Category: Research
Synthetic Cofactor Is a Better Backbone for Synthetic Heparin
September 22, 2010Jian Liu, PhD, has taken another step forward in his quest for a synthetic version of the drug heparin by improving the process of building the drug molecule’s backbone using chemically modified cofactors instead of natural cofactors. Liu and colleagues at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy outline their procedure in the article “Chemoenzymatic Design of Heparan Sulfate Oligosaccharides” published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. Liu is working to perfect Recomparin, a man-made heparin replacement that he has developed. “This is a milder, more efficient process,” Liu says. “It allows for a more precise structure that gives us a … Read more
PY2 Student Tackett Receives NC TraCS $2K grant
August 21, 2010Zach Tackett, a second-year doctor of pharmacy student at the School, has received a $2,000 grant from the North Carolina Translational and Clinical Sciences Institute to study a potential new drug target to help treat MRSA staph infections, which kill more people in the United States each year than AIDS. The award will fund a study of MdeA, an efflux pump in the cell membrane of Staphylococcus aureus, the bacterium that is the most common cause of staph infections. Efflux pumps are transporter proteins that pump toxic substances and antibiotics out of the cell. That function makes them key players in … Read more
Sleath Study Explores Problems N.C. Children Have with Asthma Medicine
July 23, 2010More than 85 percent of North Carolina children who have asthma need more help understanding how to take their medications, according to a new study from the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The study, led by Betsy Sleath, PhD, a professor at the pharmacy school, looked at the types of medication problems and concerns reported by asthmatic children and their caregivers in North Carolina and examined the association between child and caregiver demographic and sociocultural characteristics and medication problems they reported. “Asthma is a disease of devices. It’s usually not as … Read more
Blalock Receives Grant to Study RA Medication Risk Communication
July 19, 2010Susan Blalock, PhD, an associate professor in the Division of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy, has received a two-year grant from the American College of Rheumatology Research and Education Foundation for a study that could help improve rheumatoid arthritis patients’ understanding of medication risks. This $400,000 grant will support an investigation of communication between patients and rheumatologists about medication risks. “Medications play an important role in the management of RA,” Blalock says. “Previous research has shown that most RA patients want to be informed of medication risks, but that they currently have a poor understanding of these risks. Therefore we need to … Read more
Live Stream: Personalized Medicine: Two Papers on The Cost Effectiveness of Genetic Tests for Determining Treatment for Patients With Acute Coronory Syndromes (ACS)
June 18, 2010The UNC Institute for Pharmacogenomics and Individualized Therapy, the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, and the Gillings School of Public Health will host a seminar on Friday, June 18, 2010. The seminar is titled “Personalized Medicine: Two Papers on The Cost Effectiveness of Genetic Tests for Determining Treatment for Patients With Acute Coronory Syndromes (ACS).” The event will be live-streamed from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. The first presentation will be delivered by Laura Panattoni, a lecturer at the University of Auckland Business School. Her paper is titled “Personalised thienopyridine therapy: the cost effectiveness of genetic testing for CYP2C19 variants to … Read more
Lee Study: Boosting P450 Enzyme Lowers Blood Pressure
June 8, 2010Scientists at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have discovered that increasing levels of a certain enzyme in blood vessels can lower blood pressure, at least in mice, which could bode well for a new class of drugs currently in phase II clinical trials. Investigators Craig Lee, PharmD, PhD, and Darryl Zeldin, MD, demonstrated that high levels of the enzyme cytochrome P450 cause mice to produce more of a substance called epoxyeicosatrienoic acid, or EET, which relaxes blood vessels and lowered blood pressure by 40 percent in the test groups. Their … Read more
Washington Receives AcademyHealth Award
June 8, 2010Deidre Washington, PhD, a postdoctoral research associate, in the Division of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy, has been awarded a scholarship from AcademyHealth’s new Minority Scholars Program. Washington has been recognized for her potential to contribute to the field of health services research through her promising work. The scholarship provides support for travel and lodging for her to attend AcademyHealth’s Annual Research Meeting in Boston on June 27 to 29, as well as training in research methods and attendance at the Disparities Interest Group meeting. As a part of the program, Washington will also be matched with a mentor who is … Read more
Photos: Fifth Annual Chapel Hill Drug Conference
May 14, 2010The UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy hosted the Fifth Annual Chapel Hill Drug Conference on May 13-14, 2010. The theme of the conference was “Tools and Techniques for Solving Clinical Dilemmas: The Role of Translational Research.” PHOTOS FROM THE CONFERENCE https://www.flickr.com//photos/uncpharmacy/sets/72157623935107753/show/
Gates Foundation Provides Seed Money for UNC Researchers’ Germ of an Idea
May 5, 2010Researchers at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy have received a Grand Challenges Explorations grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for an idea that could see a tiny seed, a bit of saliva and a few tweaks to a hormone create a simple test for diagnosing diseases of the developing world, such as malaria, tuberculosis and African sleeping sickness. David Lawrence, PhD, and Vyas Sharma, PhD, of the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy received one of seventy-eight grants recently announced by the foundation in the fourth funding round of Grand Challenges Explorations, an initiative to help scientists around … Read more
Postdoctoral fellow Richards Receives Kirschstein Award
April 6, 2010Justin Richards, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in the Division of Medicinal Chemistry and Natural Products, has received a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award from the National Institutes of Health to support his project to better understand how the bacterial protein RecA contributes to the development and transmission of antibiotic resistance. The grant is worth up to more than $143,000 over three years. Richards, who is in associate professor Scott Singleton’s lab, will use the funding for research aimed at determining the role that RecA’s myriad of activities play in the different ways bacteria try to survive an attack … Read more