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2006 News Archive

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Rhode Island casts overwhelming yes vote for new College of Pharmacy Building

November 9, 2006
Thirty-eight of Rhode Island’s 39 cities and towns approved the higher education bond issue that will provide $65 million for a new College of Pharmacy building at the University of Rhode Island.

Election-day approval of the $72.8 million Question 4 bond referendum will also provide $7.8 million to Rhode Island College.

“As Tuesday night’s election numbers came in, it was apparent that the people of Rhode Island recognized the quality of the programs offered by the University and voted to support them through the continuing rehabilitation of the campus at Kingston,” URI President Robert L. Carothers said in a message to the University. “We are grateful for their overwhelming support.

“It’s a great day for URI and the state of Rhode Island, and I congratulate everyone for work very well done,” Carothers said.

A total of 229,658 Rhode Islanders, or 62 percent of the vote, cast affirmative ballots.

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Question 4 endorsed by key business and community organizations

November 1, 2006
Question 4 — a bond referendum that will provide $65 million for a state-of-the-art teaching and research facility for the College of Pharmacy at the University of Rhode Island and $7.79 million for building renovations and site improvements at Rhode Island College—has earned endorsements from key Rhode Island business and community leaders.

Question 4 is endorsed by:

* Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce
* Northern Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce
* Hospital Association of Rhode Island
* Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation
* Rhode Island Economic Policy Council
* Rhode Island Pharmacists Association
* Rhode Island State Nurses Association
* Rhode Island Community Pharmacy Association
* Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals
* South Kingston Town Council
* American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees - Council 94
* American Association of University Professors - URI Chapter
* Local 3302 - American Federation of Teachers/AFL-CIO.
* Rhode Island College Student Community Government, Inc.
* University of Rhode Island Student Senate

Supporters of Question 4 agree the bond referendum will expand and improve higher education opportunities, support economic and job growth, and improve health and social service programs throughout the state—including those for seniors and residents with disabilities.

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URI pharmacy student is grandfather, full-time EMT

October 31, 2006
“You’re my boy Blue, you’re my boy.” This quote, from the movie Old School, refers to an 89-year-old fraternity member, but is also used by the members of the University of Rhode Island pharmacy fraternity Kappa Psi to refer to one of their own. They are talking about Ronald Hammond, the 54-year-old, second-year pharmacy major and fellow pharmacy fraternity member.

Why did Hammond decide to return to school at this age, and tackle one of the University’s most difficult majors? “I had lots of free time on my hands,” Hammond said, and he wanted to put it to good use. “Going back to school would help me gain knowledge and make me able to treat my patients better.” Hammond has also been a full-time emergency medical technician with the Woonsocket Fire Department for the past 9 years. “Many patients we pick up on the rescue are on a myriad of medications. I want to know that any treatment or medication I give doesn't have an adverse affect on them.”

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URI College of Pharmacy, Dept. of Corrections team up to save nearly $5 million in drug costs at state prisons

October 26, 2006
The University of Rhode Island’s College of Pharmacy plays a pivotal role in reducing the state Department of Corrections pharmacy costs, saving nearly $5 million during the last four years.

The College’s Health Care Utilization Management Center works with the department’s medical staff to manage the medications for the prison system whose daily population averages 3,700, while its intake center processes 17,000 individuals per year. The department’s projected medication budget from 2003 through 2006 totaled $13.7 million, but its actual costs, thanks to efforts of the medical team led by URI’s management, were $8.8 million for the same period.

URI’s pharmacy college was awarded a three-year, $454,000 contract to oversee the department’s pharmacy program in 2002 following a competitive bidding process. In the spring of 2006, corrections awarded URI a four-year, $875,000 contract to continue its oversight. URI experts also oversee the state’s contract with Contract Pharmacy Services of Hatboro, Pa., which provides the actual medications.

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Pharmacy research, outreach programs could grow at URI if voters approve Question 4

October 26, 2006
Some of its faculty are making critical discoveries about drug interactions while others are helping another state agency save millions in pharmacy costs. The University of Rhode Island College of Pharmacy is benefiting our state, country and indeed the world.

But the College no longer has the space or technology it needs to grow in its crowded, outdated home—Fogarty Hall.
That’s why on Nov. 7 alumni and friends of URI are being asked to vote yes on Question 4, which would provide $65 million for a new home for the College and $7.8 million for Rhode Island College.

In one corner of Fogarty Hall, Professor Bingfang Yan conducts gene-based research on why some medicines work in one person and not in another. His worked is backed by $3.7 million in federal funding to examine critical drug interactions, how drugs are metabolized and the effectiveness of herbal remedies.

Despite being recognized by the National Institutes of Health as a leading biomedical researcher, he operates in severely outdated and cramped lab and office space.

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Pharmacy professor discovers drug interaction that inhibits Tamiflu


October 25, 2006
International and federal health officials are counting on the anti-viral drug Tamiflu to be a critical weapon in the event of an influenza pandemic. But a recently completed study at the University of Rhode Island’s College of Pharmacy indicates that the drug can be rendered ineffective in patients also taking the anti-clotting drug Plavix.

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Pharmacy professor uses animated movie to teach about diuretics

October 11, 2006
Roberta S. King was frustrated three years ago when she tried to explain to her University of Rhode Island pharmacy students how diuretic drugs work at a cellular level in the body.

“You can talk about how the drugs work and you can use still diagrams, but those methods are not very effective for explaining a lengthy, moving process,” said the assistant professor of pharmacy and Narragansett resident. “None of the textbooks explain this in a way that makes the sequence of movement understandable.”

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URI College of Pharmacy dedicates Brooks Eckerd classroom

July 20, 2006
The University of Rhode Island’s College of Pharmacy has dedicated a classroom with the latest animation technology to Brooks Eckerd Pharmacy. The pharmacy chain has supported several College projects, its total support exceeding $100,000.

During springtime ceremonies with company officials, the College renamed the facility in Fogarty Hall the Brooks Eckerd 3D Visualization Auditorium.

“This room, which is now one of the most technologically advanced classrooms in New England, is a reflection of the great changes going on here at the College,” said Pharmacy Dean Donald E. Letendre. “We dedicate this facility with sincere thanks for all Brooks Eckerd does for the College.”

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URI's College of Pharmacy honors outstanding alumni

May 31, 2006
The University of Rhode Island's College of Pharmacy has honored two alumni who mentor students during their clinical rotations and another alumnus for his national leadership in the profession.

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URI pharmacy student wins national Goldwater scholarship for work in HIV prevention research

May 19, 2006
University of Rhode Island pharmacy student Michael Hanley was recently named a 2006 Barry M. Goldwater scholarship winner for his work in HIV transmission prevention research. The annual awards are given to undergraduate sophomores and juniors who are interested in pursuing science and math related careers. The scholarship is applied to the cost of tuition, fees, books, and room and board up to $7,500 per year.

The Warren native was one of three Rhode Islanders awarded the scholarship. This year, the Goldwater committee awarded 323 scholarships out of almost 1,100 nominations. Hanley, who is a fifth-year pharmacy student, had never heard of the scholarship program until he saw a notice for applications in the student newspaper, The Good 5? Cigar last January. Taking a chance on the application, he found out in early April that he was a recipient. Hanley received a phone call from his friend from high school who had checked an online list of winners. He did not see his own name, but saw Hanley’s.

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URI honors late pharmacy alumnus who saved a life

May 8, 2006
The University of Rhode Island’s College of Pharmacy has named its physical assessment workshop in memory of an alumnus who saved the life a woman in the midst of a stroke.

During recent ceremonies at the College that launched this spring’s assessment workshop, Pharmacy Dean Donald E. Letendre announced that it would now be called the Adam J. Mendelson, Pharm D. Physical Assessment Workshop.

Mendelson, who died about six months after graduation from URI in 2002, worked in the Tiogue Avenue Brooks Pharmacy in Coventry when a woman came in complaining of a severe headache.

“Adam asked the woman to sit down and because of his training, he took her blood pressure and noticed that it was very high,” Letendre said. “He asked her to remain seated, took her blood pressure again, and then calmly called 911.”

At the hospital, the woman was treated for a mild stroke and recovered. “Adam’s assessment skills and quick action saved the woman’s life,” Letendre said.

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URI pharmacy students to gain disaster response experience through mock clinic

May 3, 2006
As a member of the Rhode Island Disaster Medical Assistance Team deployed to Louisiana to assist in the Hurricane Katrina relief effort, Jeffrey Bratberg knows what works and what doesn’t.

Now the assistant professor of pharmacy at the University of Rhode Island wants to see how students in his advanced infectious and pulmonary diseases class would perform in the simulated aftermath of a Category 5 hurricane that strikes Rhode Island.

On Friday, May 12, Bratberg’s students will participate in a mock disaster clinic run by Bratberg and the Rhode Island Disaster Medical Assistance Team for their final exam. From 3 to 6 p.m., the last day of finals, members of the Disaster Medical Assistance Team, several of whom were in the Gulf of Mexico after Katrina, will erect a tent outside Mackal Field House as a field clinic for the exercise.

“The students are working in groups to develop lists of drugs they would provide at a disaster site. Then, they will be tested on whether they made logical choices and how they respond to diseases for which they have no medicines,” Bratberg said.

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URI pharmacy students win top national honors for Medicare Part D education efforts

April 27, 2006
The University of Rhode Island’s College of Pharmacy captured first-place in a national competition that ranked the reach and effectiveness of student-driven Medicare Part D education efforts.

Twenty-two URI pharmacy students were honored during ceremonies at the recent American Pharmacists Association’s annual meeting in San Francisco. Jack Hutson, executive director of the Rhode Island Pharmacists Association, presented the students with a plaque and a $10,000 check, which will go toward student activities in the College of Pharmacy.

The University of Connecticut finished second in the competition while the University of Illinois was third. Jennifer Newell, of Lincoln, a fifth-year pharmacy student and former president of the URI chapter of the Academy of Student Pharmacists, the student division of the American Pharmacists Association, accepted the award at the podium on behalf of her fellow students.
 (source URI News Bureau)

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URI, ABC 6 launch ‘Ask the Pharmacist’ segment

January 23, 2006
The University of Rhode Island and Providence television station ABC 6 have launched a new segment called “Ask the Pharmacist” to provide viewers in Southeastern New England with accurate and timely answers to their medication questions.

Featuring registered pharmacist Dr. Kristina Ward, clinical assistant professor at the URI College of Pharmacy and director of its Drug Information Services, the segments run each Tuesday and Thursday on the 6 a.m. and noon newscasts. The format is designed so that Ward can respond to pressing questions on such topics as prescription drug interactions, Medicare Part D, over-the-counter treatments, herbal remedies and even issues raised by TV ads touting prescription medication for everything from depression to arthritis.  (source URI News Bureau)

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Outreach program at College of Pharmacy helping thousands each month

January 23, 2006
When Rhode Islanders need help deciphering the complexities of Medicare Part D, understanding drug imports from Canada or evaluating the latest TV drug commercials, they look to the Pharmacy Outreach Program of the University of Rhode Island College of Pharmacy.

In its first two weeks, the URI program’s special Medicare Part D website dedicated to the new federal prescription program had 1,100 hits, and since September the three-member outreach team has run or participated in 32 Medicare Part D presentations that served 1,700 seniors citizens, health care professionals from Woonsocket to Wakefield. The Outreach Program has trained 35 pharmacy students to help with Medication Part D presentations. (source URI News Bureau)

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