2005 News

Thu Dec 8, 2005
While a number of antiviral medications are used to combat typical types of influenza, only two are active against the new avian influenza virus, known as H5N1, according to Joseph Guglielmo, PharmD, UCSF School of Pharmacy professor and clinical pharmacist specializing in medications to treat...
Thu Dec 8, 2005
For the 2nd consecutive year, UCSF topped all United States universities and colleges in both total and federally financed spending for chemistry research and development. These results reflect data for 2003 from the National Science Foundation. These are the most recent statistics available as of...
Wed Dec 7, 2005
UCSF is the recipient of a US$1 million, 3-year grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) to create a new and radical PhD program to train systems biologists. Graduates will be able to apply mathematics, physics, and engineering to biological questions, and effectively communicate their...
Wed Dec 7, 2005
By genetically engineering microbes to act like biological camera film, UCSF School of Pharmacy assistant professor Christopher A. Voigt, PhD and doctoral students show the potential of the new field of synthetic biology to create useful tools for medicine and technology. Details of this research...
Fri Nov 18, 2005
Leaders from 6 Vietnamese pharmacy schools joined with the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Pharmacy and UCSF Global Health Sciences, and the United States Pharmacopeia to sign a partnership agreement on November 12, 2005 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam to expand the role of...
Tue Nov 15, 2005
A research collaboration between the University of California (UC) and Peking University will integrate the biological data acquisition strengths of the former with the physical and theoretical strengths of the latter, a move which scientists anticipate will ultimately lead to more effective, safer...
Tue Nov 1, 2005
Robert Langridge, PhD, professor emeritus of the School of Pharmacy, University of California, San Francisco, is highlighted as one of 35 innovators of our time by the editors of Smithsonian Magazine in its November 5, 2005 issue. Langridge pioneered the field of computer graphics, which uses...
Fri Oct 28, 2005
A unique course of study offered by UCSF's School of Pharmacy has led a strong student to realize his goal of doing research and helping patients overseas. It has helped him to win a prized Fulbright Fellowship to boot. Foreign lands already were on Bryan McGee's travel menu before he came to UCSF...
Tue Oct 11, 2005
Dissolving thin strips containing over-the-counter medicines are now being used by consumers to treat their coughs and colds and runny noses. Consumers need to be especially cautious when using new medicine formats such as thin strips, says Bill Soller, PhD, executive director of the UCSF School of...
Wed Oct 5, 2005
A new benefit for prescription drugs will be offered through Medicare beginning January 1, 2006. Medicare recipients who are eligible for this benefit must evaluate their drug benefit options and enroll in a drug plan. Drug benefit expert and UCSF School of Pharmacy faculty member Marilyn Stebbins...
Wed Sep 14, 2005
Attempts have failed by Health Management Organizations (HMOs) to cut drug costs by putting physicians at financial risk if their prescription costs exceed their medical group's drug budget. This was the finding of a study led by School of Pharmacy faculty member Helene Levens Lipton, PhD, which...
Thu Jul 28, 2005
The same level of legal scrutiny that applies to research funded by the US government should apply to research funded by industry, according to UCSF School of Pharmacy faculty member Lisa Bero, PhD, and co-authors of a study that appeared July 20, 2005 in the online issue of American Journal of...
Tue Jul 19, 2005
Kathy M. Giacomini, PhD, UCSF School of Pharmacy scientist, received the 2005 Paul Dawson Biotechnology Award in Cincinnati, Ohio on July 10, 2005 from the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP). The award recognizes exceptional teaching and research in biotechnology. Giacomini is an...
Tue Jul 19, 2005
Katherine Yang, PharmD, MPH, UCSF School of Pharmacy assistant clinical professor, is one of nine UCSF faculty members awarded a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to support early career development of researchers. The NIH Multidisciplinary Clinical Research Scholar Award funds...
Mon Jun 27, 2005
James Wells, PhD, a leader in the development of new technologies to aid drug discovery and protein engineering, joins UCSF as the first holder of the Harry Wm. and Diana V. Hind Distinguished Professorship in Pharmaceutical Sciences. Wells will hold joint faculty appointments in the Schools of...
Fri Jun 24, 2005
The UCSF School of Pharmacy was the largest recipient of 2004 research funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) among pharmacy schools in the United States. The School's 2004 total NIH award funding was US$23.5 million. "The 2004 ranking marks the 25th consecutive year we've received...
Thu Apr 28, 2005
The growing use of herbals and dietary supplements calls for increasing consumer education of products, their ingredients and effects, possible interactions with other medications, and much more. Candy Tsourounis, PharmD, director of the Drug Information Analysis Service, School of Pharmacy,...
Thu Apr 28, 2005
The ethical issues behind a pharmacist's personal decision to dispense or not dispense emergency contraceptives and other drugs is explored by doctor of pharmacy students at the School of Pharmacy, University of California, San Francisco, in a required course on pharmacy law and ethics. Course...
Fri Apr 22, 2005
The pros and cons of legislating a pharmacist's right to refuse to dispense emergency contraceptive medications was the topic of discussion at a meeting held Tuesday, April 19, 2005 among doctor of pharmacy students from the School of Pharmacy, University of California, San Francisco and law...
Wed Apr 20, 2005
More than 20 high school students from California's central valley city of Fresno spent a day in early February 2005 with local pharmacists in various practice settings to get a close look at pharmacy as a career option. “There is a real disconnect between the perception high school students hold...
Tue Apr 19, 2005
Whether or not pharmacists or pharmacies should be legally allowed to refuse to dispense medications is the cause of current state and national discussion and proposed legislation. At center stage are contraceptives. Speaking out are right to life and pro choice advocates as well as pharmacists,...
Wed Apr 6, 2005
UCSF School of Pharmacy scientist Tanja Kortemme, PhD, is a 2005 recipient of the prestigious Sloan Research Fellowship awarded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The fellowship supports young scientists who demonstrate exceptional potential for enlightening science with new knowledge. Recipients...
Tue Apr 5, 2005
The UCSF School of Pharmacy maintains its ranking as the best doctor of pharmacy degree program in the United States, according to a survey conducted by U.S. News & World Report. Results were published in the magazine's April 11, 2005 issue and in its special report, "America's Best Graduate...
Tue Mar 22, 2005
Mary Anne Koda-Kimble, PharmD, dean of the School of Pharmacy, University of California, San Francisco has been reelected to the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) Board of Trustees. Her second term begins March 2005 and ends March 2010. USP is a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization that sets...
Wed Mar 16, 2005
Steve Kayser, PharmD, clinical pharmacist and cardiology drug expert warns that the risks could outweigh the benefits of making cholesterol-lowering drugs, called statins, available in the United States without a prescription. In January 2005, two United States Food and Drug Administration expert...
Fri Mar 11, 2005
UCSF School of Pharmacy scientist Christopher A. Voigt, PhD is a 2005 recipient of the prestigious Sloan Research Fellowship awarded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The fellowship supports young scientists who demonstrate exceptional potential for enlightening science with new knowledge....
Mon Mar 7, 2005
The Center for Drug Development Science (CDDS), located in Washington, DC, has joined with the UCSF School of Pharmacy to advance the safe and effective use of drugs. CDDS moved its academic affiliation in fall 2004 from Georgetown University to UCSF, while retaining its District of Columbia...
Tue Mar 1, 2005
Dear UCSF School of Pharmacy Family and Friends: I begin this letter by acknowledging the events that continue to shake the world—the war in Iraq, the tsunami in South Asia, and the continuing devastation of AIDS in Africa and increasingly in Asia. Individually we have our own personal and...
Wed Jan 19, 2005
Kathy M. Giacomini, PhD, chair of the UCSF School of Pharmacy Department of Biopharmaceutical Sciences is one of five new members appointed to the National Advisory General Medical Sciences Council. The appointment came from Tommy Thompson, US Secretary of the Department of Health and Human...
Wed Jan 19, 2005
More than 33% of adults in the US pursue non-conventional medical treatments, therapies, and techniques. These include acupuncture, herbal remedies, and homeopathy, respectively. In light of this fact, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) convened an expert committee to study the extent of complementary...