Category: Featured
Preventing vaping and substance use in teens across Western North Carolina
September 25, 2024A few of the Burke County Youth Advisory Board members. From left to right: Sophia Jones, Te’ah Kirschner, Evie James, Kaylynn Thornburg, and Amber Hamby, the teacher on site. The most commonly used tobacco product among middle and high school students in the U.S. in 2024 was e-cigarettes, also known as vapes, according to the CDC. In order to prevent substance abuse and vaping among teens, creating educational resources is crucial. Through a project funded by The Dogwood Health Trust, the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy partnered with several organizations across Western North Carolina to create a toolkit along with … Read more
Student selected for AACP Aspiring Academics Program
September 18, 2024UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy’s Magdalene Mallory, PharmD candidate class of 2026, was selected as one of 28 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. Over the next year, the cohort will participate in monthly modules, mentorship, networking, a group project, involvement with AACP, and attend AACP’s Annual Meeting in Chicago. Mallory comes from a family of pharmacists and educators. Growing up, her parents emphasized the importance of learning both inside and outside … Read more
Royster Fellow finds passion for research
September 11, 2024Alita Miller Royster Fellow Alita Miller, PhD student at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, discovered pharmaceutical sciences unexpectedly. She received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biomedical engineering from Purdue University with the original intent of attending medical school and having an engineering job as a backup plan. However, during her sophomore year she joined a lab and ended up falling in love with research. “I understood more that research is where you actually get to come up with ideas, test those ideas, and then hand them off to people like doctors,” she said. “Doctors have to use more … Read more
From the lab to the gym: Researcher competes in the top 40 in 2024 Masters CrossFit Games
September 4, 2024Matthew and Alison Axtman at the Masters CrossFit Games. Outside of his day-to-day job as a research associate at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, Matthew Axtman is taking his CrossFit workouts to the next level. After competing last spring in the CrossFit Open, then the quarterfinals, and finally the semifinals, Axtman earned his spot in the top 40 for his division to compete in the Masters CrossFit Games in Birmingham, Alabama. The competition brings CrossFit athletes from all over the world to compete for the number one spot. “I was shocked when I found out that I qualified,” he … Read more
Student leaders serve as national president and vice president for SNPhA
August 27, 2024From left to right: Tazche Turner and Ashley Addison at the 2024 NPhA/SNPhA National Convention. The UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy has strong ties to the Student National Pharmaceutical Association (SNPhA). Fourth year PharmD candidates, Tazche Turner and Ashley Addison, were recently elected as SNPhA’s national president and vice president, respectively. The purpose of SNPhA is to plan, organize, coordinate, and execute programs that improve the health, educational, and social environment of minority communities. Both Turner and Addison have been involved with the organization since their first year at the School. “Coming into pharmacy school, I always knew that … Read more
Get to know the Class of 2028
August 26, 2024The UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy is excited to welcome the PharmD Class of 2028! One hundred and fifty students are beginning their journey to become leaders and innovators in pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences. Read below to get to know a couple of our incoming students. Q&A with PharmD candidates Catie McGrath (CM) and Tevin Williams (TW): Question: Tell me where you’re from and your educational background. Catie McGrath in front of the Old Well on campus. CM: I am from Wayne, New Jersey and completed my undergrad degree at DeSales University, a small college in Center Valley, Pennsylvania. … Read more
New PhD student arrives as an NSF Fellow
August 21, 2024Abbey Oliver Abbey Oliver is joining the PhD program at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, and it already feels like coming home. Having grown up in Cary and Charlotte, returning to the Triangle area after finishing her undergraduate degree in biomedical engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) is comforting. “This very much feels like home to me, and I’m very happy to be back in this area,” she said. Not only is Oliver joining the School, but she’s joining as a National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellow. This is the oldest graduate fellowship of its kind, … Read more
Working to help improve health outcomes, address substance misuse in the Lumbee Tribe
August 20, 2024Left: Ronny Bell, PhD. Right: Delesha Carpenter, PhD. The Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina is one of the largest tribes in the Eastern United States. Their tribal homeland is in Robeson, Hoke, and Scotland counties. These areas are impacted by persistent poverty and other adverse social determinates of health. According to the County Health Rankings, Robeson county ranks last among the state’s 100 counties in health outcomes. To improve these outcomes and build upon the previous work done in the Lumbee Tribe and across the state, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy’s Ronny Bell, PhD, and Delesha Carpenter, PhD, will … Read more
From beginning to end, career services supports students
August 14, 2024From left to right, Sarah Pankracij and Steph Olson. Career services, housed in the office of student affairs at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, is there for students from orientation to graduation and six months beyond as they settle into whatever is next. “Next” for PharmD graduates can look quite different from student to student – full-time jobs, residency, and fellowships; plus, the internships and part-time jobs they experience along the way. However, the journey to get there is supported by the career services team – Sarah Pankracij, director of experiential student and career services, and Steph Olson, career … Read more
Summer program prepares future PharmD students
August 13, 2024Participants Georgio Haskins, Robert Reicht, Regan Harlacker, Lael Nalian, and Alena Rodriguez in Dr. Benhabbour’s lab. This summer, the McKesson Foundation Leading Excellence, Advancing Diversity (LEAD) team hosted 27 college students for the first Emerging Students of Pharmacy overnight program at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. LEAD aims to build a pharmacy workforce that provides empathetic, high-quality, accessible care for all patients. This program was made possible by a grant from the McKesson Foundation. The goal was to have students fully immersed in the PharmD program and leave with a greater sense of what they can accomplish within the … Read more