity in Pharmacy; and the Cross-Cultural Leadership Development … Read more
McLaughlin Named Director of CIPhER
August 6, 2018Jacqui McLaughlin, Ph.D., an assistant professor at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, has been named director of the School’s Center for Innovative Pharmacy Education and Research. McLaughlin was appointed to the position after Thomas Angelo, Ed.D., the founding director of CIPhER, retired. Before her promotion, McLaughlin was the director of education research at CIPhER. She is an assistant professor in the Division of Practice Advancement and Clinical Education, and from 2014 to 2017, she served as the director of the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy Office of Strategic Planning and Assessment. CIPhER offers services aimed at enhancing the effectiveness, … Read more