Category: Featured News
Meet alumna Kimberley Brown, National Field Director of Janssen Infectious Diseases & Vaccines
February 17, 2021In this alum spotlight, we chat with Kimberley Brown, Pharm.D. (Class of ’03), National Field Director for Janssen Infectious Diseases & Vaccines. In this role, she leads the development of medical strategy for field-based medical teams and oversees development for the broader organization. Q: Please describe your novel practice setting. What makes your career path unique? A: I have been in the pharmaceutical industry since 2007 and have been in various roles involving medical affairs and research and development. I joined the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson in 2007 as a Medical Science Liaison from the Rainbow Center … Read more
Tropsha, Muratov, partners identify potential drug candidates for COVID-19, land on National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences 2020 Papers of the Year list
February 12, 2021The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) recently announced UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy faculty paper “Computational modeling identifies drug candidates for SARS-CoV-2” as one of the organization’s 2020 Papers of the Year. The publication, with Alex Tropsha, Ph.D. and Eugene Muratov, Ph.D., both in the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy’s Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, as senior authors along with co-authors at the NIEHS and members of the Tropsha lab, was selected as one of 27 from nearly 3,500 publications by NIEHS researchers and grantees in 2020, according to the organization’s website. “It is a great honor and … Read more
ASHP honors pharmacy, UNC Health Care team with Best Practices Award
February 10, 2021More than 25,000 people virtually attended the 55th American Society of Health-System Pharmacists Midyear Clinical Meeting in December where the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy/UNC Health Care team was honored with the 22nd Annual ASHP Best Practices Award. The team was recognized for their program titled, “Development and Outcomes of an Innovative Partnership between a Health-System Department of Pharmacy and External Community Pharmacies.” The Best Practices Award was established in 1999 and recognizes pharmacists who demonstrate leadership and innovation in enhancing patient care and other areas of pharmacy practice. This year, four teams were honored with the Best Practices Award … Read more
Tang receives School’s Kathryne A. Brewington Graduate Research Award
February 5, 2021Zoey Tang, M.S., graduate student in the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics (DPET) at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, is the 2021 recipient of the School’s Kathryne A. Brewington Graduate Research Award. The School presents the award annually to the most outstanding doctoral student in pharmaceutical sciences in honor of the late Katherine Brewington’s commitment to public service and higher education. Brewington passed away while pursuing her doctoral degree at the School. “My Ph.D. research, which focuses on investigating therapeutic antibody dynamics at the site of action, requires a broad range of techniques and skills that I obtained … Read more
Master’s student receives Board of Pharmacy Specialties PGY-2 Residency Research Seed Grant
February 3, 2021UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy Master’s student Charlie Summerlin, Pharm.D., BCPS, is a 2020 recipient of the Board of Pharmacy Specialties (BPS) PGY-2 Residency Research Seed Grants. Now in its third year, this program awards up to two $5,000 seed grants to PGY-2 pharmacy residents who design projects to evaluate the impact of pharmacist board certification on medication-related outcomes for patients, demonstrate the value of board certification for pharmacist specialists to key stakeholder groups, or contribute to credentialing or privileging of pharmacist specialists across practice settings. Summerlin, along with Assistant Director of Acute and Ambulatory Clinical Services at UNC Hospitals Kayla Waldron, Pharm.D., M.S., BCPS, created a proposal titled: “Development and Implementation of a Standardized Process … Read more
Director of Global Engagement, partners, work to keep learner assessments globally relevant, consistent
January 29, 2021As health education and training around the world shifts toward competency-based approaches, academic institutions and organizations are now working to define appropriate preparation and assessment strategies for use across the continuum of public health care, according to David Steeb, Pharm.D., MPH. Knowing this, Steeb, the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy’s director of global engagement, led a team of researchers from a variety of health fields, to develop entrustable professional activities (EPAs) for global health that can be applied across academic and workplace settings. EPAs are key tasks individuals can be trusted to perform within their fields following instruction. The team’s … Read more
School to offer undergraduate course this fall on ethics, social issues in pharmaceuticals
January 26, 2021The UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy will offer a new Fall 2021 course for undergraduates titled, Pharmaceuticals: Ethical and Social Issues. This introductory course serves to develop a foundation in understanding the breadth and depth of ethical and social issues surrounding pharmaceutical development and use in the United States and globally. “This course is designed to challenge students’ perceptions of pharmaceuticals and open their eyes to the ethical and social issues surrounding pharmaceutical development and use in our country and abroad,” said Betsy Sleath, Ph.D., one of the course designers. This is a seminar-based course where students will have the … Read more
Alumna Toyin Tofade shares her journey of becoming dean of Howard University College of Pharmacy
January 20, 2021It’s not lonely at the top for Toyin Tofade, MS ‘94, PharmD ‘97, BCPS, CPCC. She reached the pinnacle of her career by mastering a subject as valuable to her as pharmacy: collegiality. “I believe relationships are powerful,” she said. To that end, she lists the touch points of her career in names rather than CV entries—former professors, co-workers, colleagues and students. A name familiar to many graduates of the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy is first on the list: Fred Eckel. Toyin met him while an undergraduate pharmacy student at Obafemi Awolowo University in her birth country, Nigeria. “Professor … Read more
Focus Carolina: John Bamforth
January 15, 2021Focus Carolina: John Bamforth He leads READDI, Carolina’s effort to find a treatment for COVID-19 and anticipate what medicines will be needed for future pandemics. Story by Jane Calloway, The Well John Bamforth oversees the Rapidly Emerging Antiviral Drug Discovery Initiative, a non-profit drug research and development organization that is part of the Eshelman Institute for Innovation. The mission: to find treatments for COVID-19 and to anticipate what treatments may be needed in future pandemics. “The goal of READDI is to have five novel antivirals against three viral families through phase one testing, which is the safety testing that goes on … Read more
American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists features Gauri Rao in women’s spotlight series
January 13, 2021The American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists highlights UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy’s Gauri Rao, Pharm.D., M.S., in their Women’s Spotlight Series Q&A: Question: What was the biggest challenge that you faced in your career? How did you overcome that? Rao Answer: My career started as a software engineer in the hi-tech industry, but I quickly realized that healthcare was my passion. This led me to pursue a career in pharmacy. The switch from engineering to pharmacy was challenging both in terms of the mindset and the knowledge base. But my passion allowed me to enjoy the hard transition. As I … Read more