Category: Faculty
Ferreri Honored by NACDS
August 13, 2009The National Association of Chain Drug Stores and the NACDS Foundation named Stefanie Ferreri, PharmD, as first runner-up for its new Community Pharmacy Faculty Award at the 2009 NACDS Pharmacy & Technology Conference held August 10 in Boston. The award, supported by Wyeth, was established to recognize a pharmacy school full-time or shared faculty member who has made significant contributions to the practice of community pharmacy through innovations in patient care. Faculty members are assessed on their accomplishments in advancing patient care through community pharmacy as well as preparation of future leaders in pharmacy care. Ferreri is a clinical associate professor in … Read more
NIH Funds Xiao’s New Approach to Treating Muscular Dystrophy
July 29, 2009Xiao Xiao, PhD, the Fred Eshelman Distinguished Professor of Gene Therapy in the Division of Molecular Pharmaceutics, has received a five-year grant worth up to $1.66 million from the National Institute of Arthritis and Muscoskeletal and Skin Diseases of the NIH to support his research into treatments for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The grant will support Xiao’s project, “Myostatin Inhibition in DMD Dogs by Gene Transfer.” Muscular dystrophies are genetic diseases characterized by progressive muscle wasting. Duchenne muscular dystrophy occurs when a genetic mutation prevents the production of dystrophin, an essential muscle protein. Without this protein, individuals with DMD experience progressive … Read more
Paine Receives Stimulus Funding for Milk Thistle Study
July 24, 2009Mary Paine, PhD, has received an NIH grant of nearly $350,000 through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, commonly known as the Economic Stimulus Package. Milk thistle extracts, made from the seeds of the plant, have been used traditionally as a treatment for liver diseases such as hepatitis and cirrhosis. A flavonoid complex called silymarin is thought to be the biologically active component. Modern studies into the plant’s effectiveness have been mixed in both their quality of design and their results. Paine is an assistant professor in the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics. “We know a great deal about … Read more
Blalock, Injury Prevention Center Receive CDC Award
July 22, 2009Susan Blalock, PhD, is one UNC researcher who will benefit from $4.8 million in renewed funding for the UNC Injury Prevention Research Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill received from the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Blalock is an associate professor in the School’s Division of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy. The CDC money will support her work in preventing falls among older adults. The UNC center is one of eleven Injury Control and Research Centers addressing injury prevention in the U.S. At each ICRC, scientists from … Read more
Lunch Leads to $5 Million Partnership for Lawrence
June 29, 2009After they both arrived in Chapel Hill in 2007, Nancy Allbritton, MD, PhD, asked fellow cancer researcher David Lawrence, PhD, to lunch to float the idea of a collaboration. “How could I say no? She was paying,” jokes Lawrence, a Fred Eshelman Distinguished Professor at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. That lunch created a research partnership dedicated to attacking breast and prostate cancer backed by a $5 million grant over five years from North Carolina’s University Cancer Research Fund. Lawrence moved to UNC from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. Allbritton came from the University of … Read more
University Cancer Research Fund Creates Winning Partnership
June 2, 2009Nancy Allbritton, MD, PhD and David Lawrence, PhD, both arrived in Chapel Hill in 2007. Allbritton moved to UNC from the University of California at Irvine and Lawrence from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. They decided to come to UNC for similar reasons: a top-notch chemistry department that meshed well with their interests, an outstanding medical school, and a first-rate cancer center. Both of them are members of UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center in addition to their appointments in the College of Arts and Sciences and both were looking for research partners. Allbritton notes, “Most of … Read more
Marciniak Receives Faculty Development Fellowship
June 1, 2009Macary Marciniak, PharmD, a clinical associate professor at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, has received a faculty development fellowship from the National Association of Chain Drug Stores Foundation and the American Foundation for Pharmaceutical Education. Marciniak will receive a $25,000 stipend, which will be matched by the School. It will support her research project, “Design and Development of a Postgraduate Year 2 (PGY2) Community Pharmacy Residency with a Focus in Academia.” Marciniak’s mentor for the fellowship is Clinical Associate Professor Stefanie Ferreri, PharmD, who directs the Community Pharmacy Residency Program at the School. The AFPE-NACDS Foundation Faculty Development Fellowship … Read more
Mumper Study: Nanocapsules Can Overcome Chemotherapy Resistance
May 21, 2009One of the most challenging situations that oncologists face is when chemotherapy fails to slow down or stop the growth of cancer. This phenomenon, called multi-drug resistance, is the result of several simultaneous biochemical processes that scientists do not fully understand. New research led by pharmaceutical scientist Russell Mumper, PhD, director of the UNC Center for Nanotechnology in Drug Delivery and member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, uses nanotechnology to overcome multi-drug resistance. Mumper’s team used an innovative formulation of lipid nanocapsules loaded with the anticancer drugs doxorubicin or paclitaxel to destroy cancer cells both in laboratory-based experiments … Read more
Photos: Fourth Annual Chapel Hill Drug Conference
May 19, 2009The UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy hosted the Fourth Annual Chapel Hill Drug Conference on May 13-14. The conference focused on identifying the opportunities and challenges in bringing cutting-edge nanotechnology from discovery through preclinical evaluation and into human clinical studies and onward. The event was coordinated by theCenter for Nanotechnology in Drug Delivery, UNC’s Institute for Nanomedicine, and The Carolina Partnership, an $18 million fund created by the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy and the University Cancer Research Fund to support the School’s research centers. PHOTOS FROM THE CONFERENCE https://www.flickr.com//photos/uncpharmacy/sets/72157623277309237/show/
Eckel to Receive Honorary Degree
May 1, 2009Professor Fred Eckel will receive an honorary doctor of science in recognition of his contributions to the pharmacy profession from the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia at the university’s commencement ceremonies on May 20. Eckel is a 1961 graduate of USP. According to the USP announcement, Eckel “has been a strong advocate for the university and dedicated to the advancement of pharmacy, as well as an inspiration to pharmacists throughout the nation.” The other degree recipients are Britton Chance, PhD, a professor emeritus in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at University of Pennsylvania. Marilyn Moffat, PT, PhD, professor … Read more