Category: Featured News
Residency program expands to Wilmington
September 11, 2023As part of the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy’s Postgraduate Year One (PGY1) Community-Based Pharmacy Residency Program expansion, the Cape Fear Clinic (CFC) in Wilmington, North Carolina will soon be home for a new resident. This expansion is focused on reaching Eastern North Carolina in rural and underserved areas. Although Wilmington doesn’t come to mind when thinking of rural areas, CFC focuses on an underserved population of low-income, uninsured individuals and families, which accounts for 80% of their patients. CFC is a non-profit, charitable clinic with onsite medical, pharmacy and mental health services and is a certified Patient Centered Medical … Read more
Part of the Pharmily: Fatimah Hussein
September 6, 2023When Fatimah Hussein, Pharm.D. candidate Class of 2027, arrived for orientation on August 1, it was her first time seeing the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. Hussein comes from a Palestinian family and spent parts of her childhood in both Palestine and St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. “North Carolina seems so big compared to St. Thomas—it’s like a small town where everyone knows everyone,” she said. She received her associate degree in physics and bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of the Virgin Islands, but at the time, pharmacy wasn’t the goal. Hussein moved on to a graduate program … Read more
Part of the Pharmily: Emma Hacker
September 6, 2023Emma Hacker, Pharm.D. candidate class of 2027, knew she wanted to become a pharmacist in high school. As part of a school project, she created a five-year plan outlining college and career goals. “Through that process, I discovered UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy and decided that would be my dream school,” Hacker said. “I kept that thought in the back of my mind and decided to see where college would take me.” She went to a small rural high school and had the opportunity to do a work study with the local pharmacy during her senior year. She spent half … Read more
Part of the Pharmily: Momodou Sankareh
August 28, 2023As a child, Momodou Sankareh, Pharm.D. candidate class of 2027, remembers going to the pharmacy with his mom when he was sick and being intrigued by what was going on behind the counter. It was the mystery of the pharmacy that captured his interest from a young age. In addition, his dad worked in wheelchair transportation—exposing Sankareh to different aspects of the health care system. “I always knew I wanted to do something in health care,” he said. His eyes were set on the sciences, but it was his unique experience as a volunteer firefighter throughout high school and college … Read more
Tazche Turner selected for inaugural AACP Aspiring Academics Program
August 25, 2023UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy’s Tazche Turner, Pharm.D. candidate class of 2025, was selected as one of 20 students across the country for The American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy’s (AACP) Aspiring Academics Program. The AACP Aspiring Academics Program was designed to facilitate a deeper understanding of career paths in academic pharmacy. AACP received more than 200 applications from student pharmacists across the country and selected 20. Over the next year, the inaugural cohort will participate in monthly modules, mentorship, networking, a group project, involvement with AACP and the opportunity to have a poster presentation at the 2024 AACP’s Annual … Read more
Shawn Hingtgen advances his research on pediatric cancer
August 23, 2023Professor Shawn Hingtgen, Ph.D. will further his research on pediatric brain cancer patients with funding from the Ian’s Friends Foundation for his joint effort with project lead Scott Floyd, M.D., Ph.D., of Duke University around living tissue brain slices. “Ian’s Friends is an amazing foundation that is changing the lives of children with brain cancer. We are so grateful for all their incredible support over the years,” said Hingtgen. “This new award will allow us to explore exciting new aspects of the living tissue brain slice platform. Working in partnership with Dr. Scott Floyd and his team at Duke University, … Read more
Part of the Pharmily: Loraine Rivera
August 21, 2023Loraine Rivera, Pharm.D. candidate class of 2027, moved to North Carolina from Puerto Rico 11 years ago when she was fresh out of high school. She didn’t know any English and started working immediately to help her learn the language. Her first job was at McDonald’s, which was a special experience because she not only started to learn English, but she also met her fiancé. She added being a certified nursing assistant (CNA) and optometric technician to her resume before finding her path as a pharmacy tech at Walgreens. Rivera’s journey was just getting started. “I got my undergraduate degree … Read more
School expanding residency program to Eastern North Carolina in 2024
August 16, 2023As one of the oldest and largest accredited postgraduate year one (PGY1) community-based pharmacy residency programs in the nation, the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy is expanding the program’s reach even farther with new residency sites in Eastern North Carolina. The program will soon offer unique experiences in Wilmington, New Bern, Duplin County, Rocky Mount and Scotland Neck focused on serving rural and underserved communities. Data indicates that patients visit their local pharmacy 35 times per year, and this frequent contact provides an opportunity for individuals to receive high-quality care in the communities in which they live and work. This … Read more
Part of the Pharmily: Paul Alebrande
August 14, 2023It was a long road for Paul Alebrande to get to the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, but looking back it all makes sense. He was born in Romania and adopted by a family from Long Island, New York. He stayed in the area for college and graduated from St. Joseph’s University New York in May 2023 with a degree in chemistry and a double minor in biology and music. “Throughout my life I’d always said that I wanted to become a physician,” said Alebrande, Pharm.D. candidate class of 2027, but his family encouraged him to consider pharmacy school because … Read more
Owen Fenton receives NIH award to help fund research to treat skin cancer
August 9, 2023Owen Fenton, Ph.D. received the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Trailblazer R21 Award. He will receive a total of $601,122 over three years for his project focused on developing new medicines to treat skin cancer that are safer and more effective than current therapies. This project will be conducted in collaboration with co-investigator Stergios Moschos, M.D., associate professor of medicine at the UNC School of Medicine. “My group focuses broadly within the field of genetic medicine, with a particular focus on developing mRNA therapies for the treatment of disease. We are excited to receive this award which will enable us … Read more