Update from the Dean - July 2002

Dear UCSF School of Pharmacy Family and Friends:

Greetings to you all. I have promised to keep this letter (print version) to one page, so I begin in haste.

Accreditation

Much of our efforts since I last wrote to you have been focused toward the February visit of the team from the American Council on Pharmaceutical Education (ACPE), which evaluated our Doctor of Pharmacy program for reaccreditation. Preliminary feedback from ACPE about the site visit and the self study report upon which it was based is most encouraging.

Budget

In his May revision to his 2002-2003 budget proposal, Governor Gray Davis called for reductions in state spending to address a shortfall of almost US$24 billion in the state of California's nearly US$80 billion general fund budget. The Governor's revised budget proposes substantial cuts at the University of California, although it avoids across-the-board cuts and reductions in the core instructional program. The news is not unexpected, and it means we have to redouble our efforts in the School at creative funding and fundraising.

Academic Programs

PharmD Professional Program

I am pleased to report a strong application pool for next year's PharmD entering class. Compared to last year, we saw a 40% increase in the number of applicants and, compared to 5 years ago, a doubling of Hispanic and African American applicants and admittances.

Graduate Programs

As for our graduate programs, the facts speak for themselves.

• The number of applications to the Biological and Medical Informatics program doubled over last year.
• The Chemistry and Chemical Biology program continues to be very competitive with 1 in 10 applicants admitted.
• The relatively new graduate program in Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacogenomics was just awarded an NIH training grant, which will begin in July.
• The new program in Quantitative Biology is a pathway option program for students entering the PhD degree-granting programs in biophysics, biological & medical informatics, chemistry & chemical biology, and neuroscience. In this first year of program recruitment, approximately 15 students who were accepted to these PhD programs have indicated a firm interest in pursing the quantitative biology option.

Honors and Awards

The list from the past 12 months or so is long.

Students

• Katie Barnes, PharmD student, received the Chancellor's Award for the Advancement of Women, in part for her work in founding a women's health organization on campus.
• Debbie Anderson, PharmD student, was named Pharmacy Student of the Year by the California Pharmacists Association.
• Two PharmD students, Shahrzad Movafagh and Bani Tamraz, received American Foundation for Pharmaceutical Education (AFPE) Gateway Scholarship Awards. AFPE Predoctoral Fellowships in the Pharmaceutical Sciences went to Jae H. Chang, Chandreyee Dos, and Winnie Y. Kim.
• PharmD student Pamela Dumpit won the patient counseling competition sponsored by the California Pharmacists Association.
• Recipients of this year's Frank M. Goyan Awards are PharmD students, Kathy Pang and Reni Thomas and PhD student Lillian Chong.
• At our June 22 PharmD commencement, PharmD students Jeff Tsai, Amy Bower, Joanne Kang, and Conan MacDougall were honored with this year's Dean's Award for Academic Excellence. Deborah Anderson, Amy Bower, Joseph Ma, and Conan MacDougall were nominated for the Bowl of Hygeia Award, which Conan received.

Faculty

• J.M. Long Awards for Excellence in Teaching this year went to faculty members Henry Sanchez (School of Medicine), Linda Phan, Cinda Christensen, Peter Ambose, Robin Corelli, David Adler, and Herman Wong, and teaching assistant Nancy Chang. Teaching awards also went to faculty members Betty-ann Hoener and Volker Doetsch, and teaching assistants Jennifer Gray and Charles Kung. Steve Kayser won the award for best teacher overall.
• Deanna Kroetz, biopharmaceutical sciences, was recognized by the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics with the Leon Goldberg Young Investigator Award.
• Kathy M. Giacomini, biopharmaceutical sciences, was the first recipient of the Gerhard Levy Distinguished Lectureship in the Pharmaceutical Sciences awarded by the University of Buffalo, department of pharmaceutical sciences. She was also elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
• Lorie Rice, clinical pharmacy, was appointed to the Medical Board of California on which she serves as vice president of the division of medical quality.
• Helene Levens Lipton, clinical pharmacy, was appointed to a National Expert Advisory Panel to provide oversight and direction to a major RAND study to develop standards for electronic prescribing systems.
• Lori Reisner, clinical pharmacy, was elected to the board of directors of the American Pain Society.
• Frank Szoka, biopharmaceutical sciences, was honored by the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists with the Biotechnology Award.
• The California Society of Hospital Pharmacists honored in 2001 Betty Dong with the Pharmacist of the Year Award and Don Kishi with the Distinguished Service Award. They are both in clinical pharmacy.
• For his outstanding contributions to the pharmaceutical sciences, biopharmaceutical sciences' Les Benet was awarded the Host-Madsen Medal by the Federation Internationale Pharmaceutique (FIP).
• Irwin (Tack) Kuntz, pharmaceutical chemistry, received the American Chemical Society Division on Computational Chemistry, Computers in Chemistry Award.
• And last, I was most honored to receive the Daniel B. Smith Practice Excellence Award from the American Pharmaceutical Association.

Alumni

I hope our alumni are reading the new Alumni Voice newsletter, which comes to you due to the efforts of Toby Herfindal, outgoing president of the Pharmacy Alumni Association, board of directors. Toby has been a fantastic leader. In his place we will welcome Bret Brodowy to the position.

Honored at our PharmD graduation on June 22 for their exceptional contributions to the profession were anniversary alumni Betty Dong (1972), Robert Elenbass (1972), Stu Heard (1972), and Barry Quart (1982).

The Alumnus of the Year Award will be presented at Homecoming on November 2, 2002. Invitations are due to post by early fall. Visit [Homecoming][link defunct] for more details.

Campuswide

I am pleased to report to you that our medical center is recovering from the financial blow of the demerger with Stanford University Medical Center. The campus is now considering options for a new hospital or hospitals. (For historical details, see UCSF Stanford Merger.)

Comings and Goings

Angela Hawkins, who served as associate dean for administration, accepted a promotion to the campus budget office.

I am personally saddened that Haile Debas, dean of the UCSF School of Medicine, has announced his retirement effective July 1, 2003. He is a visionary man with a warm and effective leadership style who has moved the medical school and UCSF forward into the future. He is a friend of the School, and we will miss him greatly.

Until my next letter, I wish you all well.

Yours sincerely,

Mary Anne Koda-Kimble, PharmD
Professor and Dean
Thomas J. Long Chair in Community Pharmacy Practice