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March 2019

Three Pharmacy Faculty Honored by National Healthcare Association

March 19, 2019

OXFORD, Miss. – Three School of Pharmacy faculty were recognized by the pharmacy academy of the National Academies of Practice at its annual meeting March 7-9 in Pentagon City, Virginia.

NAP is an organization that seeks to advance healthcare by fostering collaboration and advocating for policies that act in the best interest of individuals and communities through interprofessional collaboration, education and clinical practice.

Ole Miss Student Selected as Officer for National Pharmacy Organization

March 6, 2019

OXFORD, Miss. – Miranda Craft, second-year student at the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy, was selected for the national role of student exchange officer with the American Pharmacists Association Academy of Student Pharmacists.

Craft will be installed as part of the International Standing Committee at the APhA Annual Meeting in Seattle on March 22-25. The Jackson, Missouri, native will assist the current student exchange officer in her first year before assuming all duties in year two.

February 2019

Sharing the Pain: Students from Four Disciplines Simulate Patient Care

February 21, 2019

JACKSON, Miss. – In the School of Medicine’s examining room 11, a woman grimaces as she describes a “searing” sensation in her back that “just kills me whenever I sneeze.” Her name: Blaine Penner.

Two doors down, in room 13, a man repeats the complaint. His name: Blaine Penner. In fact, at the University of Mississippi Medical Center’s Judith Gore Gearhart Clinical Skills Center, in separate rooms, Blaine Penner after Blaine Penner is telling the same story at the same time.

UM Student Pharmacist Accepts Mayo Clinic Internship

February 20, 2019

OXFORD, Miss. – Jontae Warren, a second-year student at the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy, accepted a summer internship through the Mayo Clinic School of Health Sciences in Rochester, Minnesota.

The internship will give Warren experience in the clinical/outpatient setting as he rotates through six pharmacies during the 10-week stint. Warren will counsel patients, review prescription orders, participate in pharmacists’ interventions and provide drug information to health care providers as part of an interdisciplinary team.

CEO of Clinical Pharmacy Organization Delivers Hartman Lecture

February 18, 2019

OXFORD, Miss. – Michael Maddux, executive director of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy, is set to deliver the UM School of Pharmacy’s annual Charles W. Hartman Memorial Lecture at the University of Mississippi.

The lecture will take place at 11 a.m. on Friday, March 1 in the Gertrude C. Ford Center for the Performing Arts. Maddux’s talk is titled, “Professional Transformation through the Lens of Clinical Pharmacy: Déjà Vu all over Again?” Attendance is free and all are welcome.

January 2019

UM Pharmacy Faculty Elected to Lead State Organization

January 31, 2019

OXFORD, Miss. – Four University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy faculty members have assumed new leadership roles within the Mississippi College of Clinical Pharmacy, the state chapter of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy.

Katie Barber, Sally Earl, Melissa Reilly and Seena Haines, who all have appointments in the UM Department of Pharmacy Practice, are MCCP’s officers for 2019.

Three Pharmacy Professors Win New Investigator Awards

January 24, 2019

OXFORD, Miss. – Three faculty members in the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy have won competitive 2019 New Investigator Awards from the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, giving the school five winners over the past two years.

AACP honors a limited number of research projects from junior faculty across the country every year. UM’s three winners for 2019 were Marie Barnard, Sujith Ramachandran and Vitor Pomin, who join UM’s two 2018 recipients of the award.

Pharmacy Faculty Honored with ASHP Distinguished Service Awards

January 23, 2019

OXFORD, Miss. – Two University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy faculty were honored for their service to the pharmacy profession at the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists Midyear Clinical Meeting in Anaheim, California, in December.

Seena Haines, chair and professor of pharmacy practice, received the Distinguished Service Award for her work in ASHP’s Section of Ambulatory Care Practitioners. Joshua Fleming, clinical associate professor of pharmacy practice, earned the New Practitioners Forum Distinguished Service Award.

Pharmacology Professor Awarded NIA Grant for Research on Aging Brain

January 17, 2019

OXFORD, Miss. – Nicole Ashpole, an assistant professor of pharmacology in the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy, has been awarded a grant from the National Institute on Aging to research memory impairments in advanced age.

With this award, Ashpole and her team will explore a specific hormone in the body that decreases with age, as well as its ability to communicate with the brain and its effects on learning and memory. The hormone is insulin-like growth factor-1, or IGF-1.

UM School of Pharmacy Highlights Profession with Browse Fairs

January 16, 2019

OXFORD, Miss. – The University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy will host two pharmacy showcases this spring to educate those interested in a career in health care about the more than 600 career paths available in the field of pharmacy.

The pharmacy showcase events, sponsored in part by a Walgreens Diversity Initiative, are designed as meet-and-greets with the School of Pharmacy’s dean David D. Allen, as well as faculty, staff, current students and pharmacy practitioners from different areas of practice.

Faculty Feature: Manvi Sharma

January 14, 2019

OXFORD, Miss. – Manvi Sharma, assistant professor of pharmacy administration, joined the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy faculty in the fall after previously holding postdoctoral research fellow positions in the Department of Internal Medicine at the UTHealth McGovern Medical School and Health Services Research at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas.

Learn more about Sharma in the Q&A below.

Ole Miss Professor Earns Grant to Produce Anticancer Natural Products from Bacteria

January 10, 2019

OXFORD, Miss. – Cole Stevens, a faculty member in the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy has been awarded a grant from the National Cancer Institute for cancer prevention research using natural products.

Stevens, an assistant professor of pharmacognosy in the Department of BioMolecular Sciences, is working to engineer bacteria to produce significant amounts of gephyronic acid, a polyketide that has potential as an anticancer therapy.

Faculty Feature: Amanda Capino

January 3, 2019

JACKSON, Miss. – Amanda Capino is a clinical assistant professor of pharmacy practice at the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy and a practicing pharmacist in the UMMC NICU. When she is not teaching on the school’s Jackson campus, she is helping infants born prematurely or who need special care in the NICU, providing guidance on their medication and precepting student pharmacists.

The School of Pharmacy spoke with Capino about her work in the NICU.

December 2018

International Mission Trip Gives Student Pharmacists Valuable Experience

December 20, 2018

OXFORD, Miss. – Social responsibility is one of the eight core values at the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy, emphasizing the importance of serving one’s local, state-wide, national and global communities.

Although global community service opportunities are harder to come by, this past summer, a group of 25 student pharmacists traveled to Peru to provide health services to local residents.

Pharmacology Professor Works to Reverse Impact of Opioids on HIV

December 20, 2018

OXFORD, Miss. – The opioid epidemic has reached new perils across the United States. Though opioid abuse can be dangerous for anyone, those diagnosed with HIV can see increased adverse effects on the brain and nervous system.

With a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy pharmacology assistant professor Jason Paris is working to combat opioids’ harmful effects on the HIV-infected brain.

BioMolecular Sciences Advocacy Council Enhances Graduate Student Experience

December 17, 2018

OXFORD, Miss. – The graduate students and faculty of the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy’s Department of BioMolecular Sciences have worked together to reestablish an organization that will benefit the many graduate students within the department.

The BMS Graduate Student Advocacy Council formed during the fall of 2018 as the department renewed its official student registration of the former BMS Journal Club. The organization plans to include more opportunities for interaction outside of the labs with faculty and student networking events, journal club meetings and football tailgates.

Malones’ Major Gift to Help Pharmacy Students Attain Degree

December 12, 2018

OXFORD, Miss. – A new scholarship endowment at the University of Mississippi is poised to support students from impoverished areas who dream of becoming pharmacists.

With a $100,000 gift to the UM School of Pharmacy, Arkansas state Sen. Percy Malone and his wife, Donna, of Arkadelphia, Arkansas, created the AllCare Pharmacy Scholarship Endowment. Recipients will be selected by the School of Pharmacy Scholarship Committee and may retain the scholarship for eight semesters while in the professional program, provided they remain in good academic standing.

Federally Funded Marijuana Turns 50

December 5, 2018

OXFORD, Miss. – Fifty years ago, the Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy was awarded a competitive contract from the government to grow marijuana that could be standardized for research.

Interest in marijuana research had grown throughout the late ’60s, and the government wanted to study the effects of cannabis on the brain and the body. To do that, it needed a source of certifiable plant material that was responsibly grown and harvested.

November 2018

Ole Miss Professor Awarded NIDA Grant to Fight Opioid Addiction

November 27, 2018

OXFORD, Miss. – David Colby, a University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy professor, received a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to develop new treatments for addressing the opioid crisis.

Colby hopes to develop a therapy for drug addiction by studying the medicinal chemistry of certain compounds that can lower the anxiety some patients experience when withdrawing from an addiction.

School of Pharmacy Establishes Anne Marie Liles Memorial Scholarship

November 13, 2018

OXFORD, Miss. – The University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy has established a scholarship to honor the memory of Anne Marie Liles, the school’s former director of experiential affairs, who passed away Aug. 23.

The scholarship was founded with several gifts from School of Pharmacy faculty members who wanted to continue Liles’ legacy of community service. Once the scholarship is fully endowed, it will be awarded each spring to a rising fourth-year student pharmacist who has demonstrated a strong interest in community service during the first three years of the pharmacy professional program.

Clinical Trial for Marijuana-Derived Drug Under Way at UMMC

November 8, 2018

JACKSON, Miss. – A clinical trial of a new drug derived from marijuana may offer hope to children whose seizures are uncontrolled by other means.

Noted as a first among studies conducted by U.S. universities, the study’s focus is to determine the safety and tolerability of the medication for children with severe epilepsy whose seizures are not controlled by other medications, said principal investigator Dr. Brad Ingram, UMMC associate professor of pediatric neurology and director of the Pediatric Comprehensive Epilepsy Program.

Pharmacy Student Organization Educates Jackson Children on Health Safety

November 5, 2018

JACKSON, Miss. – Good health is no joke, but University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy students planned fun activities for children in the Jackson area last month to teach them about the importance of health safety.

Student pharmacist organization PediaRebs, which focuses on pediatric pharmacy education and service, sent volunteers to two community events in Jackson, BAPS Charities Children’s Health and Safety Day as well as Mississippi Science Fest hosted by the Mississippi Children’s Museum. At both events, student pharmacists taught children and their parents about medication and health safety.

October 2018

Pharmacy School Hosts Mississippi Walk for Diabetes

October 31, 2018

OXFORD, Miss. – The University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy, along with student pharmacist organization Prescription for Service, kicks off National Diabetes Awareness Month on Sunday (Nov. 4) with the Mississippi Walk for Diabetes, a fundraiser for the Diabetes Foundation of Mississippi.

Registration will begin at 1 p.m. by the Lyceum, with team pictures taking place at 1:10 p.m. Family-friendly competitions and a short program will begin around 1:30 p.m. before the ribbon cutting and walk begin at 2 p.m. Two routes on the Ole Miss campus will be available, with 1- and 2-mile options.

UM External Research Funding Surpasses $134 Million in 2017-18

October 31, 2018

OXFORD, Miss. and JACKSON, Miss. – External funding for research at the University of Mississippi reached its highest level in four years in 2017-18, with more than $134 million in funding awarded.

A total of $134,735,332 in external funding was awarded to the Oxford campus and the University of Mississippi Medical Center, with research dollars being used to favorably impact lives in Mississippi and around the globe, fuel economic growth and prosperity, educate future leaders and innovators, and more.

Three Pharmaceutics Graduate Students Advance in Three Minute Thesis Competition

October 26, 2018

OXFORD, Miss. – Rishi Thakkar, Amit Pillai and Gauri Shadambikar, three graduate students in the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy’s Department of Pharmaceutics and Drug Delivery, have advanced to the next round of the UM Graduate School’s Three Minute Thesis competition.

The Three Minute Thesis competition celebrates the exciting research conducted by graduate students. Developed by the University of Queensland, the exercise cultivates students’ academic, presentation and research communication skills.

Marijuana Project Head to Deliver Pharmacy School’s Waller Lecture

October 17, 2018

OXFORD, Miss. – Mahmoud ElSohly, co-director of the University of Mississippi’s Marijuana Project, will deliver the School of Pharmacy’s 15th Coy W. Waller Distinguished Lecture at 11 a.m. Friday (Oct. 19) at the Gertrude C. Ford Center for the Performing Arts.

The lecture series was established in 2004 to recognize the founder of UM’s marijuana cultivation program and former director of the pharmacy school’s Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Coy W. Waller. ElSohly’s talk, “Building on the Legacy of Coy Waller at Ole Miss,” will celebrate Waller’s vision for the Marijuana Project and expand on research developments.

Symposium on Opioid Crisis Brings Law and Pharmacy Together

October 12, 2018

OXFORD, Miss. – More than 115 people die each day in the United States from opioid overdoses, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

These statistics constitute a crisis, and the University of Mississippi schools of Law and Pharmacy are working together to combat that crisis in an interdisciplinary manner.

Student Pharmacists ‘Bowl for Breath’ in Cystic Fibrosis Fundraiser

October 11, 2018

OXFORD, Miss. – University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy student pharmacists bowled for a cause on Tuesday, Oct. 9, as a group of them formed a team for the Bowl for Breath fundraiser to support the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

The team finished second overall in the fundraising competition for the most money raised, totaling $3,422.

Second-year professional student Gaston Box, who serves as the student body’s interprofessional practice and education liaison, said a local resident’s son who has cystic fibrosis inspired the student pharmacists to participate in the fundraiser.

Pharmacy Graduate Students Place in Mississippi IDeA Conference Graduate Poster Competition

October 9, 2018

OXFORD, Miss. – Corinne Sweeney and Kai-Wei Wu, graduate students in the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy’s Department of Pharmaceutics and Drug Delivery, both placed in the top three of the graduate poster competition at the 2018 Mississippi IDeA conference held in July, in Jackson, MS.

Pharmacy School Administrators Celebrate 25 Years of Friendship

October 4, 2018

OXFORD, Miss. – University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy administrators Alicia Bouldin and John Bentley are proof that opposites can complement each other.

However, for all the pair’s differences, 25 years of working alongside each other created a bond of trust and appreciation that spurred them to celebrate their 25-year “friendiversary.”

School of Pharmacy News & Media Center