Category: Faculty
GPS Program Brings London Student to UNC for Research Experience
June 4, 2018Li Xian Ng, a student at the University College London School of Pharmacy, came to the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy for a three-month research rotation as part of the School’s Global Pharmacy Scholars program. The exchange program allows students from UCL to travel to North Carolina to work with professors at the School and sends UNC pharmacy students to London for research there. Ng worked in the lab of Gauri Rao, Pharm.D., M.S., studying pharmacokinetic modeling and antibiotic dose optimization. Rao is an assistant professor in the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics. “Dr. Rao was a great help … Read more
Kabanov Elected 2018 Controlled Release Society Fellow
June 4, 2018Alexander “Sasha” Kabanov, Ph.D., Dr. Sci., has been selected for membership in the College of Fellows of the Controlled Release Society for his “outstanding contributions to the field of delivery science and technology.” Kabanov will be inducted into the college at the 45th Annual Meeting and Exposition of the Controlled Release Society July 22–24 in New York City. Kabanov is the Mescal S. Ferguson Distinguished Professor in the Division of Pharmacoengineering and Molecular Pharmaceutics and the director of the School’s Center for Nanotechnology in Drug Delivery. He is a member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. Elevation from member … Read more
Shawn Hingtgen Promoted to Associate Professor
June 1, 2018Shawn Hingtgen, Ph.D., a faculty member who is pioneering a new treatment for cancer using induced neural stem cells to deliver therapeutic agents, has been promoted to the rank of associate professor at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. Due to their expansive utility, stem cell-based therapies hold the potential to redefine therapeutic approaches and provide cures for many terminal diseases, Hingtgen said. His lab seeks to harness the potential of stem cells to develop new and better methods for treating terminal cancer. They use an integrative approach that begins with creating specially designed targeted therapeutic proteins. They then “arm” … Read more
Asheville Professors Present at NRHA Annual Conference
May 31, 2018Faculty at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy’s Asheville satellite campus presented at the National Rural Health Association annual conference in New Orleans. Mollie Ashe Scott, Pharm.D.; Rebecca Grandy, Pharm.D.; and Irene Park, Pharm.D., presented together at the conference, held from May 8 to 11. “Our talk was very well received,” Scott said. “There was not a strong pharmacy presence at that meeting, and so one of our goals was to represent the profession while also sharing our own work at UNC.” Their presentation, entitled “Team-Based Population Health Management in Rural Communities,” highlighted the professors’ work on osteoporosis, hepatitis C … Read more
Researchers Discover Compound with Potential to Stop Cancer Metastasis
May 21, 2018A UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy scientist is a leader in a large research collaboration that has discovered a new compound that suppressed the spread of cancer — a process known as metastasis — in three different animal models of human cancer. When cancer metastasizes, it spreads from its starting point to a different part of the body. The new compound created by the research team and named metarrestin significantly inhibited metastasis in human breast cancer, human prostate cancer and human pancreatic cancer that had been grafted into mice. Mice treated with the compound had fewer metastatic tumors in the … Read more
Carpenter Wins AHEC Innovation Grant for Pediatric Opioid Prescription Research
May 21, 2018The North Carolina Area Health Education Centers awarded an Innovation Grant to Delesha Carpenter, Ph.D., M.S.P.H., to create an online module that prepares medical residents to communicate with pediatric patients and their parents about opioids. The grant of more than $45,000 will allow Carpenter, an assistant professor in the Division of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, to develop an online module to teach medical residents to effectively engage pediatric patients and their parents in shared decision-making about treatment with opioid medications. Currently, there are no national opioid prescribing guidelines for pediatric patients, which can … Read more
Kabanov Receives TBJ Life Sciences Award
May 10, 2018Alexander “Sasha” Kabanov, Ph.D., Dr. Sci., is a recipient of a 2018 Life Sciences Award from the Triangle Business Journal. Kabanov was nominated in the category of Outstanding Individual Research from Universities or Research Institutes. The award was presented at a ceremony held May 10 at the Umstead Hotel and Spa in Cary. Kabanov is the Mescal S. Ferguson Distinguished Professor in the Division of Pharmacoengineering and Molecular Pharmaceutics and the director of the School’s Center for Nanotechnology in Drug Delivery. He is a member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. In 2017 a team led by Alexander Kabanov, … Read more
UNC Video Helps Kids with Asthma Ask Doctors More Questions about Care
May 9, 2018Adolescents with asthma are more likely to ask questions during doctor visits after viewing a video on the importance of being involved during asthma visits and receiving a list of questions and checking off the ones they want to ask the doctor, according to a new study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Asthma patients ages 11 to 17 who watched the 11-minute video and used the one-page list of question prompts interacted with and received education from their doctors at a higher rate than the control group in the study, which was led by Betsy Sleath, … Read more
Kohn Receives School’s 2018 Distinguished Service Award
May 7, 2018Professor Emeritus Harold “Hal” Kohn, Ph.D., is the 2018 recipient of the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy Distinguished Service Award. The award is presented annually for accomplishments and contributions that enhance both the School and the profession of pharmacy, and for exceptional support of the School’s service and outreach initiatives. Before his retirement from the School in 2015, Kohn served as chair of the Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry and was a Kenan Distinguished Professor. “Hal was recruited to UNC in 1999 to lead the transformation of its medicinal chemistry unit into a contemporary, entrepreneurial program,” said Dhiren … Read more
Students Select 2018 Best Instructors, Williams Wins Top Award
May 3, 2018The Doctor of Pharmacy classes at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy selected their favorite instructors of 2017–2018. The winners were presented with an instructor of the year award at the 2018 annual Awards Ceremony held April 21 at the Rizzo Center. Overall Instructor of the Year Award: Dennis Williams, Pharm.D. PY3 Instructor of the Year Award: Ashley Marx, Pharm.D. PY2 Instructor of the Year Award: Jo Ellen Rodgers, Pharm.D. PY1 Instructor of the Year Award: Michael Jarstfer, Ph.D. Dennis Williams Dennis Williams is an associate professor in the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics and the division’s vice chair … Read more