Category: Featured
Anksorus Receives Kappa Epsilon Alumni Award
September 12, 2017Heidi Anksorus, Pharm.D., was awarded Kappa Epsilon’s Unicorn Award for recognition of her service to the organization as an adviser. The award is given biennially and recognizes alumni participation and involvement within the fraternity. Anksorus has been at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy since October 2010. She’s been adviser to the fraternity since fall 2012. As adviser, Anksorus attends chapter and executive board meetings, participates in rush events each fall, donates items and activities to the silent and live auctions and attends all the fundraising events she can. Anksorus also hosts “Crafternoons with Dr. A,” has sung at karaoke, … Read more
Savings Less than Expected for Generic Oral Chemotherapy, Researchers Find
September 11, 2017A study by researchers at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy and Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center determined the cost savings for a generic version of an orally administered cancer treatment were less than expected — a finding that questions the effect generic drugs can have on controlling health-care costs. The researchers report in the Journal of the American Medical Association Internal Medicine that the cost for one fill of the generic form of the chemotherapy treatment capecitabine was $2,328 last year. That price was 36 percent lower than the projected branded drug price in 2016 — a savings the researchers … Read more
New Synthetic Anticoagulant Developed at UNC Ready for Clinical Trials
September 6, 2017A new synthetic version of the widely used anticoagulant heparin developed at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill can now be made in commercially viable quantities and promises to be safer than existing drugs. It is ready to begin human trials. Researchers at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy have created a synthetic form of low-molecular-weight heparin, which is typically used to treat and prevent deep vein thromboses. A DVT is a blood clot that forms in a deep vein, usually in the leg, and is dangerous because part of the clot can break off and block blood … Read more
Vaccines Save 20 Million Lives, $350 billion in Poor Countries since 2001
September 1, 2017Vaccination efforts made in the world’s poorest countries since 2001 will have prevented 20 million deaths and saved $350 billion in health-care costs by 2020, according to a new analysis from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In addition, the researchers put the broader economic and social value of saving these lives and preventing disabilities at $820 billion. Researchers led by Sachiko Ozawa, Ph.D., an associate professor at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, studied the economic impact of Gavi, the global vaccine alliance launched in 2000 to provide vaccines to children in the world’s poorest countries. Gavi … Read more
Rhoney, Cox Named to New Associate Dean Roles
August 29, 2017Denise Rhoney, Pharm.D., has been named associate dean for curricular innovation at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, and Wendy Cox, Pharm.D., is now the associate dean for professional education. Rhoney is the Ron and Nancy McFarlane Distinguished Professor and currently chairs the Division of Practice Advancement and Clinical Education. Stephen Eckel, Pharm.D., M.H.A., clinical associate professor and associate dean for global engagement, will step in as interim chair of PACE as Rhoney assumes her new responsibilities. “The UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy is in a unique position to pursue extraordinary and unprecedented opportunities,” said Bob Blouin, Pharm.D., dean of … Read more
Dean Bob Blouin to Succeed Jim Dean as UNC-Chapel Hill Provost
August 22, 2017The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has named Robert “Bob” Blouin, longtime dean of the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, to serve as provost and executive vice chancellor of the University. Blouin will succeed Jim Dean, who will step down in September after serving four years in the position. “When I thought about who could fill this role, it was clear that we already had the best candidate at the University, Bob Blouin, who could begin working immediately to ensure we maintain momentum as we enter the new academic year,” said Chancellor Carol L. Folt, Ph.D.. “As director … Read more
$10 Billion in UNC Startup Revenue Delivers Economic Boost to NC
August 17, 2017Falcon Therapeutics, a company spun out of Assistant Professor Shawn’s Hingtgen’s work treating brain cancer, is one of the ventures contributing to a rise in the economic value of startups connected with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, according to a biannual report on Carolina’s commercial and social ventures. Falcon Therapeutics is advancing a new approach using tumor-homing stems cells to treat glioblastoma cancer, the most common form of primary brain cancer and also one of the deadliest. The company recently raised $700,000 in a private equity stock offering, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. It … Read more
Williams, Campbell Appointed to BPS Specialty Council
August 16, 2017Associate Professor Dennis Williams, Pharm.D., and Assistant Professor of Clinical Education Kristen Campbell, Pharm.D., were appointed to the Board of Pharmacy Specialists Specialty Council. The council appointed only 27 pharmacists out of the more than 100 who applied. Williams is vice chair for professional education and practice in the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics. Campbell is member of the Division of Practice Advancement and Clinical Education and a clinical pharmacist at Duke University Hospital. The BPS Specialty Councils recommend the BPS standards for certification and recertification of pharmacists in the specialty, develop and administer examinations for certification and recertification … Read more
Bush Wins Best Poster at Biennial Monash Pharmacy Education Symposium
August 15, 2017Antonio Bush, Ph.D., assistant professor of educational innovation and research in the Division of Practice Advancement and Clinical Education, won best poster for education research at the Ninth Annual Biennial Monash Pharmacy Education Symposium. The Monash University Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences in Melbourne, Australia, hosts the symposium in Prato, Italy. Bush’s poster was titled, “Preliminary Results: Exploring the Experiences and Agential Behaviors of Pharmacy Students Identifying as Underrepresented Racial Minorities (URMs).” Through 60 to 90 minute interviews with 20 students, Bush studied the strategic actions the participants took to navigate their pharmacy school experiences. Bush studied both the … Read more
Alumna Meg Powell Talks with Young Innovators about Clinical Trials
August 10, 2017Meg Powell, Pharm.D., M.B.A., a 2000 graduate of the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, visited the Young Innovators Program on Monday, July 17, to talk about her work as CEO of TARGET PharmaSolutions and her journey as a pharmacist. Powell spoke to the interns and answered their questions for about 75 minutes. Her presentation focused on clinical trials, offering insight into their history and the way they operate today under Food and Drug Administration regulation. Specifically, she discussed the fourth phase of clinical trials and the new model her company created for it. Powell said she was excited to share … Read more