Category: Faculty
Murray Study: Pharmacist’s Care Reduces Medication Problems, Costs for Heart Patients
April 27, 2009The patient in the heart-failure clinic had all the symptoms of digitalis toxicity from taking too much of the heart medicine digoxin. However, his dose was right and no one was sure what the problem was. This was a riddle Herb Patterson, PharmD, a professor in the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics who treats patients in the UNC heart-failure program, had to solve. Patterson quizzed the patient on the medicines he was taking and discovered he had received two prescriptions for digoxin by different doctors: one for the generic version and one for the brand name. The patient was … Read more
Scolaro Elected to AACP Office
April 22, 2009Kelly Scolaro, PharmD, a clinical assistant professor at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, has been elected secretary of the Self-Care Therapeutics/Nonprescription Medicine Special Interest Group at the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. The primary goal of the Self-Care Therapeutics/Nonprescription Medicine SIG is to facilitate faculty exchange of ideas and innovations regarding teaching methodology, experiential education, research, and scholarly activities in the self-care arena and to help student learning. Scolaro, whose will serve until 2011, will be installed on July 20 at the AACP Annual Meeting. She joined the School in June 2008 as director of the Pharmaceutical Care … Read more
Tropsha Receives UCRF Innovation Award
April 20, 2009Alex Tropsha, PhD, a professor at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, has received an Innovation Award from the University Cancer Research Fund. The award provides $100,000 over two years to support a project aimed at developing a novel virtual screening workflow to search for novel anti-cancer agents. Tropsha, an expert in computer-assisted drug discovery and the chair of the School’s Division of Medicinal Chemistry and Natural Products, will use information about physicochemical and geometrical features of proteins to establish new computational methodologies that will enable researchers to efficiently and accurately cull very large chemical libraries of potential anti-cancer agents … Read more
Sleath Receives $2.65 Million Grant to Study Glaucoma Patients
April 17, 2009Betsy Sleath, PhD, a professor at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, has received a four-year, $2.65 million grant from the National Eye Institute to study how the communication between glaucoma patients and their doctors affects how well the patients take their medication and the effectiveness of the treatment. There is currently no cure for glaucoma, but it is possible to treat the disease with medication or surgery and prevent further loss of vision. However, about half the patients who start on glaucoma medications stop taking them within six months even though they should take the medications for the rest … Read more
Ferreri, Rodgers Receive Promotions
March 25, 2009The UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy has promoted Stefanie Ferreri, PharmD, CDE, FAPhA; and Jo Ellen Rodgers, PharmD, BCPS; to clinical associate professors. Ferreri, a member of the Division of Pharmacy Practice and Experiential Education, joined the School in 2001 as a clinical assistant professor. She has been directing the School’sCommunity Pharmacy Residency Program since 2005. In addition to that role and her teaching duties, Ferreri also maintains a practice site at Kerr Drug Health Care Center in Chapel Hill focusing on education in select disease states such as diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, osteoporosis, immunizations, MTM, and self-care issues. Rodgers, an alumna … Read more
Study: Drugs Throw a Wrench into the Molecular Works of Enzymes
March 17, 2009Drugs that work by blocking the function of a protein from the outside also disrupt the protein’s internal workings, according to new research from the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The discovery, made by associate professor Andrew Lee, PhD, and graduate students Randall Mauldin and Mary Carroll, is published in the March 11 issue of the journal Structure. It opens the door to the possibility of targeting proteins with drugs in new ways. The study is the first to take a comprehensive look at the changes that take place within the … Read more
Liu Receives $1.5 Million NIH Grant to Perfect Synthetic Heparin
March 2, 2009Jian Liu, PhD, an associate professor in the Division of Medicinal Chemistry and Natural Products, has been awarded a four-year $1.48 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to further develop Recomparin, his synthetic version of the drug heparin. Liu’s project is titled “In vitro synthesis of recombinant heparan sulfate.” Heparan sulfate is a compound produced in the body that is similar to heparin but has weaker anticoagulant properties. Heparin can be made from heparin sulfate, and by modifying the molecular structure of the heparan sulfate he produces, Liu can customize the properties of heparin derived from it. Currently, … Read more
School Faculty Attend Lilly South Conference on Teaching
February 26, 2009Nine faculty members from the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy attended the Lilly South Conference on College and University Teaching at UNC Greensboro on February 20-22. Lilly Conferences combine workshops, discussion sessions, and major addresses with opportunities for informal discussion about excellence in college and university teaching and learning. Internationally known scholars join new and experienced faculty members and administrators from around the world to discuss a variety of topics. This year’s theme was “Millennial Learning: Teaching in the 21st Century.” The faculty members who represented the School at the conference were: Tracie Christian-Rothrock, PharmD; Huyla Coker, PharmD; Wendy Cox, … Read more
Study: Genetic Information Improves Warfarin Dosing
February 19, 2009Roy Fagerberg, age eighty-two, of Chapel Hill, is among more than 1.5 million Americans taking the blood thinner warfarin. The typical starting dose is five milligrams a day, but he needs only three. Two milligrams in difference are important when the drug has also been used as rat poison for fifty years. Finding the right dose of warfarin for each patient is time-consuming trial and error, but a new study by an international group that includes UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy scientists suggests that looking at a patient’s genes can speed up the process. Warfarin is tricky: the dose needed … Read more
UNC Study Asks Latinos about Sources of Medicine, Information
December 17, 2008A study by researchers at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy found that 42 percent of Latinos in North Carolina who take prescription drugs have purchased medicines at grocery stores known as tiendas and 30 percent have bought medicines from outside the United States for their own use. Researchers worry that some of those medicines are prescription drugs that are being bought without a prescription. “In Mexico and in Central and South America, there are many drugs available over the counter that you can’t get without a prescription in the U.S.,” says Betsy Sleath, PhD, lead author of the study. … Read more