Category: News
Working across the aisle to improve health care
October 27, 2023With a focus on patient care and examining bipartisan partnerships that help North Carolinians find and receive health care, North Carolina Democratic Sen. Gale Adcock and North Carolina Republican Rep. Wayne Sasser, addressed an overflow crowd of faculty, staff and students from the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy and the UNC School of Nursing. The event was hosted by the School in partnership with the Carolina Association of Pharmacy Students. Their presentation examined ways to work across the aisle to improve health care, and they encouraged pharmacy and nursing students to be proactive in pursuing policy changes throughout their careers. … 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
MAHEC’s New Pharmacy Provides Lifeline for the Uninsured
October 18, 2023A patient at the Mountain Area Health Education Center (MAHEC) Clinic was scared, frustrated, and unsure of what, if anything, she could do next. Her heart and mind were with the baby she’d delivered just a week before, currently in the NICU, but she also needed to take care of herself. Her doctors had prescribed her anti-coagulant medication but, for some reason, her Medicaid coverage was discontinued and she was facing a cost of $800 for the medication. That’s when the MAHEC system kicked in and worked exactly as it was built to: The clinic’s embedded pharmacist referred the patient … Read more
Pharmacist, documentarian, explorer and distinguished Alum Amy Greeson, BSPhar ’90, receives the University’s highest alumni honor
October 18, 2023Under a grey, overcast sky, Dean Kashuba and other faculty and staff of the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy stood by the Old Well awaiting the beginning of the 2023 University Day procession, surrounded by countless other faculty and staff from other University departments. Suddenly, their faces lit up and they raised their hands in applause and waved across the street at South Building where Amy Greeson, BSPhar ’90 was emerging in full regalia, on her way to Memorial Hall. Amy smiled widely as she stole across the street to greet those from the School with warm hugs. After a … Read more
Scholarship for NCCU students and alumni increases access to M.P.S. program
October 16, 2023The UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, supported by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, will be providing scholarships for qualified current and former North Carolina Central University (NCCU) students to enroll in the school’s Master of Professional Science in Regulatory Science (M.P.S.) program. “The scholarship enables us to offer opportunities to NCCU students and alumni who otherwise may not have been able to attend the M.P.S. in Regulatory Science program,” said Patricia Termini, director of the M.P.S. in Regulatory Science program and associate professor in the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics. “My hope is that these scholarships will help increase … Read more
Kathryn Morbitzer promoted to associate professor
October 11, 2023Kathryn Morbitzer, Pharm.D., M.S., has been promoted to associate professor in the Division of Practice Advancement and Clinical Education (PACE) at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. She is also the associate director of the Center for Innovative Pharmacy Education and Research (CIPhER) and assistant director of the M.S. in Pharmaceutical Sciences with a concentration in Health-System Pharmacy Administration program. “Being promoted to associate professor is not just a milestone in my career; it represents a profound commitment to pharmacy education. I am deeply honored to have reached this stage, and I am excited about the opportunities ahead,” said … Read more
First-of-its-kind nationwide analysis of children’s health care and neighborhood impact
October 9, 2023A new descriptive analysis from the Division of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy (DPOP) at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy found that children living in lower opportunity neighborhoods, areas that lack the vital conditions necessary for health, wealth and well-being, had the highest rates of poor physical and mental health status and fewest ambulatory care visits but accounted for the highest share of emergency department visits. This is the first analysis of its kind to look at all children across the U.S. and included a variety of variables such as health status, healthcare utilization and expenditures, access to care, parents’ … Read more
New research to help fight tumor growth
October 4, 2023Leaf Huang, Ph.D., has spent much of his career researching gene therapy and targeted drug delivery. In his current research, he is targeting bacteria that feed tumor growth with liposomal antibiotics in order to generate neoantigens that induce anti-tumor immune responses that help stop the growth. This would influence cancer progression—specifically colorectal cancer. Huang is the Fred Eshelman Distinguished Professor in the Division of Pharmacoengineering and Molecular Pharmaceutics (DPMP) at the UNC Eshleman School of Pharmacy. He, along with first author and former postdoc, Menglin Wang, Ph.D., had this research published by a top journal, Nature Biotechnology. “We are glad … Read more
Research on extracellular vesicles will help in the fight against cancer
October 2, 2023Juliane Nguyen, Ph.D., is studying how exosomal ribonucleic acid (RNA) cargo contributes to progression in cancer and other diseases. Nguyen is a professor and vice chair in the Division of Pharmacoengineering and Molecular Pharmaceutics at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. She also serves as director of graduate admissions. Nguyen will continue this research through a $1.6 million research project grant (R01) from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This research project is in collaboration with Klaus Hahn, Ph.D., Ronald G. Thurman Distinguished Professor in Pharmacology at the UNC School of Medicine. RNA is a molecule that is present in … Read more