Skip to main content
Faculty and Staff

News and Events

2007 News Archive

2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005

Ron JordanURI appoints interim dean for College of Pharmacy

KINGSTON, R.I. – September 24, 2007 – The University of Rhode Island has appointed Ronald P. Jordan, an international pharmaceutical leader, as interim dean of its College of Pharmacy and Raymond Wright, a respected environmental engineering professor, as interim dean of its College of Engineering.

Jordan, chair of the College of Pharmacy’s Leadership Council and the former president of the American Pharmacists Association, succeeds Donald Letendre, who has accepted an appointment to become dean of the University of Iowa’s Academic Health Services Center. Jordan will start his term as interim dean Sept. 24, but he joined the URI administration as executive-in-residence Sept. 4 to ensure a smooth transition.

“President Carothers and I have asked Ron to play a leadership role in securing the major gifts necessary for the completion of the new pharmacy building,” said M. Beverly Swan, URI provost and vice president for academic affairs, in a message to the URI community. “We feel he is in an excellent position to help us with this undertaking.”

Rhode Island voters passed a $65 million bond referendum in 2006 for construction of a state-of-the-art facility to house the URI College of Pharmacy.

Jordan is an entrepreneur who has been an executive in several start-up companies in the pharmaceutical industry during the last 18 years. He was president of Drug Benefit Management Systems Inc., founder and senior vice president of ExcelleRx Inc. (formerly Hospice Pharmacia), senior vice president of PharmasMarket.com, and president and chief executive officer of HCIdea, LLC.

In 2002 he founded Healthation, LLC, which markets a comprehensive benefit management system for all lines of health care, and in 2006 he was recruited to serve as chief operating officer of BidRx, LLC, to launch its consumer electronic marketplace for prescription drugs.

As president of the American Pharmacists Association in 1998-99, the largest national professional society of pharmacists in the world, Jordan led development of e-business strategies and drove a new collaboration with the chain drug industry. Jordan is also former president of the Rhode Island Pharmacists Association.

A 1976 alumnus of URI, Jordan served on the board of the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs and was the 2006 recipient of the Norman A. Campbell Award for Ethics and Excellence in Healthcare. He has won the Innovative Pharmacy Practice Award, the Bowl of Hygeia and the Guido Pettinichio Award from the Rhode Island Pharmacists Association, and in 2006 he received the Grand Council Citation and Award from Kappa Psi Pharmaceutical Fraternity for “inspiring leadership and appreciation for unselfish service to pharmacy and pharmacy education.”
 

 

URI launches new program in pharmaceutical engineering

Unique program developed with help of $75,000 gift from FOUGERA


KINGSTON, R.I. – July 12, 2007 – Students interested in pursuing careers in the biopharmaceutical industry have a unique new educational option at the University of Rhode Island – one of the nation’s first undergraduate programs in pharmaceutical engineering.

"URI is one of the few universities in the country to offer both a pharmacy program and an engineering program, which has enabled us to create this new track within our chemical engineering major," explained Arijit Bose, professor and chair of the URI Department of Chemical Engineering, who has spearheaded development of the program with Pharmacy Professor Clinton Chichester.

Bose noted that many chemical engineering students go to work for biopharmaceutical companies like Amgen and Pfizer after graduation, but they require additional training about sterile work environments, FDA regulations and other topics that are taught in the URI College of Pharmacy. Students enrolled in the pharmaceutical engineering track will now receive the necessary training as part of their undergraduate education.

Engineering students won’t be the only students to benefit from the new program, however.

“Demand is very high for the 100 openings in our pharmacy program each year, so now students interested in pharmacy will have another educational option at URI that will lead them to a career in the pharmaceutical industry,” Chichester said.

The program was approved by the URI Faculty Senate in April.

Freshmen may enroll in the pharmaceutical engineering program beginning this fall. They will follow the traditional chemical engineering curriculum but will also take three pharmacy courses as well as a new pharmaceutical engineering course that is now being developed.

Click here to read the full article

 

URI alumnus awarded pharmacy’s highest honor

Media Contact: Linda A. Acciardo, 401-874-2116

KINGSTON, R.I. – June 6, 2007 – University of Rhode Island College of Pharmacy alumnus Ernest Mario was awarded the Remington Honor Medal earlier this year. The award, administered by the American Pharmacists Association is the profession’s highest honor.

Named for eminent community pharmacist, manufacturer and educator Joseph P. Remington, the award was established in 1918 to recognize distinguished service and / or outstanding achievement on behalf of American pharmacy.

A recognized leader in the research-based pharmaceutical industry, Mario began his career in 1966 as a pharmacist and research scientist. He later moved into management, eventually serving as chief executive of Glaxo from 1989 to 1993. Under his stewardship, Glaxo launched five major new medicines and significantly increased its commitment to research. Mario then transformed drug delivery technology company Alza into a full-fledged pharmaceutical company that developed important new treatments and became part of Johnson & Johnson in 2001. Today he is chairman of both Reliant Pharmaceuticals of Liberty Corner, N.J., a developer of cardiovascular medicines, and Pharmaceutical Product Development of Wilmington, N.C., a leading provider of pharmaceutical research and technology services to industry and government worldwide.Mario’s sustained support of and active participation in major pharmacy, education and health care organizations reflects his personal commitment to the future of pharmacy, pharmaceutical education and the public health. He served as chairman of the American Foundation for Pharmaceutical Education Board for 15 years. Mario is still giving back to URI as well. In 1996 he donated $1.5 million to the URI College of Pharmacy to establish the Ernest Mario Distinguished Chair in Pharmaceutics

Click here to read the full article

 

URI student takes unconventional route to pharmacy career

Media Contact: Dave Lavallee, 401-874-5862

KINGSTON, R.I. – May 10, 2007 -- After commencement at the University of Rhode Island, many pharmacy graduates will go on to work for corporations like Walgreens, CVS, and Brooks. The soft-spoken Kate Maxfield, however, will be entering Navy training at the Officer Indoctrination School in Newport.

Maxfield, a 23-year-old pharmacy major from Pittsford, Vt., is not ready to head back north just yet, and would rather travel the world. The Navy was the perfect opportunity, and her first duty station will be in Bethesda, Md.

Maxfield transferred to URI after two years at St. Michael’s College in her home state.
“I liked how URI set up its Pharmacy program,” Maxfield said. “It’s hard to explain unless you’re a pharmacy major, but the classes are set up differently. Each class is organized around disease states and you learn everything about that disease state all at once.”

During her first few years at the University, Maxfield said she worked extensively. She has worked at CVS in Coventry since she first moved to Rhode Island, and still works there every other weekend on top of her required pharmacy school rotations.

URI requires six, five-week clinical pharmacy rotations in the senior year. Maxfield has completed rotations in Massachusetts, Providence and on the Kingston campus, but decided to complete two with the Naval Ambulatory Care Center in Newport.

Click here to read the full article

 

URI students save the lives of ‘patients’ that can never die

Media Contact: Dave Lavallee, 401-874-5862

Patient simulators provide pharmacy, nursing students with realistic treatment scenarios

KINGSTON, R.I. – May 7, 2007 – Surrounded by computer screens, an intravenous line, trays of medical equipment and nine of his peers, a pharmacy student works vigorously to administer a drug that will save the life of the “man” who lies on the gurney in front of him.

Across campus, a “baby” with septic shock lies in the arms of a nursing student, surrounded by other future nurses who are contemplating the next step to save this baby’s life.

These are among the situations that URI pharmacy and nursing students find themselves in several times throughout the semester in the lab components of some of their classes. If the wrong action is taken and the patient dies, a quick switch will bring him or her back to life for the next trial-and-error run. The University’s patient simulators are the closest a student can get to the clinical world of health care before actually stepping into it.

Pharmacy students use simulators several times a semester, and nursing students have continual access to the simulators from their sophomore year through graduation. Scenarios increase in complexity as the students advance in their classes.

The URI College of Pharmacy has had one adult male simulator for about six years. It has expanded its use as faculty and students have learned more about the technology. It has also recently obtained a baby simulator. The College of Nursing has both of these simulators, as well as a birthing mother simulator and 15 low-tech simulator mannequins. All simulators are life size, and the baby simulators even coo and cry.

“I think the students respond better to the baby,” said South Kingstown’s Amanda DeAngelis, co-director of the Human Patient Simulator Center in the College of Pharmacy. “It is wireless and mobile. We added the baby to our program because it is very different than the adult simulator. It requires different dosages and responds differently than an adult patient.”

While students in both colleges use the simulators to familiarize themselves with clinical settings, nursing students use the simulators for more procedure-based learning, while the pharmacy students use them to observe drug use and reaction.

Click here to read the full article

 

URI pharmacy students to gain disaster response experience through exercise simulating flu pandemic

Media Contact: Dave Lavallee, 401-874-5862

KINGSTON, R.I. – May 4, 2007 – University of Rhode Island pharmacy students will participate in a tabletop exercise that will deal with an influenza pandemic Tuesday, May 8 from 11:20 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Fogarty Hall, 41 Lower College Road, Room 28.

The students, who are enrolled in Clinical Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Jef Bratberg’s advanced infectious diseases class, will have to work together to come up with the best strategies for tackling the threat for their final exam.

Bratberg said the tabletop exercise is very helpful in preparing students for future careers in their field. “This scenario is a real-life assignment,” Bratberg said. “Something like this could actually happen.” He thinks that this style of exam is much more effective than sitting in the classroom answering questions. “It allows students to use the knowledge they have gained in class and test its effectiveness in the field,” Bratberg said.

Click here to read the full article

 

URI nursing, pharmacy students learn from each other about treatment, care of patients with diabetes

Media Contact: Dave Lavallee, 401-874-5862

KINGSTON, R.I. – May 4, 2007 – A patient with diabetes seeks an alternative to insulin injections.

So a new inhaler that provides a painless alternative is the answer, right?

It isn’t if the patient has severe arthritis and trouble with dexterity. It might not be an alternative for a patient with memory or concentration issues either because it is a complex device with many preparation steps.

That was just one topic as University of Rhode Island nursing and pharmacy students joined for the first time to share their knowledge and different perspectives on caring for patients with diabetes. This spring, 100 fifth-year pharmacy students and 75 junior nursing students participated in the cross-disciplinary program.

At four separate stations, they learned about different methods for checking blood-sugar levels and insulin delivery methods such as traditional insulin injections, insulin pens, and insulin powder inhalers. Nursing students gave pharmacy students injections of saline to simulate insulin shots while pharmacy students and faculty led small group sessions on different medication delivery and monitoring systems.

Celia MacDonnell of Newport, clinical assistant professor of pharmacy, and Mary Lavin of Middletown, clinical assistant professor of nursing, said the students gained awareness of the benefits of teamwork.

“We tell our students in our respective colleges to work as a team with other health care professionals, but we haven’t been able to foster that in an interactive setting that brings together students from each discipline,” MacDonnell said. “We have been trying to do this for years, but it has been very difficult because of the off-campus clinical demands on both groups of students. But we can’t expect people to be a team if they have never worked together as students.”

Click here to read the full article

 

Brown University professor named Advanced Preceptor of the Year by URI

Media Contact: Dave Lavallee, 401-874-5862

KINGSTON, R.I. – April 12, 2007 –  The University of Rhode Island’s College of Pharmacy has honored alumnus George Kenna with the Advanced Pharmacy Practice Preceptor of the Year award.

Preceptors oversee pharmacy students’ clinical experiences and serve as their mentors. This award is given to a preceptor in recognition of excellent teaching during the advanced pharmacy practice experiential coursework. The nomination can come from either a faculty member or a student.

Kenna, a resident of North Kingstown, is a practicing pharmacist, researcher, and mentor. He was a 1975 graduate of the URI College of Pharmacy and also received his Ph.D. in psychology from URI in 2003.

Click here to read the full article

 

URI Health Services pharmacist named Preceptor of the Year

Media Contact: Linda A. Acciardo, 401-874-2116

KINGSTON, R.I. – April 10, 2007 – The University of Rhode Island’s College of Pharmacy has honored alumnus Sean O’Donnell with the Introductory Pharmacy Practice Preceptor of the Year award.

Preceptors oversee pharmacy students’ clinical experiences and serve as their mentors.

O’Donnell, a resident of Wakefield, graduated from the URI College of Pharmacy in 1987 and is currently a pharmacist at the University’s Health Services. He received his doctor of pharmacy degree from Massachusetts College of Pharmacy in 2000.

O’Donnell has worked as a staff pharmacist at Delta Drug, Pequot Pharmaceutical Network, and Newport Hospital. He was also a consultant pharmacist at Delta Medical Nursing Home.

“I am very proud to receive this award,” said O’Donnell. “It is gratifying working with the students and being able to teach them about this profession.”

O’Donnell, who mentors about eight students a year, is honored that the students recognized and nominated him for this award.

Click here to read the full article

 

URI pharmacy professor researches lead exposure

Media Contact: Dave Lavallee, 401-874-5862

URI pharmacy professor researches lead exposure, builds bridges between U.S. and Middle East in Yemen

KINGSTON, R.I. – February 28, 2007 – Nasser Zawia’s year-long Fulbright fellowship in Yemen ended last year, but the associate professor of pharmacy continues work with the country’s scientists and officials on infant exposure to lead and other biomedical research.

A leading researcher on the link between infant lead exposure and Alzheimer’s disease, Zawia spent the 2005-2006 academic year as a Fulbright fellow in the country at the tip of the Arabian Peninsula.

“My job in Yemen had two elements,” said the toxicology expert and Warwick resident. “First I expanded research I’ve done at URI and second, I helped build bridges between the U.S. and Mideast.”

Zawia’s work was at the heart of the Fulbright program. Fulbright Scholars are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement and for their extraordinary leadership potential. The Fulbright Program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

Click here to read the full article

 

Two URI pharmacy professors part of team established to prevent pneumonia outbreaks at Warwick school

February 1, 2007
Two University of Rhode Island clinical assistant professors of pharmacy advised patients and distributed antibiotics in January at a Warwick elementary school clinic set up by the state’s health department.

The state Department of Health called on Jeffrey Bratberg and Brett Feret, to be part of a team set up at the Greenwood Elementary School during New Year’s weekend. The clinic was put into operation after three cases of mycoplasma pneumonia led to serious illness in three children in Warwick and West Warwick, one of whom died Dec. 21. The clinic distributed the antibiotic, azithromycin, to 1,200 patients in three days. The pharmacy team constituted liquid suspension versions of the drug for 150 children. Feret worked Dec. 31 and Jan. 2, while Bratberg worked Jan. 2.

The Cranston residents’ involvement with the health department clinic was a natural extension of a relationship that started five years ago when they became pharmacy consultants to the state on bioterrorism and emergency response. In that capacity, they were involved in developing a planning guide for mass distributions of medication.

Click here to read the full article

 

URI pharmacy grad honors mentor, helps students with $100,000 pledge

February 13, 2007
A 1984 graduate of the University of Rhode Island’s College of Pharmacy has made a 10-year, $100,000 pledge to bolster an existing pharmacy scholarship fund named after one of his favorite professors.

Paul Hastings, president and chief executive officer of OncoMed Pharmaceuticals, Redwood City, Calif., made the pledge to the Norman A. and Mary Campbell Scholarship. The fund supports students who demonstrate academic proficiency and leadership in pharmacy student organizations. When the Campbell Scholarship fund was established in 2001, Hastings made a $15,000 donation.

The gift is part of the University’s “Making a Difference,” campaign, a $100 million private fund drive to build the University’s endowment.

“Paul’s generous contribution to the Campbell scholarship reminds us all of the special bonds that are often formed between professor and student and the many ways in which such relationships manifest themselves over time,” said Pharmacy Dean Donald E. Letendre. “His gift serves to underscore his long-standing commitment to student development and servant leadership…he is truly an extraordinary gentleman and consummate professional who continues to lead by example.”

Having worked early in his career for such well-known firms as Hoffmann-LaRoche and Genzyme Corp., Hastings has gained national prominence for his founding role in several biotechnology and pharmaceutical start up companies.

Click here to read the full article

 

 

Tom and Cathy Ryan make $2.5 million donation to URI College of Pharmacy

January 18, 2007
Tom Ryan, chairman, president and chief executive officer of CVS Corp., and his wife Cathy have pledged $2.5 million to the University of Rhode Island’s Making a Difference campaign, it was announced today.

“I’m proud of the work the College of Pharmacy has done over the last 50 years in making a significant contribution to healthcare through its research, outreach and teaching,” said Ryan, a 1975 graduate of the College and recipient of an honorary degree from the University in 1999. “It has also helped many bright, talented, ambitious students begin successful careers. With health care at the forefront of the national and state agendas, I hope my gift will ensure that the College remains a vital player in this arena.”

The gift will support a variety of initiatives in the College of Pharmacy, including a $500,000 challenge grant that will match, dollar-for-dollar, donations of at least $12,500 from other individuals wishing to establish a endowed scholarship for URI pharmacy students. The scholarship funds can be named for the donor or in honor of anyone the donor designates.

Click here to read the full article

 

 

URI student travels to the tundra to complete a non-traditional pharmacy rotation

January 4, 2007
One University of Rhode Island pharmacy student traveled to Alaska last summer for her pharmacy rotations in an effort to experience a minimalist lifestyle.

Heather Mae Grant, a sixth-year pharmacy major from West Kingston, said she always wanted to travel to Alaska because she enjoys the outdoors. When she visited URI as a high school senior, she was immediately sold when one student mentioned the opportunity to travel to the Last Frontier.

Grant decided to travel to the small fishing village of Dillingham, a town accessible only by plane or boat. According to Grant, there were approximately 2,500 residents, no traffic lights, very little crime, and miles of tundra and mountain ranges.

Vibrant, blonde-haired, blue-eyed Grant says she stuck out among the Yupic Eskimos she treated, but was quickly accepted. She thinks that they liked having someone around who looked different. She addressed a variety of conditions from pregnancies to bacterial infections.

Click here to read the full article