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Pharmacy Alumni Celebrated for Their Commitment to Elevating Care & Scientific Inquiry

This past April, two accomplished University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy alumni became the latest inductees in the College’s Hall of Distinguished Alumni for 2018-2019. They were recognized for their professional achievements at 21c Hotel in downtown Lexington on Thursday, April 25, 2019.

UK Students Awarded Pre-Doctoral Fellowships in Pharmaceutics for 2019

Julie Calahan and Matt Defrese have been awarded Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America Foundation Pre-Doctoral Fellowships in Pharmaceutics for 2019. This award provides a stipend of $20,000 per year for up to two years. The PhRMA Foundation funds scientists at critical points in their research careers to support and reward innovation in disciplines essential to the development of safe and effective medicines.

Graduate Student Claims First-Place at American Society for Pharmacology & Experimental Therapeutics Meeting

Reiya Hayden, a graduate student in the laboratory of Dr. Markos Leggas, received the first-place award for her poster presentation at the annual American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics meeting on April 7, 2019. The title of her poster was “Mithramycin analogues disrupt ETS transcription factor DNA binding.”

Looking Back: Graduate Alumnus Recounts the Early Days of The Program

Like other pharmacy schools, the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy was traditionally focused on educating pharmacists for pharmacy practice. However, when Dean Earl Sloan retired in 1967, the College brought in Dr. Joseph Swintosky to serve as Dean and to develop new roles for pharmacists. Swintosky began the push for an all-PharmD Program and a world-class Graduate Program in Pharmaceutical Sciences. Swintosky hired several new faculty members to help jumpstart the new graduate program, including Dr. James Doluisio and Dr.

College Announces Graduate Program Communications Advisory Board

In an effort to better serve our graduate students and alumni, the UK College of Pharmacy (UKCOP) has partnered with alumni to establish a Communications Advisory Board for the graduate research program. The alumni-run Advisory Board was created in spring 2019 to assist the College in its outreach efforts to students and alumni of the PhD program. This group will serve as a liaison to the College of Pharmacy, helping to enhance their communication efforts and providing critical feedback on alumni needs.

Celebrated Faculty Member Pat DeLuca Passes Away

On May 22, 2019, Dr. Patrick DeLuca passed away, surrounded by family. He moved to Lexington in 1970, joining the faculty at the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy where he held Administrative positions and served as an Associate Dean. His research work and teachings helped him to secure numerous patents. He leaves an incredible legacy through his impact on both patients and students, helping the College’s faculty to national prominence. In addition, DeLuca’s efforts helped secure support for the College to build two new instructional and research facilities.

College Strengthens Efforts to Address Alumni Needs

The UK College of Pharmacy recently hired Rosa Mejia and Kacie Miller in an effort to create a more robust focus on student and alumni development and success. In addition, Nicole Keenan has been promoted to the role of Director of Student Success and Career Development.  Keenan will work with students to help identify, prepare for, and procure various professional opportunities and career placements, including but not limited to residency training, fellowships, and graduate programs. She will also oversee initiatives involving student health and well-being. 

College Creates Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Center; Names Subramanian Director

The University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy has created a new Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Center, recruiting Vivekanandan Subramanian, PhD to serve as the Center’s inaugural director. NMR instruments are large magnets, similar to clinical MRI scanners, that allow researchers to measure the structure of small molecules and peptides.  

UK Students Win First Place in Healthcare Quality Innovation Challenge

University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy students Noor Naffakh, Kailyn Conner, and John Brown took home first place in the Healthcare Quality Innovation Challenge at the annual Pharmacy Quality Alliance’s (PQA) Meeting in Baltimore this month.

UK College of Pharmacy Moves to Make Pharmacy Education More Accessible

The University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy has eliminated the Pharmacy College Admission Test (PCAT) as a requirement for admission to their Doctor of Pharmacy program.  The college utilizes a holistic admissions process and has determined that the PCAT does not provide any additional useful information for selecting students likely to succeed at UK beyond that already available from prior academic performance.

We wish to remember and honor those who inhabited this Commonwealth before the arrival of the Europeans. Briefly occupying these lands were the Osage, Wyndott tribe, and Miami peoples. The Adena and Hopewell peoples, who are recognized by the naming of the time period in which they resided here, were here more permanently. Some of their mounds remain in the Lexington area, including at UK’s Adena Park.

In more recent years, the Cherokee occupied southeast Kentucky, the Yuchi southwest Kentucky, the Chickasaw extreme western Kentucky and the Shawnee central Kentucky including what is now the city of Lexington. The Shawnee left when colonization pushed through the Appalachian Mountains. Lower Shawnee Town ceremonial grounds are still visible in Greenup County.

We honor the first inhabitants who were here, respect their culture, and acknowledge the presence of their descendants who are here today in all walks of life including fellow pharmacists and healthcare professionals.