Dr. Murphy with residents

Dr. Julie Murphy is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice and a Clinical Pharmacist at the UT Medical Center. She serves as a preceptor for both student pharmacists and PGY1 pharmacy residents completing their internal medicine rotations.

An alumnus (1998/2001) of the College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Dr. Murphy completed a clinical pharmacy residency in Internal Medicine with the St. Louis College of Pharmacy and Forest Park Hospital in St. Louis, MO.  She then joined the faculty at St. Louis College of Pharmacy and served as a faculty member there for ten years.

Dr. Murphy has authored a plethora of publications relating to patient care and pharmacy education. Her expertise in these areas has earned her several awards, including the 2012 Mentor of the Year Award from the American College of Clinical Pharmacy Adult Medicine Practice and Research Network, 2011 Faculty Teacher of the Year from the Mercy Family Medicine Residency Program, 2009 Pharmacist of the Year bestowed by the Missouri Society of Health-System Pharmacists, and the 2009 Best Practice Award presented by the Missouri Society of Health-System Pharmacists Research and Education Foundation. Dr. Murphy is a Fellow with the American College of Clinical Pharmacy and the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. Her certifications include the ACCP Leadership and Management Certificate, the ACCP Teaching and Learning Certificate, and Pharmacotherapy Board Certification.

“When I started my journey at the University of Toledo in 1993,” said Dr. Murphy, “the College of Pharmacy was located within University Hall on the main campus.  When I was earning my 2-year post-BS PharmD degree, the college was housed in Wolfe Hall.  Now as a faculty member, I have the chance to work within the Frederic and Mary Wolfe Center.  With being located on the Health Science Campus, the opportunities for both student pharmacists and faculty to learn and discover are truly limitless.”

Viralkumar Upadhyay, a BS in Pharmaceutical Sciences student majoring in pharmacology/toxicology, participated in the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) in La Crosse, WI. Sponsored by UT’s Office of Undergraduate Research, Viralkumar presented a poster on his research with Dr. Surya Nauli, associate professor of pharmacology. His poster was entitled, “Effects of Dopamine on Structure and Function of Primary Cilia.” Over 3,000 students from U.S. and international institutions presented their research at the conference. Viralkumar is pictured above with Mary Jo Borden, internship coordinator for the BS in Pharmaceutical Sciences program.

Dr. Cappelletty

Diane Cappelletty, PharmD, Associate Professor of Clinical Pharmacy and Co-Director of The Infectious Disease Research Laboratory, was presented with the OSHP Humanitarian Award at the Ohio Society of Health-system Pharmacists’ Annual Meeting in May. OSHP recognized Dr. Cappelletty for her years of outreach and service through area free clinics and international medical mission trips to Central and South America and Africa.

This award recognizes the health-system pharmacist who contributed most to society in general over the past year and who demonstrates humanitarian ideals. The awards includes a plaque, complimentary registrations to the OSHP Annual Meeting, and a contribution of $250 to the charity or cause of the recipient’s choice.

By Aparna Raghavan, a Medicinal Chemistry PhD candidate

The Council of Biomedical Graduate Students (CBGS) organized the Graduate Research Forum for graduate students all around the university. Our college, a recently added member of this council, showed active participation at the event. As

Dr. Copeland (third from left) with members of the CPPS faculty

a representative of our college, I had a great time organizing an event of such magnitude. We began planning this event in October 2012 to ensure smooth progression. Requests for keynote speakers were sent out, and we had many a nail-biting moments before confirming our keynote speaker for this year, Dr. Robert Copeland. Dr. Copeland is the Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer at Epizyme, Inc., a company focused on personalized therapeutics for cancer and rare diseases.

The GRF has always featured poster presentations by graduate students belonging to the biomedical sciences program. This year, we decided to incorporate oral presentations as well. Though this might seem a minor addition, handling both a job that required meticulous planning. We began by sending out surveys to determine whether students were interested in the new format, and were taken aback by the nearly unanimous positive response. However, since this was our first year handling both formats, we decided to limit the number of oral presenters. What followed was a flurry of requests for registration and abstract submissions, which gave us an idea of the volume we could expect. Next, we needed judges for appraising the presentations. We sent out college-wide emails to faculty members and post-doctoral fellows requesting for them to team up as judges for the event. Here again, we couldn’t have asked for a better response. Slowly but steadily, the elements of the event fell into place.

The day before the event was spent setting up poster boards and banners, printing judging sheets and, yes, taking care of food arrangements. By the end of the day, with all contingency plans in place, things were proceeding as predicted except for one surprise: the huge response from students and faculty members at 8 a.m. on first the morning of the conference. We were shocked at the nearly 100 attendees who were neither presenters nor judges. Of the 36 poster presenters, 8 were from the College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. Our debut with the oral sessions was well-received and appreciated by many faculty members.

Hasan Alhaddad, a second-year master’s student working in the lab of pharmacology assistant professor Dr. Youssef Sari, was a semifinalist in the poster session at the 2013 Graduate Research Forum

The second day of the event was even more exciting, with the final round of the poster Graduate Research Forum and oral presentations judged by Dr. Copeland and Dr. Doug Leaman (Chair of the UT College of Biological Sciences). Graduate students also participated in a candid discussion with the judges over lunch. Finally, an eloquent keynote speech by Dr. Copeland to an audience packed to the rafters, followed by the prize-distribution to the proud winners, was a great end to the biggest event of the year for our council.

Overall, the forum immersed us all in science for two whole days, surprisingly in a way we don’t encounter in our daily laboratory work. It compelled us to open up to different perspectives on the challenges we face as fellow members of the scientific community.

We are immensely grateful to the faculty members and post-doctoral fellows for their constant support and feedback.  We are also thankful for the generous support of our sponsors: the College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, the College of Graduate Studies, and the Graduate Student Association. Lastly, this event would not have been possible without the overwhelming response from graduate students. We hope for an even more successful event next year!

Members of Lambda Kappa Sigma (LKS), the pharmacy sorority, hosted Junior and Cadet level Girl Scouts seeking to earn their First Aid badges.  The fourth through seventh grade girls rotated through six stations that were run by 23 LKS members, two medical school students, a nurse, and a firefighter.

At the pharmacy stations, Scouts learned about prescription medication safety. They participated in an activity that demonstrated how a pill dissolves in the stomach, and they learned about the use of Epi-pens, insulin pens and inhalers. The girls also learned to make a first aid kit and learned to wrap common injuries in addition to the RICE method: rest, ice, compression, elevation.

At the medicine station, the Girl Scouts learned about spreading germs and watched a video about how germs can be spread by sneezing. They were taught how to identify the signs of shock at the nursing station.

The firefighter taught the stop, drop, and roll method of extinguishing a fire and discussed the responsibilities of firefighters.

Sarah Breen, an LKS member in the college’s Cosmetic Science program, organized this event, which was held in the Frederic and Mary Wolfe Center.

Dr. Megan Kaun, PharmD ‘05, director of Experiential Education, with Dr. Vince Mauro, professor of Clinical Pharmacy.

The Doctor of Pharmacy Experiential Education program recently recognized Dr. Vince Mauro for his excellence in precepting pharmacy students. Based on student evaluations of Dr. Mauro as a preceptor,  he is consistently helpful, informative and warm.

The cardiology rotation students complete with Dr. Mauro in The University of Toledo Medical Center allows them to interact with attending physicians and play a vital role on the medical team.

Dr. Bryant-Friedrich, center, with students in her lab

Dr. Amanda Bryant-Friedrich, associate professor of Medicinal and Biological Chemistry, loves working with students.  Since joining the CPPS in 2007 she has mentored seven graduate students from six different countries as well as almost twenty undergraduates.  These students have made enormous contributions to the work in the Bryant-Friedrich lab, focused on understanding the role of oxidative damage in cancer development at a molecular level. Their efforts have been rewarded through numerous publications and presentations at national and international meetings.

In addition to her dedication to the training of students, her leadership role as president of the Northwest Ohio Chapter of the Association for Women in Science (AWIS) is an example of her strong advocacy for diversity in the sciences.

“The active recruitment and retention of members of all groups represented in our world in STEM fields is key to maintaining the competitive advantage our country has enjoyed for so long.  This includes young students of color from the city of Toledo as well as women who have limited opportunities in the far corners of the globe,” says Dr. Bryant-Friedrich.

Dr. Bryant-Friedrich plans to continue to actively recruit from these diverse populations as she continues her work in cancer etiology and embarks on new projects to design and develop new anti-viral agents.

L-R: Dr. Wayne Hoss, Sarah Milkovich, Dean Early and Dr. Chris Hinko

Sarah Milkovich is the April 2013 Student of the Month. She showed leadership and professionalism in planning the Mr. PharmD pageant, which raised over $1100 for the Make-A-Wish foundation. Sarah’s efforts drew together pharmacy students, students from outside the college, parents and siblings, faculty members, and others from the surrounding community. In addition to her role in this event, Sarah is also vice-president of the American Pharmacists Association – Academy of Student Pharmacists; she was very involved in coordinating the patient counseling competition at UT.

By Tyler Tomasek, 2014 Doctor of Pharmacy candidate

Students from the University of Toledo College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences along with the American Pharmacists Association-Academy of Student Pharmacists (APhA-ASP) provided a health and wellness event at the Helping Hands of St. Louis ministry in East Toledo. Helping Hands of St. Louis is a non-profit organization dedicated to serving hot, nutritious meals for all in need who arrive at their doors.

Pharmacy faculty members Dr. Steven Martin and Dr. Michelle Serres as well as PGY1 pharmacy resident Dr. Ayesha Khan also participated and assisted at the event. Patients trickled in throughout the morning to eat a warm meal and receive health services.

Students vaccinated 25 patients for the flu, which was widespread and at an increased activity level. Students also checked 30 patients’ blood glucose and blood pressure levels, screening for diabetes and hypertension.

Among the notable successes of the event was that students were able to refer some of the patients to their physicians or to free or discounted health services in the area based on their blood pressure or blood glucose levels.

The students, along with the supervising pharmacists, provided education to patients about their values and answered general health questions. Students also talked to patients about their medications.

Students even overcame a language barrier with a non-English speaking patient and contacted a member of UT’s faculty who spoke the language. This faculty member helped to translate between the patient and volunteers, successfully establishing communication and facilitating the care of this patient.

Steven Lombardo, BSPS ’11

Steven Lombardo, BSPS ‘11, completed a one-year Fulbright Fellowship studying neuroscience in Australia. His research involved GABA receptors, key to some pharmacological solutions for mental health disorders.

Currently a neuroscience doctoral student at Wake Forest University, he returned to UT to discuss his research and his Fulbright experience.  He expressed that the experience he gained in the BSPS program prepared him for his Fulbright research project because of the breadth of knowledge the program provides, not only in biology and chemistry, but also in pharmacology. His visit was co-sponsored by the Jesup Scott Honors College and CPPS.