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2010 News Archive

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URI cheers completion of steelwork on new home for pharmacy

Media Contact: Dave Lavallee, 401-874-5862

KINGSTON, R.I. – November 10, 2010 – Another major piece of the University of Rhode Island’s health and life sciences district came closer to reality today as the last steel beam was lifted into place atop the $75 million home of the College of Pharmacy.

State and University officials cheered as they marked the next major step in a project that will allow the College of Pharmacy to strengthen its role as a center of excellence in teaching, learning, and research, and as a centerpiece of the state’s efforts to build an economic recovery that relies on biomedical research and other scientific efforts.

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URI pharmacy students to host regional meeting

Media Contact: Dave Lavallee, 401-874-5862

250 plus student to attend in Providence

KINGSTON, R.I. – November 4, 2010 – Students in the University of Rhode Island’s College of Pharmacy will host this year’s midyear regional meeting for the Academy of Student Pharmacists, a division of the American Pharmacists Association.

From Friday, Nov. 5 through Sunday, Nov. 7, 13 colleges of pharmacy from New England and New York will meet at the Hilton Hotel in Providence for a weekend expo that will feature various speakers, professional and career development and networking opportunities.

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URI student learns critical lessons in wake of plane crash in Alaska

Media Contact: Dave Lavallee, 401-874-5862


Played role in responding to accident that killed Sen. Stevens

KINGSTON, R.I. – September 20, 2010 – In an ironic twist of events, Anastasia Manchette, a University of Rhode Island pharmacy student, was unusually prepared for the plane crash that claimed the lives of former Senator Ted Stevens and four others this past summer in Alaska.

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URI College of Pharmacy wants you to turn in unused, expired drugs at area law enforcement stations, Sept. 25

Media Contact: Dave Lavallee, 401-874-5862

National Drug Enforcement Agency Take Back Day set for Sept. 25

KINGSTON, R.I. – September 20, 2010 – They are prescribed for back injuries, torn knee ligaments, oral surgery and for dulling the pain following numerous types of surgeries. But long after the pain subsides, remnants of the treatments remain in people’s medicine cabinets.

They are the federally controlled substances--painkillers like Vicodin, Percocet or Oxycontin. Other medications in the controlled substance category include stimulants to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (such as Adderall) and medications to treat anxiety (such as Xanax or Valium).

Such medications are potentially addictive and are becoming increasingly abused by teen-agers across the country.

That’s why a team from the University of Rhode Island’s College of Pharmacy is urging people to participate in the National Drug Enforcement Agency’s Take Back Day Saturday, Sept. 25 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. URI faculty and students have been distributing informational flyers promoting the event.

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Diabetes patients on Lipitor needed for URI study

Media Contact: Dave Lavallee, 401-874-5862

KINGSTON, R.I. – September 10, 2010 – If you have diabetes and are taking Lipitor™ you might want to join a University of Rhode Island College of Pharmacy study that could help you and others with the disease.

Plus you can earn an easy $40.

Fatemeh Akhlaghi, URI associate professor of biomedical and pharmaceutical sciences, has a $200,000 American Heart Association grant to examine the effects of Lipitor, also known by the generic name of atorvastatin, on patients with diabetes and those without the disease.

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Renowned Pakistani scientist to visit URI Sept. 20-24

Media Contact: Dave Lavallee, 401-874-5862

To give public lecture Thursday, Sept. 23

KINGSTON, R.I. – September 8, 2010 –The director of the International Center for Chemical and Biological Science in Pakistan will visit the University of Rhode Island from Sept. 20 through Sept. 24 for a series of seminars, visits with URI faculty and a public lecture.

University of Karachi Professor Muhammad Iqbal Choudhary, who is also co-director of the Panjwani Center for Molecular Medicines and Drug Research at the university, will discuss “Science, Technology and Higher Education: Pakistan’s Experience,” Thursday, Sept. 23 at 6:30 p.m. in Room 100 of URI’s Center for Biological and Life Sciences, 120 Flagg Road. His talk is free and open to the public. URI’s Distinguished International Scholars Program, Honors Program and Graduate School are sponsoring his visit.

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URI College of Pharmacy Ranked 18th in National Institutes of Health funding

Media Contact: Dave Lavallee, 401-874-5862

KINGSTON, R.I. – August 30, 2010 – The University of Rhode Island’s College of Pharmacy ranked 18th in the country for the amount of National Institutes of Health research funding it attracted in 2009, according to the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy.

URI’s $6.3 million in NIH research funding last year put it ahead of schools that have medical centers or medical schools, including The Ohio State University, the University of Iowa, the University of Oklahoma, the University of Connecticut and the University of Pittsburgh.

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URI pharmacy building site bustling as foundation work for $75 million facility well under way

Media Contact: Dave Lavallee, 401-874-5862

More than 75 percent of the value of building contracts
awarded to Rhode Island subcontractor companies

KINGSTON, R.I. – July 21, 2010 –There’s a concert of construction machinery these days at the Kingston Campus site of the new $75 million University of Rhode Island pharmacy building.

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Pharmacy Outreach Program provides education, support to those overwhelmed by medication issues

Media Contact: Dave Lavallee, 401-874-5862

Kingston, R.I. – July 20, 2010 – When money is tight, some people cut their pills in half to make their prescriptions last longer. In some other situations, people misinterpret instructions and wind up misusing their medications.

Across the nation, the inability of patients to properly follow their medication regimens is a major issue. The cause can be anything from difficult financial circumstances to lack of knowledge about certain medications and/or their illnesses.

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URI researchers develop drug delivery system using nanoparticles triggered by electromagnetic field

Media Contact: Shane Donaldson, 401-874-4894

KINGSTON, R.I. July 9, 2010 – A new system for the controlled delivery of pharmaceutical drugs has been developed by a team of University of Rhode Island chemical engineers using nanoparticles embedded in a liposome that can be triggered by non-invasive electromagnetic fields.

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URI biomedical scientist concerned about effects of oil spill on human health

Media Contact: Dave Lavallee, 401-874-5862

KINGSTON, R.I. – June 21, 2010—University of Rhode Island Pharmacy Professor Bongsup Cho knows there are cancer-causing chemicals in diesel fumes and cigarette smoke.

The biomedical scientist also knows that some of the same chemicals are found in the gooey tar balls that are being produced as a result of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which began April 20 when a rig exploded and caught fire.

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Associate pharmacy dean named Congressional Fellow

Media Contact: Dave Lavallee, 401-874-5862

To provide expertise on health care effectiveness, costs

KINGSTON, R.I. – May 20, 2010 – The associate dean of the University of Rhode Island’s College of Pharmacy has been named a Congressional Fellow for his expertise on managing health care costs, optimizing pharmaceutical effectiveness and epidemiology.

E. Paul Larrat, also a URI professor of pharmacoepidemiology, will serve in Washington from September 2010 to August 2011. From a nationwide competition, the East Greenwich resident was sponsored for the program by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy and one of 30 chosen for the program by the American Academy for the Advancement of Science.

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URI pharmacy graduate ready for next major step

Media Contact: Dave Lavallee, 401-874-5862

Harleysville, Pa. resident to embark on prestigious fellowship

KINGSTON, R.I. – May 19, 2010 – University of Rhode Island pharmacy student Karen Thudium has learned numerous lessons during her advanced clinical rotations and research placements in Providence, Bay Pines, Fla., Allentown, Pa. and St. Louis.

But one stands out. “I learned that pharmacy students from URI are better prepared than students from other schools,” said Thudium, who will earn her doctor of pharmacy degree May 23. “URI students have much stronger therapeutics knowledge, experience in compounding, counseling patients, and interacting with physicians. At URI, we have such a wide range of experiences that we are prepared for almost any setting.”

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URI pharmacy researcher finds beneficial compounds in pure maple syrup

Media Contact: Dave Lavallee, 401-874-5862

KINGSTON, R.I. – March 22, 2010 – Before you dig in to your next stack of French toast or waffles, you might want to pour on pure maple syrup.

That’s because University of Rhode Island researcher Navindra Seeram, who specializes in medicinal plant research, has found more than 20 compounds in maple syrup from Canada that have been linked to human health, 13 of which are newly discovered in maple syrup. In addition, eight of the compounds have been found in the Acer (maple) family for the first time.

The URI assistant professor of biomedical and pharmaceutical sciences in URI’s College of Pharmacy presented his findings Sunday, March 21 at the American Chemical Society’s Annual Meeting in San Francisco. The project was made possible by Conseil pour le développement de l'agriculture du Québec (CDAQ), with funding provided by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's Advancing Canadian Agriculture and Agri-Food (ACAAF) program. (Seeram will be interviewed about this on NPR's Science Friday, March 26.)

Several of these anti-oxidant compounds newly identified in maple syrup are also reported to have anti-cancer, anti-bacterial and anti-diabetic properties.

Prior to the study, the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers already knew that its product was full of naturally occurring minerals such as zinc, thiamine and calcium. But it enlisted Seeram to research the presence of plant anti-oxidants. The Federation awarded Seeram a two-year, $115,000 grant with the help of the CDAQ and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. His research continues to determine if the compounds exist in beneficial quantities.

Serge Beaulieu, president of the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers, said Seeram’s lab is but one in an expanding multi-national network of research facilities dedicated to the study of maple products from Canada.

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Study: Anything but real maple syrup is for saps

By Judy Benson Publication: The Day

For maple syrup producers and lovers, this could be the best of times and the worst of times.

March is typically the peak time for tapping sugar maple trees for the sap that gets distilled into the sweet, amber elixir aficionados consider far superior to the cheap, fake stuff made from high fructose corn syrup. To get maximum sap flow, producers need a run of daytime temperatures in the 40s and nights in the 20s, but this season, the weather's been too warm.

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Birds Fuel Up on Super Foods Before Migrating

Birds that normally eat insects switch to antioxidant-rich berries just before starting their long journey south for winter.

Larry O'Hanlon Discovery News | Thu Mar 25, 2010 08:43 AM ET

Bug-chomping songbirds have been discovered doing something remarkable before migrating south for the winter: They switch, awkwardly, to berries rich in antioxidants.

The dietary change has less to do with fattening up and more to do with stocking up on nutrients to help their bodies deal with the stresses of migration, say researchers.

"It has been known for some time, this phenomenon of birds switching to fruits in the fall," said bird researcher Scott McWilliams of the University of Rhode Island. It was assumed that the birds were packing in extra fats or carbs during cooler weeks when insects were on the wane. "But that didn't explain it enough."

So McWilliams teamed up with Navindra Seeram, the head of the same university's Bioactive Botanical Research Laboratory to see what was up with the fruits birds were choosing.

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