The Pharmacist - The Giving Issue/Winter 2017

WINTER 2017 • Volume 39 • Issue 1

The Pharmacist

THE GIVING ISSUE

A publication of the UIC College of Pharmacy

PRESCRIBING

HOPE

Give to the college and be a part of the future this holiday season. A gift can transform careers and change lives.

A Launching Pad For more than 20 years the Hans Vahlteich Research Award has been fueling young researchers at the College of Pharmacy, thanks to the generosity of the Vahlteich and DeLaney families.

Hands On A partnership with several benefactors is allowing students to gain first hand compounding experience in the new Foglia Pharmaceutics Laboratory.

Ready To Work Takeda Pharmaceuticals collaborations with the College of Pharmacy is paying huge dividends for students and researchers alike.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

8

16 Features 8

What’s in a Name Awesome fund, awful name.

10 A Launching Pad

The Hans Vehlteich Research Fund has launched young researchers to amazing heights for over 20 years.

16 Hands On

The students have finally gotten their hands on The Foglia Family Foundation Pharmaceutics Laboratory, and the changes are tremendous.

20 Ready to Work

A unique partnership with Takeda Pharmaceuticals is getting students ready for the job force, and helping faculty as well.

In September of 1868, our college published the first issue of a trade journal simply named “The Pharmacist.” The magazine you see before you is named in honor of that historic journal.

20 EDITORIAL CREDITS Publisher Jerry L. Bauman, PharmD, FCCP, FACC

Dean Editors Chris Gummert Assistant Director of Communications

10 Departments 2

From The Dean

Dean Bauman discusses our various renovation projects, and the role you’ve played in them.

3 Calendar 4

Student News

7

College News

24

White Coat Ceremony

25

Alumni Profiles

A photo essay on the annual White Coat Ceremony

Christopher J. Shoemaker, MED, MBA, CFRE

Assistant Dean for Advancement & Alumni Affairs Contributing Editors Daniel P. Smith Michael Dhar Photography Barry Donald Designed by Studio V Design, Inc +++ UIC Pharmacist 833 S. Wood St. (MC 874) Chicago, IL 60612 Phone: (312) 996-7240 Fax: (312) 413-1910 E-mail: pharmacy@uic.edu ©2017. All rights reserved.

Sharon Ayd: An estate gift to help women get into the c-suite.

Ed Cohen: From UIC to The Pharmacy Times and back again.

28

Alumni News

29 Obituaries

The Pharmacist | 1

FROM THE DEAN

Building On Success

BY JERRY BAUMAN

Nearly 20 years ago when I was a department head in the College, I offered a young pharmaceutical scientist a position as assistant professor. In the letter of offer I noted that soon she would have modern laboratory space “in our new building.” She’s still waiting.

The typical way public universities build new facilities is that most, if not all of the money, comes from the State passing a capital bill that allocates funds for these purposes. It is common that the College may be expected to help pay for the building by both fundraising and perhaps by borrowing money and paying down the debt over time. When I became dean, I grew ever more suspicious that fiscally challenged Illinois would aid in funding a new facility, at least in the short term. At the same time, I felt it crucial that in order to remain an elite college of pharmacy, we needed modern spaces to attract top students and faculty because it’s the people that make a great academic unit.

Thus we embarked on a multiyear goal of modernizing our facility: some of the funds came from college reserves, some from UIC and some as you will note below came from our generous donors. Over the past 10 years we have completed the following: • Remodeled the student lounge, locker rooms (aided by a gift from the PolishAmerican Pharmacists Association) and student organization rooms • Remodeled the 2 North Learning Lab/ simulation center (aided by a gift from the estate of Jenny Mae and George Boljesik, Class of 1930) • Remodeled the lobby as a more student friendly space (after the fire of 2009) • Remodeled the entire East Wing (3 floors) with state of the art research laboratories, including new HVAC

Got News?

Change jobs? Get a promotion? Publish a paper? Publish a book?

Get married? Have a baby? We want to hear about it all! Now you can send your news directly to the magazine editor.

Simply go to: go.uic.edu/PharmNews

Online pharmacy.uic.edu go.uic.edu/PharmFBChicago go.uic.edu/PharmFBRockford go.uic.edu/PharmTwitter go.uic.edu/PharmLinkedIn go.uic.edu/PharmInstagram go.uic.edu/PharmYouTube

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• Remodeled first floor Pharmacy Practice Labs • Remodeled all learning spaces with new seats, electrical outlets at each seat, smart classroom technology and distance capabilities • Remodeled third and fourth floor research labs (with NIH funding) • Built out two broadcast learning classrooms in Rockford (with gifts from Walgreens and Robert Dickman, class of 1952) • Remodeled the PGY1 and PGY2 office space • Remodeled all the bathrooms • Remodeled compounding/pharmaceutics teaching laboratory, now named the Fogila Family Foundation Pharmaceutics Laboratory for a large gift from the Foglia family and Vince and Pat Foglia, founder of Sage Products. Many other gave to help with this last project including lead gifts from Walgreens, Fagron, Ted Gladson (class of 1959) and Rory (class of 1970) and Judy Albert.

Almost the entire building has been redone. Most of this, of course, occurred at our Chicago campus because the Rockford facility is nearly brand new. We still want and need a new building as we are at capacity with no way to expand. In fact, we are number one on the University of Illinois capital priority listing so...someday? Nonetheless, I am confident that we now provide modern, functional spaces for both our students and faculty and am proud that we were good stewards of our funds while doing so. If you have not visited the College lately, come by. Looks the same on the outside; much different on the inside.

Our next project is to completely redo the front of the building and we will be coming by asking for your help. 

Our digital edition

www.issuu.com/uicpharmacy UIC Pharmacist would like to hear from you and welcomes your letters: UIC Pharmacist (MC 874) 833 South Wood Street, Room 184KA Chicago, Illinois 60612-7230 E-mail: pharmacy@uic.edu

Letters are edited for length and clarity. All reader correspondence to the magazine and its editorial staff will be treated as assigned for publication unless otherwise specified.

CALENDAR DEC

04

DEC

05

JAN

11 JAN

20 FEB

10

UIC COLLEGE OF PHARMACY ALUMNI & FRIENDS RECEPTION

The UIC College of Pharmacy will be hosting a reception at Mandalay Bay Hotel Las Vegas, Nevada in the South Pacific room AB from 6-8 p.m.

ILLINOIS RECEPTION AT ASHP

The college will be co-sponsoring a reception for the Illinois delegation attending the American Society of Health System Pharmacists’ mid-year meeting at Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. The exact location is still being determined but the time will be from 5:30-7 p.m.

SOUTH FLORIDA ALUMNI GATHERING

South Florida alums are invited to meet with Dean Jerry Bauman at this event. The location and time are still being determined.

AMCP P&T COMPETITION

The college will be holding the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy and Therapeutics competition in Chicago.

Contact Nick Tremols (ntremo2@uic.edu) for more details

RESEARCH DAY

The annual Research Day will be held on February 10th, 2017.

To volunteer as a judge, contact dfox4@uic.edu. More information can be found at pharmacy.uic.edu/research/research-day

MAR

24-27 MAR OR APR APR

04

APHA ANNUAL MEETING

We will be making an appearance at the APhA meeting in San Francisco, California. Location and time are still being organized.

SPRING ALUMNI AND STUDENT SOCIAL

A social is in the works. It will be held in Chicago, but the date and location are still being determined.

65TH ANNUAL HONORS CONVOCATION

The annual Honors Convocation will be held at the Chicago Campus on April 4th. Contact Deb Fox (dfox4@uic.edu) for details. 

The Pharmacist | 3

STUDENT NEWS

PEOPLE

Pharmacist Trip to Peru UIC Pharmacy students ventured out into the world to practice with Casa de Salud, a group organized by Kerrylynn Rodriguez, a pharmacist with a law degree.

They made their own arrangements to meet in the town of Iquitos, Peru, the largest city in the world inaccessible by roads. Marilyn Gaske and Ellyn Polley

from the Chicago campus joined up with Nissa Rattani and Zibin Zhang from the Rockford campus, and 51 medical and pharmacy students from Midwestern University. They hosted clinics, gave short-term treatment, and counseled patients on how they should take their medications.ws_BodyText

LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE

Students Attend APhA-ASP’s Summer Leadership Institute In July, three UIC College of Pharmacy students Chicago:

Katherine Katsivalis

(P2; Chicago APhA-ASP President-Elect)

Marilyn Gaske

(P3; Chicago APhA-ASP VP of Policy and Legislation) Rockford

Kyle Huttner

(P2; Rockford APhA-ASP President-Elect)

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Attended APhA-ASP’s Summer Leadership Institute (SLI) in Washington DC. SLI offers APhA-ASP chapter officers the opportunity to enhance their leadership skills by providing them the possibility to visit Capitol Hill and meet with policy leaders to advocate for their profession, to attend lectures and break-out sessions on leadership from expert speakers, to network with fellow pharmacy student leaders from across the country, and to explore Washington DC.

P3 Student Participates In Student Exchange Program (SEP) in the United Kingdom Helen Sweiss, P3 Class of 2018, participated in the International Pharmaceutical Students’ Federation (IPSF) Student Exchange Program (SEP) for a research placement in the United Kingdom. Each year, more than 900 students worldwide participate in the SEP, with only 16 placements offered in the UK. Sweiss was placed at Kingston University College of Pharmacy working with Dr. Shereen Nabhani assisting on a project which entailed compiling information from universities across the UK to recognize learning needs for IPE facilitation with the purpose of creating uniform IPE training materials.

900

students participate worldwide

16

placements offered in the UK

Students Network With Alum at McKesson IdeaShare McKesson held their annual IdeaShare event for their customers at McCormick Place in Chicago. This was the first year that UIC College of Pharmacy students attended. The first event for students was the “How to Start a Pharmacy” Session. The next session was Rx Ownership Luncheon which provided lunch to attendees and students along with some programs introduction and a panel discussion. At the end of the session, students were able to connect with various McKesson Employees. The last session open to students was the Exhibit Hall. Many companies and sponsors displayed their products and provided great insights.

Students had the opportunity to walk around the exhibit show floor and network with other companies. An added bonus was seeing alum, Dr. Hashim Zaibak at the event!

Haiti Little by Little Mission Trip On August 8th to 15th UIC College of Pharmacy students Cassandra Clermont, Abir Mneimneh and Quaratulain Sabir traveled to Gramothe, Haiti for a medical mission trip led by Little By Little in conjunction with UIC College of Nursing students and nurse practitioners. While in Haiti, the students were able to work in a pharmacy with a limited amount of resources for various disease states and infections.

“It was nice to apply our knowledge in recommending different medications to treat patients from the resources and medications that we had,” Claremont said. “Being in a third world country truly made me appreciate the access to physicians and medical care that we have here in the states. As a Haitian American, I was able to translate and counsel patients about the importance of watching their salt and sugar intake, in addition to proper use of their meds.”

The entire team saw over 900 patients over the course of 5 days. Students worked with patient intake taking blood pressure readings, blood glucose readings, in addition to shadowing nurse practitioners to learn about various health conditions.

Florida

The Bahamas

North Atlantic Ocean Cuba

Dominican Republic Haiti

Jamaica

Puerto Rico

Caribbrean Sea

Venezuela

The Pharmacist | 5

STUDENT NEWS

LEADERSHIP

UIC Hosts ICHP Student Leadership Retreat The UIC student chapter of ICHP hosted the annual ICHP Leadership Retreat on September 10, welcoming 30-40 students from all the student chapters of ICHP in the state of Illinois. Executive board members from each student organization were invited to attend and learn about what ICHP, the New Practitioner’s Network, and American Society of Health-system Pharmacists had to offer students for their respective ICHP chapters. Scott Meyers, the Executive Vice President of ICHP, led the event and students were encouraged to participate and ask any questions on how they could improve their chapters.

The chapters also had an idea-sharing session and were encouraged to collaborate for potential future events.

Rutgers Fellows Hold Panel at UIC In collaboration with the UIC College of Pharmacy Office of Professional Development, the student chapter of the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP) organized a presentation and panel discussion featuring the Rutgers Pharmaceutical Fellowship Program. The program featured 4 current fellows who shared insights into the opportunities this program provides. Currently, the fellows are working in different areas within industry, e.g., oncology, marketing, and shared about their experiences with those attending. The fellows differentiated fellowships from residencies and provided important information about the application and interview process at this year’s ASHP Midyear Meeting in early December.

The session concluded with a panel discussion and a question and answer period where those attending could ask questions, e.g., describe a typical day, share several interview questions.

NPhA-SNPhA Annual Meeting The 2016 NPhA-SNPhA Annual Meeting was held in Atlanta, Georgia, July 28-August 1. Pharmacist practitioners and pharmacy students from all over the nation attended educational workshops, continuing education sessions, poster fairs and delegate sessions, including a delegate from the UIC SNPhA Chapter.

Phi Delta Chi Leadership Development Seminar Phi Delta Chi (PDC) Leadership Development Seminar is an opportunity to further develop Phi Delta Chi Brothers as Leaders in Pharmacy. Working in cooperation with the Pharmacy Leadership & Education Institute, Phi Delta Chi is the only professional pharmacy fraternity to offer a weeklong conference with workshops dedicated to developing and strengthening the leadership skills of its Brothers. Rotated around the country, the LDS is held in the first week of August every other year.

Four collegiate Brothers and three alumni of the Alpha Sigma Chapter of Phi Delta Chi from UIC College of pharmacy traveled to St. Louis Missouri for the 16th National Leadership Development Seminar. One of Alpha Sigma’s advisors, Dr. Beatrice Drambarean, PharmD ’07, attended the advisor track, a new program specifically designed for chapter advisors to grow as leaders.

4 current fellows shared insights Polish American Pharmacists Association Update Over the 2016 summer break, Polish American Pharmacists Association UIC student chapter was involved in many volunteer events. The organization is unique in the aspect where they often work with nonEnglish speaking population. They united with Midwestern University to host a wellness tent at Holy Trinity Picnic in Casa Italia, Stone Park. The turnout of patients screened was large and students were able to practice skills learned in school which included blood pressure and blood glucose screening.

Kappa Psi Update Kappa Psi at UIC has a bigger presence than ever!

Locally, pledging season is under way and they couldn’t be more thrilled. The fraternity is working to raise funds for the chapter every Sunday at Bears home games and at Soldier Field concerts during the summer. On a national level, the UIC chapter was named the number 2 chapter internationally amongst all chapters of Kappa Psi worldwide for the 2016 year.

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COLLEGE NEWS

CONFERENCE

Alumni Sponsored Students to Conference Mr. Craig Kueltzo, BS 1968, of Lombard Pharmacy was the prestigious recipient of the IPC RX 2015 Most Valuable Pharmacy Award! With the MVP honor, two UIC College of Pharmacy students were invited to attend the 2016 Annual IPC Independent Pharmacy Conference, all expenses paid for! It took place at the Hyatt Tamaya Resort and Spa in Santa Ana Pueblo, New Mexico. At the conference students had the opportunity to hear from experienced business owners, recent graduate students, and key leaders in various pharmacy organizations over the course of 3 days.

Students Attend Cardinal Health Retail Business Conference Nearly 40 students from pharmacy schools all over the country attended the Cardinal Health Retail Business Conference in July, including three UIC College of Pharmacy students. At the conference Cardinal Health invited experts to speak on the following topics: “Paths to pharmacy ownership and valuing a pharmacy - the basics of start-ups, acquisitions and franchises”, “Financial fitness - how to build personal equity”, and “Pharmacy operations and driving business growth”.

Scott T. Benken UIC College of

Pharmacy Faculty Member & Conference Chair, Scott T. Benken, PharmD, BCPS-AQ Cardiology, welcomed over 200 attendees to the Inaugural Chicagoland Critical Care Conference on Saturday, August 27.

Sandy Cuellar Puri

GIVING

Volunteering For The Homeless APhA-ASP’s Operation Self Care and Preceptor Pearl Stier volunteered at the BarberQue Project in Kells Park on September 11, 2016. The mission of the event was to provide resources such as free haircuts, clothing, food, and health screenings to the homeless population, while facilitating awareness around of the issue of homelessness in Chicago. Trained pharmacy students provided over 40 blood pressure and 30 blood glucose screenings, while helping build a community of hope and support.

MuPhSA’s Eid Gift Drive A Huge Success

Faculty members, Sandy Cuellar Puri, PharmD 2001, and Latha Radhakrishnan, PharmD 1998, traveled to Buenos Aires, Argentina for the 76th FIP World Congress of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Conference August 28-September 1. Sandy gave a talk on “Continuous Care of Cancer Patients”

William T. Beck Faculty member

William T. Beck, PhD, Distinguished Professor and Head of the Department of Biopharmaceutical Sciences, was a keynote speaker at the International Conference on Clinical Sciences and Drug Discovery at the University of Dundee in Scotland, July 27-29, 2016. Dr. Beck’s talk was on Splicing Factors as Novel Therapeutic Targets in Cancer. 

Eid Al-Adha is an Islamic fourday holiday that takes place in the Islamic month of Thul-Hijjah and is all about sacrifice. It is a joyous holiday spent with family and friends and involves gift exchanges. This year, MuPhSA decided to provide gifts to children that are either too underprivileged to receive their own gifts, or have no family members to celebrate with. The group partnered with the Arab American Family Services (AAFS) and asked pharmacy students to donate gifts, socks, underwear, and school supplies for these children. The turn-out was incredible! 

The Pharmacist | 7

Name?

WHAT’S IN A

THE ANNUAL FUND. It’s a bland and nondescript name.

As a result, you might not understand its value. But just like in pharmacueticals, a generic can work wonders!

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T

ruthfully, it’s one of the most important tools we have in the College of Pharmacy.

By any objective measure the name “The Annual Fund” is not doing anyone any favors. But the fund itself?

That’s another story entirely. It is the workhorse in the College stable.

Most funds have a very lengthy list of rules attached to them. This is done to ensure the money is dispersed in accordance to the wishes of the donor. Incidentally that’s also why those funds have cooler, or at very least recognizable, names. But those funds are also tied to very specific purposes: promoting a department, tackling a renovation project or advancing a scholarship.

All very worthwhile causes, and in a perfect world, we would never need more than that.

But we don’t live in a perfect world.

IT PROVIDES US THE FREEDOM TO GIVE STUDENTS THE BEST EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE POSSIBLE.

Our world has uncertain budgets. Our world has governmental delays. Our world has unexpected expenses pop up and the ill-named Annual Fund helps us deal with them. It is an unrestricted fund that allows us the flexibility to help students in numerous ways.

In the 2015-16 school year, money from the Annual Fund helped do things as disparate as helping to host the Pharmacy Student Council Welcome BBQ and sponsoring a career day at three different pharma companies. In past years the Annual Fund has done such memorable things as sponsoring student trips to lobby state legislators in Springfield, pay fees for students to attend national meetings and even get things copied for student meetings.

That’s why our world, the real world, needs the Annual Fund no matter what you call it. It allows us to adapt to the ever-changing needs of the students. It allows us to solve unexpected problems as they arise. 

The Pharmacist | 9

A Launching Pad

BY DANIEL P. SMITH

For more than two decades, the college’s Hans Vahlteich Research Scholar Award has been spurring exciting research and careers. Today, Alexander “Shura” Mankin is among the most distinguished and accomplished researchers at UIC. Mankin is a professor who…

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heads the Center for Biomolecular Sciences

co-authored more than 125 articles in preeminent journals, such as Cell, Nature and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

shared fresh insights into protein synthesis A le xa n d

a e r “ S h u r a� M

nki

n

scored more than $15 million in external research funding

secured three patents

has captured university-wide teaching and scholarship awards

has been tabbed for formal consulting and advisory roles with pharmaceutical powerhouses such as Pfizer and Abbott Laboratories

uncovered new mechanisms of antibiotic action and resistance

has educated and mentored scores of graduate students

The Pharmacist | 11

Ale

ssan

dra Eustaqui

o

Back in 1995, though, Mankin, a native of Russia in his second year at UIC, was just another dreamy-eyed, upstart faculty member looking to make his mark.

The Hans Vahlteich Research Scholar Award changed all of that.

The $75,000 College of Pharmacy grant, Mankin’s first funding as a UIC faculty member, turbocharged Mankin’s scientific scholarship and ignited a career that continues churning out impressive results.

“It’s not easy to get funding as a young researcher, so the Vahlteich Award was absolutely critical at that time,” says Mankin, whose Vahlteich grant studied drug-ribosome interactions. “It was the booster for all of my subsequent research and led to a string of grants from external agencies.”

Without the Vahlteich Award, Mankin says he would have struggled to get his research going for “at least another two or three years.”

“ The Vahlteich Award is so meaningful to me because it didn’t have to happen, but it did and it made a substantial amount of difference in my career.”

ALEXANDER “SHURA” MANKIN

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The Hans Vahlteich Research Award is designed to encourage preliminary studies and innovative findings that will fuel continuing research programs, the one-year grants have provided more than $1.5 million and supported the research efforts of 33 junior scientists over the last 23 years.

An award with a rich legacy Established in 1993 in memory of Hans W. Vahlteich, a long-time research chemist who earned his Graduate in Pharmacy (PhG) and Pharmaceutical Chemist (PhC) degrees from the College in 1917 and 1918, respectively, the Vahlteich Research Scholar Award supports research by early career, tenure-track College of Pharmacy faculty members.

Financed by income generated from the Hans and Ella McCollum Vahlteich Endowment Fund, the competitive internal grants have tackled a diverse collection of pharmaceutical topics ranging from drug discovery and genetic determinants to quorum sensing, while also generating significant results for the College as well as the individual recipients. Ninety percent of former Vahlteich Scholars have later landed funding from the National Institutes of Health and other external agencies, while all but a handful have remained at UIC to advance their research and careers, a number of them earning full professor status and holding key leadership roles at the College.

That’s the lofty legacy Alessandra Eustaquio is now tasked to uphold.

The 2016 Vahlteich Award recipient for her project titled “Production of fluorinated polyketide drugs using microbial fermentation,” Eustaquio applied for the Vahlteich Award just three months after arriving at UIC last fall following a four-year run as a principal scientist in Pfizer’s Medicinal Chemistry department.

“The Vahlteich Award was the first proposal I submitted as a UIC faculty member,” says Eustaquio, as assistant professor in the Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy.

Past Award Winners Alessandra Eustaquio

2016

Gregory Calip

2015

Jeremy Johnson

Rick Gemeinhart

2014

Rohit Kolhatkar

Julio D. Duarte

Monsheel S. Sodhi

2013

Leslyn Hanakahi

Xiaolong He

2012

Brian T. Murphy

Maria V. Barbolina

2011

Douglas D. Thomas

Hyunyoung Jeong

2010

Seungpyo Hong The Pharmacist | 13

When she learned she had received the Vahlteich Award earlier this year, Eustaquio encountered a mix of excitement and energy, but also responsibility given the achievements of past Vahlteich Award winners.

The Vahlteich Award in action Eustaquio’s research project will investigate biosynthetic incorporation of fluorine, the most sought-after heteroatom in medicinal chemistry. About 20 percent of all pharmaceuticals, she says, contain a fluorine atom in their chemical structures to improve efficacy and bioavailability. Even so, natural, fluorinated molecules remain rare with only a single fluorinating enzyme currently characterized: one associated with the fluoroacetate pathway in a soil bacterium.

The long-term goal of Eustaquio’s research is to exploit the enzymatic step catalyzed by the fluorinase to generate fluorinated drugs by fermentation. In the Vahlteich-sponsored project, specifically, she and her lab team will look to demonstrate production of a fluorinated precursor to a class of drugs called polyketides – a rich category of natural products that have been instrumental to human health.

“The Vahlteich Award has a rich history in the College of Pharmacy and when you see the stellar careers so many past winners have gone on to have, it’s inspiring and motivating. I’m honored to receive funding to do research I’m so passionate about.”

“The goal is to select the appropriate bacterial host cell and construct a genetic device to make precursors,” Eustaquio says, adding that she is most interested in applying genomics and synthetic biology toward drug discovery from natural sources like bacteria.

The $50,000 Vahlteich grant will help Eustaquio purchase supplies and support the research of graduate student Maryam Muhammad as well as Honors College undergraduate Dayeon Kang, investments that will help Eustaquio begin to obtain the preliminary data necessary to pursue future external funding and drive additional innovation.

“It’s hard to get startup funding, especially without preliminary data, and that’s why the Vahlteich Award is so important and a great push to our lab,” Eustaquio says.

“The award is a catalyst for our future research.”

Mankin remembers being in Eustaquio’s position, a hungry-for-work young researcher eager to establish his scholarly credentials and grateful for the Vahlteich Award’s hearty push.

In Mankin’s case, the Vahlteich Award allowed him to hire a technician and a graduate student. That early group’s research sparked Mankin’s first publications in reputable journals and also helped him secure additional sources of funding.

ALESSANDRA EUSTAQUIO

Jeffrey Bishop

Karol Bruzik

Richard A. Gemeinhart

Joanna E. Burdette

2009

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Sylvie Blond

2008 / 2007 Larissa Cavallari

Michael J. Federle

WINTER 2017

Hayat Onyuksel

NO PHOTO

2006 / 2005 Pavel Petukhov

2004 / 2003 Debra A. Tonetti

2002 / 2001 Eva Vasquez

“ When you’re able to put an award on your CV and grant applications, it just gives you credibility. These other agencies have proof of your capacity as a researcher and that can lead to some wonderful opportunities.”

ALEXANDER “SHURA” MANKIN Coincidentally, Mankin’s Vahlteich Award triggered another’s success. The initial graduate student working in Mankin’s lab, Tanel Tenson, now serves as the director of the Institute of Technology in Estonia, a nod to the substantial ripple effect the Vahlteich Fund has created beyond the direct faculty recipients.

Andrew D. Mesecar

“That ability to bring others into the lab is one of the Vahlteich Award’s great, but often overlooked benefits,” says Mankin, who has seen other trainees in his lab venture into positions in academia and industry around the globe, including the University of Chicago, the Shanghai Institute for Biological Sciences and Merck.

More than 20 years removed from receiving the Vahlteich Award, Mankin confesses he has never considered what might have happened had he not received the Vahlteich honor, but he is glad he never had to endure such a reality.

The $75,000 grant provided a financial foundation for his research, cutting-edge investigations now focused on the ribosome, the molecular machine that makes proteins in the cell.

“You never know what would have happened without the Vahlteich Award,” Mankin says, “but I can for sure say that the award was a big help at the beginning of my career.

It removed some of the pressure to find funding and allowed me to get my research going, and I am forever grateful for that.” 

Gail B. Mahady

Alexander Mankin

Helen Kastrissios

Prem Mohan

NO PHOTO

1999 / 2000 Miroslav Rezac

NO PHOTO

1999 / 1998

1995 / 1994

1993 / 1992

Nancy P. Lam

NO PHOTO

NO PHOTO

Steven M. Swanson

The Pharmacist | 15

Hands on “ It was the generous gift from the Foglia Family Foundation — $1 million — that actually enabled the construction project to begin.”

PAUL PLUTA UIC Associate Professor of Biopharmaceutical Sciences

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New Compounding Lab Has UIC Students Excited

UIC Pharmacy students, alumni and faculty bid a fond farewell to the school’s original compounding lab at the end of the 2016 spring semester.

Built in 1953, the old lab boasted beautiful woodwork, along with compounding facilities that prepared years of students for their careers in pharmacy.

As pharmacy practice evolved over time, that lab underwent minor changes, but the school envisioned still more enhancements. Thanks to generous donations from many private sources, UIC began construction during summer 2016 on a brand-new lab that would offer the new resources. Weekly construction progress was captured on YouTube.

“Donations for the new facility from many benefactors were accumulating for quite some time,” said Paul Pluta, UIC associate professor of biopharmaceutical sciences and a graduate of the UIC College of Pharmacy, who oversees courses in the new facility.

As a result of the Foglia gift, the new Foglia Family Foundation Pharmaceutics Laboratory opened during the Fall 2016 semester. The lab actually consists of two separate facilities, representing community and hospital pharmacy practice.

Philanthropy makes it possible “Doing these types of enhancements would be impossible without these gifts,” said John Nitiss, assistant dean and professor of biopharmaceutical sciences at the pharmacy school’s Rockford campus, which completed upgrades to its own compounding lab this summer using a different pool of donations.

The Pharmacist | 17

“The design of the new lab is really unique among university laboratories.

Because we were restricted on space, we designed separate non-sterile and sterile movable configurations for the lab.”

PAUL PLUTA UIC associate professor of biopharmaceutical sciences

The sterile mode provides an excellent representation of modern hospital pharmacy practice, Pluta said. In this environment, fully gowned students learn and practice making sterile IV preparations, chemotherapy drugs and other sterile parenteral compounding.

“The versatility of this lab will prepare students for whatever area of pharmacy they may choose to pursue after graduation,” Pluta said.

In making the new upgrades, the university responded to feedback from various sources. School officials spoke with former students who are now in pharmacy practice, visited several leading local hospitals, and discussed the facility design with pharmacy thought leaders and consultants, Nitiss and Pluta said.

While people might think a publicly funded institution should have little need for private donations, the opposite is true for big projects, especially now, Nitiss said. “Being a public institution, particularly in the financial climate of Illinois … the line for new projects” is long, he said. “Public monies are just not available for these types of enhancements.”

In addition to the Foglia Family Foundation’s donation, other philanthropic gifts included $200,000 from Walgreens and lab equipment from Actavis Pharma and Fagron US, a compounding materials and equipment company. Another generous monetary donation forming the Rory Albert and Michael Blair Laboratory Fund will support ongoing enhancements and routine maintenance.

The project also benefited from nostalgia among UIC alumni. Many graduates made monetary donations to have the wooden lab furniture from the original lab delivered to their homes.

“Those workstations provide great memories for UIC pharmacy alumni,” Pluta said. “Literally every pharmacy student attending UIC between 1953 and 2016 worked at the wooden lab workstations in the original lab.”

Unique laboratory design Movable furniture enables transformation of the lab into two different configurations: non-sterile and sterile modes. In non-sterile mode, tables move into the lab for use in teaching non-sterile compounded dosage forms, such as capsules, creams and ointments. In sterile mode, the non-sterile workstations head to storage, and aseptic laminar airflow workstations move into the lab.

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“Among the feedback [messages] we’ve gotten was that students needed to have the opportunity to practice sterile techniques more — the ability to be really confident with sterile techniques,” Nitiss said.

“The new facility definitely helps us move in the right direction,” Pluta added.

In addition to the multi-function room design, the new lab boasts IT and audio-visual technology like that found in modern hospital and compounding laboratories. The facility’s laminar-airflow hoods are equipped with video cameras to record student compounding techniques for further review and evaluation. Faculty can observe individual student aseptic technical skills in real time, Pluta said.

“Students will then be able to watch recordings of their actual work. This, again, mirrors what happens in a working hospital pharmacy today, where pharmacists use live-video systems to monitor the preparatory work of technicians,” Pluta said.

The renovations to the UIC College of Pharmacy Rockford campus’ compounding facility provide Rockford students with equivalent resources. That lab now also offers both non-sterile and sterile facilities, with the same types of clean rooms and sterile compounding equipment as found in Chicago, Nittiss said.

“One of our guiding principles is to make sure the educational experiences in Chicago and Rockford are equal,” Nitiss said.

The major difference was that Rockford’s newer facility —about seven years old — required simply an addition to bring the clean-room environment to the campus’ existing lab, he said.

Replicating hospital pharmacy standards Hospital pharmacy compounding facilities today must conform to a set of regulations: USP <797> Pharmaceutical Compounding – Sterile Preparations and USP <800> Hazardous Drugs – Handling in Healthcare Settings. The new facility was designed with these requirements in mind, Pluta said.

“The new lab enables teaching in a real-world environment instead of just describing what is required,” Pluta said. “Students will actually ‘live’ a real-world experience!”

In the new lab, UIC students follow the same sterile procedures as they would in the hospital. That means they’ll enter separated rooms designed to represent increasing levels of air quality. Aseptic compounding will ultimately be conducted in laminar-airflow workstations.

Students will gown up in an ante room in sterile dress before entering buffer rooms containing multiple types of laminar-airflow workstations, representing equipment they may encounter in their future pharmacy practice.

The layout replicates the required room design in a modern hospital pharmacy practice, Pluta said. “The sterile mode in the new lab is a very good representation of what modern hospitals have,” he said.

That real-world environment translates into a top-notch educational experience for UIC students, Pluta added.

Snapshots of progress

“They get direct experience practicing procedures they will be expected to perform in their pharmacy practice careers after graduation and licensure,” he said. “Before, we would teach about it. Now, students are going to live it.”

Lab generates excitement UIC professors and students alike have shared their excitement about what the new lab allows them to do,” Pluta said.

“There’s a lot of enthusiasm for what we’re doing,” he said. “Moreover, pharmacy professionals in the field have expressed positive remarks on the facility design and capabilities.”

That level of excitement demonstrates that the project has so far met its goals, Pluta said.

The university knew the lab needed to represent current pharmacy practice, including sterile (hospital), non-sterile (community) and related pharmacy applications. It had to incorporate changes coming to pharmacy practice, including more stringent regulations, more complex drug therapy, highly toxic and hazardous drugs, specialized equipment, increased documentation, and electronic communication. Finally, it had to provide a non-distracting environment for maximum student-faculty interaction.

“While working on the above is always ongoing and is really a never-ending task,” he said, “the new lab is greatly helping to meet these objectives.” 

Unveiling of new lab

The Pharmacist | 19

Ready TO WORK CHRISTOPHER SAFFORE Eager Takeda Fellow ready to take the plunge into research

GLEN SCHUMOCK head of the Department of Pharmacy Systems Outcomes and Policy 20 | pharmalumni.uic.edu

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UIC and Takeda: Two Institutions Forge One-of-a-Kind Partnership

Located just outside Chicago, in Deerfield, Takeda Pharmaceuticals would likely have close ties to UIC if only due to proximity. The U.S. base for Japan’s largest pharmaceutical company has long hired many grads from the nearby school.

“That naturally facilitated a relationship between the two organizations,” said Daaron Dohler, VP head of operations at Takeda, who helps coordinate the overall partnership.

Beyond the coincidence of geography, however, the two institutions have collaborated to create a uniquely close relationship, said Dohler. At UIC, Takeda sponsors two research fellowships (one in health economics and outcomes and one in medication adherence), a PGY2 residency in drug information, and a professorship in drug adherence.

“I think what makes it unique is the base of alumniemployees, and how involved they are in giving back to UIC,” Dohler said. “There’s a lot of personal dedication.”

Unique partnership Moreover, the two institutions share many goals, including that of producing well-trained UIC alumni, Dohler said. “We have a common interest in developing highly motivated, skilled individuals. We hope to hire more UIC graduates.”

The company also cares about broader aims in pharmacy and healthcare, and by working with UIC, can advance those goals, Dohler said. The company can contribute to the overall biopharmaceutical environment in Chicago and, even more importantly, improve patient care, Dohler said.

“Takeda’s overall mission statement is to improve the health of the patients that need our medicine,” he said.

“UIC has a very similar mandate.”

Their proximity makes the two institutions’ interactions even more valuable, said Glen Schumock, professor and head of the Department of Pharmacy Systems, Outcomes and Policy at UIC.

The Pharmacist | 21

“There are not a lot of these partnerships,” he said. “The nice thing about ours is that Takeda is located here in Chicago, and so are we. This allows the fellow to spend all their time in one place. Other programs require the fellow to move in the second year.”

That greatly eases communication, he said, and permits easy travel, making cooperation much smoother.

The length of the partnership also sets it apart, he added.

The fellowship program with Takeda, in fact, goes back to an older fellowship with TAP (Takeda-Abbott Products), and the school has fellowship experience with local companies dating back even longer than that, to 1999.

Long-standing fellowships Each of the Takeda-UIC fellowship programs takes a different approach to studying the social side of pharmacy.

The Health Economics and Outcomes Research, or HEOR, fellowship represents the longest relationship between Takeda and UIC. In its current form, that fellowship started in 2008. Fellows in this program study the economic, humanistic and clinical outcomes of drug therapy. Engaging in meaningful work like this ensures that the fellowship is worthwhile, said Ruixuan Jiang, Pharm.D., one of the current HEOR fellows.

“It’s been a rewarding experience,” she said. “I’m treated as someone who’s an important part of the team.”

Fellows in the newer, Medical Adherence Research program study an important component of patient care, and one that’s often taken for granted, Schumock said.

For example, fellows have worked on a major project at Takeda on coordinating care between pharmacists

and physicians, said Robin Turpin, Ph.D., head of that fellowship at Takeda.

These fellowships “really extend the research that we can do,” said Daniel Touchette, UIC’s Takeda Professor of Medication Adherence, who oversees the adherence fellowship. “With the fellowship, Takeda is really giving back to the UIC community and to the Chicago area.”

In both programs, the fellows, who are Pharm.D’s and usually studying in UIC master’s or Ph.D. programs, complete coursework in their first year that’s immediately relevant to their research at Takeda, Schumock said.

The fellows also receive intensive mentorship from UIC experts in their fields, he said.

That training means the fellows can contribute at a high level when they arrive at Takeda, Schumock said.

The opportunity to gain intensive training at both institutions also puts the fellows on a promising career path, he said. “That’s training you can’t really get in any other way. So every one of them has gone on to fantastic jobs … and higher-level positions.”

The fellowships serve the participants well, in part, due to the reputation Takeda and UIC have earned, Jiang added.

“People know this program for producing people who are ready to work in the field,” she said.

Investing in research Furthering its commitment to adherence, Takeda also makes possible the UIC professorship in medication adherence, donating a sum of money that Touchette uses to fund adherence research. For example, Touchette and colleagues have investigated the effect of $0 copays on medication adherence.

Touchette’s professorship has, in turn, allowed the school to win grants for larger studies, and to hire additional faculty in the area, Schumock said. By investing in this research, the company has also shown its commitment to patients, beyond simply profit, he said.

“Sometimes companies … get a rap for just being about making money,” he said. “But clearly this is not just about making money — this is about improving patient care.”

BRYAN TALON Takeda Fellow looking forward to opportunities

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One-of-a-kind residency The UIC-Takeda Post-Graduate Year 2 (PGY2) Drug Information Residency uniquely exposes pharmacy grads to a range of professional experiences, said Janet Danforth, Pharm.D., who oversees Takeda’s Medical Information and Review team, under which the residency falls.

“That’s what’s unique to our program,” said Danforth, a UIC College of Pharmacy alum (2007). “We’re the only joint-accredited PGY2 drug information residency program out there between academia and industry. Far and away, that is the biggest benefit.”

In most medical information training programs for pharmacy, participants would learn solely about the academic or industry settings, said Ryan Rodriguez, a UIC Pharmacy assistant professor who oversees the residency. “This program opens up their pathway in terms of other job opportunities.”

It also helps residents explore their preferences, Danforth said.

At Takeda, residents complete rotations in medical information, medical review and medical communications operations. They compose response letters to healthcare provider inquiries, provide medical review of promotional pieces, and learn how to run a medical information and communications department, among other tasks, Danforth said.

“It’s more than just a flavor of what goes on in industry,” she said. “They’re there for six months and are fully immersed in the day-to-day operations and experiences of the team.”

So far, the residents in the two-year-old program have done well. One now works at Takeda’s Medical Information and Review group, and the other at UIC, so they’ve clearly shown their worth, Rodriguez said.

“They’ve been able to step into their primary duties and perform them at a high level,” he said. 

“Walking away from this residency, they’ll have great insight into whether they’d like to practice as a drug information specialist in an academic, hospital or industry setting,” she said.

DAN TOUCHETTE Takeda Professor for Medication Adherence

Residents spend half of the yearlong program at UIC, in the academic and hospital settings, and half at Takeda, in a pharmaceutical medical information department. At UIC, residents staff the drug-information request line, responding to inquiries from physicians and pharmacists on drug safety and other topics. The residents also deliver seminars, lead group discussions in UIC courses, and perform the duties of authors and peer reviewers of biomedical literature.

“This [professorship] is a very unique venture.

It was really philanthropic of Takeda.”

The Pharmacist | 23

WHITE COAT

Change Your Coat, Change Your Life The annual White Coat Ceremony was held on August 18 at the Chicago and Rockford campuses. The class of 2019 was welcomed to UIC College of Pharmacy and into the health sciences by Dean Jerry Bauman and Interim Vice Dean for the Rockford Regional Campus John Nitiss. The students were coated by alumni before taking the Oath of the Pharmacist. î ľ

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The Distinguished Professorship was created by the University to recognize people who have made a significant impact upon their field through scholarship, creativity, and leadership.

T H E CO L L EG E O F P H A R A M CY D I S T I N G U I S H E D P R O F ES S O R S

ALEXANDER MANKIN

BILL BECK

Now we add Dean Jerry Bauman to that list. In honor of his momentous accomplishment weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve invited one of his mentors, Richard Hutchinson, to detail how he got where he is today.

BY RICHARD HUTCHINSON

ALUMNI PROFILE

Dean Bauman Named Distinguished Professor

When I came to UIC in 1973 there was a need to change the program and culture of both the Hospital Pharmacy and the College. This would be a major undertaking as we did not have a clinical pharmacy training program in place.

Neither a PharmD nor a clinical residency existed. The task at hand would necessitate recruiting outside faculty and developing the interest and motivation in our students to develop clinical skills by residency or post B.S. education.

An excellent student and leader This is where Dr. Bauman enters the picture. He was an excellent student with good clinical/analytical skills. He was open to the clinical approach to pharmacy. It became obvious to me that Jerry could be a real asset for developing a clinical pharmacy program. I thought that offering him a clinical pharmacy residency position would increase his desire to be a clinical pharmacist and acknowledge the need for more education and training. Jerry became the first and only BS graduate to be trained in the clinical pharmacy residency without advanced training.

The next step after the residency was to encourage him to attend an excellent PharmD Program. The best one at the time was University of Missouri at Kansas City. He wanted to attend elsewhere, but I persuaded him to agree to Kansas City. His wife Judy was also influential in making that decision.

A building block for success

RICHARD HUTCHINSON

JERRY BAUMAN

In October Dean Jerry Bauman added another accolade to his title when the University named him a Distinguished Professor.

After graduation Dr. Bauman was hired as one of our first clinical faculty members. He had a strong affinity for the program and was a constant building block for its success. He became a departmental leader and had an influence on many of their successes. He developed a nationally-recognized cardiology/pharmacotherapy section and trained several successful residents and fellows. Dr. Bauman served several years as an Assistant Department head and continued as Department head before becoming Dean of the College. He was one of the critical core faculty members that brought national recognition to UIC. His success at UIC and his national recognition was well deserved. His acknowledgement as a leader and excellent Dean has lead him to be a leader in the whole Medical Center.

This success was certainly beyond my original expectation. Looking back, it is not necessarily surprising. After all these achievements Dr. Bauman wremains a humble and nice person. I am honored to know Jerry, to have had the opportunity to work with him and witness his successes. î ľ

The Pharmacist | 25

ALUMNI PROFILE

Estate Gift

Aims to Help Women Earn a Place in the Industry’s Executive Ranks

BY DANIEL P. SMITH

SH

AR

ON

AY D

Sharon Ayd, PhD 1997, has broken barriers in pharmaceutical industry.

Now, she hopes to help other women do the same.

Earlier this year, Ayd, a seasoned pharmaceutical and biotech executive, committed to endowing an annual scholarship at the UIC College of Pharmacy – The Ayd Scholars – for women pursuing PhDs in pharmacy or life sciences and pledging to work at a U.S.-based pharmaceutical company.

‘97

“I was fortunate enough to get to the top,” Ayd says, “and I hope this program helps other women reach executive positions.”

SHARON AYD

Ayd, in fact, pursued her own PhD in Pharmaceutics after years of being tied to middle management. Soon after securing that degree, Ayd became a director at Apotex, where she guided pharmaceutical development in the U.S. and savored her first executive position at a company that boasted $1 billion in global sales.

“The PhD validated me,” Ayd says. “It allowed me to wipe out my competition and break through the ceiling of middle management.”

And there Ayd has remained, filling a variety of executive roles at publicly traded companies like Advanced Life Sciences and Hospira, multinational corporations like Fresenius Kabi and at three spin out/ startup biopharmaceutical firms. She is currently the chief scientific officer at

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Regulatory Compliance Associates, where she provides full-spectrum solutions to pharmaceutical, biologics and medical device companies in areas such as regulations, R&D compliance, quality assurance and operations.

“You do not stumble your way to the top,” Ayd says. “It is nothing but hard work and sacrifice and learning every day.”

Ayd is also a member of Women in Bio (WIB), a national organization for executive women in pharmacy, chemistry and the biological sciences. She was recently one of 20 women invited to participate in WIB’s inaugural Boardroom Ready Program, an initiative aimed at helping executive women land on corporate boards, particularly at biotech companies where females represent only 10 percent of directors.

For Ayd, securing a corporate board seat would represent the continuation of a journey she began at UIC more than 20 years ago and further spotlight the prominent roles women can play in industry, something she hopes the Ayd Scholars Program fosters.

“These women don’t have to do what I did, but I would like them to be competitive, successful women in the pharmaceutical industry,” Ayd says of future Ayd Scholars.

“I just hope my effort here helps make their journey to the top a bit easier.” 

ALUMNI PROFILE

CO ED

HEN

New Roles, Same Passion Ed Cohen Deepens His Ties to the Pharmaceutical Industry and His Alma Mater

BY DANIEL P. SMITH

Ed Cohen, BS 1975, certainly isn’t afraid of the unknown.

After a decade filling various executive positions at Walgreens, Cohen left the Deerfield-based retail giant in January to become the new executive vice president for pharmacy advocacy at Michael J. Hennessy Associates, the healthcare communications company and publisher of Pharmacy Times.

“The job description was a blank sheet and I was told to create the right thing,” Cohen says.

As the company’s key liaison to stakeholders across the pharmaceutical landscape, including retailers, wholesalers, independent pharmacies, associations, academia and more, Cohen works to fulfill Pharmacy Times’ mission “to bring practical information to the practicing pharmacist.”

“I’m able to interact across the entire continuum to enhance the quality of the content Pharmacy Times provides its readership.”

ED COHEN That includes spotlighting his alma mater.

Recently, Pharmacy Times published a Q&A with College of Pharmacy Dean Jerry Bauman in which the veteran administrator highlighted the academic, research and clinical programs that have elevated UIC among the nation’s elite.

“I’m proud we could do this for the school,” Cohen says.

Of course, Cohen has a long history of working to advance and promote UIC.

More than 20 years ago, Cohen began working with the College’s alumni relations team, eventually chairing its Alumni Association. Later, he served as the College’s representative on the UIC Campus Alumni Advisory Board, eventually leading that group while also serving three terms on the University of Illinois Alumni Association’s Board of Directors.

‘75

In the beginning, Cohen confesses, his volunteer involvement derived from some strategic self-interests. Working for Dominick’s Finer Foods and responsible for growing the supermarket chain’s pharmacy business, he sought relationships and ideas that might propel Dominick’s performance.

“I realized I couldn’t do this in a vacuum, so I got engaged with colleges and associations to learn and stay current,” he says.

Along the line, however, Cohen’s involvement became increasingly altruistic.

“Giving my time and effort in a sincere way to the College and UIC became an important piece of my life, so much so that I’m still involved some 20 years later,” he says.

And it continues with Cohen’s latest appointment to the first-ever UIC Alumni Engagement Advisors committee, a 26-member group tabbed to increase connectivity and engagement between UIC and its alumni, students and supporters.

“It’s an opportunity for something brand new and undefined,” Cohen says, “but that’s what makes it incredibly exciting.”

After all, Cohen embraces the unknown. 

The Pharmacist | 27

ALUMNI NEWS

Take Me Out to the Ballgame Associate Director of Development Anna Franklin hosted alumni at Miller Park in Milwaukee on September 6th as the Milwaukee Brewers played the Chicago Cubs.

White Coat Ceremony Coaters Alumni are a big part of everything we do at the College of Pharmacy. That includes the annual white coat ceremony. This year is no exception as 15 alums helped coat our newest class of pharmacists for the event.

Helping in Chicago were: Jerry Bauman, BS 1976, Jill Bijak, PharmD 2006, Karen Brennan, PharmD 1988, Juanita Bruce, PharmD 2014, Dennis Bryan, BS 1974, Mary Hodur, PharmD 2009, Bob Heyman, BS 1952, Caroline Park, PharmD 2005, Reena Patel, PharmD 2016, Christopher Scalzitti, PharmD 1981, Avery Spunt, BS 1970 and Margaret Tomecki, PharmD 1996.

Coating students in Rockford were: Timothy Murrey, PharmD 2012, Virginia Nash, PharmD 2010, Chris Schriever, PharmD 1999.

Thanks to everyone for making the White Coat Ceremony such a huge success. A photo essay on the event can be found on page 24.

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 Babies  Becky (Zaworski) Young, PharmD 2012, sent pictures of her daughter, Madison.

Flor Cortes, PharmD 2014, sent a picture of daughter Xochitl.

 Kudos

AUG

08

Mihaela (Popescu) Jason, PharmD 2009, and husband Chris welcome their second child, Paul Gabriel on July 7.

Paul joins big sister Nadia.

Katie (McCool) Nichols, PharmD 2012, sent a picture of daughter Natalie.

Roseanne (Patel) Miksanek, PharmD 2012, and her husband Josh welcomed their second child, Catalina Rose. Catalina was born on September 9 and joins big brother Caleb. (NO PHOTO) Ann (Rakoczy) Schuster, PharmD 2006, and husband Dan welcomed their son, Henry Daniel on June 26. Henry joins big sister, Kenzie. (NO PHOTO)

Tim Murrey, PharmD 2012, married wife Katelyn on August 8. (NO PHOTO)

Chaitanya Aggarwal, PhD 2015, is now a Manager at Merck KGaA an Inhouse Consulting group, working on strategy projects in Life-Sciences (MilliporeSigma) and in Bio-Pharma (EMD Serono)

Shree Patel, PharmD 2011, BCPS, is now Clinical Assistant Professor at the College of Pharmacy and Clinical Pharmacy Specialist – Organ Transplant at UI Health.

Nicole Avant, PharmD 2012, BCACP, was featured in the August issue of PharmacyToday.

Suhair Sunoqrot, PhD 2013, is a Fulbright Visiting Scholar in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at UC Berkeley College of Engineering

Divya Vasudevan, PhD 2015, is now the Communications & Investor Relations Associate at Agenus

Nick Burge, PharmD 2011, competed in and finished the IRONMAN Wisconsin competition on September 11.

Congratulations!

Obituary (as of 9/20/16) Robert Propoggio, BS 1960, passed away on August 9th at his Creal Springs, Illinois home surrounded by his loving family. Robert was a respected pharmacist in the Oak Park community for 28 years. He was the owner of Proper Pharmacy and counseled a myriad of patients and improved their lives. 

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UIC College of Pharmacy (MC 874) 833 South Wood Street Chicago, Illinois 60612