Category: General
Pinnacle Hill, LLC, Appoints Jon L. Collins, Ph.D., as Chief Scientific Officer
April 8, 2019Jon L. Collins, a seasoned research and development executive with more than 20 years in the pharmaceuticals industry, has joined Pinnacle Hill, LLC, as chief scientific officer. Dr. Collins joins Pinnacle Hill from GlaxoSmithKline, where he led drug discovery research teams focused on the scientific evaluation of novel protein targets, identification of clinical candidate molecules, and design of proof of concept clinical studies. Pinnacle Hill, a company seeking to discover new medicines to address the significant unmet needs of our times, was developed through a partnership between the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Deerfield Management, a health … Read more
UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy Achieves Highest Residency Match Rate
April 5, 2019PharmD students from the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy achieved the highest first-round match rate for PGY1 residency programs among all U.S. schools after the first round of the Pharmacy Match Day. Eighty-nine percent of participating students from UNC Eshelman matched with a residency program during the first phase of the matching process, according to statistics from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. Thirty-six PY4 Pharm.D. students matched with residency programs in North Carolina, including nine with UNC Hospitals and UNC community pharmacy residency programs. The remaining 43 matched with residency programs in 21 other states. “We are very proud … Read more
Learning How to Heal for Two
April 3, 2019When Project CARA was founded, it created a program that heals families and teaches providers how to treat substance use disorders, stigma, and generations of trauma The day Becca found out she was pregnant, she panicked. She was actively using and using a lot—she wasn’t sure how she was still alive much less pregnant. Suddenly, she had someone else’s life to consider. This was a sobering thought. So was her fear that if she continued using, she’d lose custody of her baby after delivery. That was what happened with her son, who she thought about every day. Becca knew she … Read more
Stephanie Kiser Honored for Public Service
April 1, 2019Stephanie Kiser, a clinical assistant professor at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy’s Asheville campus, received an Office of the Provost Engaged Scholarship Award from the Carolina Center for Public Service. The award recognizes UNC-Chapel Hill faculty and organizations that have performed extraordinary public service and engaged scholarship, or enabled such service by others. Kiser received the award for leading a sustained partnership between the School’s Asheville campus, Buncombe County Health & Human Services, and the North Carolina Department of Health & Human Services Preparedness Office. This partnership recruits Pharm.D. students and faculty members to collaboratively design and implement annual … Read more
UNC PY2s Create Guide to Pharmaceutical Industry for Pharm.D. Students
April 1, 2019When Jeff Pike explains why he chose pharmacy school, he points to the two sides of pharmacy he finds most engaging. First, there’s the science. Pike is fascinated by the high level of science pharmacy demands — particularly the elegance with which drugs target certain receptors in the body. Then, there’s the communication skills Pharm.D. students must learn to use. A successful pharmacist must be able to convey advanced medical information to doctors on the one hand, and simplify the information for patients on the other. “There’s this combination of scientific expertise, coupled with really high level of communication,” said … Read more
Beaudoin, Vogt Earn NIH Predoctoral Research Grants
March 27, 2019Two Ph.D. candidates at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy recently received National Research Service Awards from the National Institutes of Health. Jim Beaudoin, from the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics, and Caleb Vogt, from the Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, received the NRSA grants. Beaudoin is advised by Kim Brouwer, Pharm.D., Ph.D., and Vogt is advised by Jeff Aubé, Ph.D. The NIH grant, known also as an F31, is awarded to promising predoctoral students so that they can obtain individualized, mentored research training while conducting dissertation research. Beaudoin’s research project will investigate organic solute transporter α/β, … Read more
UNC Study Reveals Precision Oncology Insights for Colorectal Cancer
March 25, 2019Next-generation sequencing of tumor DNA from patients with colorectal cancer revealed genetic alterations that were linked to different survival and treatment outcomes in an analysis led by a researcher at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. The findings, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, could help define strategies to more effectively treat colorectal cancer, the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States. “This is an example of precision oncology, where using genetics, we are able to stratify tumor types that we once believed were homogeneous, and to identify new patient subgroups that might benefit from tailored therapies,” … Read more
Josh Guffey Named Director of Office of Continuing Education
March 22, 2019Josh Guffey, Pharm.D., has been named director of the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy Office of Continuing Education. Guffey is currently the director of pharmacy education at the Charlotte Area Health Education Center/Carolinas Medical Center, where he has extensive experience in pharmacy education and continuing education. He also holds a faculty appointment in the Division of Practice Advancement and Clinical Education. Guffey will continue his work at the Charlotte AHEC and will spend part of his time as the director of the Office of Continuing Education at the School. In this new role, Josh will lead the vision, creation, implementation and assessment of … Read more
Mucommune Receives Over $3M to Advance Muco-Trapping Antibodies
March 20, 2019Mucommune LLC has been awarded over $3 million in five separate federal grants over the past several months to advance its muco-trapping antibody technology. The company was launched in 2016 by Sam Lai, Ph.D., an associate professor at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. The muco-trapping antibody technology advanced by Mucommune is based on engineering the Fc region of IgG antibodies to interact with mucins. Tuning the Fc region to combine with mucins enables antibodies to immobilize viral and bacterial pathogens in different mucosal secretions, including respiratory airways, GI tract and female reproductive tract. Once the pathogens are trapped in … Read more
Gurysh Receives NIH F32 Grant for Brain Cancer Research
March 18, 2019Elizabeth Gurysh, Ph.D., received a National Research Service Award from the National Institutes of Health to support her brain cancer research. Gurysh is a postdoctoral researcher working in the lab of Kristy Ainslie, Ph.D., at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. Ainslie is an associate professor in the Division of Pharmacoengineering and Molecular Pharmaceutics. Gurysh is researching a combination therapy of stem cells and drug-eluting scaffolds to prevent recurrence of glioblastoma, the most common and aggressive form of brain cancer. Glioblastoma is usually treated with surgery followed by radiation or chemotherapy. However, due to glioblastoma’s tentacle-like growth, it is extremely … Read more