Category: Grants and Awards
Mumper Named AAPS Fellow
November 9, 2009The American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists has named Russell Mumper, PhD, one of its 2009 fellows. The honor recognizes individuals who have made sustained, remarkable scholarly and research contributions to the pharmaceutical sciences, such as original articles, scientific presentations at AAPS Annual Meetings, and patents. Mumper is the John A. McNeill Distinguished Professor in the Division of Molecular Pharmaceutics and director of the School’s Center for Nanotechnology in Drug Delivery. His research on the creation of drug-, gene-, and vaccine-delivery systems has led to several first-in-human studies in the past twenty years. His current research focuses on nanoparticle-based systems to … Read more
DeSimone to Receive North Carolina’s Highest Civilian Honor
October 28, 2009Joseph DeSimone, PhD, a professor in department of chemistry and the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, will receive the North Carolina Award, the highest civilian honor in the state, on October 29. DeSimone is the Chancellor’s Eminent Professor of Chemistry in the College of Arts and Sciences and holds a joint appointment in the School’s Division of Molecular Pharmaceutics. His research focuses on nanomedicine and drug delivery. He has developed techniques for mass-producing custom-made micro- and nanoparticles tailored to have specific sizes, shapes and surface properties. That technology, known as PRINT (Particle Replication in Non-wetting Templates), is exclusively licensed to … Read more
Graduate Student Schuck Receives TraC$2K Grant
October 12, 2009Bob Schuck, PharmD, a graduate student at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, has received a $2,000 grant from the North Carolina Translational and Clinical Sciences Institute for research looking into the role of an enzyme in the development of cardiovascular disease. The grant will support Schuck’s dissertation research study of the enzyme 5-lipoxygenase (ALOX5). ALOX5 synthesizes fatty molecules called leukotrienes, which promote inflammation. Genetic variation in ALOX5 has been associated with the development of cardiovascular disease, but the reason remains unclear. Schuck’s study will try to determine whether cardiovascular disease patients with a genetic variant in their ALOX5 have … Read more
School Researchers Attract $2 Million in ARRA Stimulus Funding
October 6, 2009Faculty members at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy have been awarded grants totaling more than $2 million from the National Institutes of Health through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, commonly known as the economic stimulus bill or recovery act. At the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, we believe we have a special obligation to our fellow citizens to report on the projects funded with this money. This page will be updated as new projects are funded. Stephen Frye, PhD, “Discovery of Small Molecule MBT Domain Antagonists” Frye received a two-year $873,000 challenge grant to study proteins involved in … Read more
School Faculty Shine at Annual AACP Meeting
October 2, 2009Faculty from the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy were very active at the recent annual meeting of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy in Boston July 17 to 20. Five members of the faculty were installed to elected positions in sections and special interest groups: Lisa Dinkins, PharmD, secretary of the Laboratory Instructors SIG; Tim Ives, PharmD, MPH, chair-elect of the Pharmacy Practice Section; Kelly Scolaro, secretary of the Self-Care Therapuetics/Nonprescription Medicine SIG; Betsy Sleath, PhD, chair of the Social and Administrative Sciences Section; and K. T. Vaughan, MSLS, chair-elect of the Libraries/Educational Resources Section. A great many of … Read more
AAPS Honors Pollack with Manuscript Award
October 1, 2009A paper coauthored by Gary Pollack, PhD, has been selected by the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists for the 2009 AAPS Pharmaceutical Research Meritorious Manuscript Award. The paper, “Kinetic Considerations for the Quantitative Assessment of Efflux Activity and Inhibition: Implications for Understanding and Predicting the Effects of Efflux Inhibition,” proposed a new way of analyzing data from experiments that examine how drugs move through the body. “In the old days, we used to believe drugs moved passively through the body, diffusing from areas of high concentration to areas of low concentration,” Pollack says. “Now we know that proteins play an … Read more
DNA Direct Founder to Receive UNC IPIT Patient-Care Award
September 30, 2009Ryan Phelan, CEO and founder of DNA Direct, is this year’s recipient of the Award for Patient Service from the Institute for Pharmacogenomics and Individualized Therapy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. When Phelan launched DNA Direct in 2005, she believed that genomics would transform health care, she says. “My promise at that time was to start with the people we knew would benefit most, and evolve our offerings as the landscape unfolded,” Phelan says. ”So we began with services for consumers. By helping consumers access state-of-the-art genetic testing and interpretation, we knew we could make a … Read more
PharmD Student Wins RXportfolios National Achievement Award
September 4, 2009Adam Overberg, a doctor of pharmacy student at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, has been named a winner of the RXportfolios National Achievement Award. Overberg, from Fayetteville, North Carolina, is a fourth-year student at the School. He earned a BS in Pharmaceutical Sciences from UNC in 2009. RXportfolios.com is a Web site that provides free online portfolios for pharmacists, students, and technicians. The National Achievement Award is judged on the quality and completeness of the contestants’ RXportfolios, and each school of pharmacy can have only one winner.
Chemistry Dean Crimmins Receives ACS Guenther Award
August 31, 2009The American Chemical Society has announced that Michael T. Crimmins, senior associate dean for the natural sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences, has been awarded the 2010 Ernest Guenther Award for outstanding achievement in the chemistry of natural products. Crimmins holds a joint appointment in the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy as a professor in the Division of Medicinal Chemistry and Natural Products and is the Mary Ann Smith Professor of Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry. The award recognizes and encourages outstanding achievements in the analysis, structure elucidation, and chemical synthesis of natural products. In selecting the … Read more
Craig Lee Receives NIH Grant to Find New Inflammation Treatment
August 27, 2009Craig Lee, PharmD, PhD, an assistant professor at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, has received a grant from the National Institutes of Health for a study that could lead to more treatment options for inflammation. The grant, worth up to $1.55 million over five years, will fund research investigating the role of a family of enzymes called cytochromes P450 — CYP for short — in the regulation of inflammatory responses in the liver and other tissues. “Inflammation plays an integral role in the development of numerous diseases and conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, asthma, cancer, and septic shock,” says … Read more