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January 2020

Pharmacy Student Receives ACCP Student Travel Award

January 21, 2020

OXFORD, Miss. – University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy student Victoria Miller received the American College of Clinical Pharmacy Student Travel Award, which assisted her in attending two of the organization’s annual meetings.

Miller, originally from Hartselle, Alabama, was an honoree at the 2018 meeting in Seattle and the 2019 conference in New York. The fourth-year student pharmacist joined other students, residents and practitioners from across the country to learn more about clinical pharmacy and the profession.

BMS Chair Named Toxicological Sciences Deputy Editor

January 16, 2020

OXFORD, Miss. – The Society of Toxicology’s official journal, Toxicological Sciences, has named Kristine Willett, chair of the Department of BioMolecular Sciences, as one of two new deputy editors to its staff.

Willett, also a professor of pharmacology and environmental toxicology at the University of Mississippi, “will be coordinating solicitation and peer review of Forum articles and developing and administering new training for the editorial board and reviewers,” according to Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey M. Peters

UM Partners with Emerald Bioscience to License Cannabis-derived Drugs

January 6, 2020

OXFORD, Miss. – The cannabis research program at the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy has partnered with pharmaceutical company Emerald Bioscience Inc. to license two new drug technologies that may provide nonaddictive pain management, prevent blindness and alleviate the threat of irreversible vision loss from glaucoma and other eye diseases.

The two drug candidate formulations include a synthetic prodrug of tetrahydrocannabinol, commonly known as THC, the main psychoactive compound associated with marijuana, and a synthetic analog of cannabidiol another compound that is attracting widespread attention as a potential treatment for a variety of medical conditions. Both drug candidates are derivatives of the natural THC and CBD found in the cannabis plant.

December 2019

Seed Grants Fund UM Research into Disaster Resilience

December 19, 2019

OXFORD, Miss. – Exploring thunderstorm asthma and examining how Gulf Coast universities can respond to natural disasters are the focus of two new University of Mississippi seed grants funded through the Flagship Constellations initiative.

Thunderstorm asthma is the phenomenon where pollen can break into smaller pieces during severe thunderstorms and cause asthma events. Researchers are collecting and characterizing air pollution, specifically fine particulate matter and pollen, in north Mississippi to investigate the link between air pollution and thunderstorms to better understand the occurrence.

From Desert to Ocean, Toxicology Student Absorbs Marine Sponge Knowledge

December 16, 2019

OXFORD, Miss. – It wouldn’t seem Amelia Clayshulte was destined to study marine sponges living in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

However, the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy doctoral student grew up going to the coast of North Carolina with her mom’s family, where she would spend a week each summer exploring the salt marshes that opened her mind from its land-locked state.

Interprofessional Activity Offers New Perspective to UM Pharmacy Students

OXFORD, Miss. – First-year student pharmacists at the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy gained a new perspective after participating in a recent Community Action Poverty Simulation, a program that is part of the Missouri Community Action Network.

The simulation, which was held at the Student Union, taught students from pharmacy, nursing, social work and nutrition about the day-to-day realities of low-income households enrolled in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, as well as disabled individuals receiving government assistance and senior citizens on Social Security.

Ole Miss Pharmacy Holds Inaugural African American Visit Day

December 3, 2019

JACKSON, Miss. – When the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy held its inaugural African American Visit Day at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, fourth-year student pharmacist Alisha Nicks saw her vision become reality.

Nicks developed “Melanin and Medications,” the theme of the visit day, after seeing the UMMC Schools of Medicine and Dentistry host similar events. Nicks met with UMMC medical student Jamarius Waller to learn about the past events and to brainstorm ways the School of Pharmacy could help Jackson-area high school and college students envision pharmacy as a potential profession.

November 2019

Pharmacy Early Entry Program Celebrates 25 Years

November 15, 2019

OXFORD, Miss. – When Marvin Wilson introduced the idea of an early entry program to the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy in 1994, he didn’t do so to help student pharmacists find best friends. His goal was to attract more academically ambitious future pharmacists to Ole Miss, not to create cohorts of students that felt like a family within a family.

But in the end, Wilson, who retired as associate dean for academic affairs in 2013, contributed to all of that and more when he designed a program that would allow high-performing high school seniors to secure their spot in the pharmacy professional program right out of high school.

Ole Miss Pharmacy Surpasses $1 Million in Private Support

November 4, 2019

OXFORD, Miss. – The University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy accomplished an ambitious goal during the 2018-19 fiscal year as it surpassed $1 million in private support.

Supporters contributed $1.1 million in gifts and commitments, marking the fifth time since 1982 the school moved past the seven-figure benchmark.

October 2019

Ole Miss Pharmacy Center for Clinical and Translational Science Working to Improve Heart Health

October 29, 2019

JACKSON, Miss. – The University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy’s Center for Clinical and Translational Science is one of 11 innovative, community-based organizations across the country awarded a grant from the AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation’s Connections for Cardiovascular Health^SM program to help improve heart health.

The $125,000 grant will provide continued funding for CCTS to administer “Healthy Hearts in the Heart of the City,” a program that offers free health screenings, classes on heart health and medication therapy management services in partnership with Families First for Mississippi and other community organizations in the Jackson area.

Eli Lilly Scientist Named Joseph Sam Distinguished Alumnus

October 15, 2019

OXFORD, Miss. – Maria Alvim Gaston, a 2000 University of Mississippi graduate with a doctoral degree in medicinal chemistry, was named the School of Pharmacy Department of BioMolecular Sciences’ 2019 Joseph Sam Distinguished Alumnus Award honoree.

Gaston, a principal research scientist at Eli Lilly and Company, delivered the Joseph Sam Distinguished Alumnus Lecture on September 23 with a presentation titled “A Scientist Journey—Moments of Truth.”

Opioid Researcher to Deliver 2019 Waller Lecture

October 8, 2019

OXFORD, Miss. – Laura M. Bohn, professor of molecular medicine and neuroscience at The Scripps Research Institute, will deliver the 2019 Coy W. Waller Distinguished Lecture at the University of Mississippi.

The Oct. 11 lecture, “Refining Opioid Receptor Signaling to Improve Therapeutic Potential,” will build on her nearly three decades of research into the impact of opioids on the brain. The School of Pharmacy and its Department of BioMolecular Sciences are hosting this free event at 11 a.m. at the Gertrude C. Ford Center for the Performing Arts.

Student Pharmacist Abroad: Sophie Durham in Hungary

October 7, 2019

OXFORD, Miss. – This is the second of two entries from University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy students who participated in the International Pharmaceutical Students’ Federation Student Exchange Program through the American Pharmacists Association Academy of Student Pharmacists.

Sophie Durham, a second-year student pharmacist from Germantown, Tennessee, traveled to Hungary this summer. Read more about her journey below.

Student Pharmacist Abroad: Harshin Sanjanwala in Taiwan

October 2, 2019

OXFORD, Miss. – This is the first of two entries from University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy students who participated in the International Pharmaceutical Students’ Federation Student Exchange Program through the American Pharmacists Association Academy of Student Pharmacists.

Harshin Sanjanwala, a second-year student pharmacist from Madison, Mississippi, traveled to Taiwan this summer. Read more about his journey.

School of Pharmacy News & Media Center