SUMMER 2017 • Volume 39 • Issue 2
The Pharmacist
THE RESEARCH ISSUE
A publication of the UIC College of Pharmacy
A BOLD
VISION
Unravel the cellular and molecular mechanisms of diseases.
New Name, Daring Mission Center for Biomolecular Sciences is more than a new name, it’s a new way of thinking.
Reaching Out UIC College of Pharmacy is bringing science to the community!
Comparative Advantage New online masters degree is a real gamechanger.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
10
14 Features 10 New Name, Daring Mission Center for Biomolecular Sciences enters a new era
14 STEM — Reaching Out UIC Brings STEM-spiration to Chicago Kids
18 Comparative Advantage New UIC Degree Fills Drug Research Niche
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.
18 EDITORIAL CREDITS Publisher Jerry L. Bauman, PharmD, FCCP, FACC
Dean
Editors Chris Gummert Assistant Director of Communications
7
Christopher J. Shoemaker, MED, MBA, CFRE
Assistant Dean for Advancement & Alumni Affairs Deb Fox MED
Departments 2
From The Dean
Research and retirement are foremost on the Dean’s mind these days.
3 Calendar 4 Buzz 4
College News
8
Student News
22
Research Day
24
Alumni Profiles
Director of Engagement and Participation Proofreader Diana Nowicki, P4 Contributing Editors Daniel P. Smith Michael Dhar Photography Barry Donald Designed by Studio V Design, Inc +++
Abdul Qaiyum: “People just want to feel better and don’t care how they get there.”
UIC Pharmacist 833 S. Wood St. (MC 874) Chicago, IL 60612 Phone: (312) 996-7240 Fax: (312) 413-1910 E-mail: pharmacy@uic.edu
26
Reunion
©2017. All rights reserved.
27
Alumni News
Brad and Joan Cannon: “We hope our gift shows others you don’t have to wait.”
29 Obituaries
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FROM THE DEAN
Research, Retirement and Reminiscences BY JERRY BAUMAN, DEAN AND DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR
After spectacularly disastrous performances in organic chemistry lab I entered pharmacy school specifically not wanting a career in research. Yet beginning my tenure as a clinical pharmacist in cardiology it evolved into one where, at one point, research dominated my day. How did this happen? Well, first I practiced in an academic medical center where research is a part of the fabric of the institution so it was somewhat hard to avoid. Second, in a major academic institution the systems are set up to reward research productivity. If one wants a secure position, more salary and a larger office then publishing and getting grants will help do the trick. But last and most importantly, I grew to love it. Each day pharmacists, as I was, are confronted with drug therapy problems that have not been solved. Solving them necessitates research and is incredibly rewarding. Very early in my career we were confronted with the problem of administering parenteral phenytoin: intramuscular was painful and erratically absorbed and intravenous push (recommended) caused pain and hypotension. We found, through a simple study, that phenytoin was stable in some (but not all) intravenous fluids and could be given as a piggyback infusion*. This modest study, verified by others later, changed clinical practice in a small way and alleviated a clinical problem. What fun and how rewarding; I was hooked. Eventually my work centered on drug induced arrhythmias and the cardiac side effects of cocaine but every research project I ever completed came from problems and observations in patient care. Research,
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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SUMMER 2017
in my view, is a natural extension of clinical practice in an academic setting. Not all scientists in colleges of pharmacy are pharmacists but it is important that some pharmacists become scientists. The halo effect of noteworthy contributions in basic and applied research by pharmacists help the entire profession, not unlike the profession of medicine. Indeed, pharmacists have made substantial, ground breaking discoveries that help us care for patients: examples are in the area of drug safety and medication errors, pharmacokinetics and drug dosing, pharmacogenomics and personalized drug treatment and delivery, etc. In our college, we try to create opportunities for PharmD students to experience research. Just some examples are our PharmD-PhD program, a combined PharmD – MS in Translational Science through our CCTS, PharmD research fellowships, elective research courses, and the summer Riback research fellowships funded by the College. Not all students will pursue a career in research but, some, like me during my time here, may also become “hooked”. And thus more major scientific contributions from pharmacists will follow. This year marks my 38th year on faculty (and 42 counting my years as both a student and resident in this building – yikes!). Though it has been my privilege to lead the college as dean for the past 10 years, perhaps my most personally rewarding time was as a Professor doing research and training students, residents and research fellows. To this end, I have announced that I intend to retire in 2017 and allow new and refreshed leadership for our faculty. I owe so many for some of the successes (and failures) I have enjoyed but foremost is the nurturing environment of the University of Illinois and our flagship college of pharmacy. * Bauman JL, Siepler JK, Fitzloff J. Phenytoin crystallization in intravenous fluids. Drug Intell Clin Pharm 1977;11:646-9.
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 APR
04
APR
65TH ANNUAL HONORS CONVOCATION
The annual honors convocation will be held in Chicago. Students from both campuses will be on hand to accept scholarships and meet the people who’ve made those scholarships possible.
SPRING ALUMNI/STUDENT SOCIAL.
19
Chicago will be hosting this spring’s alumni/student social. It will be held at Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery from 6:00 p.m. 8:30 p.m.
MAY
INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR PHARMACOECONOMICS AND OUTCOMES RESEARCH(ISPOR) ANNUAL MEETING
22
The ISPOR meeting will be held in Boston on May 22-24
100% Online Certificate in Pharmacoepidemiology. Increased use and complexity of pharmaceuticals has caused increased concerns about medication safety and effectiveness. Understanding the intricacies of how medication affects populations has never been more difficult, or important.
and Biostatistics and the College of Pharmacy’s Department of Pharmacy Systems, Outcomes and Policy. Both are top-rated programs, each of which boasts faculty who are national and international leaders in their field.
The online pharmacoepidemiology program is a coordinated effort between the School of Public Health’s Division of Epidemiology
MORE INFORMATION (312) 996-4795 PECadmin@uic.edu go.uic.edu/pharmacoepicertificate
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 We’ll do our best to fit it into our publications and/or social media! If you don’t see it in The Pharmacist please go to go.uic.edu/PharmNews.
Purchase an Engraved Commemorative Brick Become a permanent part of the college that’s become a permanent part of you! go.uic.edi/PlazaProject
The Pharmacist | 3
BUZZ
LEADERSHIP
The Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) has designated the College of Pharmacy, University of Illinois at Chicago, as a PAHO/WHO Collaborating Centre for Traditional Medicine. Professors Chun-Tao Che and Harry H.S. Fong will act as Directors of the Center.
Dr. Kevin Rynn installed as Vice Dean of the Rockford regional campus BY DANIEL P. SMITH
A familiar face has a new position with the UIC College of Pharmacy. Kevin Rynn, who previously spent seven years at UIC – two years completing an emergency medicine/clinical toxicology specialized residency and fellowship before serving five years as an assistant professor practicing emergency medicine – has returned to the college as Professor and Vice Dean of the Rockford regional campus. “The opportunity to step up and work with an entire campus faculty and staff excited me and I’m grateful for this opportunity,” Rynn said just days before beginning his new position on Jan. 1. A nationally recognized pharmacist, Rynn most recently held the role of Vice Dean and Associate Professor of Pharmacy Practice at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science. Prior to that, Rynn was faculty and led the Rutgers University/Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Emergency Medicine PGY-2 residency program for 11 years.
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UIC College of Pharmacy Dean Jerry Bauman says Rynn possesses “the right skill set and personality” to help lead the College’s growing sixyear-old regional campus. “Kevin is a nurturing, mentoring and friendly professional who has built an experiential education network and understands the workings of a College of Pharmacy,” Bauman says.
UIC and College of Pharmacy Earn National Award for Diversity and Inclusion The University of Illinois at Chicago and the UIC College of Pharmacy both received the 2016 Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine, the oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education. As a recipient of the annual HEED Award — a national honor recognizing U.S. colleges and universities that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion — UIC will be featured, along with other honorees, in the November issue of the magazine. This is the second year UIC has been named as a HEED Award recipient.
Rynn says his most immediate priority is to listen and learn from the Rockford staff, faculty and students. “I want to know what they like as well as what they feel needs to change,” says Rynn, who does identify one specific initiative he will look to create at Rockford: a global health program. In recent years, Rynn has worked with Hope of Children and Women Victims of Violence, a humanitarian organization that supports refugees from Uganda and other African nations whose lives have been consumed by war, violence and poverty. “This has emerged a real passion for me and I’d like to advance these relationships for the benefit of the College,” Rynn says.
Dr. Edith Nutescu, PharmD 1994, was awarded the American College of Clinical Pharmacy - Cardiology Practice and Research Network’s 2016 Distinguished Researcher Award. Dr. Nutescu accepted the award at the American College of Clinical Pharmacy’s Annual Meeting held in Hollywood, Florida, October 23-26. At the meeting she also gave several presentations and in her role as the Chairman of the Pharmacotherapy Board of Directors she led and participated in the following meetings and events, including the Pharmacotherapy Editorial Board Meeting, Pharmacotherapy Scientific Editors Council Meeting, Pharmacotherapy & Research Institute Open House and the Pharmacotherapy Board Reception.
COLLEGE NEWS
CONFERENCE
Chinese Alums Celebrate UIC Dean Bauman and a team of pharmacy delegates met with a group of Chinese pharmacists in Nanjing, China. The meeting was held on November 10th as part of a conference sponsored by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association and Shire Pharmaceuticals. Dean Bauman delivered the keynote address. Dr. Alan Lau also addressed the group of 60 plus pharmacists and pharmacy directors crowd. Marieke Schoen, Vice Dean and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, officially welcomed the group to the UIC family of alumni. For the last 5 years, Dr. Alan Lau has been hosting pharmacists from China at UIC. Pharmacy directors came for 2 weeks to learn about our clinical services and how to implement innovative service and education programs. Clinical pharmacists came for 6 months to acquire clinical skills. Alan Lau works with our Chinese partners on developing the
programs and coordinates their visits with colleagues in the Department of Pharmacy Practice. The visitors found the program enlightening and used the ideas and experiences they obtained at UIC to implement new services, refine existing programs and conduct scholarly activities. They found the UIC experiences beneficial and memorable.
LEADERSHIP
An article co-authored by Dr. Katie Suda, a Research Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmacy Systems, Outcomes and Policy, has been ranked among the top 100 most-discussed of all journal articles (in all fields), according to Altmetric. The article was published in JAMA and is titled “Prevalence of inappropriate antibiotic prescriptions among US ambulatory care visits, 2010-2011.� Altmetric is a data science company that tracks attention to research outputs via a variety of sources, including mainstream news sites, blogs, social media, post-publication peer-review platforms, research highlights and public policy documents. The Altmetric Attention Score, used to determine this ranking, is an automatically calculated weighted count of all of the attention a single research output has received.
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PEOPLE
Dr. Isaac Cha won the Teacher of the
Dr. Mike Gabay was chosen as the recipient
Semester Award for Fall of 2016.
of the Outstanding DI Practitioner Award for 2016 by the ACCP DI PRN.
Dr. Jan Engle, PharmD 1985, has been named
Dr. Young Jeong, PharmD 2001, Associate
a Fellow of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy, and also presented at the 26th Federation of Asian Pharmaceutical Associations Congress in Bangkok, Thailand in November.
Professor of Pharmacy Practice, has been selected to receive the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET) Drug Metabolism Division Early Career Achievement Award. This award is only given every other year and is a major recognition of Dr. Jeong’s many scientific accomplishments.
Brad Bartels,
Faculty, and his wife Hilary welcomed their second child. Davis Scott was born on January 12 at 3:09 a.m., 7 lb 9 oz. Davis joins big brother Cameron. This makes grandchild number 5 for grandparents, retired Vice Dean Dave Bartels and Carol Bartels.
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COLLEGE NEWS Dr. Karen Sweiss, PharmD 2005, has been
selected as the recipient of the 2017 Hematology/Oncology Pharmacy Association (HOPA) Oncology Pharmacy Practice Literature Award. This award recognizes an article, other than scientific research, that contributes to the betterment of the hematology/oncology pharmacy profession, and describes innovations in community, hospital, or healthcare system in hematology/oncology pharmacy practices. Dr. Sweiss will receive the award at the 2017 HOPA Annual Conference in Anaheim, CA in March.
Curcumin’s Cautionary Tale for Chemists The work of the Pauli lab was highlighted in a Nature News story about curcumin. Guido Pauli and co-authors Jonathan Bisson and James Graham, along with collabortors Kathryn Nelson (UMN), Jayme Dahlin (Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston), and Michael Walters (UMN), have published a comprehensive critical review of curcumin, where they caution other researchers against wasted efforts into the compound, surmising there is no compelling evidence it has any specific therapeutic benefits.
Dr. Frank Paloucek, BS 1981, received 2016 American College of Clinical Pharmacy Emergency Medicine Practice and Research Network Outstanding Mentor of the Year Award.
Jennifer Marcelo and Nazia Babul are the recipients of the Visionary Award from CommunityHealth.
Dr. Lisa Sharp, Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmacy Systems, Outcomes and Policy, is the Co-Primary Investigator on a new R01 grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases in the amount of approximately $4 million. The 5-year grant is titled “mHealth for Diabetes Adherence Support” and investigates the use of text messaging in helping patients comply with diabetes medications. The Co-PI is Ben Gerber, from the College of Medicine and an affiliate faculty member in PSOP. Jessica Tilton from the Department of Pharmacy Practice is a co-investigator.
Dr. Nancy Shapiro is now board certified in ambulatory care.
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STUDENT NEWS
PEOPLE
Flu Clinics P4s administered flu shots to UIC Faculty and Staff on October 18 and 24. On Friday, October 28, students and Doctor Bill Beck attended the inaugural Precision Health Forum (PHF) at UIC. The day was spent listening to experts discuss the advancements in medicine, cancer genetics, targeted cancer therapy, liquid cancer biopsy, the microbiome, big data, and pharmacogenomics.
The Association of Indian Pharmacists in America (AIPhA) volunteered their time to help the city of Chicago for the annual Bank of America Marathon on October 9. Volunteers passed out Gatorade and protein shakes to the runners after they completed the race.
Author! Author! Sezen Meydan, graduate student in the Mankin lab, was featured in the “Meet the Author” article of Molecular Cell. She is the first author of the featured article of Volume 65, issue 2, “Programmed Ribosomal Frameshifting Generates a Copper Transporter and a Copper Chaperone from the Same Gene”.
Polish American Pharmacists Association (PAPA) established a group of students who work on monthly translations of The Wellness Program hot topic packet. The Wellness Program is provided through a contract with the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Pharmacy, Rush University Medical Center, White Crane Wellness Center and the Chicago Department of Family and Support Services. Advisor Dr. James C. Lee uses the translations at screenings at Copernicus Senior Center and shares with other faculty members who volunteer at Polish communities. These packets help in educating people about relevant health topics.
The P2 Class Council had the student body vote for their favorite faculty to dress up for Halloween and Dr. Chuck Woodbury was the winner.
MuPhSA and APhA collaborated to put together the Second Annual Winter Clothing Drive on Wednesday October 12th and Thursday October 13th. The first drive in 2015 was a giant success, and this year was no less successful. The UIC COP lobby was packed with students waiting to donate coats, scarves, gloves, sweaters, and so many other items! The generosity of our UIC COP students resulted in several hundred refugees new to Chicago getting the necessities they need to survive our cold winters.
AbbVie Tour On October 6, Caroline Park, PharmD 2005, and AbbVie welcomed over 40 students to their Deerfield office for a day at AbbVie. The day included a networking lunch and five panel sessions (Medical Affairs/Information, HEOR, Pharmacovigilance/Regulatory Affairs, Clinical Development and Supply Management/Licensing & Acquisition, etc.) Over 30 panelists presented to our students, many of whom are UIC College of Pharmacy Alumni. 8 | pharmalumni.uic.edu
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CVS Tour On October 11th, CVS Health welcomed 20 students to their CVS Health Customer Center in Mount Prospect to listen and learn about CVS Health, their initiatives and career opportunities.
Rutgers Fellowship On September 15, 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 four 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.
AWARDS
(FROM LEFT TO RIGHT) NICHOLAS TREMOLS, GERGANA GEORGIEVA, PAULINA SAMBOR, AND TOM HOPKINS.
P&T Competition
The UIC Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP) Student Chapter received the Second Place Student Chapter of the Year Award at the 2016 AMCP Nexus Conference (October 3-6) at National Harbor, MD. Over ten UIC students came to Nexus to accept the award. On top of that Sviatlana Ferri, current P4, was awarded the Platinum Abstract which is the highest achievement awarded to abstracts.
The UIC Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP) Student Chapter held its 17th annual P&T Competition. The P&T competition allows students to work in groups and better understand the process that goes into formulary management through scientific, clinical, and economic evaluation. A total of 15 teams competed in this year’s completion. The competition allowed each team to present to and answer questions from a panel of judges with diverse backgrounds, including: clinical, industry, managed care, and economic. The winning team of Gergana Georgieva, Tom Hopkins, Paulina Sambor, and Nicholas Tremols will have their written materials submitted to the national organization and will be one of 57 teams vying for eight spots to compete at the National AMCP P&T Competition on March 29th in Denver, Colorado.
Katherine Sencion,
current P4, received the 2016 Edward John Rowe Award at the NABP/AACP District IV Meeting on November 3.
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NEW NAME
BY DANIEL P. SMITH
THE CENTER FOR BIOP
The former Center for Pharmaceutical Biotechnology begins 2017 with a new name as the Center for Biomolecular Sciences and an ambitious spirit to drive pharmaceutical innovation Twenty-three years ago, the UIC College of Pharmacy launched the Center for Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, a significant step to ensure UIC’s place in the pharmacy industry’s fast-moving narrative. Today, the high-achieving research center sports a new name as the Center for Biomolecular Sciences alongside a daring mission to drive pharmaceutical innovation. Uniting laboratories at the College whose research emphasizes biological aspects of pharmaceutical science, the Center continues its bold efforts to advance conceptually new approaches for discovering novel molecular targets for therapeutic intervention, illuminate mechanisms of drug action, discover new therapies and unravel the cellular and molecular mechanisms of diseases. An undeniable shining star on the UIC campus, the Center and its collection of biology-focused researchers have captured high-profile grants, earned publication in prized journals, pushed science in compelling new directions and elevated UIC’s position among the nation’s elite pharmacy schools.
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HARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES ENTERS A NEW ERA.
DR. ALEXANDER “SHURA” MANKIN TAKES ON THE BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF PHARMACY AT THE CENTER FOR BIOMOLECULAR SCIENCES.
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A CENTER OF PROMINENCE
As the Center matured, the victories began to mount.
Back in the early 1990s, biotech was largely a buzzword, capturing imaginations across the pharmaceutical industry and among the academic elite, but also leaving many institutions, the UIC College of Pharmacy included, questioning biotech’s fit within their enterprise.
In 2003, Center faculty landed the largest grant in UIC history, a $15.7 award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to explore approaches for developing drugs to treat anthrax. Another $8 million grant from the NIH, this one to battle SARS, followed soon after.
“The College was trying to figure out biotechnology,” recalls Michael Johnson, who arrived at UIC in 1975 and now serves as Professor Emeritus in both the Center and the Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy. “We had a classical arrangement in departments and little experience in molecular biology, which is the foundation of biotech. With biotech-derived products taking an increasing share of the pharmaceutical market, the question was how could we move into modern biological science, including teaching and research.”
In subsequent years, the Center’s momentum accelerated and its prominence swelled.
The Center for Pharmaceutical Biotechnology emerged as UIC’s answer. Established in 1994 with Johnson as its founding director, the Center began providing educational and research opportunities in the areas of biotechnology, drug development and basic life sciences from its home inside the Molecular Biology Research Building (MBRB). A premier on-campus research facility, the state-of-the-art MBRB helped the Center recruit faculty and students and then positioned them alongside cutting-edge researchers from the Colleges of Pharmacy, Medicine and Liberal Arts and Sciences, an early recognition of the interdisciplinary collaboration so cherished in today’s healthcare environment. At first, the Center stood a modest research enterprise featuring but a few industrious faculty members committed to their research and propelling the Center’s reputation. Johnson, an ardent promoter of the Center’s efforts, created a favorable atmosphere for research, while prominent early hires such as Alexander Mankin and the late Alexander Neyfakh tackled intriguing questions in the lab and pharmacognosy pioneer Norman Farnsworth sponsored the development of a biotech track for graduate students.
Center faculty earned grants from major funding agencies such as the NIH and the National Science Foundation (NSF) as well as financial support from industry heavyweights such as Abbott Laboratories and Pfizer; published research in leading scholarly journals and scored mainstream media coverage in outlets like the Chicago Tribune and Scientific American; accepted advisory board positions with prominent biotech companies; captured prestigious honors such as the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy’s Paul R. Dawson Award and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund; participated in review committees for organizations such as the NIH, NSF and the American Heart Association; and built scholarly collaborations with researchers at institutions such as Argonne National Laboratory, the Mayo Clinic and Institut Pasteur in Paris. In addition, the Center’s graduates landed positions at major universities and pharmaceutical firms around the globe. Michael Federle, who joined the Center’s ranks in 2008 and has secured industry headlines for his lab’s cutting-edge research into quorum sensing.
DRIVING THE CENTER’S SUCCESS Ask Mankin what drives the Center’s success and the veteran faculty member offers a swift reply. “We’ve managed to keep a friendly, even familial atmosphere in which our faculty and students feel connected to one another,” says Mankin, the Center’s director since 2013. The Center’s collaborative spirit shows in and out of the labs. There are weekly seminars in which faculty, graduate students and external speakers share research developments as well as potluck lunches, investigation-driving hallway conversations and vibrant holiday parties. “It’s easy to be confined within your lab’s four walls, but there’s great value in knowing what your neighbors are doing,” Mankin says. “We have several labs working in antibacterial drug discovery, cancer and cell biology, and we’re all learning from one other.” Federle, in fact, calls the Center’s collaborative environment vital to his lab’s important discoveries.
“We had the talent, background and skill to apply for these grants and they helped put our Center on the map.” MICHAEL JOHNSON — Professor Emeritus in both the Center and the Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy
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“As cliché as it sounds, it takes a village to be successful in science,” Federle says. “Everyone from administrators that help us navigate the complexities of grant applications and hiring, to the students and postdoctoral trainees who are working all hours of the day in labs and keeping ideas fresh, to the faculty who work together to integrate ideas and build collaborations, we have it all here at the Center as a functional village.”
“You had a group of researchers with a strong desire to excel and make a difference at UIC and in their field of study.” MICHAEL FEDERLE — Associate Professor Dept. of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy
Joanna Burdette, who joined the College in 2007 and the Center in 2011, echoes Federle’s sentiments. “The sharing of ideas and infrastructure makes us better, more efficient and improves our science,” says Burdette, who recently landed an NIH grant with Center colleague Brian Murphy to study botanical derived progestins and their impact on women’s health.
ENTERING A NEW ERA Last year, spurred by its increasing work at the molecular level as well as the rapid development of genomic tools and the biological implications of genomics, the Center adopted a new moniker more befitting its present state: the Center for Biomolecular Sciences. “There’s a lot in a name and ours became misleading to prospective students and faculty as well as grant-making agencies,” Mankin admits. The new name, however, doesn’t shift the Center’s adventurous vision to conduct innovative research in the biomedical sciences. In fact, bolstered by its interdisciplinary scientific environment, integrated laboratory resources and administrative support to its 11 faculty members and more than 30 graduate students whose work touches a diverse range of research areas ranging from Biochemistry and Computational Biology to Microbiology and Proteomics, the Center looks to build upon its successes and expand its reach. From Federle’s prominent work in quorum sensing and Mankin’s high-profile research into ribosome antibiotics to Murphy’s boundary-breaking efforts fusing genomics and molecular biology into drug discovery and Burdette’s study into the mechanisms of ovarian cancer at the molecular and cell levels, the Center boasts a fearless and diverse research platform in line with national priorities and the College’s research objectives. “With an influx of new labs into the center and a universal courage to explore new areas in the life sciences, I’m optimistic that the success we’ve been able to have since our founding is just the beginning,” Mankin says. “And that’s incredibly exciting.”
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TECHNOLOGY
E
MA TH
SCIE
NC
ENGINEERING
TRISTESSE BURTON SHARES HER EXCITMENT ABOUT THE EXPANDING YOUR HORIZONS PROGRAM. (LEFT) BRIAN MURPHY LAUNCHES A WATER ROCKET, AND AN INTEREST IN SCIENCE. (RIGHT) 14 | pharmalumni.uic.edu
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UIC BRINGS STEM-SPIRATION TO CHICAGO KIDS
T
he UIC College of Pharmacy’s graduate programs help train the next generation of researchers, but the school looks even further ahead than that. Through partnerships with Expanding Your Horizons (EYH) and the Boys and Girls Club, UIC Pharmacy students and faculty bring STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) experiences to schoolkids from across the city, helping inspire future scientists. These programs benefit not only the boys and girls involved, but also the university itself and the UIC students and faculty who volunteer, said Joanna Burdette, associate dean for research and graduate education at UIC Pharmacy. The young students encounter examples of researchers and educators who have made careers in STEM, all while experiencing the more hands-on side of research. In the process, the university gets to show itself off to future scientists, Burdette said. “The long-term goal for the college of pharmacy is that they’ll see UIC, come visit it, understand that it’s a very large biomedical research community in Chicago” and see UIC as a place that they might want to study, she said of the EYH program.
The program gives the girls concrete examples of potential career paths they may not have considered.” JOANNA BURDETTE — UIC associate dean for research and graduate education
EYH — INSPIRING YOUNG GIRLS The Expanding Your Horizons program has chapters in multiple U.S. cities, all dedicated to hosting STEM experiences for middle and high school girls. For the past two years, the UIC College of Pharmacy hosted the Chicago chapter’s annual one-day conference for middle school girls. UIC Pharmacy will continue to partner with EYH in the future, including potentially hosting the event again. At the event, around 250 middle school girls from Chicago Public Schools attend hands-on science and technology workshops and hear talks by leading women
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Science lessons always accompany the experiments, too, aligning with what the kids are learning in school. For example, when making the ice cream, students learned about molecular modeling for the compounds involved. They were able to actually visualize the size of an atom and what a molecule is … and connect the chemistry they modeled with real-life applications.” BRIAN MURPHY — UIC associate professor
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in STEM. The program is very popular, regularly attracting more interested applicants than there are spaces, Burdette said. The 2017 edition happens March 25.
The presentations have included everything from building rocket launchers using PVC pipes to making liquid-nitrogen ice cream. “We’ve done some cool stuff,” Murphy said.
“The goal is to have them physically see adult women … in positions where they’re using science, technology, engineering, and math as a career,” Burdette said. “It allows girls to see themselves involved in science, mathematics and engineering. And that is really eye-opening for a lot of these girls.”
Similar to EYH, UIC’s Boys and Girls Club work exposes students to the more active side of science, and students have reacted enthusiastically to the activities, Murphy said. Instead of learning from a textbook, as happens in most science lessons, the kids get to experience the excitement of science in action, he said.
Tristesse Burton, a UIC Ph.D. student in medicinal chemistry and pharmacognosy, said the event allows her to pay-forward an experience that helped launch her own STEM career. Burton is one of several UIC grad students to volunteer for the event’s organizing committee, and has done so for four years.
“They love it. … You see the screams of joy when things work,” Murphy said. “They go nuts. You see a kid launch a rocket 150 feet in the air, he suddenly becomes a lot more interested in physics.”
“I was in these girls’ position,” said Burton, who grew up on the west side of Chicago. “Someone told me about a science program … and that opened up many more opportunities for me to be involved in science. I was ready to go beyond what other people in my neighborhood may have experienced.” “My goal is to see more underrepresented minorities in science, all the way from undergrad to graduate school, and also to work in that academic setting,” she said. Working with the EYH girls, many of whom are black or Hispanic, helps Burton secure that future, she said. The workshops at the event span a wide range. In previous years, EYH attendees examined DNA from bananas, made potato batteries and learned how to install solar panels. Through those activities, the girls get to see the active, fun side of STEM that’s so often missing from school programs, Burton said. “I hear from a lot of students that science is boring,” she said. But in the more hands-on activities, “they get to see something practical and science-related. … A lot of girls said, ‘I didn’t know I could be this.’ It opened eyes for them.”
BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB — MAKING SCIENCE FUN The UIC Pharmacy school’s outreach with the Girls and Boys Club of Chicago aims to link the university to the city’s neighborhoods, said Brian Murphy, UIC associate professor and head of the program. “The overarching thought was trying to build a bridge between the university and the community,” he said. “We have a history of constructing neighborhoods along racial and economic lines in Chicago, and one effect has been an unequal distribution of educational resources, so rarely are bridges built between university and community in science.” In the UIC partnership with the Boys and Girls Club, which launched last year, UIC Pharmacy grad students have run science programs for kids in 4th through 6th grades. Every month (with plans to go weekly), the volunteers bring new science concepts to students in underprivileged neighborhoods, hosting hands-on, interactive lessons.
The benefits of the program extend beyond those excited screams of joy, both for the students and the university. The kids get a new perspective on both science and their own futures, Murphy said. “I want to teach kids that science is cool,” he said. “We also want these kids to know there are pathways available to them to receive a degree. It’s possible for someone from any of these neighborhoods to become an aerospace engineer.” For the university, UIC’s volunteers get vital practice in front of the classroom, Murphy said.
EYH’s efforts also allows me to help shape a more egalitarian future in research.” TRISTESSE BURTON — UIC Ph.D. student
“The number one benefit is valuable teaching experience for graduate students,” he said. “They’re teaching themselves how to communicate.” A similar, long-running effort at Northwestern University and his own experience with Chicago neighborhoods inspired Murphy to launch the UIC program, he said. Learning about the city’s history, he became more aware of the unequal distribution of education resources in Chicago. “I felt the university can possibly fill this gap,” he said. He also realized that the James R. Jordon Boys and Girls Club, located down the street from UIC, gave the school a great chance to reach out. It would be a missed opportunity if the university neglected to engage with young minds studying a few blocks away, he said. Moreover, he realized the university and its students could help less-privileged Chicago kids envision a different, STEM-oriented future for themselves. “We can help kids imagine they can enter a career in science, even at a university that exists in their own neighborhood,” he said.
The Pharmacist | 17
Compara
ADVA
New UIC Degree The U.S. spends more on health care than any other country.
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ative
VANTAGE Fills Drug Research Niche But there’s little data showing if Americans actually get their money’s worth. An innovative new master’s program at UIC’s College of Pharmacy aims to help researchers better answer that question.
The Pharmacist | 19
Filling The Niche This fall, the college will launch an online M.S. in comparative effectiveness research (CER), which will arm students with the skills needed to evaluate which treatments work best for which patients. This course of study represents only the second degreed program in the United States in this emerging, understudied and essential field, said Glen Schumock, department head of Pharmacy Systems, Outcomes and Policy at UIC. “There was an unfilled niche in the country to help to support the training and knowledge-transfer needs in this field,” said Simon Pickard, director of graduate studies for Pharmacy Systems, Outcomes and Policy at UIC. The college will launch its new M.S. course after being named the 2015 Center of Excellence for Comparative Effectiveness Research (CER) Education. Sponsored by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) Foundation, this award funded UIC with $250,000 over three years, which the college has used to set up the new degree. Schumock and Pickard are co-principal investigators on the grant. The new M.S. will be the only completely online CER master’s degree available, making it ideal for working professionals, Schumock said. Practitioners who have already earned their clinical degrees, including PharmD grads, should find the online format attractive, he said.
“There are a lot of opportunities for employment.” SIMON PICKARD, director of graduate studies for Pharmacy Systems, Outcomes and Policy at UIC.
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The degree should be useful to a wide range of professionals, from those at pharmaceutical companies who need to evaluate their own products, to pharmacists who need to answer patient questions about the comparative effectiveness of treatments — both for individuals and for populations of patients, Schumock said.
A Novel Approach CER brings a new approach to the study of medicine and other health care treatments, Pickard said. While most existing drug and treatment evaluations rely on controlled studies in laboratory settings, CER aims to compare how treatments work in the real world, where complications arise, like patients stopping their regimens. CER studies also analyze a population of patients that’s more representative of the people who actually receive treatment. Randomized controlled trials can involve older, all-male populations of patients, and people who are generally healthier than those who will get treated. “You want to see how well drugs work in actual practice,” he said. Overall, the CER approach provides a needed addendum to the existing method of evaluating drugs, Schumock said. “In the FDA approval process, the drug company just has to show that the drug is safe and works,” he said. “But what they don’t have to show is how it compares to other drugs that are in use for the same indication.”
Students in UIC’s new program will follow an interdisciplinary course of study, including classes in biostatistics, epidemiology, pharmacoeconomics and decision-analysis, as well as courses specifically designed for CER, Schumock said. Students will also complete capstone projects, “giving them hands-on experience doing the research,” he said.
“We’re one of the first to do this, and the first online. It’s very flexible.” GLEN SCHUMOCK, department head of Pharmacy Systems, Outcomes and Policy at UIC.
In being named a PhRMA Foundation Center of Excellence for CER Education, UIC joined prestigious past winners at the University of Washington, Johns Hopkins University, the University of Utah, the Harvard School of Public Health and the University of Maryland. Pickard suggested that UIC earned the award due to the school’s ambition to launch a degree program, along with its history of work in CER and wealth of faculty who have expertise in the field.
Widespread Benefits “It was highly competitive,” he said. “It’s a testament to the quality of our department, faculty and the programs we already had in place.” The degree will bring multiple benefits not only to students and the university, but also to patients and the health care sector at large, Schumock said. Currently, “patients, doctors and insurance companies have to make [treatment] decisions in an information vacuum,” but CER studies should lead to more cost-effective choices, he said. And that will save everyone money. Because insurance companies must charge higher rates due to expensive treatments, “it spills over to everyone who has insurance,” Schumock said. Those potential cost savings, and the widespread need for this kind of comparative research, mean graduates of UIC’s new degree will have ample job opportunities, he said. “Pharmaceutical companies recognize the importance of the area…and are hiring people to do this research,” he said. “Insurance companies want to…conduct, evaluate and use this research.” And government agencies, like Medicare, have to pay for treatments, so they are looking to invest in CER as well, he said. Indeed, interest has been high in UIC’s new effort, Pickard said. “It’s an exciting time to be launching the program,” he said.
The Pharmacist | 21
RESEARCH DAY
Peer Review Nearly 100 student scientists presented posters at the 8th annual UIC College of Pharmacy Research Day. Judges from staff, the pharmaceutical industry and distinguished alums judged the posters on their merits and disbursed over $6,000 in prize money. But the students weren’t the only ones being recognized. The Alum of the Year Award and the Hans W. Vahlteich Research Awards were also handed out at Research Day. The Alum of the Year was awarded to Gilbert N. Lam, PhD 1981. Dr. Lam is the Chief Scientific Officer at MicroConstants, Incorporated. The Vahlteich Award was given to Dr. Terry Moore of the Department Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy for his work on breast cancer. The students and guests were also treated to a keynote lecture by Dr. Donald P. McDonnell, the Glaxo-Wellcome Professor of Molecular Cancer Biology at the Duke University School of Medicine. Dr. McDonnell’s address was titled, “Mechanism-based discovery of new therapeutic targets in the estrogen receptor signaling pathway in breast cancer.”
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Poster Prize Winners Biology: Molecular & Cell Biology; Mechanism of Action FIRST PRIZE
Takeda Pharmaceuticals Award for Excellence in Research Matthew Dean, Vivan Jin, Joanna Burdette, “Ovarian Colonization of Fallopian Tube Epithelium-Derived High Grade Serous Tumors: An Important Step in Metastasis” SECOND PRIZE
Hospira/Pfizer Award for Excellence in Research Matthew Gilbertson, Karin C. Nitiss, Matthew Summerlin, John L. Nitiss, “Characterization of etoposide hypersensitive human Top2α mutants” SECOND PRIZE
Horizon Award for Excellence in Research Tanja Florin, Cristina Maracci, Michael Graf, Prajwal Karki, Dorota Klepacki, Marina Rodnina, Daniel Wilson, Nora Vazquez-Laslop, Alexander Mankin, “An Antimicrobial Peptide that Turns the Ribosome into a Release Factor Trap” Chemisty: Discovery, Modeling, Design & Evaluation of Novel Drugs; Detection & Delivery Systems FIRST PRIZE
Takeda Pharmaceuticals Award for Excellence in Research Alanna Condren, Laura Sanchez, “Pseudomonas aeruginosa shifts its specialized metabolism in response to biofilm inhibitors” SECOND PRIZE
AbbVie Award for Excellence in Research Dulari Jayawardena, Arivarasu N. Anbazhagan, Pradeep K. Dudeja, Hayat Onyuksel, “Superior therapeutic effect of micellar encapsulated vasoactive intestinal peptide nanomedicine over free peptide in ameliorating DSS induced colitis” SECOND PRIZE
Horizon Award for Excellence in Research Peter Sullivan, Daniel May, Jimmy Orjala, “Correlating phylogeny and chemistry to improve the efficiency of the natural product drug discovery pipeline” Clinical, Social, and Applied Sciences FIRST PRIZE
Takeda Pharmaceuticals Award for Excellence in Research Ali Alobaidi, Beenish S. Manzoor, Diana Moreno, ChoAh Kim, Ben Gerber, Lisa Sharp, Edith A. Nutescu, “Anticoagulation Self-Testing Competency in a Minority Patient Population: Preliminary Experience from a Randomized Controlled Trial” SECOND PRIZE
Hospira/Pfizer Award for Excellence in Research Annie Situ, Beenish Manzoor, Lisa Sharp, Ben Gerber, Lauren Castro, Maryanne Holtcamp, Charity Ball, Edith Nutescu, “Patient-Related Factors Determining Feasibility of Anticoagulation Self-Monitoring in a Minority Population: A Qualitative Assessment” SECOND PRIZE
Innovate@UIC Innovation Award FIRST PRIZE
Lauren Gutgesell, Rui Xiong, Debra Tonetti, Gregory Thatcher, “Combination therapy with novel selective estrogen receptor degraders (SERDs) in de novo and tamoxifen resistant breast cancer” SECOND PRIZE
Guiping Zhang, Jianjun Cheng, John D. McCorvy, Bryan L. Roth, Alan P. Kozikowski, “Discovery of N-substituted 2-Phenylcyclopropylmethylamines as Functionally Selective 5-HT2C Receptor Agonists for Potential Use in Antipsychotic Medications” UI Cancer Center Cancer Science Prize FIRST PRIZE
Jason Bugno, Hao-jui Hsu, Seungpyo Hong, “Dendritic-Linear Polymer Hybrid Nanoparticles for Tumor-Specific Accumulation with Tailored Tumor Permeation” SECOND PRIZE
Sue Hyun Lee, Manel Ben Aissa, Yue-ting Wang, Emily Nepomuceno, David Gonzalez, Emily Pierce, Gregory R.J. Thatcher, “Characterization of a novel model of oxidative stress to investigate the role of 4-HNE in neuroinflammation and traumatic brain injury” Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS) Multidisciplinary Team Science Award Subbulakshmi Karthikeyan, Daniel Lantvit, Joanna E. Burdette, “Signaling pathways contributing to tumorigenesis and peritoneal spread of a spontaneous model of fallopian tube derived cancer” American Association of Pharmacetical Scientists (AAPS) Student Chapter Choice Award Sezen Meydan, Nora Vazquez-Laslop, Alexander Mankin, “Synthesis of two overlapping proteins from a single gene that is critical for oxygen metabolism in bacteria” Controlled Release Society (CRS) Student Chapter Choice Award Thomas Speltz, Sean Fanning, Christopher Mayne, Colin Fowler, Jeanne Danes, Emad Tajkhorshid, Geoffrey Greene, Jonna Frasor, Terry Moore, “γ-Functionalized Hydrocarbon Stapled Peptides for the Estrogen Receptor/Coactivator Interaction” International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) Student Chapter Choice Award Dolly Sharma, Shan Xing, Yu-Ting Hung, Rachel N Caskey, Maria L Dowell, Daniel R Touchette, “Cost Effectiveness Of Ivacaftor And Lumacaftor Combination For The Treatment Of Patients With Cystic Fibrosis In The United States” International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology (ISPE) Student Chapter Choice Award Beenush Manzoor, Todd A. Lee, Lisa Sharp, William Galanter, Surrey Walton, Edith A. Nutescu, “A High Percentage of Newly Initiated Direct Oral Anticoagulant Users Switch Back to Traditional Therapy
AbbVie Award for Excellence in Research Johnathan Bisson, James McAlpine, James Graham, Guido F. Pauli, “Addressing the Challenges in Pharmacognosy with the Creation of an Ontology of Pharmacognosy and Natural Product Chemistry”
The Pharmacist | 23
ALUMNI PROFILE JO
AN
No better time than the present
Alumni Brad and Joan Cannon establish scholarship to promote interprofessional leadership BY DANIEL P. SMITH
AD CANNON D BR AN
As Brad, PharmD 1994, and Joan Cannon, PharmD 1997, sat in their suburban Chicago kitchen in early 2016 – the family checkbook open and prepared to make its annual donation to the UIC College of Pharmacy – a long-lingering idea resurfaced. “We were looking at all these different places at the College where we could place our money and just realized it was time to do it ourselves,” Brad says. “It” was creating a legacy scholarship.
‘94 ‘97
And it they did. In 2016, the Cannons finalized plans with the College for The Joan and Bradley Cannon Excellence in Interprofessional Leadership Scholarship. “The College of Pharmacy was the place where we both received the training we needed to start our careers and we wanted to recognize the significant experiences we had at the College in our own way,” Brad says. The endowed annual scholarship, set to be awarded for the first time this April, will honor a P3 or P4 student who actively promotes the pharmacy profession’s key role in improving patient health, particularly within teams of diverse health professionals.
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“Both Joan and I have worked on interprofessional teams throughout our careers and we hope to encourage students to demonstrate the full range of what pharmacists can do to other health care providers and students,” says Brad, who served on the UIC College of Pharmacy faculty for 20 years before becoming the Director of Experiential Education at Rosalind Franklin University in 2014. While many donors create legacy scholarships in the twilight of their careers or following retirement, the Cannons decided not to postpone the seemingly inevitable.
“We hope our gift shows others that you don’t have to wait. We want to be able to meet the people we can help right now and look forward to seeing our scholarship help students for many years to come.” BRAD CANNON
LQ
AIYU
ALUMNI PROFILE
A
U BD
M
Unexpected fortunes
Under the direction of Abdul Qaiyum, Merz Apothecary emerges a top homeopathic pharmacy BY DANIEL P. SMITH
Call it divine intervention. Call it luck. Call it the brash decision of a disenchanted young pharmacist. However one might term Abdul Qaiyum’s (BS, 1969) decision to purchase Merz Apothecary in 1972, the results are undeniably impressive. Over the last 45 years, Qaiyum has transformed the tiny, one-man North Side storefront specializing in alternative medicine into one of the nation’s largest homeopathic pharmacies and a shining star in Chicago’s independent retail scene with two thriving storefronts dispensing natural health, personal care and beauty products, a swelling e-commerce business and 60 employees.
“I confess, I never imagined anything like this.” ABDUL QAIYUM
Back in 1972, in fact, the India-born, Pakistan-raised Qaiyum purchased Merz Apothecary, an operation founded in 1875 and run by three generations of the Merz clan before Qaiyum’s arrival, with little more than basic familiarity of herbal
remedies and an earnest desire to exit the script-filling business. Pairing his knowledge of Western medicine with alternative treatments not readily available elsewhere, Qaiyum capitalized on swelling consumer interest in natural remedies and guided the retail operation’s ascent from one century into another. He expanded into a larger Lincoln Square location and opened a second store in the Loop before becoming a major e-commerce player with www.smallflower.com.
‘69
“People just want to feel better and don’t care how they get there,” says Qaiyum, who continues employing traditionally trained pharmacists at Merz Apothecary for the knowledge and credibility they supply the business. In September, Amazon tabbed Merz Apothecary as the first cosmetics and health store on its ballyhooed Prime Now same-day delivery platform. It’s more fuel to the fire, Qaiyum says, and also a nod to the business’s spirited evolution. “Even as the business has grown dramatically, I still feel very fortunate that so many people trust us to be a resource in their healing journeys,” Qaiyum says.
The Pharmacist | 25
REUNION
w o C y l o H
IT’S REUNION TIME AGAIN!
The annual Alumni Reunion was held October 14th at Harry Carey’s in Lombard, Illinois. The evening featured several awards. The Rising Star Award was given to Lisa (Mackowski) Palmisano, PharmD 2012, and the Jesse Stewart Service Award was given to Donna Kraus, BS 1977, PharmD 1982. The Alumnus of the Year award was given to John Plachetka, BS 1976, Lawrence “Laurie” DuBow, BS 1953, was given the coveted Legacy Award. Guests who were in town a day early also got to attend the ribbon-cutting on the renovated compounding lab. (The renovated lab was featured in the Winter 2017 issue of the Pharmacist.)
Lawrence “Lau rie” DuBow
i) Palmisano Lisa (Mackowsk John Plachetka with
Jerry L. Bauman
Chris Shoemaker with He
rb Retzky
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Clara Gary, UIC Technician and Carol Heunisch, BS 1984, PharmD 1996, were two of the recipients of the ICHP Shining Star Award. Ann (Goc) Jankiewicz, BS 1985, PharmD 1991, was the recipient of the ICHP President’s Award. Mike Fotis, BS 1975, was the recipient of the Amy Lodolce Mentorship Award. Carrie (Quigley) Sincak, PharmD 2000, was awarded the Pharmacist of the Year Award. UIC ICHP Student Chapter won Student Chapter Award.
Student Chapter Award Kristi Stice, ICHP Director of Professional Affairs; Trevor Lumen, ICHP Rockford Chapter President and Kathryn Sencion, ICHP Chicago Chapter President.
Shining Stars (L to R): Milena McLaughlin, Megan Hartranft, Antoinette Cintron, Clara Gary, Carol Heunisch, Kushal Shah. Not pictured: Christopher Crank and Katelyn Conklen
ALUMNI NEWS
Illinois Council on Health-System Pharmacists (ICHP) awarded many UIC alums at the 2016 meeting.
Pharmacist of the Year Award – Mike Rajski, BS ’76, PharmD ‘91 – presenter and 2015 recipient, Carrie Sincak – 2016 recipient
President’s Award – Ann Jankiewicz – recipient, Jennifer Phillips – ICHP President
UIC Student Chapter Members with Award The Pharmacist | 27
ALUMNI NEWS
Kudos
Samantha (Keca) Mathews, PharmD 2012, won the Paragon Award at the Annual CVS Retail Leadership Conference held in Orlando, Florida. Nicole Avant, PharmD 2012, was highlighted in the October issue of Pharmacy Today. “A Minute With Nicole Avant” outlined her professional history and thoughts on her career. Deneita (Bratton) Brown, PharmD 1998, celebrated 17 years of service with the Adam Benjamin Jr./ Veterans Administration Outpatient Clinic in Crown Point, Indiana.
SEP
25
Jennifer Chan Marcelo, PharmD 2009, married Eugene Kim on September 25 at Rocky Mountain National Park in Estes Park, Colorado. The couple honeymooned in Hawaii. Dana Bogolin, PharmD 2011, married Scott Chlodzinski on September 17. (NO PHOTO) Michelle Bryson, PharmD 2011, got engaged to Bradley Opfermann on December 17. (NO PHOTO)
Brennan Ertmer, PharmD 2011, got engaged to Kari Luce on December 27. (NO PHOTO) Holly Heckert, PharmD 2014, married Nick Zupec, PharmD 2012, on October 8. (NO PHOTO)
Kaitlyn Kalata, PharmD 2015, married Jason Acosta on October 1. (NO PHOTO) Alina Meile, PharmD 2010, got engaged to Paco Dimas on December 1. Alina and Paco also purchased their first home. (NO PHOTO) Evana Robbani, PharmD 2014, got engaged to Sanim Chowdhury on September 5. (NO PHOTO) Nishant Thakar, PharmD 2012, married Subrata on April 23. (NO PHOTO)
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Julie (Bucek) Cabrera, PharmD 2015, has accepted a new position as the Clinical Pharmacy Specialist, Anticoagulation at Edward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital in Hines, Illinois. Cassandra Clement, PharmD 2012, was published in the November issue of Federal Practitioner. “Who Overdoses at a VA Emergency Department? Pharmacists examine the clinical characteristics of veterans admitted to the emergency department who were treated for opioid overdose in order to improve prevention efforts and possibly lower the death rate.” The article was co-authored by Christopher Stock, PharmD, BCPP. Sarah Cotner, PharmD 2015, passed the Board Certified Pharmacotherapy Specialist (BCPS) exam and is now a board certified pharmacotherapy specialist.
Mike Harris, BS 1970, retired from 45+ years in retail pharmacy. He still holds Board of Directors rolls at the Rotary Club of Monticello and Piatt County Mental Health Unit. Mike also serves as a part-time relief pharmacist at Walgreens and is a tax professional, accountant, at Kelly’s Accounting Service in Monticello. Samantha Landolfa, PharmD 2015, passed the Board Certified Pharmacotherapy Specialist (BCPS) exam and is now a board certified pharmacotherapy specialist. Morgan Michalek, PharmD 2014, is now the Medical Communications Expert, Global Medical Communications – Ophthalmics at Shire. Ester Moon, PharmD 2014, is now a Clinical Pharmacist at VA Northern California Health Care System. Colleen Murray, PharmD 2012, recently moved to New York and is now an Emergency Department Clinical Pharmacist Specialist at Myckoff Heights Medical Center in Brooklyn. Reena Patel, PharmD 2016, has a new position as Clinical Pharmacist – Prior Authorization at UnitedHealth Group – OptumRx.
Wesley Serafin, BS 1973, retired after 20 years as an independent pharmacist, 22 years as Pharmacy Manager for Walgreens. Sophie Wimberley, PharmD 1998, has a new position at Merck as the Director of Global Medical Affairs – Oncology. Yang Yang, PhD 2013, is now the Product Quality Research Scientist & Reviewer at the FDA. Patrick Zueger, PharmD 2013, has been named a Paul D. Doolen Graduate Scholar for the Study of Aging. Patrick is one of only two awardees in the University of Illinois System for 2016-2017. The objective of the Doolen Scholarship is to facilitate the study of aging by providing scholarships to two outstanding graduate students. These scholarships are made possible by an endowment from the Retirement Research Foundation to honor the late Mr. Paul D. Doolen, a long-time member of the University of Illinois Foundation Board of Directors. Daphne Smith Marsh, PharmD 1997, passed the Board Certified Advanced Clinical Diabetes Management exam.
OBITUARIES
Babies
Avery Spunt, BS 1970, and his wife Jan become grandparents for the second time. Grandson Keegan Lee was born on October 7 at 8:09 a.m. Keegan weighed in at 6 lbs. 12 oz. and measured 19 inches.
Rich Kiebala, PharmD 2012, and his wife, Magdalena, welcomed their first child. Daughter Anabella was born on July 27.
Roseanne (Patel) Miksanek, PharmD 2012, and husband Josh welcomed their second child, Catalina Rose (7 lbs 5 oz and 19 ¾ inches), on September 9. Catalina joins big brother Caleb. (NO PHOTO) Kurt Neven and Gigi Rechner-Neven, both PharmD 2011, welcome a baby boy, Benjamin Clyde on December 19. (NO PHOTO) Laurie (Kania) Noschese, PharmD 2012, and husband Ricky welcomed their first child, Abby on October 5. (NO PHOTO) Seema Patel, PharmD 2012, and husband Meet, welcomed their first child, Anika Patel 7 lbs., 5.5 oz. and 19 ¼ inches, on October 2. (NO PHOTO) Lauren (Lasak) Temme, PharmD 2007, and her husband Karsten welcomed baby number two. Emerson Elise was born December 5, 6lbs., 2 oz. Emerson joins big brother Bennett. (NO PHOTO) Ray Traficante, BS 1972, welcomed a new granddaughter, Reija on December 27, 2016. (NO PHOTO) Jessica (Katz) Wills, PharmD 2014, and husband Matt welcomed their third child, Rena Kelsey on January 11, 6 lb. 15 oz., 19 inches long. Rena joins big sister Emily and big brother Raymond. This makes grandchild number 9 for Norm, Faculty, and Patricia Katz, BS 1981. (NO PHOTO) Scott and Priya (Pradhan) Wirth, both PharmD 2007, welcomed their third child, a daughter, on December 30. Kiran Adalene, 7 lbs. 8 oz., joins big brother Dhilan and big sister Maya. (NO PHOTO)
Sister Margaret Wright, R.S.M., PhD 1998, passed away on October 16. Sister Margaret served as the 116th President of IPhA (1997) and was the first female leader for IPhA. Sister Margaret served the profession in many leadership roles throughout her service to the profession, including as Chairman of the Illinois State Board of Pharmacy. She was a mentor to many pharmacists not just in Illinois, but throughout the country. Sister Margaret Wright was a tour de force in advancing the pharmacy profession. She believed in shaping the profession to allow pharmacists to practice at the top of their license and provide the best possible patient care. Illinois pharmacy practice would not be where it is today in providing innovative patient care without the leadership of Sister Margaret Wright. Illinois Pharmacy has lost a devoted champion and guardian of the profession. Eric Goll, PharmD 1993, passed away on October 21 at the age of 51. Eric was also a member of the UIC College of Pharmacy faculty. He finished up his career at Takeda Pharmaceuticals. Samuel Nemtzow, BS 1944, passed away at the age of 95. He and his wife Lottie were married for 72 years and he worked at a number of hospitals in the Chicago area. Barbara E. Poddig, PharmD 1990, passed away on October 9. Barb worked at Hines VA Hospital for more than 24 years, the last several of which were in the Intake Center.
Elizabeth Ann “Beth” Winans, former faculty member, passed away from a long battle with cancer on December 15 in Overland Park, Kansas. Olayimika (Yinka) Awe, husband of faculty member Dr. Clara Okorie-Awe, passed away on November 2. Nick G. Hughes, BS 1953, passed away on November 3. He was a pharmacist at the US Pentagon during his military service. He later worked as a sales representative for McKesson-Robbins. Nick was a pharmacist with Eberley Pharmacy in Sterling from 1960 until they closed and later went to work in the pharmacy of Osco Drug, later at CVS Pharmacy. The Pharmacist | 29
UIC College of Pharmacy (MC 874) 833 South Wood Street Chicago, Illinois 60612
