Category: Grants and Awards
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
Steeb, Urick Receive AACP New Investigator Awards
March 11, 2019Two professors from the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy received New Investigator Awards from the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. David Steeb, Pharm.D., M.P.H., and Ben Urick, Pharm.D., Ph.D., won 2019 New Investigator Awards from the AACP. Steeb is a clinical assistant professor and Urick is a research assistant professor, both in the Division of Practice Advancement and Clinical Education. The New Investigator Award provides start-up funding for the independent research programs of early-career pharmacy faculty. Steeb’s research proposal, entitled Development and Assessment of Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) for Global Health, will survey global health experts in pharmacy, medicine, … Read more
Martin, Hanafin Win Presidential Trainee Awards from ASCPT
March 4, 2019Two students from the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy were awarded the Presidential Trainee Award from the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics. Jesse Martin and Patrick Hanafin were among the 17 recipients of the award, which recognizes the top scoring abstracts submitted by clinical pharmacologists in training. Martin also received the ASCPT Jason Morrow Trainee Award for the second-highest scoring trainee abstract submitted. The award includes a $1,000 prize. Both students will be recognized and receive their awards at the ASCPT Annual Meeting in March in Washington, DC. Martin is a third-year Pharm.D. student in the Research and … Read more
UNC Chapel Hill Ranked 10th in the World for Pharmacy and Pharmacology
March 1, 2019The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was ranked 10th in the world for pharmacy and pharmacology in the recently released 2019 QS World University Rankings. UNC was ranked 21st in the same category in 2018. Among American universities, Carolina’s pharmacy and pharmacology programs rank fourth overall. The QS World University Rankings highlight the world’s top universities in 48 subjects, based on academic reputation, employer reputation and research impact. Four factors are used to create the rating: A survey of over 83,000 academics worldwide A survey of 42,000 graduate employers A measure of Scopus citations per faculty member … Read more
Jackie Gerhart Wins BAHM Case Competition
February 27, 2019Jackie Gerhart, a Ph.D. student at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, took first place at the Business School Alliance for Health Management Case Competition at Harvard Business School on Feb. 9. Gerhart and her partner, Aditi Borde, a dual MHA/MBA candidate, won a $10,000 first place prize for their pitch idea for a partnership with Walmart and Blue Cross Blue Shield NC to develop an incentivized diabetes management program for rural communities. Gerhart is a Ph.D. candidate under the supervision of Daniel Gonzalez, Pharm.D., Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics. Nearly 40 students … Read more
Mariya Popova Awarded NVIDIA Graduate Fellowship
February 21, 2019Mariya Popova, a second-year Ph.D. student in the Laboratory for Molecular Modeling, is the recipient of the 2019-20 NVIDIA Graduate Fellowship. Popova is supervised by Alexander Tropsha, Ph.D., and Olexandr Isayev, Ph.D. Her research focuses on applications and development of deep learning methods for computational chemistry and drug design. Popova is developing deep learning algorithms to solve computational chemistry problems, such as the generation of novel molecules with desired properties and prediction of a synthesis path for a given chemical compound. “My research goal is to revolutionize drug design with artificial intelligence,” she said. “Having these problems solved will speed … Read more
Grandy Receives Bernstein Fellowship for Hepatitis C Research
February 11, 2019Rebecca Grandy, Pharm.D., was named a Jim Bernstein Community Health Leadership Fellow for her work providing hepatitis C care in rural communities. Grandy is an assistant professor of clinical education at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy’s Asheville satellite campus and practices at the Mountain Area Health Education Center’s Family Health Center. The Bernstein Fellows Program identifies and develops future healthcare in rural and underserved communities in North Carolina. The two-year program, awarded by the Foundation for Health Leadership and Innovation, supports the work of outstanding individuals working in rural communities through funding and mentorship opportunities. As a Bernstein Fellow, … Read more
Sjoquist Wins ACCP Education and Training Poster Competition
January 28, 2019Laura Sjoquist, Pharm.D., a postdoctoral fellow at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, won first place in the 2018 American College of Clinical Pharmacy Education and Training PRN poster competition. Sjoquist is the experiential programs academic fellow in the Division of Practice Advancement and Clinical Education at the School. She received the award after presenting at the American College of Clinical Pharmacy Global Conference in Seattle in October. The research poster, entitled “An Exploration of Student Progression Toward Practice Readiness,” was co-authored by PACE faculty members Antonio Bush, Ph.D., Macary Marciniak, Pharm.D., and Nicole Pinelli Reitter, Pharm.D. The qualitative research … Read more
Skrajna Awarded American Cancer Society Postdoc Fellowship
January 24, 2019Aleksandra Skrajna, Ph.D., a postdoctoral researcher at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy and UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, has been awarded a three-year post-doctoral fellowship from the American Cancer Society. The fellowship, worth over $150,000 over three years, supports the training of promising post-doctoral scientists in preparation for independent careers in cancer research. Skrajna works in the lab of Robert McGinty, M.D., Ph.D., an assistant professor at the School and an associate Lineberger member. Skrajna’s research is focused on how enzymes bind to our genetic material in cells to ensure that our genes are expressed appropriately. “By understanding how … Read more
Anselmo Wins Pharmaceutics Young Investigator Award
January 14, 2019Aaron Anselmo, Ph.D., has been named the 2018 Young Investigator Award winner by Pharmaceutics. Anselmo is an assistant professor in the Division of Pharmacoengineering and Molecular Pharmaceutics at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. His research focuses on developing pharmaceutics-based approaches to deliver therapeutic bacteria, combining pharmaceutics fundamentals to inform the engineering of new delivery systems for the microbiota. This work overlaps microbiology and microbe ecology, pharmaceutics, engineering and drug delivery to develop new strategies for treating microbiota-related disorders. Anselmo received his B.S. degree in chemical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at the … Read more