Category: Faculty
Megan Roberts Joins DPOP as Assistant Professor
August 2, 2018Megan Roberts, Ph.D., has been hired as a tenure-track assistant professor at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy in the the Division of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy. Roberts earned her Ph.D. in health policy and management from the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health in 2015. She received her undergraduate degree from Davidson College, where she studied biology and Spanish. Roberts is joining the School after a fellowship at the National Cancer Institute. There, she worked as a cancer prevention fellow in the institute’s Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences. Roberts has also worked as a predoctoral fellow … Read more
Self-Taught UNC AI System Designs Drugs from Scratch
July 31, 2018An artificial-intelligence approach created at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill can teach itself to design new drug molecules from scratch. ReLeaSE is an algorithm and computer program developed at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. It comprises two neural networks: a teacher and a student. The teacher knows the syntax and linguistic rules behind the vocabulary of chemical structures for about 1.7 million known biologically active molecules, said K. H. Lee Distinguished Professor Alexander Tropsha, Ph.D., one of the creators of the new AI system. “After learning the molecular alphabet and the rules of the language, the … Read more
Sokolsky Awarded St. Baldrick’s Hero Grant to Target Brain Tumors
July 30, 2018Marina Sokolsky-Papkov, Ph.D., a research assistant professor at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, is the recipient of a Hero Fund grant from the St. Baldrick’s Foundation to support her research into more effective methods of treating medullosblastoma, the most common malignant brain tumor seen in children. The St. Baldrick’s Foundation, the largest private funder of childhood cancer research grants, awarded 76 new grants totaling $19.1 million in its summer grant cycle to support research in pediatric cancer. Medulloblastoma is the most common malignant brain tumor of children. New approaches to treatment are needed, because current treatment can cause brain injury … Read more
Phil Rodgers Selected as Director of Interprofessional Education and Practice
July 27, 2018Phil Rodgers, Pharm.D., a clinical associate professor at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, has been selected to serve as the director for interprofessional education and practice. Rodgers coordinates several courses in the School, including the Patient Care Experience 2 course (PHCY 718) and the Integrative Pharmacotherapy 2 course (PHCY 732), and teaches in several others. He also serves as a faculty adviser for the Carolina Association of Pharmacy Students and Kappa Psi. He participates in the practice collaborative between the School and the School of Dentistry clinics. In his new role, Rodgers will help create and implement interprofessional education, … Read more
Sanders Wins AHEC Innovation Grant for Opioid Stewardship Training Program
July 25, 2018The North Carolina Area Health Education Centers awarded an Innovation Grant to Kimberly Sanders, Pharm.D., a clinical assistant professor at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, to develop a training program for acute-care opioid prescribing. The $43,398 grant will allow Sanders and her team of collaborators from across the UNC health sciences programs to create and disseminate an interdisciplinary educational toolkit for health-care providers. Patients receiving opioids for pain control after surbery are particularly vulnerable to dependence due to excessive prescribing of opioids, gaps in follow-up and inadequate disposal of excess supply of pills, Sanders said. Tens of millions of … Read more
Seyerle Joins DPOP as Assistant Professor
July 23, 2018Amanda Seyerle, Ph.D., has been hired as a tenure-track assistant professor at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, starting July 30. Seyerle will join the Division of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy. Seyerle earned her Master of Science in Public Health in 2013 and her Ph.D. in epidemiology in 2016, both from the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. She is a graduate of the University of Michigan, where she studied anthropological and molecular genetics, as well as history. Seyerle has spent the last two years as a postdoctoral research fellow in cardiovascular disease epidemiology at the University of Minnesota … Read more
Resiliency Team to Support Mental Health, Well-Being at School
July 16, 2018The UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy’s Resiliency and Well-Being Task Force held its inaugural meeting at a June 26 retreat at the N.C. Botanical Gardens. The team, chaired by Mollie Scott, Pharm.D., and Brad Wingo, M.Ed., is charged with creating innovative ways to foster the mental and physical well-being of School students, faculty and staff. Scott is the regional associate dean for the School’s Asheville satellite campus. Wingo is the director of curricular and student affairs. “The need to improve resilience and well-being of health-care professionals is receiving national attention due to high rates of burnout and mental illness,” Scott … Read more
Albert Bowers Promoted to Associate Professor
July 9, 2018Albert Bowers, Ph.D., a faculty member in the Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, has been promoted to the rank of associate professor at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. Bowers is a member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and an affiliate member of the School’s Center for Integrative Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery. Bowers’ research focuses on harnessing natural product biosynthesis to make next generation therapeutics. Researchers in the Bowers Lab, who go by the Twitter handle @BowersRangers, use insights and chemistries from natural product biosynthesis to facilitate the discovery and development of new natural product-like … Read more
Eckel Receives Duke’s Skolaut Leadership Award
July 2, 2018Stephen F. Eckel, Pharm.D., M.H.A., received the Milton W. Skolaut Leadership Award from the Duke University Department of Pharmacy on June 29. The award is given annually to a past resident of the Duke University Hospital Pharmacy Residency Program in recognition of outstanding leadership and contributions to the profession of pharmacy. The Duke residency program has graduated 240 residents as of 2018. Eckel is the interim chair of the Division of Practice Advancement and Clinical Education and the associate dean for global engagement at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. He is a 1998 Duke pharmacy residency graduate. He was … Read more
Four Student-Faculty Pairs Named 2018 AACP Walmart Scholars
June 12, 2018Four student-faculty teams were named 2018 Walmart Scholars by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. This is the most winners the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy has had in the award’s 14-year history. This year’s recipients of the award are: Sarah M. Anderson, Pharm.D., and her faculty mentor, Denise Rhoney, Pharm.D.,the Ron and Nancy McFarlane Distinguished Professor at the School. Scott A. Brewster, Pharm.D., and his faculty mentor, Macary Marciniak, Pharm.D, a clinical associate professor. Kelsea Gallegos and her faculty mentor, Gretchen Ray, Pharm.D., a clinician educator associate professor at the University of New Mexico. Shannon Palmer and her … Read more