HONORS AND AWARDS

Miller Receives American College Of Clinical Pharmacy Award
William Miller, PharmD, professor of clinical and administrative pharmacy, has been named the 2005 recipient of the Paul F. Parker Medal for Distinguished Service to the Profession of Pharmacy.

The annual award is presented by the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (AACP) to acknowledge significant and sustained contributions to the field. Miller received the Parker Medal on Oct. 23 at the annual AACP meeting in San Francisco, Calif.

Miller came to the UI in 1997 as head of the College’s Division of Clinical and Administrative Pharmacy, a position he held until 2001. He has been and remains "one of the most influential clinical pharmacy leaders of the past 30 years," according to the Parker Medal selection committee. One of Miller's key contributions to the profession was his appointment of the Commission to Implement Change in Pharmaceutical Education when he was president of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) in 1989. He charged the commission to redefine the mission of pharmacy practice as a basis for pharmaceutical education and develop a conceptual framework for pharmacy practice. Under Miller's leadership, the commission made recommendations that revolutionized pharmacy education and influenced pharmacy practice worldwide.

A founding member of the AACP, Miller served as the organization's president from 1985-1986. He also is a founding member of the board of directors of the journal Pharmacotherapy and has chaired the journal's board since 2003. A leading advocate for progressive postgraduate training and residency accreditation, Miller was a member of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) Commission on Credentialing from 1991 to 1997 and chaired that body for three years. He remains active on ACCP and AACP committees, and he serves as a residency program accreditation surveyor for ASHP.

As a department chair, Miller was responsible for the development and expansion of clinical pharmacy programs at the University of Tennessee, the Medical University of South Carolina and the UI. Miller began his career at the University of Kentucky, where he served under Paul Parker.

Gary Milavetz, PharmD, associate professor and assistant head for academic affairs, clinical and administrative pharmacy, was named a director-at-large of clinical specialists and scientists of American Society of Health-System Pharmacists for 2006-2008.

Milavetz has served as a preceptor in ASHP’s Asthma Traineeship program for several years. He is active in local, regional, and national pharmacy organizations serving in both elected positions and as an appointed member of assorted organizational committees and task forces. He is also a clinical pharmacist in the division of allergy and pulmonary of the department of pediatrics at UI Hospitals and Clinics. His specialty area is pediatric pharmacotherapy with an interest in medications used to treat respiratory disease.

Grant Funds Research On Natural Compounds For Drug Dependence
UI College of Pharmacy researcher Thomas Prisinzano, PhD, assistant professor of medicinal and natural products chemistry, will study the development of a potential new treatment for substance abuse thanks to a five-year, $1.67 million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.

In his research, Prisinzano will take a natural compound derived from plants and, using medicinal chemistry, convert it into a product that could be used as a pain reliever or a treatment for methamphetamine or cocaine dependence, for example.

The natural compound, salvinorin A, targets opioid receptors at the same place in the brain where morphine and other opiates act. Research has shown that opioid receptors are involved in some of the abuse-related effects of drugs. Understanding how salvinorin A interacts with opioid receptors will allow new medications to be developed to treat drug abuse and pain.

Zhendong Jin was recognized for having one of his Organic Letters papers being the most accessed paper in 2004. Organic Letters is one of the most prestigious journal in Organic Chemistry.

Please join me in congratulating Ammar Khawam for winning second place in the UI International Office International Student Essay contest entitled: Coming to America. Congratulations Ammar!

Congratulations go to CoraLynn Trewet who just got elected Member-at-large  for the Clinical Sciences Section of the Academy of pharmaceutical Research and Sciences.

Also note Nicole M. Petersen, a recent UI grad,  was elected new practitioner representative for the Community/Ambulatory Practice Section of the Academy of Pharmacy Practice & Management.

Karen Farris was elected a 2006 Fellow of the American Pharmacists Assocation (FAPhA) by the APhA Academy of Pharmaceutical Research and Sciences. This designation of APhA Fellow honors Academy members with a minimum of 10 years of exemplary professional experience and who have rendered outstanding service to the profession through activities in APhA and other organizations.