Category: Grants and Awards
Community Pharmacists Poised to Improve Access to Life-Saving Opioid Treatment in Western North Carolina
March 5, 2025Dr. Delesha Carpenter is tackling the state’s opioid epidemic one training at a time with support from Dogwood Health Trust Delesha Carpenter, PhD. A new initiative aims to equip community pharmacists in Western North Carolina (WNC) with the training and tools needed to improve access to Medication for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD) and drug test strips, potentially saving lives in the region hardest hit by the opioid crisis. Dogwood Health Trust is supporting this work with a $240,000 grant. The project, led by UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy’s Delesha Carpenter, PhD, seeks to address the ongoing opioid epidemic by providing … Read more
Searching for the Secret Recipe: School lab takes on impactful research dedicated to treating diseases in low oxygen environments
February 26, 2025Dr. Owen Fenton (right) in the lab. Written by Safa Tonuzi Dr. Owen Fenton takes on big concepts at the smallest levels possible – molecularly. Fenton, assistant professor in the Division of Pharmacoengineering and Molecular Pharmaceutics at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, is taking on a large task. Rather than targeting a single disease, he’s addressing low oxygen environments – a common characteristic of many conditions from cancer to respiratory diseases and circulatory disorders. Fenton recently received a 5-year $1.91 million R35 Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) from the National Institutes of Health to investigate and manipulate cells … Read more
School set to offer immersive STEM enrichment program to high school students in Eastern and Western North Carolina
February 12, 2025Written by Safa Tonuzi. The UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy will partner with Southeastern Community College, Western Piedmont Community College, and Carolina College Advising Corps to provide rising high school juniors and seniors from rural and underserved communities in North Carolina an immersive summer camp supplemented with a yearlong, longitudinal program. High school juniors and seniors can now apply for the Promoting Innovation and Lifelong Learning in STEM (PILLS) program. Made possible by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, the school received a total of $180,000 through the Fund’s Student STEM Enrichment Program initiative. The grant will fund three years of PILLS. … Read more
Juliane Nguyen inducted into AAPS College of Fellows
November 13, 2024Nguyen being recognized as an AAPS Fellow (Photo by Jeff Pinette) Professor Juliane Nguyen, PhD, was one of eight people recently inducted into the prestigious American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) College of Fellows. Established in 1986, AAPS is a professional and scientific organization with around 7,000 members from academia, industry, government, and various pharmaceutical science research institutes globally. AAPS aims to enhance the ability of pharmaceutical scientists to create products and therapies that promote global health. Fellows are selected due to their professional excellence and positive impact on global health and the AAPS community. Nguyen was selected by … Read more
School receives 2024 Health Professions Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award
October 3, 2024The UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy received the 2024 Health Professions Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from Insight Into Diversity magazine, the oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education. This award highlights the School’s outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion, and nationally recognizes its mentoring, teaching, research, hiring and promotion, recruitment, and retention. “The HEED award reflects the School’s commitment in its values and principles to create an environment that leverages community, connection, and collaboration to bring value to pharmacy and the world,” said Carla White, BSPharm, Associate Dean of Culture and Well-Being. “I am incredibly proud of … Read more
Work to reduce overdoses is personal for one researcher
July 29, 2024Grace Marley, Pharm.D. “Naloxone saves lives,” said Grace Marley, Pharm.D. ‘23, research assistant professor in the Division of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy (DPOP) at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. The drug, naloxone, is a medication that acts quickly to reverse opioid overdoses and restore breathing. Opioid overdoses are a major public health concern in the U.S. and caused nearly 83,000 deaths in 2022. Marley, first author on a recently published paper in JAMA Health Forum, is passionate about the opioid epidemic and helping pharmacists reduce overdose harm. The experience of losing her brother three years ago to substance use … Read more
Research aims to help repurpose approved medications for rare diseases
May 16, 2024Alex Tropsha, Ph.D., at the White House for the ARPA-H announcement. The UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, in collaboration with the Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is using data science and artificial intelligence (AI) to identify and validate clinical new uses of existing drugs for rare diseases, also known as drug repurposing. The School and RENCI received a $3.2 million award from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), the first award in which Carolina is named by the agency. Being able to identify and validate new uses of drugs requires … Read more
Dean Angela Kashuba receives Carolina Alumni Faculty Service Award
April 22, 2024Dean Angela Kashuba after receiving the Carolina Alumni Faculty Service Award. Photo courtesy of Ray Black III. UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy Dean Angela Kashuba, Pharm.D., was selected for the 2024 Carolina Alumni Faculty Service Award. Established in 1990, the award “honors faculty members who have performed outstanding service for the University or the alumni association.” “This award is a true honor, and I’m humbled to be selected. Behind each of these accomplishments, is a team of people who have supported, challenged, mentored and worked alongside me—I would be remiss if I didn’t thank those who have led me here,” … Read more
Developing new ways to treat heart attacks without surgery
April 15, 2024According to Professor Juliane Nguyen, Ph.D., although cardiovascular disease is still the number one cause of death world-wide, the way heart attacks are treated hasn’t changed much in the last 20 years. With a $2.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Research Project Grant Program (R01), her lab will take the next steps toward developing a new therapy that could impact the way all heart attack patients are treated. “Effective delivery of therapeutics to the heart is quite challenging. When we inject therapeutics, they typically disperse throughout the entire body. However, the heart is small and receives … Read more
UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy is the No. 1 Pharmacy School in the Nation
April 9, 2024The UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy is once again the No.1 pharmacy school in the country. This is the third time in a row the School has been ranked No. 1 by U.S. News & World Report. The rankings are based on a survey of peers from accredited pharmacy schools across the country and are published every four years. “I am so proud to be part of a School that relentlessly pursues excellence in education, research, practice and innovation,” said Angela Kashuba, Dean of the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. “This accomplishment is a testament to the unwavering dedication of … Read more