Jan 09, 2017 - AMY BARRIOS 2016 PRESIDENTIAL SCHOLAR RECIPIENT
Congratulations to Dr. Amy Barrios, PhD for being selected as a 2016 University of Utah Presidential Scholar. The Presidential Scholar Award recognizes excellence & achievement for faculty members at the associate professor level.
Apr 17, 2017 - MARGO HAYGOOD LAB DISCOVER GIANT SHIPWORM
Dr. Margo Haygood, Medicinal Chemistry, joined by an international team of scientists, discover an elusive giant shipworm in the Philippines.
Haygood and her colleagues first caught wind of a possible location the giant mollusk could be hiding from a local TV station's short documentary segment. Researchers began investigating a lagoon mentioned in the segment right away and soon discovered the giant shipworm.
“I was awestruck when I first saw the sheer immensity of this bizarre animal,” says Marvin Altamia, researcher at the marine sciences institute, University of the Philippines.
This bizarre and fascinating discovery has captured eyes of the nation. The Washington Post, National Geographic and other news outlets have published this discovery featuring Dr. Haygood and her colleagues.
Apr 17, 2017 - KRISTEN KEEFE RECEIVES U OF U DISTINGUISHED TEACHING AWARD
Congratulations to Dr. Kristen Keefe, PhD for being awarded the 2017 U of U Distinguished Teaching Award!
Dr. Keefe held both offices of Interim Dean and faculty in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, in the 2016-2017 academic year. She will be receiving this well-deserved award at the general commencement ceremonies on Thursday, May 4th at the Jon M. Huntsman Center.
The $5,000 award honors significant contributions to University's teaching mission made by faculty who have completed eight or more years of service. Recipients are nominated for outstanding teaching performance, implementing effective and innovative teaching methods, and demonstrating exceptional abilities to motivate student learning and to prepare them for a career.
“She is passionate about what she teaches and she knows it backwards and forwards. She is so intuitive on how students are understanding the material and can teach according to their needs so well,” remarked one of Keefe’s students. “In addition, she goes through extra lengths to provide additional readings and fun practice problems to help students understand her lectures.”
Her teaching evaluations are routinely outstanding and her classes are highly sought after, but most noteworthy is that Dr. Keefe led the taskforce that was charged with the complete overhaul and redevelopment of the curriculum for the professional pharmacy curriculum in our college. As part of the redesign of the curriculum, Dr. Keefe insured that active learning, experiential learning, and inter-professional training are critical elements of the curriculum.
The College of Pharmacy began the implementation of this curriculum revision last year with the incoming first year pharmacy class. Assessments of the first-year experience were uniformly positive by both faculty and students alike and it is clear already that the revisions implemented by Dr. Keefe and the team she led will be a positive experience for all involved.
In addition to this great honor, she will be awarded The Lawrence C. and Delores M. Weaver College of Pharmacy Recognition Award on Tuesday, May 16th for her extraordinary service to the state of Utah and the College.
Apr 17, 2017 - ERIC SCHMIDT TO RECEIVE AACP'S PRESTIGIOUS DAWSON AWARD
The American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) will recognize Eric W. Schmidt, Ph.D., professor at The University of Utah College of Pharmacy for his innovative research combining genetic engineering, medicinal organic chemistry and neuroscience. He will receive the Paul R. Dawson Award on July 17 during the Science Plenary at Pharmacy Education 2017, the AACP Annual Meeting, in Nashville.
"The stellar list of recipients for these top AACP awards is reflective of the commitment to excellence in community service, education, research, and the diversity of our members’ accomplishments,” said AACP Executive Vice President and CEO Lucinda L. Maine, Ph.D., R.Ph. “From genomics to faculty and student leadership, the scholarship of learning and cutting-edge pharmacological research, Drs. Zito, Taylor, Schmidt, Gallimore, and Popovich represent the ‘best of’ pharmacy education.”
The Paul R. Dawson Award—endowed by Amgen in honor of its former vice president of marketing and sales—recognizes an active scientist within the ranks of pharmacy education as a leader in the broad range of research affecting patient outcomes. The award consists of a glass sculpture and a $5,000 prize.
Pharmacy Education 2017 will be held July 15-19 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, Tenn. The conference offers educational programming, exhibits, networking events and award presentations.
Founded in 1900, AACP is the national organization representing the interests of pharmacy education. AACP is comprised of all accredited colleges and schools with pharmacy degree programs, including more than 6,500 faculty, 64,300 students enrolled in professional programs and 5,800 individuals pursuing graduate study.
Apr 17, 2017 - JINDRICH KOPECEK AWARDED 2017 DISTINGUISHED MENTOR AWARD
Mentoring is really a rewarding activity. To witness the growth of graduate students/postdoctoral fellows into admirable scientists and colleagues is the highlight of academic life. I was fortunate to be associated with excellent students and postdoctoral fellows. My main aim in mentoring is to instill in students and postdoctoral associates the love for science. I strongly believe that the future of science is in an interdisciplinary approach to hypotheses design and problem solving. Thus I try to create an interdisciplinary environment where mentees’ with different backgrounds (chemistry, biology, engineering) can develop their talents to the fullest. I motivate my students to develop own ideas, formulate new hypotheses, and experimentally validate them, whereas I give them challenging questions, focus on improving their critical thinking and reasoning skills, and provide consistent assistance. Learning is a mutual process – I learn from my coworkers and they learn from me. Finally, I try to lead and educate by example, not by force.
Jindřich Kopeček received his Ph.D. in Macromolecular Chemistry and D.Sc. in Chemistry from the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences (CAS), Prague. His postdoctoral studies were done at the National Research Council of Canada. Before joining the University of Utah in 1988, he was Principle Investigator and Laboratory Head at the Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry, CAS. He is an elected member of the US National Academy of Engineering. Hydrogels from his laboratory have been in clinical use and HPMA copolymer – anticancer drug conjugates in clinical trials. Kopeček’s Hirsch index is 85; his publications have been cited over 25,500 times (Google Scholar 03092017). Since 1988 Kopeček has supervised directly 32 Ph.D. students, 8 M.S. students, 9 Research Faculty Members, 32 Postdoctoral Fellows, and 51 Visiting/Rotating and Exchange Students. Former mentees hold tenured faculty positions at major universities (such as Cornell, Rutgers, Case Western Reserve, Utah, Nebraska, Minnesota, Howard, Tsing Hua University in Taiwan, Tokyo Institute of Technology in Japan, Ben Gurion University in Israel) and pharma/biotech companies (such as Amgen, GSK, Gilead, and Novartis). Some of lab alumni have become distinguished endowed professors, department chairs, executives and directors in large companies, and successful entrepreneurs.
May 04, 2017 - ERICA LARSON RECEIVES 2017 WOLF PRIZE
Congratulations to Erica Larson for receiving the 2017 Wolf Prize!
May 05, 2017 - CAROL LIM AWARDED 2017 COLLEGE OF PHARMACY OUTSTANDING TEACHER OF THE YEAR
Dr. Carol Lim was awarded the 2017 College of Pharmacy Outstanding Teacher of the Year during Convocation on May 5th, 2017.
May 17, 2017 - DAVE YOUNG TO SPEAK AT THE CYSTIC FIBROSIS CENTER IN LONDON
Dr. Dave Young was recently invited to give a grand rounds talk at the Cystic Fibrosis Center in London at the Royal Brompton Hospital. This is the largest CF center in Europe and one of the premier CF centers in the world! Dr. Young presented his impressive work regarding dosing antibiotics for patients with CF. Great work, Dr. Young! You are impacting patient care around the world!
Jun 07, 2017 - CAROL LIM RECEIVED HCI CRR GRANT FOR $30,000
Interim Chair Carol Lim has received a HCI Cell Response and Regulation (CRR) grant for $30,000.
Jun 07, 2017 - SUN JIN KIM RECEIVES FOX AWARD
Graduate Student Sun Jin Kim, was voted by her fellow students as being a role model, helpful and kind, thus she received the Department of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Chemistry 2016-2017 Jeffrey L. Fox Award. The award consisted of $500.
Jun 07, 2017 - PENG ZHAO GRANTED GRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP
Pharmaceutics Graduate Student Peng Zhao has been granted a 2017-2018 University of Utah Graduate Research Fellowship.
Jun 07, 2017 - JINDRICH KOPECEK RECEIVED HCI EXPERIMENTAL THERAPEUTICS PROGRAM GRANT
Department of Pharmaceutics & Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Center for Controlled Chemical Delivery, Distinguished Professor Jindrich "Henry" Kopecek received a HCI Experimental Therapeutics Program grant.
Jun 27, 2017 - HUNTSMAN CANCER INSTITUTE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH SELECTED TO JOIN NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE’S SYSTEMS BIOLOGY CONSORTIUM
"Our research team will study resistant breast and ovarian cancer states using systems biology in order to identify treatment strategies for these refractory tumors," said Andrea Bild, PhD, principal investigator at HCI’s CSBC and associate professor of pharmacology and toxicology at U of U Health.
Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) and the College of Pharmacy at University of Utah Health (U of U Health) have been awarded a $9.1 million, five-year grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to serve as a Research Center in NCI’s Cancer Systems Biology Consortium (CSBC). HCI is one of nine research institutions nationwide to be selected as a Research Center in the CSBC.
Jun 27, 2017 - DR. HAMID GHANDEHARI IS AWARDED PILOT GRANT FROM HUNTSMAN CANCER INSTITUTE
A pilot grant from the Huntsman Cancer Institute's Upper AeroDigestive Tract Cancers Disease Oriented Research awarded Dr. Jeremiah Alt, Dr. Hamid Ghandehari, and Dr. Abigail Pulsipher (Alt & Pulsipher are from Otolaryngology Division) to study dual-modal embolic and fluorescent image-guided surgery using near-infrared dye-incorporated silk-elastinlike protein polymers for enhanced juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibroma identification and resection.
This multi-team HCI funded award is from 6/1/2017 - 5/31/2018.
Jun 27, 2017 - DR. GHANDEHARI WAS AWARDED A NIH STTR PHASE II GRANT IN COLLABORATION WITH A LOCAL COMPANY
Congratulations to Dr. Hamid Ghandehari, Professor in the Departments of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Bioengineering, Director of Utah Center for Nanomedicine, Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Nano Institute of Utah and Director of the University of Utah Nanotechnology Training Program for continuing his innovative research.
Dr. Ghandehari was awarded a NIH STTR Phase II grant in collaboration with a local company, TheraTarget, Inc. The project is "In-Situ Gelling Protein Polymer Intravascular Embolic Agent for Hepatic Carcinoma". Total costs of the grant are $1,401,869, which ends August 2019.
Jun 27, 2017 - NITHYA SUBRAHMANYAM IS AWARDED NIH RUTH L. KIRSCHSTEIN NATIONAL RESEARCH AWARD
PHCEU Graduate Student, Nithya Subrahmanyam, in Dr. Hamid Ghandehari's lab was just awarded a NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Predoctoral Fellowship (Parent F31) (see attached).
Nithya's award is for a 5-year period. Normally this type of grant is offered for 2-3 years (see attached), but they found Nithya's work so innovative that they gave her a 5 YEAR AWARD. This award covers her stipend, Tuition and money for research supplies, travel to present her work at national conferences and even cover her health insurance. The entire Pharmaceutics Department would like to CONGRATULATE Nithya on this wonderful accomplishment.
Jun 27, 2017 - DR. HAMID GHANDEHARI SELECTED AS CHAIR OF CONTROLLED RELEASE SOCIETY'S PROGRAM COMMITTEE
Dr. Hamid Ghandehari will be Chair of the Controlled Release Society's (CRS) Program Committee for the 2018 Annual Meeting hosted in New York in July. Dr. Ghandehari will be involved with the innovative scientific program. It is an honor to be apart of this committee.
Jul 17, 2017 - DR. CAROL S. LIM SELECTED AS ONE OF THE TOP THREE "SELECTED HIGHLY AUTHORS" OF MOLECULAR PHARMACEUTICS
Congratulations to Dr. Carol S. Lim for being selected as one of the top THREE "Selected Highly Authors" of Molecular Pharmaceutics: a highly reputable journal published by ACS. The entire Department is proud of Carol and how she manages to showcase the wonderful research being done here at the University of Utah.
Jul 18, 2017 - FARMING CRYSTALS IN SPACE
Health, University of Utah | Academics and Research Newsroom
By Stacy W. Kish
Protein Crystals Grown in Microgravity Could Yield Antidotes for Nerve Agents
"We need to develop antidotes that are effective against multiple kinds of organophosphates and can cross the blood-brain barrier to more easily reactivate multiple AChE proteins,” said Don Blumenthal, PhD, associate professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology at University of Utah Health. “This is particularly important for a mass casualty scenario."
Blumenthal was the catalyst that brought a team of experts together from across the country led by the project’s Principle Investigator Zoran Radić, PhD, associate professor at the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at University of California San Diego (UCSD), in the quest for antidotes to these terrible toxins.
Jul 24, 2017 - SKAGGS RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP RECIPIENTS
Congratulations to this year's Skaggs Research Fellowship and the Roy Kuramoto Award recipients!
Skaggs Research Fellowship Recipients:
- Joshua Torres, Medicinal Chemistry
- Sun Jim Kim, Pharmaceutical Chemistry
- Glenna Wallis, Pharmacology & Toxicology
- Casey Tak, Pharmacotherapy
Roy Kuramoto Award Recipients:
- Phong Lu, Pharmaceutical Chemistry
- Wenjia Gu, Medicinal Chemistry
Aug 01, 2017 - DANIEL WITT ANNOUNCED AS NEW PHARMACOTHERAPY DEPARTMENT CHAIR
Dean Randall Peterson announced this morning that Dr. Dan Witt is the new Department of Pharmacotherapy Chair.
"I am delighted to announce that Daniel M. Witt, PharmD, FCCP, BCPS has been appointed as Department Chair in the Department of Pharmacotherapy, effective August 1, 2017. Dan has been a member of the Pharmacotherapy faculty since 2014, when he was recruited to be Vice Chair of the department and Assistant Dean of Clinical Affairs in the College of Pharmacy. In that time, he has earned a reputation as a trusted colleague, inspiring teacher, and insightful leader. After a national search, it was gratifying to learn that Dan was the leading candidate for the position, and I’m grateful he has agreed to serve as Department Chair. I have every confidence Dan will build on the exceptional strengths of the Department of Pharmacotherapy and lead the department to new heights in research, education, and clinical care.
Prior to coming to Utah, Dan held various leadership positions at Kaiser Permanente, including Chief of Clinical Pharmacy Service and Senior Manager of Clinical Pharmacy Research and Applied Pharmacogenomics. At Kaiser, Dan started a Clinical Pharmacy Research Fellowship program and led a vigorous research program in thrombosis. Dan has become an international expert in the field of thrombosis, publishing more than 100 papers on the biology and treatment of thromboembolism. In addition to being a highly respected researcher, teacher, and administrator, Dan is an excellent clinician, maintaining an active anticoagulation practice within University of Utah Hospitals and Clinics.
I want to express my deepest gratitude to Karen Gunning, who has served as Interim Department Chair for the past 2 years. Working with Karen has been one of the great pleasures of my time here, and I appreciate the way she has guided the department skillfully through several major challenges. Karen’s leadership and dedication to the department have been inspiring, and I look forward to continuing to benefit from her wisdom in future roles within the department and college. Many thanks also to the members of the Pharmacotherapy chair search committee, led by Karen Wilcox, for conducting such a thoughtful and successful search.
I hope you will all join me in thanking Karen for her service as interim department chair, and give Dan your full support as he takes on this important new role in the Department of Pharmacotherapy.
Sincerely,
Randy"
Aug 23, 2017 - HOLLY GURGLE ELECTED AS CHAIR-ELECT FOR ACCP PRN
Congratulations to Dr. Holly Gurgle for being elected as the Chair-Elect for the ACCP Educational and Training PRNs (practice and research networks).
ACCP members vote for their choice of future leaders for their respective practice and research networks (PRNs), and this year elected Dr. Gurgle as the Chair-Elect for the Educational and Training PRN. Dr. Gurgle is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmacotherapy and serves as a Clinical Pharmacist at ARUP Family Health Clinic.
Please join the College of Pharmacy and the Department of Pharmacotherapy in congratulating Dr. Gurgle's recent appointment!
Aug 24, 2017 - DEAN RANDY PETERSON'S ZEBRAFISH AND OPIOID ADDICTION
Dean Randy Peterson is being nationally recognized and featured for his research with opioid addiction and zebrafish. Read more about his lab's research in the links below.
Sep 04, 2017 - JAMES AUGUSTUS MCCLOSKEY, JR, DIED AUGUST 30, 2017
James Augustus McCloskey, Jr, died August 30, 2017 at age 81 at home in Grey Forest, TX. He was born Robert McCloskey at Robert B. Green Hospital in San Antonio, June 25, 1936 to James Augustus McCloskey, MD, and Marian Rebecca Koehler McCloskey.
In 1974 Jim moved his research efforts to the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. He was a tenured professor in the College of Pharmacy, and Department of Biochemistry, University of Utah School of Medicine. The University of Utah awarded him the Distinguished Research Award in 1989 and he was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He received many awards for his research. One of which he was most proud was the Award for a Distinguished Contribution in Mass Spectrometry, awarded by the American Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS) in 2005. Jim was one of the early leaders and officers of the ASMS.
Jim's Career American Chemical Society, Chemical Heritage Foundation Oral History
Sep 20, 2017 - P2 STUDENTS PRESENT GHANA RESEARCH AT GLOBALU EXPO
Great job to Chelsea Morgan (P2), KC Winter (P2), and Hannah Christensen (P2) who presented their Global Health Ghana research at the GlobalU Expo yesterday.
Their posters were titled “Chronic Pain in Rural Ghana: Observation, Context, and Impact” and “Antibiotic Resistance in Rural Ghanaian Drinking Water
Sep 26, 2017 - MEI KOH AWARDED $1.7M GRANT FOR KIDNEY CANCER RESEARCH
Dr. Mei Koh, Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology, awarded new R01 grant totaling $1.7M over 5 years for research into new strategies to treat kidney cancer.
Has Dr. Mei Koh discovered a new strategy to treat kidney cancer? The National Institutes of Health (NIH) seems to think so. They have awarded Dr. Koh one of the largest single investigator grants available, a Research Project Grant (R01), to the amount of $348,203 a year for five years. This will be Dr. Koh’s second R01 grant for her research into kidney cancer. With current funding rates for new NCI/NIH R01 grants hovering around 10%, it is hard to overestimate the significance of this grant to Dr. Koh and to the College of Pharmacy community.
Having recently joined the College of Pharmacy from the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute in La Jolla, California, Dr. Koh has quickly found success. An Assistant Professor within the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, and investigator at the Huntsman Cancer Institute, Dr. Koh participates as faculty member of the Molecular Biology and Biological Chemistry Research programs, even as she runs her research laboratory.
The funded research will explore a new treatment strategy for kidney cancer – by targeting HIF-2α production and iron accumulation within tumor cells. Dr. Koh’s lab has identified a new way to selectively block HIF-2α production and slow tumor growth by blocking a novel component of tumor-specific iron metabolism. They want to understand how this pathway is regulated and determine its significance to the growth and progression of kidney cancer.
Could we use this strategy in actual kidney cancer treatment?
To follow Dr. Koh’s research and for more information about this new strategy, please visit her website
Sep 28, 2017 - YOU HAN BAE RECEIVES 4-YEAR NIH R01 RESEARCH GRANT FOR ORAL GENE DELIVERY SYSTEM
Professor You Han Bae received a 4-year NIH R01 Research grant for his innovative proposal titled "Oral Gene Delivery Targeting Distal Ileocyte". This grant will work to create an orally administered gene delivery system, which preferentially transfect ileal epithelial enterocytes (ileocytes) in the small intestine, using nonviral carrier vectors constructed from safe biological and pharmaceutical components. The total funding for this project is $1.5 million, an will goes through June 2021.
Oct 30, 2017 - APHA STUDENTS RECEIVE REGIONAL AWARDS
APhA students receive regional awards for GenerationRx and OTC Medication Safety
Our APhA students were awarded the GenerationRx 2016 Region 7 Award, the OTC Medicine Safety 2016-2017 Region 7 Award, and a Certificate of Recognition for Malinda Tan. These awards were presented at the 2017 Midyear Regional Meeting in Seattle, Washington on October 28, 2017.
Oct 30, 2017 - UTAH POISON CONTROL CENTER RECEIVES NATIONAL AWARD
The Utah Poison Control Center was awarded the AAPCC National Media Award this month
This award is given by AAPCC to the PCC that gained the most earned media, based on total “reach,” as tracked by AAPCC in the weekly Medical News and Health Care Policy Update (sample attached) during the previous year between July 1-June 30. Reach estimates the potential viewership of any particular article based on the number of visitors to the specific source.
Nov 21, 2017 - PROFESSOR JINDRICH KOPECEK HAS BEEN NAMED THE WINNER OF THE T. & A. HIGUCHI MEMORIAL LECTURESHIP AWARD 2018
Professor Jindrich Kopecek has been named the winner of the T. & A. Higuchi Memorial Lectureship Award 2018. The award ceremony will be held in Shizuoka, Japan, at the end of May, 2018. Professor Kopecek will be in good company as the list of past recipients is very impressive.
We congratulate him on being recognized for his hard work and dedication to share his knowledge & experience.