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UniversityofHoustonCollegeofPharmacy 1

Vol. 7 | No. 1 | Winter/Spring 2010

Legacy and Leadership: Pritchard Plots New Direction

University of Houston College of Pharmacy

INTERACTIONS

Aaron Nelson Photography

2 UniversityofHoustonCollegeofPharmacy

Six months into his first year as Dean of the University of Houston College of Pharmacy, Dr. Lamar Pritchard is pursuing several new initiatives aimed at advancing the educational experience for students, reducing administrative costs while increasing productivity, and preserving the college’s standing among the region’s top pharmacy schools.

The implementation of cost-saving and efficiency measures comes at a critical time for the college and university, as administrators prepare contingency plans for anticipated state-mandated budget cuts ranging from 5 percent to 15 percent.

Among the initiatives being implemented or proposed by Pritchard are:

• Replacing the outdated shortwave radio communication system between UH main campus and the Texas Medical Center campus with a direct, high-speed data connection service that will be 10 times faster and more reliable than the current system;

• Renovating the Pharmacy Care Laboratory to ensure an optimal educational experience for our students;

• Consolidating the college’s dispersed business operations into a Central Business Office to increase productivity and eliminate redundancies;

• Replacing the multiple fees paid by Pharm.D. students with a single, comprehensive “professional fee” to streamline accounting practices;

• Establishing a collaboration with UTHealth (The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston) to train UH pharmacy students and UT medical students under a multidisciplinary training model and promoting collaborative research opportunities; and

• Exploring a new collaboration with the Republic of Panama for sharing education, patient care and research opportunities.

However, Pritchard’s chief goal continues to be securing a dedicated building for the college, and discussions to investigate options and opportunities with UH’s Senior Administration are ongoing.

“I believe we owe it to our students for their many sacrifices, our faculty and staff for their extraordinary work, and our alumni for the legacy of excellence they have established and nurtured,” Pritchard said. “Sustaining and elevating the college’s reputation and capacity for developing highly educated, highly trained pharmacists and scientists as well as producing high-impact translational research will be key elements for the university’s success in achieving Tier One status.”

Pritchard Tackles Efficiency, Facility Upgrade Measures Amid Looming Budget Cuts


INTERACTIONSUniversity of Houston College of Pharmacy Publisher F. Lamar Pritchard, Ph.D.

Editor/Layout David “Chip” LambertCopyEditor Shara ZatopekPhotography Aaron Nelson Photography Jerry Powers Photography Joe Gayle Photography *photo of Carrie Sacky on pages 18 and 23 by Moses Olmos/Dallas Community College DistrictSend correspondence to: Interactions Editor, University of Houston College of Pharmacy, 141 Science & Research Bldg. 2, Houston, TX 77204-5000 or email [email protected]

OntheCover: Fourth-generation pharmacist Dean Lamar Pritchard displays an apothecary bottle used by his grandfather for dispensing his popular, specially formulated vanilla extract and a mortar and pestle used by his father.

Articles and photos may be reprinted only with permission. The University of Houston is an EEO/AA institution.

Dean Welcomes New Advisory Council Members of the new Dean’s Advisory Council include, front, W. Benjamin Fry, Renee Prescott, Susan Lerma, Joyce Tipton, Lydia Aguilera, Mary Espinoza, Tam Ngo; second row, Michael Napoli, Shara Zatopek, Carrie Sacky, Carole Hardin-Oliver, Rita English, Alton Kanak, Nicholas Martino; and, back row, Pat Downing, Jim Ward, Joe Ickes, Bruce Biundo, Keith Moseley, Jeff Loesch, Ken Breda, Perry Flowers, Dean Lamar Pritchard, Ryan Roux, Paul Lott, Michael Smith, Ziad Ghanem, Bourjois Abboud, Linzay Kelly, John Stephenson and John J. Lovoi. DAC members not pictured are Gary Cacciatore, Lance Campbell, Sunny Chin, Celso Cuellar, David DeVido, John Gee, Andy Laegeler, Gary Rice, Louis Rumsey and Julie Spier.

“I am very impressed by the speed in which he came to understand the inner workings of the University, and where the power lies in the TMC. Very quickly, he seemed to have a grasp of what is needed to move the college forward, especially in not just the importance, but the necessity, of a new facility. – Bruce Biundo (’61)

“From the moment you’ve stepped in as our Dean, we’ve been very lucky to see our ideas implemented and a new goal on the horizon for our pharmacy school. It makes me very passionate as a student of UHCOP to have a Dean who is all ears for his students.” – Avani Desai, P3 student

“Dean Pritchard has told us on many occasions that he’s a pharmacist first and an administrator second. He has tremendous goals for taking the college to new heights, but I think they’re attainable with a lot of hard work by the college and the alumni. UH is very lucky to have recruited him.” – W. Benjamin Fry (’72)

“Every time I get the opportunity to hear you speak or talk to you at the meetings, you inspire me to be a better person

and pharmacist. If everyone in the pharmacy profession was as passionate and dedicated as you, what a difference we would all make!” – Lori Krustchinsky, P3 student

“The alumni are all very proud to have a Dean who is so enthusiastic about pharmacy and the future of the college. He makes it a point to have a real conversation with everyone he meets, and his genuine character shines through. In such a short time, he has become a true UH Cougar!”– Renee Prescott (’02)

“With the experience that Dean Pritchard has from ULM, he seems to be the right person to lead the change that is needed for the College to grow. It is the change and growth that he is leading that will allow us to assist the University in our goal of achieving Tier One and in the College in obtaining our dream of having the facility we deserve.” – Julie Spier (’74)

WhatAlumniandStudentsAreSaying


College NeWS

UH College of Pharmacy’s B.S. in Pharmaceutical Sciences program is being phased out in order to allow the college to focus its resources upon the future growth of the professional Pharm.D. program as well as the college’s growing graduate and research programs.

The BSPS program was launched in Fall 2008, but failed to reach expected enrollment projections and, consequently, additional faculty support was not allocated for the college. Without such resources, the undergraduate program resulted in a heavy teaching load and a negative impact on research and grantsmanship for the college’s basic science faculty already teaching in the professional and graduate programs.

“It was a difficult decision, but the consequences of continuing to operate the program, particularly in the current economic environment, were unacceptable risks to maintaining the quality and reputation of our established professional and graduate programs,” said UHCOP Dean Lamar Pritchard, Ph.D.

Phaseout of the program has been approved by both the UH administration and the Undergraduate Council. The degree will be classified as “inactive” within the university, which will allow the program to be revived if future demand warrants. All current BSPS students are expected to graduate by 2012.

BSPS Degree Deactivated to Focus Resources on Growth of Other Programs, Research

Texas Lt. Gov. Dewhurst Confirmed as Speaker at Class of ’10 GraduationTexas lt. gov. David Dewhurst has been confirmed as the Commencement speaker for UH College of Pharmacy’s Class of 2010 graduation on Saturday, May 15, at Cullen Performance Hall.

Dewhurst serves as President of the Texas Senate and Chairman of the governor’s Task Force on Homeland Security. He previously served as Commissioner of the Texas general land office. A native Texan, Dewhurst began his business career in the late 1970s after serving as an officer in the U.S. Air Force, the Central Intelligence Agency and the U.S. State Department. In the early 1980s, he founded Falcon Seaboard, a Texas-based diversified energy and investments company. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Arizona, where he played college basketball, then attended georgetown University law School. Dewhurst is honorary Vice President of the American Quarter Horse Association and was inducted into the Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame in 2009.

Dewhurst

College Honors Williams with ’09 Staff Achievement AwardMona Williams, secretary in UH College of Pharmacy’s Department of Pharmacological & Pharmaceutical Sciences, received the college’s 2009 Staff Achievement Award.

An employee of the college for three years, Williams handles administrative functions for the department’s Pharmaceutics faculty, staff, graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and laboratory technicians based at the college’s Texas Medical Center Campus.

The college also recognized staff members Mary Reed, executive administrative assistant, and Gerida Brown, program coordinator, for five years of service; and Trang (Julie) Doan, financial assistant 2, and Belinda Martinez, secretary 2, for 10 years of service.

Dean Lamar Pritchard presents the college’s 2009 Staff Achievement Award to Mona Williams.

Good Times Sure Bet at ASHPIt wasn’t a gamble to expect good times to happen when UH College of Pharmacy alumni, students and faculty members met up at the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists annual meeting in Las Vegas. Among those spotted were, counterclockwise, students Tochi Nwosu, Linh Nguyen, Ngoc Nguyen, Aileen Korulla; Class of 2009 alumni Jacob Hall and Jessica Brennan; and Class of ’09 alumni Jim Getchell, Jeremy Forster and Elizabeth Franz Forster.

photos courtesy of Nancy Ordonez


College Prepares for ACPE Accreditation Visit with Self-StudyIn advance of the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education site visit March 29-31, 2011, the college has launched a self-study process to assess whether it is meeting current ACPE standards and qualifies for accreditation for the next six years.

“The process allows us to examine our College and look for ways to promote positive growth in every aspect of our professional program,” said Self-study Accreditation Task Force Chair David Hayes, Pharm.D. (’97), clinical associate professor and residency programs director. “Thus, this is a very important activity for the overall health and vitality of our professional program and college.”

ACPE is the national agency for the accreditation of professional degree programs in pharmacy and providers of continuing pharmacy education, with board members appointed by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, American Pharmacists Association, National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, and American Council on Education. The college has continuously maintained its status since the first class graduated in 1950, but faculty and staff must monitor and analyze changes adopted by ACPE to ensure the curriculum, assessment, policies

and other academic/institutional components are in compliance.

“Most recently, the standards were revised in 2007 to adjust for current and future changes in the profession,” Hayes said. “The development of the new standards took into account changes in pharmacy practice and education, environmental factors within pharmacy and healthcare, technology and regulatory issues, and the experience of the accreditation process conducted over the recent years by ACPE.

“These new standards were a product of thought leaders in the profession comprising of experienced educators, administrators, and practitioner throughout the U.S. Ultimately, these new standards serve to guide the professional education in a direction that will best serve our patients and healthcare system.”

Alumni, students and preceptors also are participating either directly or indirectly in the self-study process, including serving on the task force or responding to surveys.

“Their experiences put them in a unique position to evaluate the College in a different view from that of faculty, adding to the synergy of the effort,” Hayes said. “In fact, the self-study process cannot be conducted without significant contribution and input from all of our stakeholders.”

Hayes

Above, pharmacy historian and author Dennis B. Worthen signs one of his books, “Heroes of Pharmacy: Professional Leadership in Times of Change,” for members of Phi Lambda Sigma. Below left, PLS President Bernadette Asias presents Worthen with a plaque for serving as the 2010 James T. McCarty Leadership Lecturer.

Pharmacy Historian, Author Shares ‘Lessons from Heroes’As the 2010 Phi Lambda Sigma James T. McCarty Leadership Lecturer, award-winning author and pharmacy historian Dennis B. Worthen, Ph.D., shared “lessons from the heroes” who were instrumental in the pharmacy practitioners’ evolution from apprentices to highly educated professionals.

Worthen offered his definition of leadership developed through exhaustive research into the history of pharmacy and explored in several books and his ongoing series “Heroes of Pharmacy” in the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) as well as more than two decades at Proctor & Gamble.

“Leaders do the right thing, not just do things right; not all leaders are elected, not all elected are leaders; and leaders are outspoken, courageous, visionary and committed, not just involved,” Worthen said.

He serves as Lloyd Scholar at the Lloyd Library and Museum in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the

2010-11 Honorary President of APhA. Worthen’s many honors include the Linwood F. Tice Friend of the APhA-Academy of Student Pharmacists Award and the Phi Lambda Sigma National Leadership Award, both in 1998, and the American Institute of the History of Pharmacy Kremers Award in 2010. He was elected to the International Academy of the History of Pharmacy in 2006.

Worthen’s other writing credits include “Pharmacy in World War II” and “Clinical Pharmacy in the United States: Transformation of a Profession,” co-authored with Robert Elenbaas.

Faculty NewsKarim A. Alkadhi, Ph.D., professor, has been invited to write a mini-review article about the effect of chronic stress on the severity and time of onset of Alzheimer’s disease for the journal US Psychiatry.

Rajender R. Aparasu, Ph.D., professor, has been appointed Associate Editor of BMC Geriatrics and to the editorial board of Drug, Healthcare and Patient Safety.

Kimberly K. Birtcher, Pharm.D., M.S., clinical associate professor, has been elected Fellow of the American Heart Association Council on Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology. Birtcher also received the 2009 Rho Chi Teaching Excellence Award from the UH Beta Omicron Chapter of The Rho Chi Society and the 2010 Outstanding Pharmacist Award from the Gulf Coast Society of Health-System Pharmacists.

Richard A. Bond, Ph.D. (’88), B.S. (’83), professor, offered reflections – featured on the British Pharmacological Society Web site – on the work and life of the late Sir James Black.

Elizabeth A. Coyle, Pharm.D., BCPS, clinical associate professor, has been inducted as a Fellow in the Society for Critical Care Medicine.

Tahir Hussain, Ph.D., associate professor, received the 2009 Rho Chi Teaching Excellence Award from the UH Beta Omicron Chapter of The Rho Chi Society.

Bradley K. McConnell, Ph.D., assistant professor, has been appointed to the editorial board of Clinical and Experimental Hypertension.

Nancy Ordonez, Pharm.D. (’98), BCPS, clinical assistant professor, received a $25,000 award from UH’s Faculty Development Initiative Program for her project, “Enhancing Case-Based Learning Using an Electronic Medical Record Simulator in a Doctor of Pharmacy Curriculum.”

Jeff T. Sherer, Pharm.D., M.P.H., clinical associate professor, has been appointed to the editorial board for the upcoming 7th edition of the Pharmacotherapy Self-Assessment Program, published by the American College of Clinical Pharmacy.

Vincent H. Tam, Pharm.D., BCPS, associate professor, has been re-appointed to a three-year term on the editorial board of Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.

Maria V. Tejada-Simon, Ph.D., M.Ed. (’07), assistant professor, served as a judge at the American Society for Microbiology’s 2009 Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students in Phoenix, Ariz.

Researchers from the University of Houston College of Pharmacy (UHCOP) and The University of Texas-M.D. Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC) recently were honored for dramatically enhancing the safety of stem cell transplantation for leukemia patients by developing an intravenous formulation of a pre-transplant drug.

The inventors – MDACC Professor Borje S. Andersson, M.D., Ph.D., UHCOP Professor Diana S-L. Chow, Ph.D., and Harshal P. Bhagwatwar, Ph.D., a 1995 UHCOP alumnus now working in the pharmaceutical industry in India – received the 2009 Inventor of the Year Award from the Houston Intellectual Property Law Association.

Used as a conditioning agent for leukemia patients prior to stem cell transplantation, Busulfan (IV Busulfex®) has resulted in a 10-fold reduction in the three-month, post-transplantation mortality rate of patients. Now marketed in more than 40 countries by Otsuka America Pharmaceuticals, IV Busulfex® has generated more than $40 million in sales as an orphan drug, and more than $4.3 million in royalties for UH since gaining FDA approval in 1999 – making it the most profitable patent in university history.

“This invention has changed the standard of care in stem cell transplantation and greatly improved patients’ quality of life in the U.S. and throughout the world,” said Chow, who also holds an adjunct faculty position at MDACC. “Until our team developed the intravenous formulations that bypass the liver, Busulfan was only administered orally and led to unpredictable serious side effects, including lethal liver failure in as many as one of every four or five patients undergoing transplantations.”

Success of Pre-transplant Drug Brings Honor for UH, MDACC

Chow

UH College of Natural Sciences & Mathematics professors Jan-Åke Gustafsson, M.D., Ph.D., and Scott R. Gilbertson, Ph.D., have accepted joint appointments to the College of Pharmacy’s faculty.

Gustafsson, a internationally renowned figure in the study of hormones, is a member of both the National Academy of Sciences and the Nobel Assembly and teaches in both NSM’s Department of Biology and Biochemistry and Department of chemistry. He also heads the Center for Nuclear Receptors and Cell Signaling, a collaborative effort between UH and The Methodist Hospital Research Institute.

Serving as M.D. Anderson Professor in NSM’s chemistry department, Gilbertson is investigating chemistry for small molecule library synthesis, total synthesis and medicinal chemistry of biologically important natural products, rhodium-catalyzed synthesis of medium-sized rings, and peptide-based catalysts.

NSM’s Gustafsson, Gilbertson Accept Joint Appointments to COP Faculty

6 University of Houston College of Pharmacy


Six new faculty members have joined UH College of Pharmacy’s Department of Clinical Sciences & Administration (CSA) since Fall 2009.

Robert L. Emerson Jr., Pharm.D., has joined the college as a Clinical Associate Professor and Director, Ambulatory Based Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences. Most recently, Emerson served as Clinical Assistant Professor and Director of the Early Experiential Education Program at the University of Kansas (KU) School of Pharmacy in Lawrence, Kan. Emerson’s professional experience includes clinical and community pharmacy, including managerial positions at KU Student Health Services and Eckerd Drug in Dallas. Emerson earned a B.S. in Pharmacy and a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from KU, as well as national registration as an Emergency Medical Technician-Paramedic after completing the Tulsa Paramedic Program at St. John’s Medical Center in Tulsa, Okla. His primary academic and research interests include experiential education and chemical dependency.

Amalia M. Issa, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.S., a faculty member in the college’s Department of Pharmacological & Pharmaceutical Sciences since 2008, has received a joint appointment in CSA. Issa heads the Program in Personalized Medicine and Targeted Therapeutics at the Abramson Family Center for the Future of Health, a joint initiative between UH and The Methodist Hospital Research Institute. She

received a B.S. from Concordia University, an M.S. and a Ph.D. from McGill University, and a M.P.H. from the University of California-Los Angeles School of Public Health. Her primary research interests are in personalized medicine and targeted therapeutics.

Claire M. Mach, Pharm.D. (’06), has joined CSA as an Assistant Professor, with a primary clinical/research interest in gynecologic oncology and a clinical site at Harris County Hospital District’s Ben Taub General Hospital. Before returning to the college, Mach completed a three-year oncology translational research fellowship at The University of Texas-M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Mach earned her B.S. in biochemistry from Texas A&M University and her Pharm.D. from UHCOP. She recently received a $6,000 grant from UH’s New Faculty Research Program for “Evaluation of Tubby-Like Protein 4 (TULP4) Expression and Function in Uterine Leiomyosarcoma.” Mach also is working in the field of high-throughput target discovery in uterine papillary serous carcinoma.

Suja S. Rajan, Ph.D., M.S., M.H.A., has joined the college as an Assistant Professor. Most recently, she was a SEER Medicare Coordinator at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill. She received a Ph.D. in Health Policy and Administration and an M.S. in Economics from UNC, a Master of Health Administration from Ohio State University, and a B.S. from Birla Institute of Technology and Science in India. Her research interests include women’s health and breast cancer, program evaluation and cost analysis of healthcare interventions, and pharmacoeconomics. Rajan has received a $6,000 grant from UH’s New Faculty Research Program for “Primary Prophylaxis of Neutropenia Using Pegfilgrastim versus Filgrastim in Real-Life Clinical Settings for Elderly Breast Cancer Patients Receiving Chemotherapy.”

Meghna Trivedi, Pharm.D. (’03), Ph.D. (’04), the first graduate of the college’s Pharm.D./Ph.D. combined degree program, has joined CSA as an Assistant Professor, with a clinical site at the Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center at Baylor College of Medicine. Prior to returning to UH, Trivedi completed a two-year, post-doctoral fellowship with a specialty in oncology clinical practice and research at the University

of California San Diego Medical Center and Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. Trivedi also worked as a scientist for three years at Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development in La Jolla, Calif. Her research interests include the identification of biomarkers to predict the outcome of pharmacological treatment in cancer patients and the individualization of therapy using the information about target biology of drugs and genomics/proteomics of tumors.

Anne M. Tucker, Pharm.D., BCNSP, has joined the college as a Clinical Associate Professor, with a clinical site at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital. Tucker is board certified in nutrition support, and her primary research interest is in critical care and nutrition support. In addition to earning a Pharm.D. from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) in Little Rock and a B.S. from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Tucker completed an ASHP-accredited pharmacy practice residency at UAMS. Prior to joining UH, Tucker worked as a Clinical Pharmacy Specialist in critical care and nutrition support at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, a Clinical Pharmacist in surgery and critical care at the John L. McClellan Veterans Medical Center in Little Rock, and as a Regional Scientific Director for Novartis Pharmaceutical Corp. in East Hanover, N.J.

New Faculty Offer Diverse Academic, Research Expertise

Rajan

Issa

Tucker

Mach

Trivedi

Emerson


ReSeARCH NeWSUH Obesity, Flavonoid Projects Garner $2.65M from NIH

his project, “Disposition of Flavonoids via Metabolic Interplay.” Dietary flavonoids are known to provide a variety of health benefits, including anti-aging, antioxidant, anti-osteoperosis and anticancer properties, but have poor bioavailability.

Flavonoids are rapidly and extensively metabolized in the body via the action of metabolic enzymes and elimination machinery (called efflux transporter proteins), and a large amount of metabolites are excreted back into the intestinal lumen. Bacteria inside the colon can partially recycle the metabolites by reconverting them into the original flavonoids, which then can be reabsorbed from the intestinal tract and returned to the blood. The recycling process allows flavonoids to stay within the body for a prolonged period even though they have been heavily metabolized.

“Through these new studies, we seek to determine how interplay between key components of flavonoid metabolism can be effectively interrupted to improve their local and systematic bioavailabilities,” Hu said.

The National Institutes of Health has announced renewal grant awards totaling $2.65 million for the next phases of investigation by UH College of Pharmacy faculty members Tahir Hussain, Ph.D., associate professor of pharmacology, and Ming Hu, Ph.D., professor of pharmaceutics.

Hussain has received a five-year, $1.6 million grant (R01) from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases for his project, “Renal Angiotensin II Receptor Function in Obesity.” Hussain’s past research found that hyperglycemia, which is associated with either insulin resistance or insulin insufficiency, caused an increase in AT2 receptor expression in the renal system. Selective activation of the AT2 receptors also stimulated a pathway that inhibits sodium-pump enzyme activity and increases urinary sodium secretion in a rat model of insulin resistance and hyperglycemia.

The long-term goal of Hussain’s project is to evaluate a physiological and therapeutic role for the renal angiotensin II (Ang II) AT2 receptors in improving renal and cardiovascular function and treating hypertension associated with obesity and diabetes.

Hu has received a four-year, $1.05 million award (R01) from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences for

Members of Professor Ming Hu’s flavonoid research team include, front, Wen Jiang and, back, Baojian Wu and Kaustubh Kulkarni.

Joe Gayle photo

Associate Professor Tahir Hussain, front, and graduate student Quiasar Ali are examining the role of a renal receptor in improving renal/cardiovascular function and treating hypertension.

Joe Gayle photo

With the expansion of prescription drug benefits to more than 40 million Medicare beneficiaries, the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research created the Good Research Practices for Retrospective Database Analysis Task Force to help regulators and researchers evaluate the safety, effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of drugs in everyday use.

The final report in a three-part series on the task force’s recommendations for producing valid findings of causal therapeutic benefits from nonrandomized studies using state-of-the-art analytical techniques was published in the November/December issue of Value in Health, ISPOR’s official journal.

“Over $1 billion has been allocated by the federal government for studies to determine which drugs are most safe and effective in everyday use,” said lead author Michael L. Johnson, Ph.D., associate professor, an ISPOR Distinguished Service Award for his work as task force chair. “Many scientists don’t believe that this kind of study can produce true results.

“Our report says that using good research design and analysis techniques can produce true results, and help make these studies useful to patients, their doctors and policymakers.”

Johnson Leads Effort to Assess Good Database Research Practices

Johnson


UH College of Pharmacy Professor Ming Hu, Ph.D., is co-leading an international, multi-institutional project to investigate the chemopreventive potential of red ginseng extract for lung cancer, which is the deadliest form of cancer in the U.S.

“Although ginseng has grown in popularity in the U.S. as an herbal supplement, it has been used as a remedy for a variety of ailments in China and throughout East Asia for more than a thousand years,” Hu said.

Hu Probes Red Ginseng’s Potential in Lung Cancer Prevention

Professor Ming Hu holds a vial of red ginseng extract, which is the focus of a NIH-funded study on the herbal material’s potential for preventing lung cancer.

Joe Gayle photo

Using a newly developed mutant mouse lung tumor model, the overall project – led by Dr. Ming You at Washington University School of Medicine under a $1.9 million grant from the NIH’s National Institute for Complementary & Alternative Medicine – is aimed at providing the foundation for future clinical trials. With a total subcontract award of nearly $1.1 million to UH, Hu also is collaborating with Hong Kong Baptist University to procure and perform phytochemical studies on the herbal materials.

“We will use anti-growth activities against lung cancer cells as the guide to find more active compounds in ginseng,” Hu said. “These active compounds will then be tested in a human intestinal cell culture model (or Caco-2 model) to determine how much of the compounds could get absorbed in humans in vivo, with the goal of finding anticancer compounds that are both active against lung cancer and bioavailable to humans.”

One unique aspect to the project is the study of the extract’s bioavailability (as measured by absorption potentials), which is one of the main limiting factors in realizing the chemopreventive benefits of dietary flavonoid compounds.

“The additional criteria allow our project to be different from those proposed by other scientists, as we have two labs with very different but complementary expertise,” Hu said.

UH College of Pharmacy’s Rosa F. Yeh, Pharm.D., BCPS, AAHIVE, research assistant professor, and Ming Hu, Ph.D., professor, are collaborating with investigators at Baylor College of Medicine and UTHealth on a clinical study of a compound derived from green tea as a potential anti-HIV agent.

The study is designed to determine the safety, toxicity, dosage and pharmacokinetics of a component in green tea called epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). Working with Mike Williamson, Ph.D., D.Sc., at the University of Sheffield, United Kingdom, BCM’s Christina Nance, Ph.D., and William Shearer, M.D., Ph.D., showed that EGCG binds to the CD4 cell at the same site (gp120) where HIV binds with high affinity and at physiologically relevant concentrations. The findings suggest that use of EGCG could block HIV binding and may be a useful agent against infection and disease progression.

“The ultimate objective is to develop EGCG as a potential therapeutic agent to slow the progressive infection of HIV-positive individuals,” Yeh said. “However, due to its ability to bind

UH, BCM and UT Study to Evaluate Green Tea Extract as Natural Anti-HIV Agent

UHCOP Professor Ming Hu, Baylor College of Medicine’s Christina Nance and UHCOP Research Assistant Professor Rosa F. Yeh are conducting a Phase I/II clinical study of a green tea compound as a potential anti-HIV agent.

Jerry Powers photo

to the CD4 cell (the cell HIV preferentially infects) and prevent HIV entry, EGCG may also be useful to prevent HIV infection.”

UH’s three-year, $113,537 subcontract is part of a $400,000 award to BCM from the National Institute of Complementary and Alternative Medicine. The study compound – Polyphenon® E, developed and manufactured by Tokyo-based Mitsui Norin Co., Ltd. – is being provided in a capsule form by the National Cancer Institute.


UH College of Pharmacy researchers received a total of $1.47 million in new or supplemental research awards from the National Institutes of Health through 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (aka “Stimulus Act”) funding.

Richard A. Bond, Ph.D. (’88), B.S. (’83), professor of pharmacology, has received a two-year, $682,000 grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for the next phase of his ongoing investigation into the use of beta2-adrenoreceptor (ß2AR) inverse agonists as potential therapeutic agent for mild, chronic asthma.

Through Bond’s previous research and in two related small-scale clinical trials, chronic administration of beta blockers decreased airway hyperresponsiveness and produced broad anti-inflammatory effects, including dramatic changes in airway epithelium and reduced mucous production.

The new R01 grant for “Mechanisms of beta-blocker induced improvements in asthma” will test Bond’s hypothesis that beta-blockers influence airway epithelium via ß2ARs to exert their therapeutic effects. Bond’s work resulted in a U.S. Patent award in May 2009 for the use of beta-blockers in airway diseases.

Ke-He Ruan, M.D., Ph.D., professor of pharmacology and director of the college’s Center for Experimental Therapeutics and Pharmacoinformatics, has received a two-year, $450,000 award from the National Institutes of Health’s new Challenge Grants in Health and Science Research (RC1) program for “Prostacyclin-secreting Cells as Therapy for Pulmonary Artery Hypertension.”

Ruan serves as a principal investigator with another principal investigator, Richard Dixon, Ph.D., director of the Wafic Said Molecular Cardiology Research Lab in the Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital.

Researchers Earn Nearly $1.5M in NIH Stimulus AwardsTheir work is based on Ruan’s pending U.S. patent for a novel, engineered “tri-catalytic” enzyme that produces a vascular protector against heart disease called prostacyclin, which dilates blood vessels and prevents blood clots. Prostacyclin is reduced in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension, which is a rare, but incurable disease with a high mortality rate.

Ruan’s lab will perform cell cultures, gene transfers, stable-cell screening and identification of individual cell lines for Dixon’s animal model studies that will provide the preclinical data necessary for pursuing future clinical trials. The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute’s total two-year award for the collaborative project is $1 million.

Ruan also received a $24,696 supplement to his existing NIH-funded R01 projects, which supported the addition of a Houston-area high school science teacher to his lab last summer.

Romi Ghose, Ph.D., assistant professor of pharmaceutics, received a one-year, $53,954 supplement from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases for her K01 study of “Hepatic Drug Metabolism in Inflammation.” Ghose is investigating the mechanisms by which expression of key drug metabolizing enzymes is suppressed in the liver during inflammation and infection, which increases susceptibility to adverse drug reactions.

The $1.47 million total also includes the previously reported two-year, $260,876 supplement from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute to Bradley K. McConnell, Ph.D., assistant professor of pharmacology, for his R01 grant on “Targeted Disruption of Beta-adrenergic Signaling to Increase Cardiac Contractility” (see story in the Summer 2009 issue of Interactions).

Bond

Ghose

McConnell

Ruan

UH College of Pharmacy Assistant Professor Bradley K. McConnell, Ph.D., recently received a $15,047 supplemental award from a highly competitive National Institutes of Health program in support of pharmacology graduate student Ashley Guillory.

“In heart cells, beta-adrenergic receptor stimulation signals through Protein Kinase A (PKA)-dependent phosphorylation, in part by PKA binding to A-Kinase Anchoring Proteins (AKAPs), in order to influence

calcium homeostasis and heart contraction,” McConnell said. “Our project goals will improve the understanding of AKAP function and may potentially represent a therapeutic target for cardiac therapy for heart failure and aging patients with heart failure.”

According to NIH, less than 1 percent of NIH-supported researchers receive awards through the Research Supplements to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research program.

Coveted NIH Award Supports Graduate Student

Student Ashley Guillory, front, and Assistant Professor Bradley K. McConnell review results of their experiments.


HuaChen, Ph.D., M.D., assistant professor, has received a one-year, $60,000 Research Starter Grant in Health Outcomes from the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers of America Foundation for her project, “The Definition, Utilization and Development of Long-

term Psychotropic Polypharmacy in Children and Adolescents.”

DianaS-L.Chow, Ph.D., professor, has received a $45,000 grant from the Gillson Longenbaugh Foundation for her work on the “Transdermal Delivery of Lactone-stabilized Camptothecin Derivative for Breast Cancer Treatment.”

JasonL.Eriksen, Ph.D., assistant professor, has received a $125,000 grant from the Alliance for Nanohealth to develop “Nanoparticle Based Molecular Imaging of Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy, A Major Risk Factor for Stroke.”

KevinW.Garey, Pharm.D., M.S., associate professor, has received a two-year, $80,140 grant from Merck & Co. for his project, “Susceptibility and Recurrence of Candida Species Before and After a Formulary Change from Caspofungin to Micafungin in Patients

with Candidemia,” and a two-year, $45,000 grant from Merck for “Clinical Outcomes in Candidemia Patients Based on In Vitro Susceptibility.” Garey also received the Best Review Award from

the Journal of Hospital Infection (U.K.) for his paper entitled “Meta-analysis to assess risk factors for recurrent Clostridium difficile infection,” published in December 2008.

AmaliaM.Issa, Ph.D., M.P.H., associate professor, was awarded a Blue Ribbon “Recognition of Excellence for an Outstanding Scientific Presentation” Award for her presentation, “Understanding the clinical utility and adoption of pharmacogenomics: A quantitative

analysis of patient decision-making” at the International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology’s 2009 annual meeting in Providence, R.I.

RussellE.Lewis, Pharm.D., BCPS, associate professor, has received a one-year, $66,750 grant from Gilead Sciences Europe Ltd. to investigate “Liposomal Amphotericin B Dose-Intensification and De-Escalation Strategies for Experimental A. Terreus Pneumonia.”

Lewis also was among the authors of “Aspergillus fumigatus inhibits angiogenesis through the production of gliotoxin and other secondary metabolites,” which was highlighted by the Faculty of 1,000 Biology news service after being published in the journal Blood.

VincentH.Tam, Pharm.D., BCPS, associate professor, has received a one-year, $99,856 grant from Merck & Co. for the “Evaluation of Optimal Combination of a Novel Beta-lactamase Inhibitor.”

Bench notes

UH College of Pharmacy research presentations at the 2009 Neuroscience meeting have shed new light on – and drew national attention for – the preventive benefits of long-term exercise on neurological health.

A study by pharmacology graduate student Gaurav Patki and John & Rebecca Moores Professor Yuen-Sum (Vincent) Lau, Ph.D., suggests that long-term endurance exercise may slow the progression of Parkinson’s disease by protecting key cells involved in maintaining function and movement. Using a chronic mouse model that exhibits many features resembling human

New Studies Link Neurological Benefits to Long-term Exercise

A study by graduate student Gaurav Patki, left, and Professor Yuen-Sum (Vincent) Lau was one of only 12 projects out of 16,000 submissions featured in a national press conference at the 2009 Neuroscience annual meeting.

Parkinson’s disease, the researchers divided the subjects into a sedentary group and a group that was exercised on a motorized treadmill for 40 minutes daily, five days a week, over 18 weeks. At the end of the study, the exercise-trained mouse model had significantly higher brain dopamine content, exhibited greater brain mitochondrial activity and performed better on balance tests than the sedentary mouse model.

In a separate study led by Research Assistant Professor Samina Salim, Ph.D., exercise was shown to mitigate anxiety in rats by increasing antioxidant enzyme levels and reducing oxidative stress-induced anxiety-like behavior. The control and test group subjects all received an oxidant-producing agent, but only the test subjects previously were given an antioxidant agent or underwent a four-week exercise training regimen. The test subjects not only showed lower levels of oxidative-stress markers and higher levels of antioxidant proteins, but also exhibited less stress in behavioral tests, than the control subjects.

Cited in a New York Times commentary on the neurological effects of exercise, the study was co-authored by undergraduate student Nada Sarraj; graduate students Manish Taneja, Gaurav Chugh and Kaustuv Saha; faculty member MariVi Tejada-Simon, Ph.D.; and the University of Helsinki’s Iiris Hovatta. It also has been published in the journal Behavior Brain Research.

Joe Gayle photo

Salim


Pharmacy Cougars Mobilize to Immunize Community Against H1N1, Seasonal Flu The University of Houston College of Pharmacy and Harris County Public Health and Environmental Services joined forces last fall to assist in the delivery of approximately 9,000 H1N1 flu immunizations at four clinic sites across the county.

The collaborative effort included more than 50 third- and fourth-year Pharm.D. students and nearly a dozen faculty, alumni and affiliated resident preceptors working in five-hour shifts over the four-day period.

The majority of the immunizations provided by students and preceptors to adults and children over 7 years old were with the

intranasal vaccine, as only a limited quantity of the injectable vaccine was available for the initial effort. During the patient screening process, several students also had the opportunity to utilize their bilingual skills acquired through the Medical Spanish elective available in

Above, Pharm.D. student Matthew Baker provides an intranasal H1N1 immunization to a patient at a Harris County clinic in October. Below, Pharm.D. student Timothy Potts provides a seasonal flu immunization at the Humble Health Fair.

the Pharm.D. curriculum.

The H1N1 project followed the college’s annual participation in the Humble Health Fair in Humble, Texas.

During the daylong event, students and faculty preceptors provided more than 500 seasonal influenza immunizations and cholesterol, blood glucose, blood pressure and other health screenings.

STUDeNT NeWS

Pharm.D. student Hsiang-Chun “Alice” Wen performs a blood-glucose check for a senior at the Humble Health Fair, which attracts nearly 1,000 seniors and adults each year.

UH Chapter Finishes Third for Phi Delta Chi National AwardAlpha Tau, the UH chapter of the Phi Delta Chi (PDC) co-ed professional pharmacy fraternity, achieved a historic chapter milestone by earning third place overall for PDC’s emory W. Thurston grand President’s Award.

The national award is presented to the chapter that has promoted the profession of pharmacy and PDC “to the fullest extent during the preceding year.”

The chapter also claimed high-level recognition at PDC’s 2009 grand Council national conference in Phoenix for achievements in several noncompetitive programs, including 100 percent participation in the Achievement Awards Program, second place in Chapter Publication, third place in Scholarship, and fifth place in Service and Professionalism.

UH’s Kappa Psi Fraternity Wins Province Chapter of Year Award Delta Delta, the UH Chapter of the Kappa Psi pharmaceutical fraternity, captured three out of five awards – including Chapter of the Year – at the organization’s Province VII regional meeting in New Orleans in February.

In addition to winning the top chapter honor over 15 other schools in the seven-state province, Delta Delta won first place in the Man-Mile Award category – which recognizes chapters that have traveled the farthest to the meeting with the most members – and the Best Chapter Report. Delta Delta will host the Province VII Conclave regional meeting in 2011.

Delta Delta officers Chase Waxler, Kyle Wilcox and Jarod Watson display the chapter’s three awards at the Kappa Psi Province VII meeting.

University of Houston College of Pharmacy 13

Three UH Pharm.D. students – Nancy Chung, Heath Goins and Stephanie Weightman – have been elected or appointed to national and regional leadership positions in pharmacy student organizations during the 2009-10 academic year. Weightman also recently was honored with a national leadership award.

SNPhA Regional Facilitator

Nancy Chung was appointed Regional Facilitator for Region 4 on the Student National Pharmaceutical Association (SNPhA) National Executive Committee at the organization’s 2009 National Convention.

In the position, Chung serves as the primary liaison between the national office and the leadership of the nine chapters in Texas,

Arksansas, Louisiana and Oklahoma that comprise Region 4.

NCPA Pharmacy Student Executive Committee

Heath Goins has been appointed to the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) Pharmacy Student Executive Committee (SEC). The two-year appointment involves serving as a member of the NCPA Student Regional Council (SRC) for the first year and as a member of the NCPA Student Leadership Council (SLC) for

the second year. SEC members are responsible for determining, planning and implementing the annual projects aimed at enhancing membership, community service, legislative action or independent pharmacy promotion undertaken by NCPA chapters across the nation.

Phi Lambda Sigma Founder’s Award

Stephanie Weightman was honored with the Phi Lambda Sigma National Pharmacy Leadership Society Founder’s Award on March 14 at the organization’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

The Founder’s Award was established in 2003 to recognize a collegiate PLS member who has demonstrated exemplary leadership skills

and service to the pharmacy profession and/or the community, and is a role model and mentor to others.

ACCP National StuNet Advisory Committee

Weightman also has been appointed to the American College of Clinical Pharmacy’s National StuNet Advisory Committee by the national organization’s president. The 12-member committee is tasked with completing initiatives in support of the ACCP Strategic Plan, including ensuring an appropriately educated and skilled clinical pharmacy workforce, developing a clinical pharmacy resource kit for first-year pharmacy students, and formulating a new national student competition for ACCP.

Students Earn National, Regional Honors for Leadership

ChungWeightman

Goins

UH College of Pharmacy professional and graduate program students have earned recognition in regional and national research, counseling and clinical skills competitions.

SCNAS Graduate Student Research Competition

Pharmacology graduate student Odelia Bongmba placed third in the Graduate Student Research competition at the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science’s Southwest Regional Conference Feb. 26-28 at Texas Tech University in Lubbock.

Bongmba’s poster presentation, “Inactivation of the Rac1 Gene Affects the Formation of Dendritic Spines,” was co-authored by UHCOP Assistant Professor Maria V. Tejada-Simon, Ph.D., M.Ed. (’07).

ASHP National Clinical Skills Competition

Pharm.D. students Allison Palmer and Christi Parker were

among the top 10 finalists from a record field of more than 100 teams in the 14th annual National Clinical Skills Competition during the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists’ 44th Midyear Clinical Meeting in Las Vegas, Nev., on Dec. 6.

During the competition, students demonstrate their skills by assessing patient information and current therapy, identifying and prioritizing drug therapy problems, identifying treatment goals, and recommending a pharmacist’s care plan.

They advanced to the national event after winning the UH competition in November.

Palmer and Parker also are consecutive statewide Clinical Skills Competition champions after winning the Texas Society of Health-System Pharmacists event in April 2009 and April 2010.

Competitions Showcase UH Students’ Research, Clinical Skills

Palmer ParkerBongmba


UH pharmacy students took the annual meeting of the Texas Society of Health-System Pharmacists by storm in April 2010, winning several first-place awards in competitions.

Fourth-year students Allison Palmer and Christine Parker brought home their second consecutive title in the TSHP Clinical Skills Competition (see related story on page 13).

Third-year students Sarah Sokol and Stephanie J. Gryzmala took first place in the Student section of the TSHP Research & Education Foundation’s Research Poster Competition for their project, “Updated Immunization Schedules for 2010.”

In addition, the UH chapter of the Student Society of Health-System Pharmacists received a TSHP certificate in Recognition of Service Excellence in Community Outreach Programs. SSHP’s outreach projects included “brown bag” medication reviews for seniors, fund-raising/walk for kidney disease, and hosting the UH Residency Showcase (see story on next page).

UH Students Capture Research, Clinical Skills Awards at TSHP

Pharmacy Administration Ph.D. Program Welcomes First ClassUH College of Pharmacy welcomed seven students into its new Ph.D. in Pharmacy Administration program, which is only the second such program in Texas. Students in the first class of the program are, back row from left, Pravin Kamble, Debajyoti Bhowmik and Abhishek Chitnis; and, front row, Sandhya Mehta, Parul Gupta and Nilanjana Dwibedi. Not pictured is graduate student Mark Kramer, R.Ph. (B.S. ’90).

The efforts UH College of Pharmacy students and alumni/preceptors to provide care to the underserved colonias along the U.S-Mexico during medical mission trips continue to be plagued by security concerns stemming from drug war and gang violence in the region.

Although the multidisciplinary healthcare team returned to Mexico in October 2009 after a year of trip cancellations, a follow-up trip scheduled for March recently was canceled due to unstable security and a U.S. State Department alert cautioning U.S. citizens about traveling to some of the areas where the team

typically provides services.

The multidisciplinary healthcare team on the October trip included pharmacy students Emily Bradley, Amanda Garcia, Omar Lizano and Scott Wilkie, and alumna Janis Parsley, M.B.A., R.Ph. (’82), as well as the spouses of Bradley and Garcia.

Organized by Christ United Methodist Church in Sugar Land, UHCOP students attend under the

Security Instability in Mexico Hinders Mission Trips to Aid Underserved Border Colonias

auspices of the UH chapter of Christian Pharmacists Fellowship International.

“Their disease states would be considered unacceptable in our society ... because they would have been taken care of years ago before they got so out of hand,” Garcia said, after the October trip. “Unfortunately, they don’t have access to our luxury of basic medical attention. Our makeshift pharmacy stood up well to the medicinal demands of the population we were assisting. I really enjoyed the opportunity to counsel the patients on how lifestyle changes could help them.”

Pharm.D. student Jin Kang helps with mission trip preparation by sorting and packaging medications.

UH pharmacy students Amanda Garcia, Emily Bradley, Omar Lizano and Scott Wilkie prepare to see patients in Rio Bravo, Mexico.

STUDeNT ACColADeSPharm.D. students LoriKrustichinsky and BennyHwang received the Department of Pharmacological & Pharmaceutical Sciences Buckley Award for their outstanding academic performance during their respective second and first years of the Pharm.D. curriculum.

Pharm.D. students AmyMoss and AminEsmaily-Fard were among the students representing the U.S. at the 55th International Pharmaceutical Students Federation World Congress in Bali, Indonesia.

Pharm.D. student LinhNguyen attended the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Patient Safety & Clinical Pharmacy Services Collaborative (PSPC) in Dallas with Harris County Hospital District preceptor Santhi Masilamani, Pharm.D.

Members and faculty advisors of UH’s chapter of the Student Society of Health-System Pharmacists celebrate receiving Recognized Chapter status from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.

UH Hosts Residency Showcase for 5 Texas Pharmacy CollegesApproximately 200 students from five colleges of pharmacy attended the 2009 Residency Showcase – organized by the UH Student Society of Health System Pharmacists – in the Texas Medical Center.

The event is an opportunity for Houston-area pharmacy students to interact with residency directors and residents in a smaller venue similar to the national showcase. Representatives from 25 facilities based in Texas, Louisiana and New Jersey provided information on nearly 40 residency programs and fellowships. Support for the event was provided by the Gulf Coast Society of Health-System Pharmacists.

Patient Counseling Continues to Attract High ParticipationPharm.D. student Kandi Icenhower recently represented UH College of Pharmacy in the National Patient Counseling Competition at the annual meeting of the American Pharmacists Association-Academy of Student Pharmacists in Washington, D.C.

The Texas Pharmacy Association’s Patient Counseling Competition champion in 2007, Icenhower secured the privilege of representing the college at the 2010 national event after posting the highest score at the UH competition in January.

A total of 90 students participated in the UH competition, which was sponsored by Kroger Pharmacy. The top four finalists were Simrit (Simi) Bassett, Christopher Feller, Mallory Gessner and Sue Ann Wang.

Icenhower

More than 100 students learned how to put their “best fork forward” at UH College of Pharmacy’s first Professional Development Workshop, which offered demonstrations and advice on how to avoid etiquette faux pas in business and professional settings.

The “Meet, greet and eat!!! The Do’s and Don’ts of Professional Networking and Dining” program was presented by Diane gottsman of the Protocol School of Texas and sponsored by Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

gottsman’s humorous, interactive presentation covered a variety of topics and situations, including how to make introductions and perform a confident, but non-aggressive handshake and a “utensil-by-utensil” walkthrough of a multi-course meal.

The program was intended to help students not only compete for jobs at the highest level, but also to provide them with the knowledge and confidence to employ proper etiquette at professional meetings and conferences, while on experientials and throughout their careers.

Wal-Mart Sponsors Program on Professional Etiquette in Networking, Dining Settings

Etiquette program presenter Diane Gottsman and Sharon Early, Pharm.D., Wal-Mart Regional Talent Specialist for Texas and New Mexico, demonstrate the proper technique of shaking hands.



ALUMNI NEWSGov. Perry Appoints Tipton, Reappoints Fry to State BoardPharmacy Cougars continue to be sought for their leadership and expertise, as Texas Gov. Rick Perry recently announced the reappointment of alumnus W. Benjamin (Ben) Fry, R.Ph. (’72), FIACP, FACA, to a second term and the new appointment of Joyce A. Tipton, R.Ph. (’79), M.B.A., FASHP, to the Texas State Board of Pharmacy.

Fry is owner of Fry’s Prescription Pharmacy in his hometown of San Benito, and Small Fry’s, a pediatric pharmacy in Harlingen. A charter member of the Mading Society, he was named one of 50 outstanding alumni of UH College of Pharmacy during the college’s 50th anniversary celebrations in 1997 and named the college’s Distinguished Alumnus in 2005. Fry also received the Dean’s Special Recognition Award and served as Commencement speaker in 2008.

A life member of The University of Houston Alumni Association and Phi Delta Chi pharmacy fraternity, Fry is one of 18 original Fellows of the International Academy of Compounding Pharmacists and a Fellow of the American College of Apothecaries. During his first term on the TSBP from 2004-2009, Fry served as Board President for two years.

“I’m extremely honored to have been asked by Gov. Perry to continue my service to the Board, pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and the patients and citizens of Texas,” Fry said. “One of the reasons I wanted to be reappointed is to help choose a successor to our current Executive Director, Gay Dodson, who will be retiring during my term.”

Fry said he applauds Tipton’s appointment to the Board.

“I’m thrilled to have Joyce on the Board – she’s highly regarded, well-versed and a valuable addition to the Board,” Fry said.

Tipton joined the Baylor College of Medicine as Chief Pharmacy Officer in 2009 to develop the pharmacy program for the new Baylor Clinic and Hospital, which was under construction but has been suspended due to the economic downturn. Tipton’s current role also includes serving as Interim Director of Quality and Patient Safety for the Baylor Faculty Group Practice; overseeing pharmacy services in the infusion center and ambulatory surgery center; and assisting with the implementation of physician order entry into the electronic medical record.

Prior to this position, Tipton was the Administrative Director of Pharmacy at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital in Houston, where she developed the St. Luke’s Center for Antimicrobial Stewardship and Epidemiology and doubled the pharmacy residency program.

A Fellow of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, Tipton has a special interest in pharmacy practice outcomes and systematic quality improvement application in the medication use process. A UHCOP adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor and member of the Dean’s Advisory Council, she previously served on TSBP task forces and as chair/vice-chair of Texas Society of Health-System Pharmacists’ Public Affairs Council.

“I enjoyed the opportunity to make positive change and to help negotiate the best win-win situations when there were competing interests,” Tipton said of her legislative experiences. “It is exciting to be serving as the second UH alumna currently on the Board, and I hope that my participation will reflect positively on the college. It was through our membership on the Dean’s Advisory Council that I had the pleasure of getting to know Ben Fry, and I’m delighted that he was reappointed for a second term and will be there to mentor me in becoming an effective board member.”

Fry

Tipton

UH College of Pharmacy alumni secured several top awards at the Texas Society of Health-System Pharmacists’ 2010 meeting.

The team of Aimee Hammerstrom, Pharm.D. (’09), and Caroline Pham, Pharm.D. (’09), both PGY-1 residents at Houston’s Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center, won first place in the Resident category of the Clinical Skills competition.

Lead author Jacob Hall, Pharm.D. (’09), a PGY-1 resident at Valley Baptist Medical Center in Harlingen, won first place in the Resident/Fellow/Post-Graduate category for “Implementation and Validation of a Vancomycin Nomogram Targeting Troughs of 15-20 mcg/mL.” Memorial Hermann Katy Hospital’s Susan Lam, Pharm.D. (’05), was the lead author – and W. Perry Flowers,

R.Ph. (B.S. ’90), M.S., among the co-authors – of the top poster in the Practitioner–Leadership category for “IV Radiocontrast Orders and the Implementation of Pharmacist’s Review.”

Lam and Alison O’Brien, Pharm.D. (08), were among the co-authors of the winning Practitioner–Clinical category poster (“One-year Evaluation of Interventions and Impact Post-implementation of a Pharmacist in the Emergency Department).”

Memorial Hermann Southeast’s John Nguyen, Pharm.D. (’08), Roxanne Byrne, Pharm.D. (’08), and Rachel Samuel, R.Ph. (B.S. ’87), MBA, contributed to the top Practitioner–Administrative/Practice Management category poster (“Efficacy and Cost Impact of Entereg® in Patients Undergoing Large or Small Bowel Resections at a Community Hospital”).

Alumni Shine in TSHP Clinical Skills, Research Poster Events


When alumnus Sharath Hegde landed in Houston in 1986 to continue his education, he was following a dream of contributing to the discovery of a new medicine that would enhance patient quality of life or potentially save lives. With the FDA’s recent approval of a new drug (VIBATIV™) to combat one of the most aggressive, life-threatening bacterial infections, Hegde is celebrating a dream fulfilled.

Hegde, who earned his Ph.D. in Pharmacology in 1990, recently contacted his former advisors at UH College of Pharmacy to thank them for the guidance that paved the way for his personal and scientific triumph.

“My graduate education at UHCOP played a pivotal role in shaping the trajectory and success of my professional career,” Hegde said. “The training I received at UH in all aspects of classical integrated pharmacology has enabled me to evolve into a versatile drug-discovery pharmacologist. In particular, the mentorship I obtained from Drs. (Mustafa) Lokhandwala, (Bhagavan) Jandhyala, (Douglas) Eikenburg and (David) Clarke was instrumental in sowing the seeds of creative thinking and logical problem solving in my mind.

“Finally, my experience as a teaching assistant was critical in sharpening my communication and listening abilities – these skills have proven invaluable to me in my role as a manager and leader.”

Hegde went to work for Syntex Research (later acquired by Roche to form Roche Bioscience) following graduation, starting as a Staff Researcher and advancing to Principal Research Scientist. It was the move to a small South San Francisco-based biopharmaceutical company called Theravance Inc. in 1999 that was a turning point in his professional career.

“At Theravance, I served as the lead pharmacologist on the project team that discovered and developed VIBATIV™ (telavancin), which has now been approved in the U.S. and in Canada for the treatment of adult patients with complicated skin and skin structure infections (cSSSI) caused by susceptible Gram-positive bacteria, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA),” Hegde said. “I was responsible for designing and overseeing the execution of all preclinical studies to characterize the efficacy and pharmacodynamics of telavancin in animal models of infection.”

Now serving as Vice President and Head of Pharmacology at Theravance, Hegde never forgot how his journey began.

“The positive feedback I received from the international student community and the pleasant experience I had during my interaction with the staff of the Admissions Office was also a big factor in my decision to come to UH,” Hegde said. “My interest in attending UH was driven by the excellent reputation of the UHCOP as one of the premier institutions in the U.S. offering quality graduate and undergraduate training in Pharmaceutical Sciences.”

Sharath Hegde, Ph.D., serves as Vice President and Head of Pharmacology at Theravance Inc., which recently gained FDA approval for a new drug to combat complicated skin and skin structure infections.

Patrick Roddie photo

Hegde Credits ‘Pivotal Role’ of UH Mentors in Achieving Drug-discovery Milestone

‘Outstanding Alumnus’ Shares Insider’s View of FDA

Lau displays his Outstanding Alumnus Award.

UH College of Pharmacy alumnus Sze Wah Johnny Lau, R.Ph., Ph.D. (’92), recently returned to campus to accept the college’s Outstanding Alumnus Award as well as share his experiences on both sides of the new drug application and review processes with students.

As senior clinical pharmacologist at the FDA’s Office of Clinical Pharmacology in White Oak,

Md., Lau reviews the clinical pharmacology and biopharmaceutics studies for New Drug Applications, Investigational New Drug Applications, Proposed Pediatric Study Requests, and study protocols for reproductive, urologic, metabolic and endocrine drug products.

Lau is a former student of Professor Diana Chow, Ph.D., and a member of the Mading Society.

Sacky, Biundo Vying for TPA President-Elect, VP Positions UH College of Pharmacy alumni – Carrie Sacky, R.Ph. (B.S. ’80), and Bruce Biundo, R.Ph. (B.S. ’61) – are vying for the top two leadership positions at the Texas Pharmacy Association.

Sacky has held numerous leadership positions within TPA, including her current position as Secretary/Treasurer and previous terms as Vice President, Board Representative for the Academy of Chain Pharmacists and House of Delegates Chair. She also has been active in the Texas Pharmacy Foundation, including serving as a Director and Board Secretary. In 2007, she received TPA’s Pharmacy Enhancement Award for promoting a positive image of the profession in an advertising campaign on behalf of the community college she attended before UH.

A member of the UHCOP Dean’s Advisory Council, Sacky was inducted into the college’s Mading Society in 2009. She has established two endowments at the college: the Henry and Charlene McClain Scholarship Endowment, named in honor of her parents, in 2008 and a Presidential Endowed Fellowship in 2010. Sacky has two daughters: Stacie Sacky-Dacus, a fourth-year UH pharmacy student, and Sara Sacky, a communications graduate who has applied to UHCOP.

To view Sacky’s campaign statement, visit http://pharmacy.uh.edu/refill/pdf/Sacky_Candidacy_Statement.pdf.

Biundo, who currently serves as TPA Board Representative for Academy of Compounding Pharmacists, is running for Vice President. A Pharmacy Consultant for Professional Compounding Centers of America and Men’s Health consultant for Opalmedical, Biundo has authored or co-authored eight articles for the International Journal of Pharmaceutical Compounding, and contributed a chapter on “Nutraceuticals as Preventive Medicine” in the book, “Aging Men’s Health.” Biundo was honored with TPA’s Education Excellence Award in 2009 and the Houston Area Pharmacy Association’s (HAPA) Outstanding Pharmacist of the Year Award in 2004.

His background in chain-store management and community pharmacy includes starting and operating several pharmacies in Houston; serving as a UHCOP adjunct faculty member; and serving as a preceptor for UH and 10 other colleges. Biundo is a director and past president of HAPA, as well as a member of APhA and NCPA. A Life Member and past director of The University of Houston Alumni Association, Biundo has served in several leadership posts in the UH Pharmacy Alumni Association. He is a member of the college’s Mading Society and Dean’s Advisory Council as well as UH Cougar Pride.

To view Biundo’s campaign statement, visit http://pharmacy.uh.edu/refill/pdf/Biundo_Candidacy_Statement.pdf.

Biundo

Sacky

AlUMNI MAIlBox

[email protected]!Photosarealsowelcomeandappreciated!

LydiaAguilera, Pharm.D., R.Ph. (B.S. ’80), has joined The University of Texas-Pan American/UT-Austin Cooperative Pharmacy Program as a Clinical Assistant Professor.

ElaineBernardo, Pharm.D. (’08), has joined the Texas A&M Health Science Center Rangel College of Pharmacy as an Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice, with a clinical practice site at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center.

ToddK.Connor, M.S., Pharm.D. (’07), and JeenaJacobConnor, Pharm.D. (’06), recently moved back to Texas, where Todd is Associate Director of Pharmacy at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas and Jeena is Pharmacy Manager at Methodist Charlton Medical Center in Dallas.

LourdesM.Cuéllar, M.S. (’79), R.Ph. (B.S. ’73), FASHP, Director of Pharmacy and Clinical Support Services, TIRR Memorial Hermann Chair, has been elected 2010 Chair of the Texas delegation for the American Society of Health-Systems Pharmacists’ House of Delegates.

ChuckL.Hopson, R.Ph. (B.S. ’65), won the Republican Party Primary ahead of the November 2010 general election to represent District 11 in the Texas House of Representatives. Owner-operator of May Drug Store in Jacksonville, Hopson has represented District 11 since 2001.

DongLiang, Ph.D. (’95), associate professor and chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Texas Southern University’s College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, received the college’s 2009 Researcher of the Year Award.

AndreaMora, Pharm.D. (’07), has joined the Texas A&M Health Science Center Rangel College of Pharmacy as an Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice, with a clinical practice site at Lyndon B. Johnson General Hospital.

VihangA.Narkar, Ph.D. (’02), has been appointed Assistant Professor in the Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine’s Center for Diabetes and Obesity Research at UTHealth.

Jenni(Kopp)Tobin, Pharm.D. (’07), and her husband, Ryan, welcomed their first child, Kellan Patrick, on Oct. 2, 2009. The Tobins live in Denver, Colo., where Jenni is an oncology specialist at the University of Colorado Cancer Center.

MayWoo, R.Ph. (B.S. ’91), has joined the 24 Hour Emergency Room Hospital system in Houston as Director of Pharmacy.

TingZhu, Ph.D. (’09), has joined Abraxis BioScience as a Senior Scientist in the Nanotechnology Product Development division.



Association Promotes UH Pride, Link Between Students, AlumniLeadership of the UH Pharmacy Alumni Association (PAA) has passed from Renee Prescott, Pharm.D. (’02), to Ziad Ghanem, Pharm.D. (’04), with Jeff Baek, R.Ph. (B.S. ’95), elected President-Elect.

The other officers and councilors for the 2009-10 year are: Prescott, Treasurer and Past-President; Nersy Williams, R.Ph. (B.S. ’85), Secretary; A.J. Day, Pharm.D. (’07), Historian; Priya Cheeran, Pharm.D. (’02), Social Chair; Amer Hakam, Pharm.D. (’05), Webmaster; and Bruce Biundo, R.Ph. (B.S. ’61), Cabrini Davis, R.Ph. (B.S. ’83), Carole Hardin-Oliver, R.Ph. (B.S. ’83), Joe Ickes, R.Ph. (B.S. ’73), Sheryl Symonette, R.Ph. (B.S. ’82), and student Setchia Traore, Councilors.

The association is busy making plans for the 31st Annual Alumni & Friends Scholarship Golf Tournament on June 7 (see above) and a community service project with KUHT-TV (Ch. 8).

The PAA Council meets at 6:30 p.m. on the second Tuesday of every month in the UH Alumni Center. For more information about PAA activities as well as benefits of being a member of The University of Houston Alumni Association, email [email protected] or visit www.mycougarconnection.

Alumni and students attending the 2009 Homecoming Tailgate included (above) Mandy Canales, Ziad Ghanem (’04), Lea Garcia and Lauren Williams, and (top right) Sheryl Symonette (’82), and Mandy Baig (’85). Attendees of the 2010 Spring Social at Sawyer Park included (right) Ashley McFalls, Renee Prescott (’02), and Mallory Gessner; and (below) Bruce Biundo (’61), Erika Zezulka, Setchia Traore, Amber Dwairy and Winston Hsu.

photos by Jeff Baek, A.J. Day and Chip Lambert

UH College of Pharmacy alumna Aimee Hammerstrom, Pharm.D. (’09), received the Texas Society of Health-System Pharmacists’ 2010 Leo and Ann Godley Residency Fellowship Award at TSHP’s annual meeting in Galveston.

Hammerstrom is completing a PGY-1 pharmacy practice residency at Houston’s Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

“Not only was it an honor to even have been nominated, but it is quite an honor to have been selected for such an award,” Hammerstrom said. “My residency director, Dr. Cadle, and my fellow co-residents have made this residency year the best it could have been, and I am very grateful for that.”

“She has the drive and initiative, intelligence and professionalism to be a star in our profession of pharmacy,” said Gulf Coast Society of Health-System Pharmacists President Richard M. Cadle, Pharm.D., BCPS, FASHP, clinical pharmacy manager and Pharmacy Practice Residency Program director at MEDVAMC.

Alumna Hammerstrom Draws High Praise, TSHP Award for Work as Houston VA Resident

Hammerstrom

The UH Pharmacy Alumni & Friends Scholarship Golf Tournament returns for its 31st year on Monday, June 7, at Augusta Pines Golf Club in Spring, north of Houston.

This year, special VIP team opportunities will be available (check the registration Web site indicated below for details). Sponsorships range from $100 to $5,000, with sponsor recognition and/or individual or team registration included based on sponsorship level.

The registration cost of an individual entry is $150, which includes a round of golf, cart, range balls, special hole prizes, door prize drawings and lunch. The registration deadline is Friday, May 28.

Registration and sponsorships may be submitted online at www.mycougarconnection.com/pharmacygolf. For more information about sponsorships or registration, please contact Cortney Kindall at 713-743-0828 or [email protected].

The event and golf endowment have generated more than $350,000 for students since the first tournament was held in 1980, including a total of $15,000 in support for 30 students in 2009.

VIP Team, Sponsor Registration Open for Tournament on June 7


UH College of Pharmacy alumni and friends enthusiastically responded to a rare opportunity to double the impact of their gifts through the creation of Presidential Endowed Fellowships, which has resulted in a combined value of $450,000 in support for students at the college.

The $25,000 gifts from donors were matched by a special $1 million fund set aside for professional and graduate programs by UH President & UH System Chancellor Renu Khator. To date, the nine fellowships established at the college is a university record.

Alumnus Bourjois Abboud, R.Ph. (B.S. ’96), M.B.A. (Bauer ’02), and his wife, Micheline Abboud, B.S., a graduate of Texas Woman’s University, have created the Advanced Pharma Inc. PEF for Pharm.D. students and the Bourjois and Micheline Abboud PEF for Pharmaceutics graduate students.

In 2005, the Abbouds established Advanced Pharma, Inc. in Houston, with a focus on high-quality IV compounding. The Abbouds said they hope one of their three boys – Joshua, Jacob or Justin – will follow in their father’s footsteps by attending UH College of Pharmacy.

Alumna Lydia Aguilera, Pharm.D., R.Ph. (B.S. ’80), owner of Mom’s Pharmacy in Weslaco and Family Care Pharmacy in Pharr, established the Corisman Excellence PEF for pharmacy students from the Rio Grande Valley area.

Aguilera recently joined The University of Texas-Pan American/UT-Austin

Matched Fellowship Gifts Generate $450K in Student Support gIVINg NeWS

Ann L. Bragdon and Karim A. Alkadhi

Bourjois Abboud, R.Ph. (B.S. ’96), M.B.A. (Bauer ’02), and Micheline Abboud

Cooperative Pharmacy Program as a Clinical Assistant Professor.

“I actually closed a pharmacy to take this job,” Aguilera said. “I share your passion for education, and that weighed heavily in my decision to make a career change this late in the game. “

UHCOP Professor Karim A. Alkadhi, Ph.D., and his wife, Ann L. Bragdon, Ph.D., M.A., Anthropology chair and Anthropology-Sociology faculty member at Houston Community College, have established the Alkadhi-Bragdon PEF to support the training and education of UH pharmacology and pharmaceutics graduate students.

A faculty member and researcher in the college since 1981, Alkadhi teaches in the Pharm.D. program as well as teaching and mentoring graduate students. He has earned degrees from the University of Baghdad, University of Connecticut and SUNY Medical School at Buffalo. A former UH instructor and visiting professor in Anthropology and Rockwell Visiting Scholar in Religion, Bragdon holds degrees from the University of Connecticut, SUNY at Buffalo, and UH.

Alumnus Sunny Chin, R.Ph. (B.S. ’71), owner of C&G Pharmacy in Houston, created the June I. Chin PEF in honor of his wife.

“Without my wife’s love and support for my pharmacy work, I could not have been successful; she has been the rock that holds everything together,” Chin said.

“I’m so happy that the university will have Tier One status; my love for the school and what it has accomplished was the reason

for this second endowment,” he said.

UHCOP Professor of Pharmaceutics Diana S-L. Chow, Ph.D., has established a Presidential Endowed Fellowship for pharmaceutics graduate students.

“We know from the success we’ve achieved in our research and experiments that pharmaceutics can make a positive impact in clinical therapy,” Chow said. “I want to encourage graduate students and recognize their contributions in the success of our research efforts.”

The Coogs Investments PEF has been set up for Pharm.D. students by five UHCOP alumni and business partners in the Rio Grande Valley area: Ladislao “Lalo” Cardenas, R.Ph. (B.S. ’97); Robert Flores, Pharm.D. (’05); Gilberto Gonzalez Jr., R.Ph. (B.S. ’98); Sergio Rodriguez Jr., R.Ph. (B.S. ’98); and Lorenzo Torres Jr., R.Ph. (B.S. ’97).

The group owns four independent pharmacies: Community Pharmacy in

June Chin

Chow

Aguilera

continued on page 23


Ahead of the next accreditation visit in 2011, UH College of Pharmacy Dean Lamar Pritchard has launched a campaign to update the college’s Pharmacy Care Lab at the Texas Medical Center campus building to reflect current community, hospital and clinical pharmacy operations and activities.

The original Contemporary Practice Lab (recently renamed Pharmacy Care Lab) hasn’t undergone significant updating since it was developed in the late 1980s/early 1990s with gifts from alumni, foundations and corporate pharmacy organizations.

“We have an obligation to the students, the patients and the profession to ensure that our students are given access to the technological and physical tools necessary in our Pharmacy Care Laboratory, so they are prepared for working in today’s innovative practice settings and can develop methods and services that directly result in improved patient care and the advancement of the profession,” said Lynn Simpson, Pharm.D. (’97), clinical associate professor and Clinical Therapeutics division head.

The college has proposed a $250,000 overhaul of the lab, which includes replacing the old-fashioned manual brass balances with electronic balances; repairing or upgrading cabinetry and sinks; updating the drug inventory and IV lab; adding new computers and printers; upgrading computer software and the teaching telephone system; employing a full-time lab manager/faculty member; and removing the outdated Baker Cell Unit.

Special naming opportunities are available: work stations at $15,000 and seven $10,000 slots to create a Modern Prescriptions Inventory.

College Launches Update Project for Pharmacy Care Lab

Several UH alumni already have responded to the work station naming opportunities, including “Pat and Jan Downing” from Pat and Jan Downing; “Michael and Jeannie Pemberton” from Michael and Jeannie Pemberton; “In Memory of Lauro (Larry) Garcia” from numerous Rio Grande Valley UHCOP alumni and friends of Lauro Garcia (initiative of Lydia Aguilera, Pharm.D.); Harry Melnick; and “The Family of E.C. de Lachica and Roberto De Luna” from Robert and Linda de Lachica.

For more information or to contribute to the project, please contact the Sara Tovar, director of development, at 713-743-0823 or [email protected].

The college’s Pharmacy Care Lab is need of updating to keep pace with changes in the profession and pharmacy operations that have occurred in the more than two decades since the lab was created.

Joe Gayle photo

Pictured with Dean Pritchard are Mading Society inductees, from left, Bourjois Abboud, R.Ph. (B.S. ’96), M.B.A. (Bauer ’02), and Micheline Abboud, B.S.; Sze Wah Johnny Lau, Ph.D. (’92); Walmart Stores Inc., represented by Sharon Early, Pharm.D.; and Karim Alkadhi, Ph.D., and Ann Bragdon, Ph.D., M.A.

Alumni, Friends of College Among Newest Mading Society MembersUH College of Pharmacy inducted seven alumni and friends into the Mading Society of benefactors at the Petroleum Club in downtown Houston on Feb. 27.

The Mading Society members recognized at this year’s event were: Bourjois Abboud, R.Ph. (B.S. ’96), M.B.A. (Bauer ’02), and Micheline Abboud, B.S.; Karim A. Alkadhi, Ph.D., and Ann L. Bragdon, Ph.D., M.A.; Cubist Pharmaceuticals; Sze Wah Johnny Lau, Ph.D. (’92); and Walmart Stores Inc.

The Mading Society recognizes individual lifetime gifts of $10,000 or more and cumulative corporate/foundation gifts of $25,000 or more to the college. It was established in 1997 in honor of Cora and Webb Mading, the college’s first major benefactors.

The 2011 induction reception will be Feb. 26 at the Petroleum Club.

Jerry Powers photo


photo courtesy of Al Torres Photography

Family’s Lifelong Support for Education Moves Alumna to Create $100,000 EndowmentIn recognition of the rising costs of a college education and her family’s lifelong advocacy of the pursuit of higher learning, UH College of Pharmacy alumna Catherine Fischer Neill, R.Ph. (B.S. ’79), has established the James and Theresa Fischer Endowment for professional pharmacy students at UH.

Now the pharmacist-in-charge of a Kroger Pharmacy serving The Woodlands/Conroe area north of Houston, Neill said she hoped her $100,000 gift to the college would allow future students to realize the same degree of rewards and opportunities which she had as a result of her pharmacy education.

Neill’s father, James Fischer, has a long history of service to the pursuit of education, including currently serving on the Board of Directors of John Paul II Catholic School in Houston and Pope John XXIII Catholic High School in Katy as well as prior volunteer positions with several other private Catholic schools in the greater Houston area.

“I come from a large family of 17 kids and 13 of us have earned college degrees,” Neill said. “Education was stressed in my family, and I have always been very appreciative that such education was available to me in the Houston area. I remember my grandparents always telling us, ‘They can take everything away from you, but they can never take your education.’”

Neill and her husband of 35 years, Bill, have two daughters, Sarah and Rebecca, both currently attending UH.

“Although pharmacy wasn’t my original intent when I started college, it has been very good to me,” Neill said. “I feel very fortunate that pharmacy allowed me the flexibility to work one to two days per week when our daughters were young.”

As a result of job transfers during her husband’s career in the railroad industry, Neill worked as relief and part-time pharmacist at independent and retail pharmacies in Texas, California, Colorado, Nebraska and Iowa.

Now retired, Bill Neill – a May 2006 graduate of UH-Downtown – is pursuing a graduate degree at The Bush School of Government at Texas A&M University. In her spare time, Neill has volunteered her time running a pharmacy for medical mission trips to Mexico through a Conroe church for three summers.

“As a parent and as an observer of the kids working at my store trying to make ends meet as college students, I know how difficult it can be to afford an education today,” she said.

Alumna Catherine Fischer Neill established the James and Theresa Fischer Endowment in honor of her parents, above.

Gees Driven to Share Success with Students UH College of Pharmacy alumnus John P. Gee, R.Ph. (B.S. ’71), and his wife, May Gee (HRM ’78), recently provided a $10,000 supplemental gift to their existing scholarship endowment at the college.

The Gees established the John P. Gee and May Gee Scholarship Endowment in 2006, and have been members of the Mading Society since 2007. The Gees own and operate ivA Lifetec, a northeast Houston-based home

health company and pharmacy specializing in home infusion and enteral nutrition therapy since 1984, in partnership with fellow alumnus Harish Gandhi, R.Ph. (B.S. ’75).

“I was once a poor student also, and wanted to help the school help students,” John Gee said. “I decided to do this because pharmacy, through my education, has been very good to me and I wanted to return something to the school.”


continued on page 20

Brownsville; San Martin Pharmacy in Weslaco; and Tyler Medical Pharmacy and Sesame Pharmacy, both in Harlingen.

“I grew up in Houston and I’m a die-hard Cougar, but a lot of this effort was driven by (alumnus W. Benjamin) Ben Fry, who mentored me in running a business and has always encouraged giving back to the college,” Cardenas said.

Alumnus Celso Cuéllar Jr., R.Ph. (B.S. ’65), executive team lead for Target Pharmacy in San Antonio, has created the Lourdes M. and Nicanora C. Cuéllar PEF in honor of his two sisters: alumna Lourdes M. Cuéllar, M.S. (’79), R.Ph. (B.S. ’73), FASHP, director of Pharmacy and Clinical Support Services at TIRR Memorial Hermann and current president of the TSHP Research & Education Foundation; and Nicanora C. Cuéllar,

Fellowships

Lourdes M. Cuéllar, Celso Cuéllar Jr., and Nicanora C. Cuéllar

Several UH College of Pharmacy alumni have hosted ‘Meet the Dean’ Receptions for fellow alumni and Dean Lamar Pritchard. Pictured at right, Bruce Biundo, R.Ph. (’61), and Ann Biundo, hosted Pritchard and his wife, Judy, at their home. Other guests of the Biundos included, below right, Carole Hardin-Oliver, R.Ph. (’83), and Carrie Sacky, R.Ph. (’80); middle right, Nick Martino, R.Ph. (’64), and his wife, Mauree Martino; and, bottom, Vincent Luparello, R.Ph. (’73), J.J. Lovoi, R.Ph. (’59), and John J. Lovoi, R.Ph. (’62). Below, the Meet the Dean Reception in McAllen drew more than 20 alumni and friends. Bottom, Pritchard receives a framed pharmacy art print from alumna Louise Newcombe, R.Ph. (B.S. ’54) at the McAllen reception.

Pritchard on the Road to Meet Alumni

Joe Gayle photos

L.M.S.W.-A.C.P., D.C.S.W., social worker in the Rheumatology Clinic at Texas Children’s Hospital.

“Each of us was encouraged by our parents to choose a caring, helpful profession and to always give back some of our blessings to needy and good causes,” Celso Cuéllar said. “It was named for my sisters because the commitment and desire to honor other family members is extremely strong in the Latino community.”

Alumna Carrie M. Sacky, R.Ph. (B.S. ’80), a Dallas-area community pharmacist for CVS/pharmacy, has created a Presidential Endowed Fellowship in recognition of the UH pharmacy legacy developing in her family: daughter Stacie Sacky-Dacus will graduate in May

and niece Michelle McQuirk-Roberts is a second-year student.

“My philosophy is that a good education is the key to being successful,” Sacky said. “UH certainly provided it for me, and I’m happy to be able to provide the same opportunity for other students. It’s great that our university has offered this matching opportunity to assist students throughout their academic journey.”

Sacky

0073019080University of HoustonCollege of Pharmacy141 Science & Research Bldg. 2Houston, Texas 77204-5000

713-743-1300http://pharmacy.uh.edu

CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED

Non-Profit Org.US Postage

PAIDHouston, TexasPermit No. 5910

Friday, May 14Class of 2010 Graduation Banquet & Awards6 p.m., UH Hilton Hotel Contact: Betty Hassell, 713-743-1651 or [email protected]

Saturday, May 15Class of 2010 CommencementSpeaker: Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst9 a.m., UH Cullen Performance Hall Contact: Betty Hassell, 713-743-1651 or [email protected]

Monday, June 731st Annual Pharmacy Alumni & Friends Scholarship Golf Tournament7 a.m. registration/sign-in; 8 a.m. shotgun startAugusta Pines Golf Club, Spring, TXwww.mycougarconnection.com/pharmacygolfContact: Ziad Ghanem, [email protected]

Thursday, July 15Alumni & Friends Reception at TPA 2010Location TBA, Austin, TX RSVP by July 9 to: Sara Tovar, 713-743-0823 or [email protected]

May 8, June 12, July 24 and Aug. 7Aseptic Techniques for Pharmacists/Aseptic Techniques for Pharmacists Refresher Continuing Education CoursesContact: Ruthie Pitts, 713-795-8337 or [email protected] Visit http://pharmacy.uh.edu/continuing_ed/

Friday, Aug. 20Class of 2014 White Coat Ceremony 11 a.m., UH Cullen Performance HallContact: Betty Hassell, 713-743-1651 or [email protected]

Infectious Diseases Pharmacotherapy Symposium

Due to changes in support mechanisms, the annual Infectious Diseases Pharmacotherapy Symposium has been postponed. Although the full-day event will not be offered this year, the event’s hosts and organizers – UH College of Pharmacy and the Anti-Infective Research Laboratories at UHCOP – hope to offer a half-day symposium in late summer 2010. Please continue to check the symposium Web page – http://pharmacy.uh.edu/continuing_ed/annual_symposium.php – for updates.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

INSIDE:u �Cover�Stories . . . . . . . . . . 2 • DeanPritchardLaunchesEfficiency,FacilityUpgradeInitiatives • NewDean’sAdvisoryCouncilMeets

u College�News . . . . . . . . . 4 • CommencementtoFeatureLt.Gov.Dewhurst • ACPEAccreditationSelf-studyUnderway • Author,HistorianSharesLessonswithPLS

u Faculty�News . . . . . . . . . . 6 • Chow,CollaboratorsEarnInventionHonor • NewFacultyAppointments

u Research�News . . . . . . . . 8 • CollegeReceivesNIHStimulusFunding • StudyExaminesRedGinsengforLungCancer •UHCollaboratesonHIVClinicalStudy

u Student�News . . . . . . . . . 12 • FrontlineFluFighters • Pharm.D.National,RegionalLeaders • CougarsRankHighforResearch,Skills

u Alumni�News . . . . . . . . . 16•Gov.PerryRecruitsCoogsforStateBoard•Sacky,BiundoRunningforTPALeadership•31stAnnualScholarshipGolfTournament

u Giving�News . . . . . . . . . 20 •MatchedFellowshipsNear$500,000 •PharmacyCareLabRenovationProject •MadingSocietyWelcomesInductees

Below left, alumni Elvia Saenz, R.Ph. (B.S. ’74), Lydia Aguilera, Pharm.D., (B.S. ’80), and Veronica Ramirez, R.Ph. (B.S. ’88), recently hosted a reception for Dean Pritchard in McAllen, Texas; and, below right, students Mallory Gessner and William Chau, alumna Renee Prescott, Pharm.D. (’02), and students Daniel Ortiz, Mark Nguyen, Bo Davis, Stephanie Ingle and Adrian Mata enjoy the 2009 Pharmacy Homecoming Tailgate activities.

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