University of Florida College of Pharmacy

The University of Florida College of Pharmacy

University of Florida College of Pharmacy Profile During one of the most challenging semesters in our history, the University of Florida College of Pharmacy has responded to adversity and risen to the occasion in support of our students, patients, alumni and each other. COVID-19 disrupted many of our plans, including commencement ceremonies for our graduating students, but it never broke our spirit or our commitment to imDean Johnson prove the health of others. Pharmacists are among the nation’s most accessible health care professionals, and we have shown the world the critical importance of our profession during the pandemic. We’re proud of our alumni and all of you who have worked on the front lines to provide essential health care services. As we have for nearly 100 years, the UF College of Pharmacy will be here to serve Florida pharmacists and train the next generation of pharmacy leaders.

Julie Johnson, Pharm.D. Dean and Distinguished Professor UF College of Pharmacy

Rising to the Challenge of COVID-19

When the spring semester began in January, no one in the UF College of Pharmacy could have predicted how it would end in May, but the college successfully moved the curriculum online, identified innovative ways for fourthyear students to complete their advanced clinical rotations and fulfilled a commitment to provide high quality pharmacy education. Additionally, researchers in the college have contributed to the growing literature of understanding COVID-19 and clinical pharmacy faculty have expanded their roles to better serve patients and the UF Health system.

New COVID-19 Website Launches for Health Care Professionals

ACOVID-19 websitedeveloped by theUniversity of Florida College of Pharmacy Office of Continuing PharmacyEducation, or CPE, launched in late March to provide practical, relevant and timely information about the global COVID-19 pandemic. The website featured video updatesfrom experts explaining foundational science and epidemiological concepts about COVID-19, as well as practical issues affecting pharmacists on a day-to-day basis. More than 50 advanced pharmacy practice experience students and 13 preceptors helped to build a library of brief COVID-19 drug information summaries.

The website registered more than 30,000 page views from nearly 10,000 users in its first month. In addition, the Office of Continuing Pharmacy Education provided more than 1,000 contact hours of CPE credit to Florida pharmacists at no charge through the website and discounted CPE offers for UF faculty, preceptors and alumni.

Answering the Call: UF College of Pharmacy responds with call center support during pandemic

The battle against COVID-19 took place on many fronts, including a sprawling four-story office building on the east side of Gainesville, which houses the University of Florida College of Pharmacy’s Center for Quality Medication Management. Inside the call center, licensed pharmacists, technicians and pharmacy residents supported UF Health’s COVID-19 phone lines early in the pandemic by triaging patients and scheduling telehealth appointments with physicians.

CQM began its COVID-19 operations on March 30, and in the first month 1,150 patients concerned about whether they had COVID-19 were screened by phone. Pharmacists and staff used a series of questions to determine whether a patient needed to be evaluated by a UF Health physician via

Clinical pharmacist Carolina De Los Ríos, Pharm.D., R.Ph., is among a team of pharmacists and staff in the Center for Quality Medication Management who are supporting UF Health’s COVID-19 phone lines.

telehealth. They also collected patient information and entered it into UF Health’s electronic medical record system. The physician considered the patient’s symptoms, travel history and other factors to determine whether a COVID-19 test was needed.

As the University of Florida made plans to reopen its campus, health system leadership also turned to CQM to support its test and trace program. CQM staff reached out to UF employees to schedule a voluntary COVID-19 test appointment. If the employee agreed, CQM ordered the test and entered it into the employee’s electronic health record.

UF Researchers Study Possible COVID-19 Therapeutics

University of Florida College of Pharmacy researchers studying the safety of two classes of drugs touted as potential therapeutics for COVID-19 reported mixed results.

Their analysis of 13.3 million reports from the Food and Drug Administration’s Adverse Event Reporting System showed antimalarial drugs hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine were not associated with the risk of abnormal heart rhythm either on their own or when prescribed with the antibiotic azithromycin. Azithromycin on its own, however, was associated with this safety concern.

The FDA has warned individuals not to use the antimalarial drugs outside of the hospital due to heart rhythm concerns, and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseasesrecommended against doctors using the antimalarials with azithromycin for the same reason.

“Multiple ongoing trials are currently investigating the efficacy of antimalarials and azithromycin for COVID-19, but safety concerns are often not resolved in these small-scale clinical studies,” said lead author Joshua Brown, Pharm.D., Ph.D., an assistant professor of pharmaceutical outcomes and policy in the College of Pharmacy. “Our study’s goal was to verify that these potential treatments don’t cause more problems than they cure.”

Rising to No. 5 in the U.S. News & World Report Rankings

The University of Florida College of Pharmacy achieved its highest ranking ever in the U.S. News & World Report list of America’s best pharmacy colleges, climbing four spots to No. 5 inthe rankings released March 17.

This is the first time the UF College of Pharmacy has appeared in the Top 5 of the U.S. News list, since the publisher began ranking pharmacy colleges in 1997. UF’s previous top finish was No. 7, which was achieved in 1997.

“Achieving a Top 5 ranking affirms our position as one of the elite pharmacy colleges in the nation and is a testament to all the amazing work by our faculty, staff, students and others to attain this goal,” said Julie Johnson, Pharm.D., dean and distinguished professor of the UF College of Pharmacy. “It’s gratifying to know that our aggressive moves to improve the quality of our pharmacy education, add new faculty and expand research programs are reflected in this new national ranking.”

Under Dean Johnson’s leadership, the college modernized its doctor of pharmacy curriculum to prepare students to be 21st century pharmacists. Today’s curriculum puts a greater emphasis on pharmacists as health care leaders and critical members of the health care team and empowers graduates to be lifelong learners. In addition, the UF College of Pharmacy has aggressively recruited some of the nation’s top pharmacy researchers and clinicians to support more than 50 new faculty positions added in the last seven years.

UF Leads Nation in Pharmacy Residency Matches

For the fifth consecutive year, the University of Florida College of Pharmacy matched more students and graduates into pharmacy residencies than any other pharmacy college in the nation. The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, or ASHP, match concluded April 8, and 145 UF graduates and soon-to-be graduates matched with a residency program in 2020. UF’s 145 residency matches included 101 PGY1 and 44 PGY2 placements.

ASHP’s match program pairs thousands of student pharmacists across the country with a variety of pharmacy practice settings, including hospitals and community pharmacies. More than 5,300 postgraduate year one and postgraduate year two residency positions were available this year.

From Miami to Seattle, residency programs across the nation selected Gator pharmacists to support their health care institution. UF pharmacy graduates matched with residencies in 23 states and Washington, D.C. The majority will continue their training in the state of Florida, with 95 matching in the Sunshine State.

Gator Pharmacy Students Celebrate Banner Year

The 2019-20 academic year featured the arrival of the UF College of Pharmacy’s Centennial Class and numerous other noteworthy achievements. In August, the college welcomed more than 240 Pharm.D. students to campuses in Gainesville, Jacksonville and Orlando. In four years, these students will graduate during the college’s 100-year anniversary. Pharm.D. and graduate students also represented the college on the biggest stages in pharmacy, winning several high profile awards and recognitions.

Washington Elected SNPhA National President You might have noticed a little more pep in Joseph Washington’s step; upon entering his third year at the Gainesville campus of the University of Florida College of Pharmacy, he carried a new title as the national president-elect of the Student National PharJoseph Washington will take over as maceutical Association. president of the Student National Pharmaceutical Association in July. Washington has done well in his efforts to address pharmaceutical needs of underrepresented populations in SNPhA’s Gainesville chapter. In his new leadership role, he will have the opportunity to make a national impact. “It is my hope to perpetuate and maximize this organization’s effectiveness and the quality of care we distribute around the world,” Washington said. “Keeping in mind the ideology of Benjamin Franklin: ‘Without words like progress and growth, words like improvement, achievement and success have no meaning.’” Washington will begin his role as SNPhA’s national president in July 2020.

Trainees Win Top ASCPT Awards

The top scoring abstract and trainee awards presented by the American Society of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics belong to graduate students in the University of Florida College of Pharmacy. Marwa Tantawy, Ph.D., won the David Goldstein M.D., Ph.D., Presidential Trainee Award for the highest scoring abstract, while Karthik Lingineni, M.S., won the Jason Morrow, M.D., Presidential Trainee Award, which recognizes the second highest scoring abstract.

Tantawy and Lingineni were two of five UF College of Pharmacy trainees to win ASCPT Presidential Trainee Awards in 2020. The other winners include Rachel Dalton, Pharm.D., Abdelrahman Elsayed, M.Sc., and Cameron Thomas, Pharm.D.

The UF College of Pharmacy has now won 25 of the 120 ASCPT Presidential Trainee Awards presented since 2016. For five consecutive years, the college has led the nation in Presidential Trainee Award winners.

56 UF Student Posters Presented

An impressive 56 student posters from the University of Florida College of Pharmacy were selected for presentation at the 2019 American Society of Health-System Pharmacists Clinical Midyear Meeting in Las Vegas. The annual meeting is the largest gathering of pharmacy professionals in the nation — attracting more than 25,000 people. The venue provided a national audience for UF pharmacy students to showcase their diverse clinical research discoveries.

The 56 student posters presented in Las Vegas represent one of the largest contingents among the nation’s colleges of pharmacy and an increase in participation over previous years. ASHP selected 31 UF student posters at the 2018 Clinical Midyear Meeting in Anaheim, while 46 student posters were selected at the 2017 meeting in Orlando.

Students Advocate for Profession at Legislative Days

Pharmacy students from the University of Florida and other pharmacy colleges in Florida descended on the state capitol in Tallahassee for two days in January to advocate for the profession. The annual Legislative Days event is one of the largest statewide gatherings of pharmacy students. This year, more than 100 students from the Gainesville, Jacksonville and Orlando campuses participated.

The UF contingent met with state lawmakers and advocated for pharmacists’ roles to be expanded in health care. In addition, many UF pharmacy students joined a press conference hosted by the Florida Pharmacy Association to show their support for a proposed bill which would allow pharmacists to test and treat Floridians for influenza and streptococcus.

Research Funding Reaches Record High

Record-breaking research growth has propelled the UF College of Pharmacy into the Top 5 of national rankings. In the 2019 American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy annual research report, the college placed No. 4 nationally in both total funding ($23.7 million) and NIH funding ($16.5 million). In a third category measured by AACP, the college ranked No. 5 nationally in total federal funding ($19.3 million). In research labs and faculty offices around the college, scientists are leading new discoveries that span the entire life cycle of a drug, and they are dedicated to solving some of the world’s biggest health challenges through scientific discovery. By the time this story is published, new rankings will have been released and the college expects it will maintain or improve its rankings in 2020.

UF Study: Law Leads to Opioid Use Decline

A 2018 Florida law restricting opioid prescriptions for acute pain has led to a drop in opioid use, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open by researchers at the University of Florida.

UF researchers found the number of new opioid users per month dropped 16 percent immediately after the law was implemented, and the number of new users continuesto decrease each month. Additionally, the average days’ supply fell from 5.4 days prior to the law to three days. The law was also associated with an immediate decrease in the use of hydrocodone, the most commonly used Schedule II opioid.

“The Florida law is among the most restrictive in the country by limiting patients to a three-day opioid supply for acute pain,” said Juan Hincapie-Castillo, Pharm.D., Ph.D., the study’s lead author and an assistant professor of pharmaceutical outcomes and policy in the UF College of Pharmacy, part of UF Health, the University of Florida’s academic health center. “We expected to find a decrease in opioid use following the law, but we did not anticipate the significant decline in the number of users.”

The UF study examined claims data from a private insurer over a four-year period and found the number of opioid users and days’ supply declined after Florida House Bill 21 became law in July 2018. The law limits opioid prescriptions for acute pain to a three-day supply — with certain exceptions — and requires physicians and pharmacists to consult Florida’s state prescription drug monitoring database to review a patient’s prescription history. “In July 2018, people were walking away with six days’ worth of medications,” said Amie Goodin, Ph.D., a co-author of the study and an assistant professor of pharmaceutical outcomes and policy in the UF College of Pharmacy. “By the end of the study period eight months later, people were walking away with three days’ medications — half the amount of treatment for all the same conditions.”

House Bill 21 only applies to acute pain patients and not chronic pain conditions, such as cancer and trauma. Hincapie-Castillo and Goodin said Florida’s law is not well-defined in terms of diagnosis and confusion still exists among prescribers. More than 30 states have passed opioid restriction laws, with many other states considering similar laws.

UF Researches Seaweed, Colon Cancer

Consuming a seaweed found near the Florida Keys may offer health benefits in preventing colon cancer and inflammatory diseases of the digest tract, according to researchers in the University of Florida College of Pharmacy.

A comprehensive multiyear study identified seaweed compounds responsible for anti-inflammatory activities and their mechanism of action. Researchers tested the natural products in multiple cell-based and animal models and found activation of a signaling pathway responsible for fighting off inflammation and resulting in digestive diseases. In addition, the seaweed components modified gut microbiota composition, increasing the abundance of bacteria found in probiotics that are beneficial for colon health.

“This is an exciting finding because colon inflammation impacts so many health conditions, including inflammatory bowel disease and Crohn’s disease and is a potential precursor for colon cancer,” said Hendrik Luesch, Ph.D., a professor and chair of medicinal chemistry and the Debbie and Sylvia DeSantis Chair in Natural Products Drug Discovery and Development in the UF College of Pharmacy and an affiliate member of theUF Health Cancer Center.

Mineral-rich seaweeds are an important part of human diets, especially in Asia and the Pacific Islands. Scientists hypothesize that seaweed consumption has contributed to lower cancer rates among these populations, but Luesch said there is a research gap in understanding the chemical structures and mechanistic activities responsible for anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory qualities.

UF’s study addresses some of these gaps and concludes that certain seaweed-derived compounds combat inflammation in the digestive tract.

“We focused on one particular Florida seaweed and pinpointed compounds responsible for the majority of the hostand microbiota-mediated activity,” Luesch said. “Through RNA sequencing of colon tissues, we identified dual beneficial effects on host signaling pathways and gut microbiome, which could have health benefits for the consumer.”

A signaling pathway is a group of molecules that activate each other when they need to pass along a message, such as protecting against oxidative and inflammatory stress. Luesch said if specific seaweed components and natural product preparations can protect healthy cells or reduce the stress on inflamed digestive cells, then the potential exists to prevent the development of inflammatory diseases.

“With any stress response, regulation needs to be tightly controlled,” Luesch said. “Further studies are needed to determine potential dosage and side effects, among many other considerations, before the clinical potential can be fully understood. Additionally, early data suggests this seaweed positively regulates bacteria in the digestive tract that predict responsiveness to immunotherapy for cancer, which means consuming this seaweed might prime patients for a successful outcome with this type of cancer therapy.”

Cymopolia barbata is a marine alga originating in the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. UF researchers collected samples of the seaweed off the coast of Boca Grande Key, an island about 15 miles west of Key West, Florida. Luesch is interested in extending the study to other marine algae near Florida and around the world.

Alumni, Friends Support the UF College of Pharmacy

The UF College of Pharmacy continues to benefit from the generosity of alumni and friends, who graciously give their time and financial support to the next generation of pharmacists. In 2019-20, the college provided approximately $925,000 in financial support to students, including $230,000 in scholarships for newly admitted students. Beyond financial gifts, alumni and friends mentor pharmacy students through the Career Coaches program, host IPPE and APPE students during their rotations and show their support for the college at Gator receptions and the Annual Alumni BBQ.

Crisafi Challenge Raises $140,000 for Student Scholarships

The 2019 Crisafi Challenge was one for the record books, as alumni and friends of the University of Florida College of Pharmacy generously gave a record $139,357 in total commitments for student scholarships. Included in the final total is a $50,000 gift from Bob Crisafi, Ph.D., ’56, who challenged supporters to match and exceed his donation during a 10- day period. More than 180 people committed gifts in 2019,

Former Crisafi scholarship recipients Hanna Harper, Austin Burnette and Tara Gilliland helped rally support for the fifth-annual Crisafi Challenge.

making the fifth year of the Crisafi Challenge the most successful yet.

Alumni Celebrate 33rd Annual Alumni BBQ and Homecoming

Homecoming 2019 proved to be an unforgettable weekend for many Gator fans — and the UF College of Pharmacy’s 33rd Annual Alumni BBQ added to the excitement on campus. An enthusiastic group of more than 300 alumni and friends of the UF College of Pharmacy gathered in the pharmacy courtyard on Oct. 5. The celebration featured a catered barbecue meal, games and face painting activities for the kids and the opportunity to connect with classmates and friends. Dean Johnson provided an update on accomplishments and activities in the college and several Gator chomps were enjoyed throughout the day. Following the 33rd Annual Alumni BBQ, many pharmacy Gators made their way to The Swamp to watch Florida beat No. 7 Auburn, 24-13.

College of Pharmacy Supporters Stand Up and Holler

Here is something to Stand Up and Holler about: The UF College of Pharmacy raised more than $180,000 during the second annual Gator National Giving Day on Feb. 20. The outpouring of support from alumni, students, faculty, staff and friends helped the college finish in the Top 10 for total fundraising dollars among all UF colleges and schools.

Gifts made during Gator Nation Giving Day supported student scholarships, graduate student education and research, a legacy fund for the Working Professional Pharm.D. program and helped purchase white coats for first-year

Pharm.D. students. The College of Pharmacy is especially grateful to these donors who made significant gifts and inspired others to give:

Carl, ’76, and Joan Allison made a $25,000 match gift in memory of their son, Jared, ’08. The money raised will support the Jared C. Allison Memorial Fund, which awards scholarships to deserving UF pharmacy students

Tom and Janet Schmittgen, ’19, gave a $10,000 lead gift to help establish the Working Professional Pharm.D. Legacy Fund.