Category: News
UNC researchers awarded $4.3M from PCORI to study strategies to improve health outcomes
December 14, 2021The PCORI Addressing Health Equity award described below was developed with funding from the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy and the North Carolina Translational and Clinical Sciences (NC TraCS) Institute $2K Stakeholder Voucher award program. The Informatics and Data Science (IDSci) Program within the NC TraCS Institute provided access to data from the Carolina Data Warehouse to support preliminary research. Kathleen C Thomas, Ph.D., MPH of the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy will lead a comparative effectiveness research study to improve health outcomes for youth with intellectual and developmental disability (IDD) and their parents through two-parent peer-group interventions, one parent-directed … Read more
Ava Vargason’s ‘sticky’ bacteria research wins Three Minute Thesis top prize
December 10, 2021Understanding and researching emerging issues takes years of dedication from graduate students at UNC-Chapel Hill. The Graduate School’s annual Three Minute Thesis competition finals, an initiative of Professional Development, helps graduate students distill their research topics in only three minutes for a non-academic audience in order to present their groundbreaking research in an easy-to-understand way. During the 2021 competition, graduate students submitted entries from many areas of campus, including in science and in the humanities, which were evaluated by a panel of judges to determine the top 10 presentations who advanced to the final competition. The finalists showcased their research during … Read more
Schools of Pharmacy, Medicine collaborate to improve cost, efficiency of inhaled medications
December 8, 2021Inhaled drugs represent an important and effective mechanism of targeted drug delivery to the lung. However, inhaled drugs are often an expensive therapeutic option for lung diseases such as lung infections, asthma, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, said Gauri Rao, Pharm.D., MS, assistant professor in the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. “The development of generic equivalents to brand name inhaled drugs could reduce the financial burden on patients who use and depend on these medications,” Rao said. “But drug development is limited by the difficulties in assessing the drug exposure in the … Read more
Team awarded grant to improve patient care, optimize medication use and access, better chronic care management in Western North Carolina
December 3, 2021The UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy in partnership with the Alliance for Integrated Medication Management (AIMM) have been awarded a $399,175 grant from the Dogwood Health Trust to improve patient care, optimize medication use and access, and better chronic care management for individuals in Western North Carolina. The project, titled “Patient-Centered Needs Assessment to Optimize Medication Use and Chronic Care Management in Western North Carolina: Building Upon Learnings from WNC Healthy Impact,” is led by Stephanie Kiser, BSPharm, Director of Rural Health at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, and includes team members Mary McClurg, Pharm.D., M.H.S., Executive Vice Dean-Chief Academic … Read more
2nd Annual Harold and Carol Kohn Distinguished Alumni Lecture features Lisa Carlton, MS, Ph.D.
December 1, 2021The 2nd Annual Harold and Carol Kohn Distinguished Alumni Lecture was held Nov. 5, 2021, at the Carolina Inn as part of Pharmacy Alumni Weekend and featured Lisa D. Carlton, MS, Ph.D., graduate of the class of ‘95. Carlton is the second recipient of the Harold and Carol Kohn Distinguished Alumni Lectureship. She is currently Vice President of Global Regulatory Affairs at REGENXBIO Inc., a biotechnology company focused on gene therapy product development. Carlton has more than 25 years of experience in regulatory affairs and medical/technical writing in the government/nonprofit sectors, with much of her career spent in the pharmaceutical/biotech … Read more
School publishes first Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Impact Report
November 24, 2021The 2020-2021 academic year marks the end of the Year One Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Strategic Plan at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. It also begins a new year of strategic opportunity to expand equity and inclusion through education, research, and practice to develop a place where all feel valued and connected. Year one laid the groundwork for preparing culturally intelligent professionals and building an inclusive environment. All targets were met for the School’s three strategic priorities which include: Recruit and Retain Diverse Talent Prepare Culturally Intelligent Professionals Build an Inclusive Community “The DEI Impact Report demonstrates how the … Read more
PharmAlliance launches new publication, highlights pharmacist-driven public health interventions during COVID-19
November 19, 2021PharmAlliance, a global collaboration of pharmacy schools from Monash University (Melbourne, Australia), University College London (London, UK), and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill recently launched a new quarterly newsletter called Policy Pulse on Practice. The Policy Pulse on Practice aims to provide timely information and evidence for pharmacy educators, healthcare workers and public health leaders. The publication also aims to raise awareness about key global health practice issues and advance policy at the local and country level. Recipients can subscribe to the Policy Pulse on Practice mailing list here. In the first edition, the publication highlights the … Read more
School, University startups continue to boost economy in North Carolina, beyond
November 17, 2021The economic impact of startups connected with the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill continues to grow across the Tar Heel State. A recent semi-annual analysis conducted by Innovate Carolina, UNC-Chapel Hill’s innovation services hub and University-wide initiative for innovation and entrepreneurship, reported the positive effect of UNC-affiliated startups during the past fiscal year as the COVID-19 pandemic dampened local and global economies. The UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy made a significant contribution to UNC’s overall startup success from 2020-2021: $38.4 million in revenue 243 total employees, 166 of which are in NC … Read more
Alumni Ping and Allen Rogers hope to inspire philanthropy, support next generation of pharmacy students through the David A. Rogers, Sr. and Dr. T.Y. Su Memorial Scholarship Fund
November 12, 2021Alumni Ping and Allen Rogers are incredibly grateful for the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy – not only for the education they received, but for the lifetime of friendships and networks fostered by the close-knit pharmacy community within the School. “I have a deep sense of gratitude for the School and Allen and I have been able to move forward in our careers in ways we could not have dreamed of. Part of that is because of the great foundation that was laid at the School,” Ping said. For more than four years, Ping (’90, BSPharm) and Allen (’90 BSPharm, … Read more
Ronit Freeman, Jim Hagood awarded grant by Eshelman Institute for Innovation to pursue research in lung fibrosis
November 10, 2021The Eshelman Institute for Innovation recently awarded Ronit Freeman, Ph.D., and Jim Hagood, MD, a $350,000 opportunistic grant to pursue research in lung fibrosis. The award will fund the development of a new peptide-based approach to reverse lung fibrosis and will identify and validate a chemical lead to test for clinical use. Current treatments slow the progression of fibrosis, but do not restore damaged lung tissue. “This award will accelerate the development of our peptide drug technology. This is exciting, as peptide therapeutics occupy a well-defined space in the pharmaceutical landscape, in which they can outperform small molecules and larger … Read more