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Johnston Resident Honored by URI College of Pharmacy Media Contact: Dave Lavallee, 401-874-5862 KINGSTON, R.I – June 10, 2008 – The University of Rhode Island’s College of Pharmacy has honored alumnus Robert Tortolani with the Introductory Pharmacy Practice “Preceptor of the Year” award. Preceptors oversee pharmacy students’ clinical experiences and serve as mentors. The students nominate candidates for the awards. Tortolani graduated from URI with a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy in 1979 and has maintained a close relationship with the University since then. He began his work as a preceptor in 1983 and has continued to mentor students for 25 years. “I love to teach new pharmacists,” the Johnston resident said. “It’s so rewarding. I always tell them, ‘If you learn your pharmacy skills in school, I will teach you the business in the business world.’” Tortolani was the owner of Golini Drug in Cranston for 17 years and currently works at Walgreen’s in Johnston, where he trains both Walgreen’s interns and URI students. “You have to be a people person to work retail and the preceptor program offers students critical exposure, which gives them an idea of which avenue of pharmacy they want to follow,” Tortolani said. A URI student who worked with Tortolani admired the dedicated mentor’s patience and service skills and said, “I hope one day to be as knowledgeable and as loyal to patients as he was during my internship.” Tortolani is also an active member of the field, having once served as president of the Rhode Island Pharmacists Association and presently serving as president of the Rhode Island Pharmacy Foundation. Yet he commented that receiving this award is one of the “highlights of my career.” Pictured above LOCAL PHARMACIST RECOGNIZED: Honoree Robert Tortolani, center, stands alongside Brett Feret, left, clinical associate professor of pharmacy practice and Ronald P. Jordan, dean of the College of Pharmacy, after being presented with the “Preceptor of the Year” award. URI Department of Communications and Marketing photo by Dave Lavallee.

URI’s College of Pharmacy bolsters natural products chemistry work

Discovering drugs from natural sources part of College’s 50-year history

KINGSTON, R.I. – February 25, 2008 – After it opened its doors in 1957, the University of Rhode Island’s College of Pharmacy quickly became known for its medicinal plant research.

Fifty years later, the College is strengthening its work in pharmacognosy, a branch of pharmacy dealing with medicinal substances from natural sources, especially plants.

To that end, it has added two new faculty members, one of whom will conduct research on higher plants, including berry fruits, and a second whose research interest is genomics, including interpretation of DNA sequences of microbes to identify or modify compounds that are useful medicinally.

“We now have a complementary, three-pronged approach to natural products research—medicinal plants, marine microbes and genetics,” said Pharmacy Professor David Rowley, whose research focuses on marine microbes.

“Our renewed focus on natural products and our leadership in that area is a return to the roots of the College,” said Ron Jordan, the interim dean of the college.

URI’s natural products research began in an era when natural healing treatments and interest in the healing power of fruits and vegetables were almost unheard of in the world of health care. It started with the arrival of Heber Youngken Jr., the College’s first dean in 1957. In 1966, he joined with John Knauss, the first dean of the Graduate School of Oceanography, to make a “drugs from the sea program” a key part of the new Sea Grant program. The pharmacy college hired Yuzuru Shimizu, one of the first professors hired under the Sea Grant program. By the time of his retirement this year, Shimizu had established himself and the University as international leaders in marine natural products research.

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South Kingstown resident doing nationally recognized HIV, cancer studies

KINGSTON, R.I. – January 23, 2008 – A University of Rhode Island pharmacy professor is developing compounds that could play a major role in the fight against certain cancers, discovering novel compounds to fight the virus that causes AIDS and finalizing development of a cream that could be used by women during intercourse to prevent Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) transmission.

Keykavous Parang, an associate professor of biomedical and pharmaceutical sciences in the College of Pharmacy, has been awarded more than $1.2 million during the last year for his promising cell- and chemistry-based research on two of the world’s major killers---cancer and HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

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New study makes strong case for link between childhood lead exposure, Alzheimer’s disease

URI Pharmacy professor discovers enhanced Alzheimer’s plaques in monkey tissue

KINGSTON, R.I. –  January 9, 2008 – A University of Rhode Island pharmacy professor has found for the first time evidence of Alzheimer’s-like disease in monkeys that were exposed to lead as infants.

Nasser Zawia, a URI professor of biomedical sciences at the College of Pharmacy led the three-year study, which involved four institutions. The findings were published in January’s issue of The Journal of Neuroscience.

“This is the first evidence of promotion of Alzheimer’s disease-like pathology in a primate by an environmental agent,” Zawia said. “It is relevant because monkeys have identical genes to humans.”

In a study begun in 1980, a group of monkeys was given infant formula with low levels of lead for 400 days. A control group was given formula with no lead. No health problems were found in any of the monkeys during the 23-year study. The low level of lead given to one group of monkeys was designed to mimic what children would be exposed to in their environment. By the time of Zawia’s study, there were no detectable levels of lead in the monkey tissue from the group exposed to the toxin.

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URI 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.”
 

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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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.”

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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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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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URI Pharmacy students help seniors understand Medicare Part D
December 13, 2005

The University of Rhode Island College of Pharmacy celebrated American Pharmacists Month by organizing an outreach program for patients who qualify for the Medicare Part D prescription benefit.

The Student Leadership Council of the College of Pharmacy organized the informational event on Oct. 28 at Walgreens Pharmacy in Providence, Brooks Pharmacy in Cranston, and CVS Pharmacy in South Kingstown.  (source URI News Bureau)

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CVS chief, executive team tour URI College of Pharmacy
October 26, 2005

After providing an overview of CVS/pharmacy and answering questions from nearly 200 University of Rhode Island pharmacy students clad in white lab coats, company chief Thomas M. Ryan offered some parting advice. (source URI News Bureau)

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URI pharmacy professor recalls horror, hope of New Orleans after serving on disaster team
October 12, 2005

As the vehicle plowed through 3 feet of water, Jeffrey Bratberg saw a body on an interstate highway. At night he slept in an abandoned bar and used toilet paper as a pillow. His showers consisted of wiping his body down with moisturized baby wipes.

But after completing his first tour, the assistant professor of pharmacy at the University of Rhode Island didn’t hesitate when asked if he would return to New Orleans or go to some other area of the United States battered by a natural disaster. “I would go again,” said the Cranston resident who was part of the 35-member Rhode Island Disaster Medical Assistance Team that was deployed to Louisiana to assist victims of Hurricane Katrina. “It was one of the most important things I have ever done and I didn’t want to leave.”

Well, Bratberg got his chance to return to Louisiana when he was re-deployed to Lafayette with the Rhode Island team on Sept. 28. He was first deployed Aug. 29 and stayed for two weeks. He will return from his second deployment, Monday, Oct. 17.

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URI to transform Kingston Campus north district into health, life sciences hub
September 14, 2005

University of Rhode Island officials gave an overview to members of the state's leading media outlets last week of their plans to transform the north district of the Kingston Campus into a hub for health science, research and technology.

During the second annual Back to School Media luncheon hosted by the URI Department of Communications/News Bureau, URI Vice President for Administration Robert Weygand presented architectural renderings, a scale model of the new Center for Biotechnology and Life Sciences, for which voters approved a $50 million bond issue in 2004, and a model of the north district development.

During the next four years, the University expects to link the Center for Biotechnology and Life Sciences to three new buildings that will house academic programs in pharmacy, nursing and chemistry and form a health sciences quadrangle adjacent to Flagg Road. By constructing adjacent buildings for academic programs with similar needs, efficiencies can be designed to facilitate the sharing of laboratory space and equipment and to encourage interaction among program personnel and students. (source URI News Bureau)

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URI announces 2005 student leadership awards
April 22, 2005

Last week, the University of Rhode Island celebrated the achievements of several students who have taken on leadership roles in the community while also maintaining their solid academic records.

A leading student athlete, the head lifeguard at URI's Tootell Aquatic Center, and the College of Pharmacy Student Leadership Council have been named the University of Rhode Island's 2005 A. Robert Rainville Leadership Award recipients. (source URI News Bureau)

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