Category: Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics
NIH Funds Paine’s Search for a Cranberry Juice Effect
July 17, 2007Mary Paine, PhD, has been awarded a $300,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health to explore interactions between foods and drugs. “We know a great deal about drug-drug interactions but comparatively little about how foods and other natural products interact with drugs,” Paine says. “Typically, the only thing patients are told about food and their medicine is whether or not they should take their pills with a meal.” Paine is interested in foods that can contribute to what has come to be called “the grapefruit juice effect.” Since the early 1990s, researchers have known that chemical compounds in grapefruit … Read more
DPET Recognizes Long-Time Faculty
July 1, 2007The Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics honored two faculty members at the Division’s annual retreat in June. Associate Professor Ralph Raasch, PharmD, was recognized for thirty years of outstanding service to the division and the field of pharmacy. Associate Professor Wayne Pittman, MS, also a clinical associate professor of medicine, was recognized for thirty-five years of exemplary service and leadership in pharmacy.
Kashuba, Corbett Honored for Work in Fight against AIDS
June 1, 2007Two professors from the UNC School of Pharmacy—Amanda Corbett and Angela Kashuba—have received the Pam Herriott Award from the UNC Center for Infectious Diseases and the UNC Center for AIDS Research in recognition of their contributions in the fight against AIDS. “They have been devoted partners to our HIV team,” says Charles van der Horst, a professor in the UNC School of Medicine who is a member of the CFID and the director of the Developmental Core at the UNC CFAR. “They always say yes when e-mailed or called, no matter what time or day, always stepping up to the … Read more
FDA, Genetic Alliance Leaders Receive UNC Individualized Therapy Awards
May 21, 2007The Institute for Pharmacogenomics and Individualized Therapy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill presented its 2007 awards at the Second Annual Chapel Hill Drug Conference on May 19. Janet Woodcock, MD, chief medical officer of the Food and Drug Administration, was named the recipient of the IPIT Award for Clinical Service. This award honors a person who has made significant direct contributions to the advancement of individualized therapy in clinical practice. Larry Lesko, PhD, director of the FDA Office of Clinical Pharmacology and Biopharmaceutics, received the IPIT Award for Public Service. This award is presented to honor … Read more
Brouwer Receives Honor from University of Kentucky
April 23, 2007Kim Brouwer, PharmD, received the inaugural UK Pharmaceutical Sciences Outstanding Graduate Program Alumni Award from the University of Kentucky, her alma mater. Brouwer earned her doctor of pharmacy and her doctorate from UK, where she also did her postdoctoral training. She currently serves as the George H. Cocolas Distinguished Professor and as chair of the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeuticsat at the UNC School of Pharmacy. She directs a research program in hepatobiliary drug disposition that focuses on the mechanisms of drug uptake and excretion by the liver. The program is funded by the National Institutes of Health. Brouwer … Read more
McLeod Forms New Individualized Therapy Institute at UNC
March 15, 2007New Pharmacy Professor Seeks to Match the Medicine to the Patient Howard McLeod, PharmD, wants to help physicians get it right the first time when they select a medicine to treat cancer and other illnesses. He is heading a new research institute at the UNC School of Pharmacy that will find ways to match medicines to the unique makeup of the people needing them. “In cancer and almost every other area of medicine, there are multiple drugs that work,” McLeod says. “But none of them work more than half the time. So when prescribers are faced with choosing what medicine … Read more
Rodgers Receives KE Career Achievement Award
January 16, 2007Jo Ellen Rodgers, PharmD, is the 2007 recipient of the Kappa Epsilon Fraternity Career Achievement Award. Rodgers is a clinical assistant professor in the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics. “Jo Ellen’s accomplishments reflect so admirably on her, on our organization, and the University as well,” says Nancy Stankiewicz, executive director of Kappa Epsilon. “I believe we all take pride in her achievements and personal integrity. UNC is blessed to have such an asset.” In 2005 Rodgers received the KE National Outstanding Advisor Award for her service to the UNC chapter of the fraternity. Rodgers maintains an active clinical practice … Read more
Three Named as Eli Lilly Predoctoral Fellows
January 8, 2007Company Expands Funding for Fellows Program from Two Years to Four UNC School of Pharmacy graduate students Xin Ming, Jeannie Padowski, and Brandon Swift have been named 2006–2008 Eli Lilly and Co.-UNC Predoctoral Fellows in Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics, and Drug Disposition. Over the past four years, Lilly has provided funding for two predoctoral fellows in this program. In light of the success of this program from both the company and University perspectives, Lilly increased its commitment by supporting the fellowship program for four more years. Kim Brouwer, PharmD, chair of the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics, says that Lilly maintains … Read more
UNC Spin-off Licenses Technology to Drug Development Company
December 14, 2006Qualyst, a company created based on discoveries made at the UNC School of Pharmacy, announced that Covance Laboratories Inc., has licensed the use of Qualyst’s B-CLEAR® system to provide its pharmaceutical and biotechnology sponsors with pharmacokinetic services. B-CLEAR® is a sandwich-cultured hepatocyte system for the in vitro assessment and in vivo prediction of critical pharmacokinetic properties, including hepatobiliary disposition, hepatic uptake, hepatic accumulation, biliary clearance and drug transport. B-CLEAR® offers research organizations the ability to generate physiologically-relevant data and enable decision making in critical areas related to hepatic transport and adverse drug interactions, helping to avoid costly drug-development challenges and … Read more
Rezk Honored With Two Prestigious Awards
October 9, 2006Naser Rezk, a research associate in the Clinical Pharmacology and Analytical Chemistry Laboratory at the School of Pharmacy, has been honored with two prestigious awards: the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Innovation and the State Employees’ Award for Excellence in Innovation. Rezk is responsible for developing ways to measure drugs and metabolites in biological fluids to answer important questions in the treatment of HIV/AIDS and other diseases. The data he generates are critical to improving patient care. The awards were given in recognition of Rezk’s work in establishing the Clinical Pharmacology and Analytical Chemistry Laboratory’s top ranking in the number of drugs measured and the … Read more