Pharmacy Perspectives - Winter 2012 - 5

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Faculty Announcements
Joseph Saseen, PharmD, was appointed vice chair of the Department of Clinical Pharmacy, effective Sept. 1. David Thompson, PhD, recently accepted the position of Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, effective Jan. 17. Dr. Thompson has been with CU since 1986 when he joined the School as a post-doctoral fellow. Robert Page, PharmD, MSPH, was recently appointed by the leadership of the American Heart Association to represent the organization at USP (United States Pharmacopeia), the non profit organization that sets quality standards for medicines, food ingredients and dietary supplements manufactured, distributed and consumed worldwide. Dr. Page was also selected section editor for Cardiology for the ACCP Pharmacotherapy Self Assessment Program.

Faculty member and pharmacy alumnus Dr. Robert Valuck (’87) was interviewed by the Aurora Sentinel for an article on prescription drug abuse and the recent Colorado Prescription Drug Abuse Forum, which he helped organize and host Nov. 10 at the Anschutz Medical Campus. The forum’s keynote speaker was the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, R. Gil Kerlikoske. Channel 4 and the Denver Post covered the wellattended forum, which in addition to the keynote speech by White House drug czar, included representatives from the DEA, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, the state District Attorney’s office and medical professionals.

Drs. Sam Ellis and Wes Nuffer were highlighted in the Aurora Sentinel’s Life Science edition for their efforts to help diabetes patients participate in the Big Blue Test, a national push to get diabetes patients to test their blood sugar prior to and after exercise.

Dr. Lisa Thompson was interviewed for a piece in Oncology Nurse Advisor about managing the effects of chemo brain and citrus fruit-drug interactions. On Jan. 24, four faculty members – Drs. Peter Rice, Joseph Saseen, Katy Trinkley and Joseph Vande Griend – staffed an early morning call-in on 9NEWS to answer questions about opioid use and abuse. Dr. Saseen also answered questions on camera about the topic.

Faculty member Joel Marrs, PharmD, participated in a press conference focusing on the topic of the national shortage of prescription medications. The Denver Post included comments by Dr. Marrs in an article published Nov. 8.

Giving Back
Seven School employees, along with a few family and friends, spent the morning of Jan. 13 volunteering at the Food Bank of the Rockies (FBR). The group distributed food for the Totes of Hope program, which provides food for the weekend to children who receive meals through a free lunch program at school. “FBR is well organized for volunteers to come on a one-time or a regular basis. They especially need help in February and March and were most appreciative that we were ‘Giving Back’ our time to their organization,” said Charlotte Klaus, the group organizer for Friday’s expedition. “And, it was fun to volunteer with my colleagues!” FBR is located at Havana and I-70 – a short 10 minute drive from Anschutz Medical Campus. Interested volunteers can get more information from FBR by visiting www.foodbankrockies.org.

Dr. Alpha Tyagi’s work focusing on milk thistle and its promise to help halt lung cancers was highlighted in Yahoo India News.

Nuron Biotech Inc., a specialty biologics and vaccines company, recently announced in Biospace.com the initiation of a randomized, double-blind, placebocontrolled, pivotal Phase 3 study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of NU100 in patients with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis. NU100 is a proprietary recombinant human interferon beta-1b (1FN beta-1b) developed by BaroFold, a company that faculty member Dr. John Carpenter created, with patented high pressure refolding technology.

Dr. Gina Moore was interviewed Jan. 9 by Fox 31 regarding the voluntary recall of several OTC medications manufactured by Novartis Consumer Health, Inc. The recall affected Excedrin, NoDoz, Gas-X and Bufferin due to a manufacturing oversight that could cause an accidental overdose, reaction to other medications or an allergic reaction. Hundreds of critical complaints dating back to 2009 were overlooked or ignored by Novartis. According to Dr. Moore, “The equipment wasn’t being inspected and pills from one lot were sticking in the equipment and getting confused with other products.”

Dr. Anderson’s and Dr. Marrs’ clinical practice site at the Denver Health Eastside Adult Internal Medicine Clinic was recently featured in an AACP compilation entitled, “Successful Practices in College/School Involvement with Partnerships Contributing to the Implementation of Pharmacists Services for Team-Based, PatientCentered Care.”

Clowning Around
Dr. Shaun Berning, director of the Nontraditional PharmD program, clowns around during this year’s Parade of Lights. This is the second year that Dr. Berning has participated in the parade, delighting audiences along the two-mile parade route through Downtown Denver.

Winter 2012

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Pharmacy Perspectives - Winter 2012

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