Dear Friends:

It seems that the New England spring has teased us again.  Just as we are beginning to put away our winter gear, there is snow in the forcast for the next several days.  Just a few weeks ago, many of us participated in the First Annual School of Pharmacy 4K Run/Walk to benefit the Susan G. Komen Fund for a Cure under sunny skies with temperatures in the upper 50s!  Over 125 runners and walkers participated in this exciting event that raised $2000.  We want to express our special thanks to our friends at Walgreens, who sponsored the race so that all proceeds were able to go to the Komen Fund.  

I am very pleased to announce that Dr. Urs Boelsterli has been appointed by the Board of Trustees as the first Boehringer Ingelheim Endowed Chair in Mechanistic Toxicology.  Dr. Boelsterli comes to us from the University of Singapore, one of the top 30 universities in the world, where he has most recently continued his cutting edge research in studying the mechanisms of drug hepatotoxicity.  Dr. Boelsterli will officially join our school family in July, and will be invested as BI Chair early this fall.

Faculty and Staff

Dr. Andrea Hubbard, our associate dean, has been accepted into the selective HERS Summer Institute at Bryn Mawr College for three weeks this summer.  The Summer Institute offers women administrators and faculty intensive training in education administration. The curriculum prepares participants to work with issues currently facing higher education, with emphasis on the growing diversity of the student body and the work force.  Dr. Hubbard was one of only two UConn faculty nominated by Provost Peter Nicholls.

Technology Coordinator Doug Willour has been named the School’s new webmaster.  This addition to Doug’s portfolio means that all of our IT needs will be in his capable hands.  Please feel free to contact Doug (douglas.willour@uconn.edu) with any comments/questions about the School’s web page.

Students

We have some very happy news to share about several of our students.  Kristyn Greco, a graduate student in Dr. Robin Bogner’s lab, was selected as the recipient of the 2007 Women of Innovation Award in the collegiate category.  This award, presented by the Connecticut Technology Council, recognizes outstanding women leaders in technology, science, and education from across the state.

Graduate student Atul Saluja, from Dr. Davy Kalonia’s lab, was selected for the Graduate Student Symposium at the 2007 AAPS National Biotechnology Conference in San Diego.  The National Biotechnology conference (AAPS) gives out only four such awards.  Our school has won two out of four of these highly competitive awards.

Two Pharm.D. students were elected 2006-2007 APhA-ASP Regional Officers: Aaron Burton was selected Region 1 Delegate and Andrew Bzowyckyj, Region 1 Member-at-Large.  I was pleased to accompany Aaron, Andrew, and several dozen other of our students to the 2007 APhA Annual Meeting in Atlanta, where we hosted our annual UConn “make-your-own sundae” reception.

Scholarships

For the first time in the School’s history, we have provided $100,000 in scholarship support to Pharm.D. and graduate students this year.  I was pleased to announce this milestone at this year’s Scholarship Convocation at which Joseph Papa, former Advisory Board Chair, alumnus, scholarship sponsor, and “pharmacy dad” was the featured speaker.

Palmer Chair

Efforts continue toward the establishment of the Henry A. Palmer Endowed Chair in Community Pharmacy.  As of this writing, approximately $400,000 in gifts and pledges have been received.  Significant gifts are still vitally needed if we are to reach our $1.5 million goal.  If you are interested in contributing, please contact Anne-Margaret Gaffney at agaffney@foundation.uconn.edu.

Urban Service Track

Dr. Devra Dang continues to work with the Schools of Medicine and Nursing to develop an urban service track for our health professions students.  The goal of the program is to develop health care professionals who are prepared and committed to working in urban environments, where their expertise is desperately needed, after graduation.

Unit Week

As I write this, we have just concluded our second annual Unity Week, the School of Pharmacy’s celebration of diversity in the health professions sponsored by SNPhA.  Under the carefully direction of pharmacy student Jennifer Scholle, the week was filled with special programming and lectures and an art show.  The week concluded with a “What Not to Wear” program, sponsored by the student CT-ASCP chapter.  The program was conducted by staff from Nordstrom’s department store, who shared their tips about dressing professionally.

China

As part of our effort to offer international opportunities for our students and faculty, I will be leading a delegation to China in May at the invitation of the Peking Medical University.  We are hoping to establish potential advanced pharmacy practice rotations and faculty and graduate student exchanges, as well as develop a course in traditional Chinese medicine.

New Commencement

For the first time in memory, the School of Pharmacy will hold its own Commencement Ceremony in May.  The school, along with the Schools of Education and Fine Arts, is experimenting with a decentralized format, which could become university-wide in the future.  Since the school already holds a Commencement Day Brunch and Hooding Ceremony, we have simply fit the diploma presentation into the event.  Students and families are quite excited about the change that will allow easy access to the graduates for watching and taking pictures of this special moment.

Summer is a wonderful time for traveling in New England and the normal hustle and bustle of campus slows a bit making June, July, and August a superb time to visit us.  We hope to see you soon!

Warmly,

Robert L. McCarthy, Ph.D.

Dean