Category: Featured News
Daniel Gonzalez aims to characterize drug-drug interactions in infants with a five-year grant totaling $2.3 million
June 9, 2021With the support of a five-year National Institutes of Health grant totaling $2,323,160, Daniel Gonzalez, Pharm.D., Ph.D., will work to characterize drug-drug interactions in infants. Dedicated pharmacokinetic drug-drug interaction studies are performed in healthy adult volunteers during drug development. However, dedicated pharmacokinetic drug-drug interaction studies are rarely performed in infants due to ethical and logistical reasons, Gonzalez said. This results in the extrapolation of adult drug dosing recommendations that account for the drug-drug interaction potential to infants despite known age-induced physiological changes that can alter pharmacokinetics and affect the drug-drug interaction magnitude in infants. Gonzalez will work to evaluate a … Read more
Meet alumna Sarah Cobb, Director of Safety Project Leadership and Strategic Solutions at IQVIA
June 4, 2021In this alum spotlight, we chat with Sarah Cobb, BSPharm (Class of ’84), Director of Safety Project Leadership and Strategic Solutions at IQVIA. In this role, Cobb oversees global pharmacovigilance projects to ensure the safety of medications for patients. Q: Please describe your novel practice setting. What makes your career path unique? A: I am with IQVIA – we call ourselves a human data sciences company. We focus on data analytics and technology that drives healthcare forward. Q: What led you to this career path? What steps did you take? A: This morphed over time. I was really active in … Read more
Two School alumni honored with UNC Diversity Award
June 2, 2021Ten individuals and two groups were named winners of the 2021 Diversity Awards, which are given annually in recognition of those who have given their time and effort to further diversity, equity and inclusion at Carolina and in our surrounding community. Of those recognized include two UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy alumni: Frank Tillman III (’15, BA; ’19 PharmD), PGY2 Psychiatric Pharmacy Resident, Department of Pharmacy, UNC Medical Center; and Janet Edwards (’95, BS, Pharmacy), Senior Account Specialist for Respiratory Biologics, GlaxoSmithKline. This year’s winners were chosen from a record number of nominations, according to the University Office for Diversity … Read more
Meet alumus Franklin Roye, Pharm.D., President of IndyCare
May 28, 2021In this alum spotlight, we chat with Franklin Roye, Pharm.D. (Class of ’03), President of IndyCare, a retail health and wellness center based in the Triangle that provides technology-enhanced, collaborative care on-demand, at your local independent community pharmacy. IndyCare works to transform independent pharmacies into integrated healthcare hubs that empower local communities to thrive through exceptional health. Q: Please describe your practice setting. What makes your career path unique? A: Right now, I work at IndyCare and I am one of the co-founders of the company. It’s a community pharmacy health hub practice setting. We have an independent community pharmacy and an embedded … Read more
William Zamboni aims to fight pancreatic cancer with NIH grant topping $2.7 million
May 26, 2021In the world of cancer therapies, nanoparticles hold great promise for delivering more effective and safer cancer treatment than the standard small molecule drugs that are commonly used today. UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy expert in the pharmacology of nanoparticles, William Zamboni, Pharm.D., Ph.D., is hoping to fight difficult-to-treat cancers using the combination of a novel type of radiation and nanoparticles, with the help of a five-year, $2,792,913 grant from the National Institutes of Health’s National Cancer Institute. The grant will support his research: “Minibeam Radiation Therapy (MRT) Enhanced Delivery of Nanoparticle Anticancer Agents to Pancreatic Cancer Tumors.” “The promise … Read more
Associate Professor Ian Hollis named AACP Master Preceptor
May 21, 2021Ian Hollis, Pharm.D., associate professor of clinical education at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy has been named one of four 2021 American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) Master Preceptors. Hollis is a Clinical Pharmacy Specialist in advanced heart failure, including left ventricular assist device and heart transplant, and cardiac surgery at the University of North Carolina Medical Center. The purpose of the AACP Master Preceptor Recognition Program is to highlight preceptors, who are not full-time employees of a school/college of pharmacy, for their sustained commitment to excellence in experiential education and professional practice. “It’s an honor to … Read more
David Lawrence awarded millions from NIH to study light-activated therapeutics
May 19, 2021Imagine the possibility of using light to active therapeutics when treating diseases – reducing the potential harsh side effects of aggressive disease treatments used today. That’s what Professor David Lawrence, Ph.D., at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy is focused on. And a four-year $2,649,507 ROI grant from the National Institutes of Health will support his work, “Design and Application of Photoresponsive Modules in Circulating Erythrocytes.” Lawrence and a team of researchers have developed a new technology that transforms drugs into light responsive “phototherapeutics” that are transported by circulating erythrocytes (red blood cells). Phototherapeutics offer the promise of targeted delivery … Read more
Meet alumni Jai Patel, Chair of Cancer Pharmacology & Pharmacogenomics at Levine Cancer Institute
May 14, 2021In this alum spotlight, we chat with Jai Patel, Pharm.D., BCOP, CPP, (Class of ’11), Chair of Cancer Pharmacology & Pharmacogenomics at Levine Cancer Institute in Charlotte, North Carolina. Q: Describe your novel practice setting. What makes your career path unique? My current position at Levine Cancer Institute is Chair of our Department of Cancer Pharmacology & Pharmacogenomics, as well as associate professor in our division of Hematology Oncology. Originally, I was hired at Levine in 2013 as Chief of Pharmacology Research and was promoted to chair of the department in early 2020. My practice setting is a bit novel … Read more
Ph.D. candidate Samantha Ottavi selected as American Chemical Society Medicinal Chemistry fellow
May 12, 2021Ph.D. candidate Samantha Ottavi has been selected as an American Chemical Society (ACS) Division of Medicinal Chemistry fellow. Fellowships are provided to predoctoral students in their third or fourth year of graduate study engaged in medicinal chemistry research in a medicinal chemistry, pharmaceutical chemistry, biochemistry, or chemistry department listed in the current ACS Directory of Graduate Research, according to the organization’s website. Ottavi’s fellowship was sponsored by Dr. John LaMattina, Ph.D., former President of Pfizer Global Research and Development. The fellowship provides $30,000 toward research support, $1,000 for travel to present a fellow’s work at a national ACS meeting, and … Read more
Assistant professor Joshua Niznik awarded five-year grant to study deprescribing in nursing homes
May 7, 2021The National Institutes on Aging awarded Joshua Niznik, Pharm.D., Ph.D., a 5-year K08 Mentored Clinical Scientist Development Award for his study, “Deprescribing Bisphosphonates in Nursing Home Residents with Dementia.” The $759,090 award will support Niznik’s study, which seeks to evaluate the risks and benefits of deprescribing versus continuing bisphosphonates (a group of medicines that slow down or prevent bone loss) in older nursing home residents with Alzheimer’s Disease and Alzheimer’s Disease-Related Dementias. “Deprescribing is an important and rapidly growing area of research in aging. Our study will address a critical gap in knowledge regarding the value of preventive medications in … Read more