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2017 News
Fri Dec 1, 2017
UCSF
You can’t get cigarettes at the pharmacy in San Francisco. But at the UCSF School of Pharmacy, tobacco research has long been part of the profession. When Dorie Apollonio, PhD, MPP, a faculty member in the School’s Department of Clinical Pharmacy, arrived at the School, she spent her early years...
Mon Nov 27, 2017
Centro Neumologia Pediatrica, Puerto Rico
Clinic staff member at Centro Neumologia Pediatrica, Puerto Rico’s largest pediatric pulmonary clinic, expressed thanks for the delivery of 484 water filters. Each filter can clean up to 295 gallons of water per day.
Esteban Burchard, MD, MPH, has always believed that the people studied through science should benefit from the insights they make possible.
As a researcher, Burchard has worked extensively in Puerto Rico, exploring the unique gene pool that contributes to the U.S. territory’s high asthma rates....
Tue Nov 21, 2017
Jean Kim/Desai Lab
The tiny implant slowly releases the drug over the course of six months before dissolving away.
Alexageev, CC BY-SA 3.0
If glaucoma is caught early, treatment can prevent irreversible blindness.
Glaucoma, which affects over 60 million...
Thu Nov 9, 2017
Lisa Kroon, PharmD, professor and chair of the Department of Clinical Pharmacy, UCSF School of Pharmacy
Like many rural areas, Kern County, California, has a shortage of doctors. Kern County also has a teen pregnancy rate nearly twice the national average and a sexually transmitted disease infection rate 46 percent higher than the rest of the state.
The shortage is a chance for UCSF School of...
Thu Nov 2, 2017
A supercomputer in the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory will be used in Project ATOM, a new public-private project that aims to speed discovery of new drug therapies.
Science sometimes feels like a marathon—a long race to a big finish, like a cover story in a top-tier journal or FDA approval of a new drug.
Now, a pioneering public/private consortium is poised to turn the marathon of drug discovery into a team relay, maybe even a short one, hopefully something...
Mon Oct 23, 2017
For decades, scientists have wanted to be able to study dopamine receptors one by one. The brain’s dopamine receptors are responsible for a variety of behaviors, such as reward seeking, and are also involved in psychiatric illnesses like schizophrenia. There are five types of dopamine receptors,...
Thu Oct 19, 2017
Encellin
The cell encapsulation device (right) that is being developed by Encellin, a San Francisco–based biotechnology company.
A UC San Francisco-created, insulin-generating implant that utilizes nanotechnology is closer to becoming a real treatment for diabetes, after being acquired by a San Francisco-based startup.
The biotechnology company Encellin acquired exclusive worldwide rights to the technology, originally...
Thu Oct 19, 2017
Ana Cruz knew, when she was very young, exactly what she wanted to do when she grew up, she told the UCSF doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) Class of 2021 at their White Coat ceremony.
She wanted the same job as the woman in white.
Now, Cruz is a PharmD student in the Class of 2018, and was the student...
Wed Oct 18, 2017
First-year student Carmen Leung receives her white coat from Vice Dean Sharon L. Youmans, PharmD, MPH.
For the UCSF doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) Class of 2021, October 13 was the day they officially entered the profession. In a ceremony on the Parnassus campus, each student donned a white coat, a symbol of health care professionals for more than 100 years.
“Today marks your transition from lay...
Fri Oct 6, 2017
Kidney failure is a debilitating and ultimately deadly illness, and a health policy crisis. With 468,000 people on dialysis in the U.S., costing the government $31 billion dollars a year, very little money is spent on researching alternatives to current treatments.
Wired magazine’s Megan Molteni...
Tue Oct 3, 2017
Gregory Smith, PharmD ’92, talks with incoming students (left to right) Harini Bhat, Thalia McCann, and Christy Khouderchah. Smith is an area pharmacy director for Kaiser Permanente.
Somewhere between the pleasant September evening in San Francisco, the lively conversation about the profession of pharmacy, and the excellent wine, there were potential long-term professional connections in the making.
Solid mentorships can catalyze amazing careers, but mentors are also hard to...
Mon Sep 25, 2017
New PharmD students at Orientation Week: left to right, Nathan Koreic, Marylynn Trinh, and Anjali Patel.
The newest UCSF doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) class gathered for the first time on Wednesday, September 20, in San Francisco’s foggy Golden Gate Park. Although it was their first time meeting in person, class members have been getting to know each other online for months.
The Class of 2021 spent the...
Wed Sep 20, 2017
Elisabeth Fall
Dear School of Pharmacy Family and Friends:
Imagine molecular tools that probe our biology, leading to new therapies. Imagine building new tissues and organs to replace those harmed by disease, or creating nanocontainers that deliver drugs to exactly where...
Tue Sep 5, 2017
Kathy Giacomini, PhD, a leader in the field of pharmacogenomics, has been named the 2017 recipient of the North American Scientific Achievement Award, presented by the International Society for the Study of Xenobiotics (ISSX). ISSX is an international association of scientists that promotes the...
Thu Aug 31, 2017
Ann Hane Ryu, a graduate student in the lab of Nadav Ahituv, PhD, works with cell cultures.
The common lab practice of adding antibiotics to cell cultures to prevent contamination can actually induce genetic changes in the cells, a paper senior-authored by Nadav Ahituv, PhD, found. Ahituv is a faculty member in the Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, a joint department...
Mon Aug 28, 2017
Ching C. Wang, PhD, a beloved UCSF School of Pharmacy researcher and professor, known for bringing molecular biology and biochemistry to parasitology, and for his work on the antiparasitic medicine ivermectin, died last week at the age of 80.
To his wide circle of colleagues and friends, he was...
Wed Aug 9, 2017
Many of the medicines we depend on to treat disease—and even to save our lives—pose potentially serious risks along with their benefits. Data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate that about 40,000 deaths yearly in the United States may be attributable to the side...
Fri Jul 7, 2017
Javier Chavez, left, and Sebastian Mederos, fifth grade, work together to design their bottle rocket.
Every good scientific exploration starts with questions, and at UCSF’s 2017 Summer Science Camp, the recent “bottle rocket engineering and launch day” was no different.
The camp’s nearly 50 fifth- and sixth-graders started the morning in a classroom on the Parnassus campus, discussing pictures...
Thu Jul 6, 2017
Edward Leong Way celebrated his 100th birthday in July 2016, surrounded by friends, family, and UCSF colleagues.
Edward (Eddie) Leong Way, PhD, UCSF School of Pharmacy alumnus, UCSF faculty member, and dear friend, died peacefully at home in San Francisco on June 12, 2017, four weeks before his 101st birthday.
Eddie mentored generations of UCSF PhD students and taught scores of pharmacy students during his...
Thu Jun 29, 2017
Heather Hertema, PharmD ’10, founder of UCSF Summer Science Camp, returned for the camp’s 10th anniversary.
As a first-year UCSF PharmD student, Heather Hertema, PharmD ’10, had a big idea: a free summer camp for kids who might not otherwise be exposed to the creative problem-solving and making-things-explode fun of science.
Hertema put together a grant proposal and approached the UCSF School of...
Tue Jun 20, 2017
Each year, Summer Science Camp brings 55 fifth- and sixth-grade students to the UCSF campus for a free week of learning and fun.
Ten years ago, at the inaugural UCSF Summer Science Camp, 10-year-old Najwa Anasse held a human brain in her hands—an “Aha!” experience that set her career path.
“I thought, ‘Oh my god, I want to study this.’ I was so excited,” says Anasse, who grew up in San Francisco’s Excelsior District and was...
Thu Jun 15, 2017
“Find a need and fill it” was a popular slogan that graced the side of pink Kaiser Cement trucks around the San Francisco Bay Area in the 60s and 70s. But Donald Kishi, PharmD ’68, took the motto as his professional mantra.
Elisabeth Fall
Donald Kishi, PharmD ’68, at Alumni...
Thu May 25, 2017
The UCSF School of Pharmacy conferred the doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) degree on 120 graduates at its 2017 commencement on May 19 at Louise Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco.
Dean B. Joseph Guglielmo, PharmD, addressed a gathering that included more than 1,000 of the graduates’ family, friends...
Mon May 15, 2017
Michael Nordberg, MPA/HSA
Michael Nordberg, MPA/HSA, was honored for his enduring professional accomplishments with the 2017 Chancellor Award for Exceptional University Management. He received accolades from peers and an award certificate from Chancellor Sam Hawgood, MBBS, during UCSF’s Founders Day Awards luncheon ceremony...
Fri May 5, 2017
Charles S. Craik, PhD, joins the 237th class of newly elected members of the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Sciences who will be inducted on October 7, 2017 at a ceremony in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Craik is a faculty member in the School’s Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and...
Fri Apr 28, 2017
Patients don’t take their medications as prescribed, and it’s a deadly problem. In Jane Brody’s recent piece, “The Cost of Not Taking Your Medicines” (New York Times, April 17, 2017), she writes that an estimated 125,000 deaths a year are caused by nonadherence.
Why would any patient blindly...
Mon Mar 27, 2017
For the 37th consecutive year, the UCSF School of Pharmacy has received more funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) than any other pharmacy school in the United States. School researchers were awarded $28.2 million in grants during NIH’s 2016 fiscal year, from October 1, 2015 to...
Thu Mar 23, 2017
Elisabeth Fall
Meghan Frear, PharmD
Meghan Frear, PharmD ’12
UC Davis Medical Center, Sacramento
Medication-use systems and technology safety pharmacist
Beyond the PharmD: Two year-long pharmacy residencies at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, California...
Tue Mar 21, 2017
Elisabeth Fall
Tina Ling, MPH, PharmD
Tina Ling, MPH, PharmD ’13
Fair Oaks Health Center, Redwood City
Ambulatory care clinical pharmacist
Beyond the PharmD: Year-long residency in ambulatory care at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, California
Expertise:...
Fri Mar 17, 2017
Elisabeth Fall
Krystal Pong Dahl, PharmD
Krystal Pong Dahl, PharmD ’11
John Muir Physician Network (Part of John Muir Health), Walnut Creek
Supervisor for Ambulatory Care Pharmacy Services
Beyond the PharmD: Pharmacy residency at San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical...
Wed Mar 15, 2017
Dear UCSF School of Pharmacy Family and Friends,
As the nation debates the possibility of dramatically new directions for health care coverage, science funding, immigration, education, and more, the School is confidently moving forward, regardless of these uncertainties. We persist in...
Wed Mar 15, 2017
Mark Dastrup
Troy Drysdale, PharmD
Troy Drysdale, PharmD ’08
Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla, San Diego
Clinical Pharmacy Manager
Beyond the PharmD: Year-long pharmacy residency at University of Washington Medical Center; then internal medicine pharmacist at...
Mon Mar 13, 2017
Gina Ko, in a crisp white lab coat, sits in a San Francisco clinic office across the desk from Rose, a low-income senior on Medicare, talking with Rose about how she can get the medications she needs at a price tag she can afford.
Rose is anxious and unsure about how to decipher and...
Mon Feb 27, 2017
Recipients of the UCSF School of Pharmacy 2017 Mary Anne Koda-Kimble Seed Award for Innovation will explore ideas ranging from possible new ways to treat obesity to new ways of accessing antibiotic-producing microbes found in soil. Five projects are being funded in this, the third round of awards...
Wed Feb 15, 2017
Susan Merrell
Danica Galonić Fujimori, PhD, delivers the 2017 Byers Award Lecture in Basic Science. Her topic was the problem of antibiotic resistance and how research may help keep drugs effective.
Since Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin in 1940, countless lives have been saved by antibiotics. But their effectiveness is severely compromised by the emergence of antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria, accelerated by the over-prescription of antibiotics and their widespread use as growth...
Tue Feb 14, 2017
Fifteen UC San Francisco faculty members have been named to the first cohort of Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Investigators, including five from the School of Pharmacy.
UCSF School of Pharmacy’s CZ Biohub Investigators are (left to right): Adam Abate, PhD; Zev Gartner, PhD; Bo Huang, PhD; Tanja...
Fri Jan 13, 2017
To honor and build on a lifetime of giving and charitable service by the late Helen Diller, the Helen Diller Foundation has granted $500 million to UC San Francisco, a university to which Helen was both generous and devoted.
Elisabeth Fall
The gift will be the largest single...