Category: Faculty
Hansen, Persky Receive Promotions
December 9, 2008UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy faculty members Rick Hansen, PhD, and Adam Persky, PhD, recently received promotions. Hansen is now an associate professor with tenure in the Division of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy. His research focuses on secondary database analysis, systematic review, and pharmaceutical policy analysis. In general, Dr. Hansen studies health outcomes as a function of clinical intervention. He is especially interested in understanding real-world parameters such as access, adherence, cost, patient preferences, and promotion that influence treatment decisions and subsequent health outcomes. Persky is now an associate clinical professor in the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics. His primary … Read more
School Scientists Teach Enzyme to Make Synthetic Heparin in More Varieties
November 24, 2008Scientists at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy have learned to customize a key human enzyme responsible for producing heparin, opening the door to a more effective synthetic anticoagulant as well as treatments for other conditions. Jian Liu, PhD, and colleagues have learned to modify the enzyme heparan sulfate 2-O-sulfotransferase, which produces heparin in the human body in addition to other heparin-like molecules. By modifying 2-O-sulfotransferase, researchers will be able to create customized forms of synthetic heparin with different properties. “Previously it was nearly impossible to change the nature of the heparin generated by the enzyme,” says Liu, an associate … Read more
Diabetes Care Program at UNC Health Care Receives NCQA Recognition
November 14, 2008The Internal Medicine Clinic at UNC Health Care has received recognition from the National Committee for Quality Assurance Diabetes Physician Recognition Program, a widely recognized indicator of high-quality care. The Diabetes Care Program at the Internal Medicine Clinic is directed by Robb Malone, PharmD, CDE, CPP, who is also a clinical assistant professor at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. In order to be recognized by the NCQA, organizations must first pass a rigorous, comprehensive review and must annually report on their performance. The NCQA seal is a reliable indicator that an organization is well-managed and delivers high-quality care and … Read more
Kashuba Receives ASCPT Goldberg Award
November 5, 2008Angela Kashuba, PharmD, will receive the 2009 Leon I. Goldberg Young Investigator Award from the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics. The award was established in 1986 to honor a young scientist for accomplishments in the field of clinical pharmacology achieved early in his/her career. The goal of the Leon I. Goldberg Young Investigator Award is to encourage and recognize young scientists active in the field of clinical pharmacology. Kashuba has made significant contributions regarding the clinical pharmacology of antiretroviral agents used in the treatment of HIV infection. During her ten years at UNC, she has published more than … Read more
K.H. Lee Receives ASP Research Achievement Award
October 20, 2008K. H. Lee, PhD, the Kenan Professor of Medicinal Chemistry at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, has been named the recipient of the 2009 Norman R. Farnsworth Research Achievement Award from the American Society of Pharmacognosy. Lee was chosen from a pool of highly qualified candidates for his career accomplishments and his many contributions to the field of natural products. He will make an award address on June 30, 2009, during the 50th Annual Meeting of the ASP in Honolulu, Hawaii. “Few researchers can match what Dr. Lee has done over the course of his long and distinguished career,” … Read more
Xiao Leads New UNC Wellstone Center Project
October 8, 2008The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has been awarded a five-year, $7 million grant to establish a muscular dystrophy research center named in honor of the late Sen. Paul D. Wellstone of Minnesota, who earned his undergraduate and doctoral degrees at UNC. The new Senator Paul D. Wellstone Muscular Dystrophy Cooperative Research Center at UNC joins a list of six existing Wellstone Centers that have been established by the National Institutes of Health. Wellstone was an advocate for muscular dystrophy issues in Congress before he was killed in a plane crash in 2002. The center will pursue three … Read more
Motsinger-Reif Appointed to IPIT
September 25, 2008Alison Motsinger-Reif, PhD, has been named to the UNC Institute for Pharmacogenomics and Individualized Therapy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her research focuses on the development and applications of computational methodology to detect complex genetic and environmental models that predict a clinical outcome. She holds a PhD in human genetics from Vanderbilt University and has more than forty scientific papers published in peer-reviewed journals to her credit. Motsinger-Reif is an assistant professor in the Bioinformatics Research Center at North Carolina State University and an adjunct assistant professor in the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. The UNC … Read more
WHO Leader to Receive UNC IPIT Public Service Award
September 25, 2008Access to essential medicines is part of the fulfillment of the right to health, says Hans Hogerzeil, PhD, a World Health Organization leader who will speak on the subject next week at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Hogerzeil, director of essential medicines and pharmaceutical policies at WHO, is this year’s recipient of the UNC Institute for Pharmacogenomics and Individualized Therapy Award for Public Service. He will receive the award and present a seminar at UNC on Oct. 2 at 2:00 p.m. in the Nelson Mandela Auditorium in the Global Education Building on the Chapel Hill campus. “Dr. … Read more
McLeod to Deliver ACCP Frontiers Lecture
September 22, 2008Howard McLeod, PharmD, will receive the Therapeutic Frontiers Lecture Award from the American College of Clinical Pharmacy. The award recognizes an individual who has made outstanding contributions to pharmacotherapeutics in his or her field, according to ACCP. McLeod is a Fred Eshelman Distinguished Professor and the director of the UNC Institute of Pharmacogenomics and Individualized Therapy. McLeod will deliver his lecture, titled “The Genome as a Tool for Clinical Pharmacy,” at the 2008 ACCP Annual Meeting at 10:30 a.m. on October 19. Among ACCP’s criteria for this award is the broad acknowledgment that the recipient is currently considered to be … Read more
Zhang Receives $125K Grant from Pardee Foundation
September 15, 2008Qisheng Zhang, an assistant professor at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, has received a one-year, $125,000 grant from the Elsa U. Pardee Foundation for a research project aimed at finding novel candidates for breast cancer treatments. Zhang, a member of the School’s Division of Medicinal Chemistry and Natural Products, will use the grant to develop small molecule ASAP1 inhibitors. ASAP1 is one member of the GTPase-activating proteins of ADP-ribosylation factors, which regulate a number of biological processes in mammals. Increased amount of ASAP1 has been found in breast cancer cells, making this protein a potential novel target for cancer … Read more