Category: Grants and Awards
School partners with Carolina Across 100 to launch third rural pharmacy hub
February 14, 2024The UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy was recently awarded a $200,000 grant from Carolina Across 100 to launch a third rural pharmacy hub at the Roanoke Chowan Community Health Center in Ahoskie, North Carolina as part of the School’s Rural Pharmacy Health Initiative. This grant enables the School to extend its reach to people in medically underserved communities across North Carolina. The goal is to improve access to care in these areas while creating new, sustainable models for rural health care. “I’m so grateful to Carolina Across 100 for recognizing the importance of this endeavor—not only are we reaching rural … Read more
Associate Professor awarded $2 million to study the effect of antibody-based therapies
February 7, 2024Associate Professor Carter Cao, Ph.D., in the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy’s Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics, is harnessing the power of quantitative systems pharmacology (QSP) and cutting-edge computational modeling and simulation tools to understand how antibody-based treatments interact among diverse biological contexts. Cao’s research looks at the dynamics and mechanisms of the immune system in response to the constantly evolving diseases in our world. Using QSP, computational modeling and simulation tools will provide multi-dimensional data that navigates the body’s dynamic physiology. It will study how each immune system, diseases and antibodies interact with each other, with the hope … Read more
Fellow receives two awards from ASCPT
February 5, 2024UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy fellow, Miramar Kardouh, Pharm.D., was selected as a recipient of the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (ASCPT) 2024 Presidential Trainee Award and the 2024 David J. Goldstein Trainee Award. The Presidential Trainee Award is given by the scientific program committee who selects the top scoring abstracts by clinical pharmacologists and translational scientists in training. The David J. Goldstein Trainee Award is given to the highest scoring trainee abstract in honor of the longtime ASCPT member, who was committed to trainees and the future of the discipline of clinical pharmacology. “I’m ecstatic to get … Read more
Faculty member advancing an inhalable pan-SARS treatment into clinical development
January 18, 2024Four years since SARS-CoV-2 first spread across the U.S., there are still tens of thousands of new weekly COVID hospitalizations, underscoring the need for more effective means to prevent these infection-induced hospitalizations. Sam Lai, Ph.D., professor in the Division of Pharmacoengineering and Molecular Pharmaceutics at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, is advancing an inhalable antibody treatment that not only works against all SARS variants but can be dosed with at-home convenience rather than the traditional means of systemic infusion. Lai’s research spans the interface of immunology and engineering, with a particular emphasis on developing novel bioactive molecules that … Read more
Ameya Chaudhari named 2023 Kathryne A. Brewington Graduate Research Award winner
January 8, 2024Ph.D. candidate Ameya Chaudhari is the 2023 recipient of the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy’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. “Receiving the Kathryne A. Brewington Graduate Student Research Award is a significant milestone for me,” he said. “It not only validates my dedication and hard work throughout my academic journey, but also strengthens my commitment to contribute to the … Read more
Meet the 2023 staff award winners
December 18, 2023Each year, the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy recognizes the achievements of staff who excel in their area of expertise and who help create an engaging culture by upholding the School’s values and mission. With the addition of two new categories, there are a total of nine award winners this year. Behind the Scenes – Vishal Tiwari This person quietly gets the job done and remains dedicated to those we serve. “I am really grateful for having such a wonderful team and managers! It makes me happy and motivated to see them recognize my ‘behind the scenes’ efforts,” said Vishal … Read more
Art, equity and health care
December 4, 2023With the goal of shifting perspectives and raising self-awareness, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy faculty and staff attended the first of three Ackland Art & Equity events to gain a greater understanding of the power of equity in education and health care. “The Ackland Art & Equity event was designed with the understanding that all our work is made possible through connection. It highlights individual experiences and how each of our unique perspectives creates something that can’t exist without collaboration,” said Amanda Storyward, director of organizational diversity and inclusion (ODI) at the School. This event was hosted by the School’s … Read more
A career full of family, opportunities and “accidental” success
November 22, 2023Stephen Eckel, BSPharm ‘95, Pharm.D. ‘97, M.H.A. ‘05, associate dean for global engagement and associate professor in the Division of Practice Advancement and Clinical Education at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, often tells his students to hold their careers with an open hand. He recently received the Individual Award for Career Achievement at the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) 2023 Pinnacle Awards, which highlighted his career of advancing the medication use process. Eckel also leads a two-year Master of Science concentrating in Health-System Pharmacy Administration. In addition to his roles at the School, he serves as residency program director for … Read more
Incorporating career exploration and professional development into Ph.D. training: an NSF Innovations in Graduate Education award
October 25, 2023Assistant Dean Michael Jarstfer and Associate Professor Jacqui McLaughlin are working together to ensure Ph.D. programs offer students contemporary professional development and opportunities for career growth. To start this effort, a three-year National Science Foundation (NSF) Innovations in Graduate Education grant, of almost $500,000, was awarded to this project. Michael Jarstfer, Ph.D., Assistant Dean for Graduate Education at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy and associate professor in the Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry is the principal investigator of this project. “Ph.D. training has largely followed an apprenticeship model over the last 100 years. The result is that … Read more
New center to help advance placenta and fetal health
October 23, 2023The UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy is partnering with Rutgers University, Tulane University, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Rochester to launch the Integrated Transporter Elucidation Center (InTEC) supported by a $5 million grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The goal of InTEC is to better understand the placental transport proteins involved in the prenatal disposition of nutrients, drugs and toxic chemicals. This work will support drug development and post-marketing drug safety for medications used during pregnancy. “We will fill the knowledge … Read more