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PRESS RELEASES
College of Pharmacy Faculty, Preceptors Honored
Five faculty members and 16 preceptors in the University of Iowa College of Pharmacy were honored for outstanding teaching during the 2007-2008 academic year at a reception Nov. 13 at the college.
Mary Starry, clinical instructor in clinical and administrative pharmacy, is the college's recipient of this year's UI Collegiate Teaching Award. Erika Ernst, associate professor of clinical and administrative pharmacy, was named Teacher of the Year by the college's class of 2009. Susan Staggs, clinical assistant professor in clinical and administrative pharmacy, was chosen as Teacher of the Year by the class of 2010. Robert Kerns, associate professor of medicinal and natural products chemistry, was selected as Teacher of the Year by the class of 2011. Jonathan Koffel, education and outreach librarian at the UI Hardin Library for Health Sciences, received special recognition. The Teacher of the Year awards are based on nominations by students and are selected by a faculty committee comprised of the previous year's award recipients.
Community Practice Preceptor of the Year awards were presented to Shannon Garcia, Mark Rodemeyer and Amy Rueber at People's Clinic Pharmacy in Waterloo. David Buresh, Constance Clancy, Jessica Havel, Julie Karlan, Lisa Lambi, Dale Lewis, Kelly Phan, Patrick Thies, Katherine Werling and James Willett of St. Luke's Hospital in Cedar Rapids received Hospital/Health System Preceptor of the Year awards. Ambulatory Care Preceptor of the Year awards were given to Kathleen Horner, Deanna McDanel and Ryan Jacobsen of UI Hospitals and Clinics. The college's Professional Experiential Program and the Office of Academic Affairs selects the preceptor award winners, based on composite student evaluations of the preceptors and the teaching sites. Preceptors serve as mentors to the fourth-year pharmacy students during the students' clinical clerkships. The clerkships emphasize clinical pharmacy skill development and give students the opportunity to work closely with pharmacists in professional care settings.
career fair and placement day
 The 2008 Career Fair & Placement Day took place on November 6 & 7, 2008 in the Amos Dean Ballrooms at the Sheraton Hotel in Iowa City, Iowa.
The Career Fair, held from 1:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. November 6, hosted forty-five vendor companies, with approximately 150 students visiting and exchanging information with them. The goal of the Career Fair is for practitioners, recruiters, and students to establish on-going relationships with each other. The recruiters provided and exchanged information regarding career opportunities, mento ring, tuition assistance, and/or available internship positions. The career fair was open to all students.
Placement Day was held the following day from 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m, for graduating seniors only. The format of this program includes 30-minute scheduled personal interviews between each business and the senior student. Eighty-five P-4 students attended Placement Day. Forty-one different companies brought nearly 100 recruiters to interview the senior students.
american pharmacists month 2008
 In honor of American Pharmacists Month 2008, student organizations at the College of Pharmacy spent the month of October performing health screenings, administering influenza immunizations, and celebrating the pharmacy profession on the UI campus and throughout our greater community.
Academy of Student Pharmacists (ASP) kicked off the month with a Health Fair with Towncrest Pharmacy on October 1st. Volunteers for Operation Diabetes held  information sessions on two separate occasions, visiting the local high school, Iowa City City High, and talked with students in the Health classes about diabetes. ASP also held multiple Heartburn Awareness sessions throughout the month, and met with employees of Aegon in Cedar Rapids to discuss managing and reducing heartburn on October 16th. They also went to the Iowa City Free Medical Clinic and St. Thomas More Parish to inform the public about heartburn awareness, perform diabetes and blood pressure screenings.
More often than not, the College of Pharmacy’s students were across UI’s campus volunteering for Operation Immunization (also part of ASP). In this month alone, there were over 20 flu shot clinics for the general public at various locations, including the College of Pharmacy’s Banker Student Center, the UI dormitories and the Liberty Clinic in North Liberty.
The College of Pharmacy student council hosted a Mini Health Fair at the Liberty Clinic in North Liberty, on October 27th. The public received flu shots, diabetes screenings and heartburn awareness information. Two other student organizations – Kappa Psi and Phi Lambda Sigma – joined forces for Habitat for Humanity. Members of both groups worked together to help build a house. Kappa Psi also volunteered at for the Ronald McDonald House in Iowa City, helping with dinner and participating in activities with the house patrons.
College of Pharmacy group receives FDA contract
 The UI College of Pharmacy is a part of national consortium that recently received a $1.2 million contract from the US Food and Drug Administration to develop guidelines that will enhance the way the pharmaceutical products are made.
The National Institute for Pharmaceutical Technology and Education (NIPTE), which represents 11 US universities that are leaders in pharmaceucial science and engineering, including the University of Iowa, received the contract to develop a "Quality by Design" initiative. By strengthening the science-based technology through this initiative, FDA looks to improve its regulation of new medical products by using the best management approaches, information technology, and systems and review processes. This research will begin this year and is expected to be ongoing through September 2010.
"This seed grant is a tremendous initial opportunity for Iowa researchers to join forces with the agency and other academic scientists to improve the quality and safety of drug products," sai Lee Kirsch, PhD, UI associate professor of pharmaceutics. "The UI is providing leadership and expertise to the team focused on devising new drug product stability guidelines."
2007-2008 preceptors of the year announced
The College of Pharmacy recognizes outstanding preceptors in three categories; Institutional/Hospital, Non-institutional/Community, and Faculty. The award winners will be recognized at the Scholarship Reception that will be held from 3:00 – 4:30 pm on November 13 in the Banker Student Center. Please join in thanking these preceptors for their contributions to the college. This year’s winners include:
Institutional/Hospital from
St. Luke’s Hospital, Cedar Rapids:
David Buresh, R.Ph.,
Dale Lewis, Pharm.D.,
Kelly Phan, Pharm.D.,
Patrick Thies, R.Ph.,
Connie Clancey, Jessica Havel, Pharm.D.,
Julie Karlan,
Lisa Lambi, Pharm.D.,
Kathy Werling,
Jim Willett
Non-institutional/Community from
People’s Clinic Pharmacy, Waterloo:
Preceptors are: Amy Rueber, Pharm.D., Mark Rodemeyer, Pharm.D.,
Erina Thomas, Pharm.D.
Faculty from
UIHC Ambulatory Care:
Katie Horner, Pharm.D.,
Deanna McDanel, Pharm.D.,
Ryan Jacobsen, Pharm.D.
outcomes selected for business accelerator program
Outcomes Pharmaceutical Health Care (Outcomes) has been selected for the Emerging 200 Initiative - a nationwide business accelerator program. UI College of Pharmacy Alumnus Tom Halterman, '89 BSPh, is the CEO and co-founder of the company. The goal of the initiative is to identify 200 urban-based businesses across the country which show a high potential for growth—and to provide them with additional training and resources. According to the program sponsor, bolstering entrepreneurial success in these areas will generate new jobs, attract investment and provide a sustainable economic base. “We are honored to be selected for this program” said Tom Halterman, '89 BSPh, Outcomes’ CEO and co-founder.
Outcomes Pharmaceutical Health Care is the national leader in the design, delivery, and administration of Medication Therapy Management programs. The company’s service line benefits health care purchasers by delivering a cost effective approach to advancing patient care and controlling utilization through the provision of patient-friendly, face-to-face personal pharmacist services. The company is headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa and may be found online at www.getoutcomes.com.
pls and kappa psi lend a hand to habitat for humanity
On October 11, two pharmacy organizations, Kappa Psi and Phi Lambda Sigma (PLS), united forces to help Habitat for Humanity build a house. Five students from the organizations volunteered, including Megan Brockman (Kappa Psi), Ashley Virene (Kappa Psi and PLS), Ashley Kessler (Kappa Psi and PLS), Jen Carver (Kappa Psi), and Farah Towfic (PLS). The house is located on Aster Street in Iowa City. It will be dedicated to the family at the end of October so that the family can be home in time for trick-or-treating. Kappa Psi has regularly volunteered for Habitat for Humanity in past years.
UI pharmacy researcher receives American Cancer Society grant
Aliasger Salem, Ph.D., assistant professor of pharmaceutics, has received a four-year $717,000 American  Cancer Society Research Scholar Award to develop a vaccine to treat and prevent melanoma. Salem will conduct the research in collaboration with George Weiner, M.D., professor of internal medicine in the UI Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine and director of Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center at the UI.
Melanoma is the most serious form of skin cancer and accounts for about 75 percent of all skin caner deaths. The American Cancer Society estimates that about 62,480 new cases of melanoma will be diagnosed, and 8,420 people are expected to die from melanoma in 2008. Present therapies for melanoma include surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy. The UI study aims to develop a vaccine based on biodegradable microparticles that deliver a combination of molecules to the immune system to generate a strong, sustained immune response against melanoma.
"Although the focus of this study is on the treatment of melanoma, this innovative and potent technology will have potential for applications in a wide range of cancer types," said Salem, who also is a member of Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center at the UI. The research will build on work showing that Toll-like receptor (TLR) ligands have significant potential in stimulating strong immune responses against a variety of cancers. Salem and Weiner have recently shown that one group of TLR ligands called cytosine-phosphorothioate-guanine oligodeoxynucleotides (CpG ODN) that bind to a particular Toll-like receptor, produce much stronger immune responses when they are delivered in biodegradable microparticles.
The UI team will develop microparticles that entrap tumor-specific antigens and TLR ligands. The microparticles, which are non-toxic to cells, protect their molecular cargo from enzymatic degradation and enable preferential uptake of the TLR ligands and antigens by certain immune system cells. The microparticle delivery system also provides sustained release of antigens and TLR ligands thereby enhancing the overall immune response. In addition, microparticles can be packaged, scaled up, and stored easily, which makes them an attractive option from a manufacturing perspective.
"This approach is the first ever to rationally design a delivery system to target multiple synergistic Toll-like receptors," Salem said.
UI graduates' $1 million gift to benefit pharmacy and business colleges
A $1 million gift from University of Iowa graduates Tom and  Debbie Veale of Palos Verdes Estates, Calif., will endow a professorship in the UI College of Pharmacy and enhance risk management and insurance education in the UI Henry B. Tippie College of Business. The Veales made their gift to the UI Foundation in concert with Tristar Risk Management, an insurance services firm that Tom Veale founded in 1987. Tristar, one of the nation's largest independent third-party claims administrators, is based in Long Beach, Calif.
The Deborah K. Veale Professorship in Healthcare Policy and Quality in the UI College of Pharmacy will be funded by $750,000 of the Veales' gift. The Veale Professorship will provide support for a faculty member to help UI pharmacy students become community-minded pharmacists who take seriously their leading role in determining the quality of health care in the future. The remaining $250,000 will create the Tristar Excellence Fund in the Vaughan Institute of Risk Management and Insurance in the Tippie College of Business. This fund will provide the Vaughan Institute with general support and will annually support a Tristar Risk Management Fellow.
"We are extremely grateful to the Veales for their most generous gift," said Donald E. Letendre, dean of the UI College of Pharmacy. "The Veale Professorship in Healthcare Policy and Quality will greatly augment the leadership role that our college has established in this critically important area of study. Ultimately, our students and those whom they will eventually serve will be the true beneficiaries of their generosity."
Debbie Veale, who graduated from the UI in 1981 with a BSPh. degree in pharmacy, is a regional director for CVS/pharmacy. Tom Veale graduated from the UI business college in 1980 with a degree in accounting. He is the president of Tristar Risk Management.
"Our goal for the Veale Professorship in Healthcare Policy and Quality is to actively involve the pharmacy profession in the creation of health care polices that will benefit our practice settings as well as our patients," Debbie Veale said. "Tom and I both feel very strongly that the University of Iowa provided us with an exceptional education that not only prepared us for the business world as new grads but also gave us a great foundation to grow in our careers."
pls annual softball tournament
 Phi Lambda Sigma (PLS) held its annual College of Pharmacy Softball Tournament Tuesday, September 30th. A barbeque sponsored by Walgreens preceded the tournament at 5:30pm. As a result of the June floods, this year’s event was held at Napoleon Park in Iowa City. Each class had their own team and competed against each other. The P1's played against a combination of the P4's, alumni, and faculty, including pitching extraordinaire Traviss Tubbs ‘01, Dean Letendre, and Associate Dean Kelly for the first game. The second game, P2's vs. P3's, directly followed the conclusion of the first game. The championship game pitted the P4/faculty against the P3’s, with the P4s/faculty team winning the championship. The entire College was encouraged to attend, and the team and fans with the most morale and participation received a prize.
college of pharmacy director retires
After 17 years of dedicated service  to the University of Iowa, Rolland Poust retired October 1st, 2008. Dr. Poust was the Director of Pharmaceutical Services and also served as a Professor and Interim Division Head in the Division of Pharmaceutics. A reception was held in his honor on September 29th.
"We are all indebted to Dr. Poust for his years of dedicated service and wish him well as he begins this new and exciting phase of his life," Dean Donald E. Letendre stated.
Maureen Donovan, PhD, professor, will begin serving as Interim Head of the Pharmaceutics Division, effective October 1st. According to Dean Letendre, "Dr. Donovan's talents as an educator, researcher, and engaged member of the University Community provide her with the tools necessary to provide vision and solid leadership to the Division."
Pharmaceutics Faculty member 
honored by alumnus
Douglas L. Flanagan, PhD, Pharmaceutics, was recently honored by Nagesh Palepu, '84 PhD, at a building dedication ceremony of Palepu's company, TherDose, located in Hyderabad, AP, India. Flanagan was asked to deliver a keynote address to dedicate (with ribbon cutting) a newly remodeled building and unveil the foundation stone for another building. The stone honored Flanagan and reflects Palepu's gratitude for his education at the University of Iowa, College of Pharmacy.
Heartburn Awareness
Students from the Academy of Student Pharmacists, American Pharmacy Association (ASP-APhA) sponsored a heartburn awareness challenge screening on September 4th and September 8th at the Coralville Farmers' Market, in Coralville, Iowa. PharmD candidates Kjersha Wanlass, Colleen Kann, and Angela Yee spoke to and gave out patient education materials to residents while they shopped for their fresh fruits and vegetables. The three students are coordinators of the Heartburn Awareness program for the 2008-2009 school year and they have created a 'gmail' email account, heartburninfo@gmail.com, for anyone having questions relating to heartburn and heartburn prevention.
Medicinal & Natural Products Chemistry welcomes new faculty member
Medicinal Natural Products Chemistry (MNPC) is pleased to announce David L. Roman, PhD, as their newest faculty member. Roman received a BS in Chemistry & Biological Sciences from Quincy University, Quincy, IL (1998), and a PhD in Medicinal Chemistry & Molecular Pharmacology from the Purdue University School of Pharmacy (2004). He most recently came from the Department of Pharmacology, University of Michigan Medical School (2008) where he was a Postdoctoral Fellow. David joins the University of Iowa faculty as an Assistant Professor.
Dr. Roman's research interests are High Throughput Screening, the development of Regulators of G Protein Signaling (RGS) Proteins as drug targets, and the use of Flow Cytometry for studying protein-protein interactions.
Faculty Members honored as fellows
Erika Ernst, PharmD, Associate Professor, Clinical and Administrative Pharmacy, and Michael Ernst, PharmD, Associate Professor (Clinical), Clinical and Administrative Pharmacy and Department of Family Medicine, have recently been named
Fellows of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) and will be recognized during a special ceremony on October 19 at the College’s 2008 Annual Meeting in Louisville, Kentucky. Recognition as a Fellow is awarded to ACCP members who have demonstrated a sustained level of excellence in clinical pharmacy practice and/or research.
Divisions merge to become 'UI Pharmaceuticals'
Leaders at the University of Iowa College of Pharmacy have announced the merger of two of its service divisions to better facilitate the college's drug development and manufacturing capabilities.
The University of Iowa Pharmaceuticals (UIP) is the new name for the combined Division of Pharmaceutical Service and the Center for Advanced Drug Development (CADD). Mickey Wells, director of Pharmaceutical Service, will lead UIP, and Alta Botha, director of CADD, will serve as scientific director. The combined organization has approximately 80 pharmaceutical professionals. Senior scientific staff average more than 20 years of experience in pharmaceutical development.
Merging the two divisions formalizes what was already occurring on a practical level, said Donald Letendre, dean of the UI College of Pharmacy. "Both divisions have worked closely with each other for years, so bringing together these two units will only enhance collaboration and lead to greater opportunities in drug discovery and development," he said.
The Division of Pharmaceutical Service is the most experienced university-affiliated drug manufacturing facility registered with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and has produced clinical supplies in compliance with Good Manufacturing Practices since 1974. Companies from around the world use the manufacturing facility to produce supplies of new pharmaceutical agents for use in clinical trials and other research. CADD, established in 1992 and based on the UI Oakdale  Research Campus, performs analytical tests to obtain data for new and existing drug formulations. The center serves pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology firms, medical departments and governmental agencies.
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