2006-2007 TEACHER OF THE YEAR AWARDS:
Collegiate Teacher of the Year:  Gary Milavetz, PharmD, Associate Professor
Class of 2010 Teacher of the Year:  Jonathan Doorn, PhD, Assistant Professor
Class of 2009 Teacher of the Year:  Robert Shaw, PharmD, MPH, Assistant Professor (Clinical)
Class of 2008 Teacher of the Year:  Jenna Steffensmeier, PharmD, Assistant Professor (Clinlcal)

2006-2007 Preceptor OF THE YEAR AWARDS:
Faculty Preceptor of the Year: CoraLynn Trewet, MS, PharmD, BCPS, Assistant Professor (Clinical)
Community Practice Preceptor of the Year: Kristin Berg and Bethany Sather, Target Pharmacy, West Des Moines
Hospital/Health System Preceptor of the Year: John Rode, Jennifer Rode, and Michelle Birdsell, Henry County Health Center, Mt. Pleasant

Welcome to the Pharmacy Family!

**Trevor Russell Newkirk and Reid Austin Newkirk, twin sons of Erin Newkirk

• Trevor Russell Newkirk born at 9:58, May 9th, 2007
  6 lbs, 19.75 inches
• Reid Austin Newkirk born at 9:59, May 9th, 2007
  6 lbs, 1 oz, 19 inches
  

** Miles Gary Steffensmeier, son of Jenna Steffensmeier

• Miles Gary Steffesmeier, born at 3:30 am, September 19th, 2007
  9 lbs, 2.5 oz, and 21.25 inches

Assistant Dean Elected Treasurer of National Society
Paul Abramowitz, Pharm.D., director of the Department of Pharmaceutical Care at UI Hospitals and Clinics and assistant dean and professor in the UI College of Pharmacy, will serve a three-year term as treasurer of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP). The position also involves serving as treasurer of the ASHP Research and Education Foundation.

ASHP is the 30,000-member national professional association that represents pharmacists who practice in hospitals, clinics, health maintenance organizations, long-term care facilities, home care and other components of health care systems. Abramowitz is also past president and past chair of the Board of Directors of ASHP. Abramowitz's term began June 26, 2007.

Abramowitz also serves as the chairperson of the Iowa Board of Pharmacy, and has also served on the Iowa Board of Pharmacy Examiners for the past seven years. Abramowitz is also vice-chair of the board of directors of the Iowa Statewide Poison Control Center, a joint venture of UI Hospitals and Clinics and the Iowa Health System. Donna Katen-Bahensky, senior associate vice president for medical affairs and chief executive officer of UI Hospitals and Clinics, said, "Mr. Abramowitz is a remarkable leader. His unquestioned integrity, high standards and management capabilities make him highly qualified for this important professional office on the national level." 

Faculty Achievements
Congratulations to William Doucette, John Swegle, Jeff Reist, and Mike Ernst for their hard work and recent accomplishments!

• William Doucette, PhD, Clinical and Administrative Pharmacy, promoted to Professor
• John Swegle, PharmD, Clinical and Administrative Pharmacy, promoted to Associate Professor (Clinical)
• Jeff Reist, '82 BSPh, PharmD, Clinical and Administrative Pharmacy, for receving his PharmD, Summer 2007, now Assistant Professor (Clinical)
• Mike Ernst's research (Ernst ME et al. Hypertension. 2006:47[3]:352-358), was referenced in JAMA, in an article by Mike Mitka, JAMA, 2007:298:31. "Experts Argue Not all Diuretics the Same".

Donovan Receives Grant to Study Drug Pathways
Maureen Donovan, Ph.D., UI associate professor of pharmaceutics, has received a five-year, $1 million grant to study the transport of drugs from the nasal cavity to the brain. The NIH grant, "Bypassing the Blood Brain Barrier: Modulation of Transporters in the Nasal Mucosa," will enable Donovan and her colleagues to study the pathways drugs use to travel between the nasal cavity and the brain.

The researchers will use DNA analysis to identify specialized transporters present in the cells of the nasal mucosa (the tissue lining the nasal cavity) that might help to transfer drugs from the nasal cavity to the brain or may instead help to keep some drugs out of the brain.

"One of the greatest challenges in the development of drugs used for the treatment of diseases based in the central nervous system (CNS) is the transfer of a drug from the blood into the brain across what is referred to as 'the blood-brain barrier,'" Donovan said. "We are attempting to bypass this barrier using the unique transport pathway provided by the connection between the olfactory system (the body's system of smell) and the nasal mucosa."

Donovan will attempt to identify methods to improve drug transport through this pathway and determine whether drugs that can access the pathway are also able to produce a therapeutic effect once transferred to the CNS.

A 15-year veteran to this area of research, Donovan will work with Todd Scheetz, Ph.D., UI assistant professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences and biomedical engineering, and Daniel Bonthius, UI associate professor of pediatrics, neurology, and anatomy and cell biology. The research will be conducted at the UI College of Pharmacy and the DNA Facility in the Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology in the UI College of Engineering.

Researcher receives grant to study anticancer drugs
Zhendong Jin, Ph.D., associate professor in the University of Iowa College of Pharmacy, Medicinal Natural Products Chemistry, has received a $1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study the chemistry and biology of natural products found in deepwater marine sponges that may contribute to the development of anticancer drugs.

Jin's research will involve synthesizing the anticancer natural products superstolides A and B found in marine sponges in the waters off the island of New Caledonia, in the southwest Pacific Ocean. The synthesis will provide researchers with material for biological investigations, which will allow for the possibility of anticancer drug development.

"Although the accomplishments in the field of anticancer drug discovery are remarkable, cancer still remains one of the most deadly diseases on earth and is the second-leading killer," Jin said. "Therefore, the development of new, effective anticancer drugs is highly urgent."

According to Jin, more than 60 percent of anticancer agents are natural products or have been derived from or inspired by natural products. His research is designed to provide the research community with access to a new framework with promising anticancer activity.

Jin will conduct the synthesis at his laboratory at the UI, while the biological investigation of the materials will take place at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas.

Jin has conducted extensive medicinal and biological studies to synthesize anticancer and anti-HIV products. Through his preliminary studies for the current project, he has developed several new methods that will be employed throughout his continuing research.