College of Pharmacy News

An independent advisory committee to the FDA has determined that phenylephrine, a popular ingredient in many over-the-counter allergy and cold medicines, is ineffective in tablet form. CNN and numerous other national news outlets quote from the College of Pharmacy's Associate Dean for Healthcare Partnerships Dr. Diane Ginsburg, who serves on the committee, regarding this decision.

Andrea C. Gore, Ph.D., professor of pharmacology and toxicology and Vacek Chair in Pharmacology, recently earned an R35 RIVER grant award from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) for her lab’s research on endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and their effect on the brain. The NIEHS, which is one of the centers in the National Institutes of Health (NIH), awarded a total of $6,823,672 for eight years.

The University of Texas at Austin College of Pharmacy placed in the top ten in the entire country in the percentage of match placements with 91%, compared to the national match placement average of 82%.

College of Pharmacy Dean Sam Poloyac participated in a panel discussion from the 2023 Texas Leadership Society Luncheon on The University of Texas at Austin's bold pursuits in health and well-being. The discussion was moderated by UT President Jay Hartzell.

Two of the college's distinguished faculty in the Division of Health Outcomes and Division of Pharmacy Practice were recommended for promotion by President Hartzell due to their outstanding accomplishments in research, outreach and education. Dr. Tish Moczygemba will assume the rank of professor and Dr. Kristin Janzen will become a clinical associate professor.

Division Head and Professor of Pharmacology & Toxicology Karen Vasquez, Ph.D. published in the latest issues of Nature Reviews Genetics regarding repetitive elements in the human genome. Once considered "junk DNA," they are now known to adopt more than a dozen alternative DNA structures. These dynamic conformations can act as functional genomic elements involved in DNA replication and transcription, chromatin organization and genome stability.

The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) has released its grant research funding awards for the upcoming year. All three awarded research projects at The University of Texas at Austin involve College of Pharmacy faculty.

This summer, the office of Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion (DEAI), hosted two intensive summer research programs: Project Engage Pharmacy Program (PEPP) Camp and the Leadership Through Engagement For the Advancement of Diverse Educational Research (LEADER) Program.

P4 students, Megan Yeung, Kami Johnston and Morgan Murchison co-author a peer-reviewed blog in Pulses encouraging educators to adapt to reflect the specific needs of people who use drugs and patients with substance use disorders. This blog also highlights UT Pharmacy as a U.S. leader in substance use disorder and harm reduction education for Pharm.D. students.

From student scholarships to national recognition awards to prestigious appointments, the UT Pharmacy community has a lot to celebrate and be proud of right now.