White House Highlights UT Austin's Opioid Overdose Prevention Efforts

An image of the White House with "The White House Washington" written underneath.
March 13, 2024
The White House highlighted The University of Texas at Austin's pioneering opioid overdose prevention efforts through Operation Naloxone (now housed within UT's SHIFT initiatives) and the College of Pharmacy's PhARM Program in the Biden-Harris Administration's fact sheet for its challenge to save lives from overdose.

Chemistry World: More Than a Mirror-Image: Left-Handed Nucleic Acids

Two double helixes of DNA, one appears normal and the other appears jagged and damaged.
February 20, 2024
The Division of Pharmacology & Toxicology's Karen Vasquez, Ph.D. talked to Chemistry World's Rachel Brazil on genetic instability in disease and evolution of course related to Z-DNA. Dr. Vasquez's research focuses on genome instability, DNA damage and mechanisms of repair.

Vasquez Writes in Nature Reviews Genetics on Alternative DNA Structures

"Nature Reviews Genetics" written inside of a circle.
November 1, 2022
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.

Faculty Earn State Grants for Cancer Research

A person in a lab.
September 21, 2022
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.

Summer Programs of Innovation and Diversity

LEADER/PEPP Program participants and leaders sitting together at an outdoor table for lunch.
September 6, 2022
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.

Pharmacists: The Most Accessible Healthcare Provider, Unless You Have a Substance Use Disorder

White pill bottle with white pills on a black background.
August 23, 2022
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.

PharmE3D Labs Earn National and International Accolades

Brick facade of Pharmacy building with affixed text, "The University of Texas at Austin College of Pharmacy"
July 11, 2022
Researchers in UT Pharmacy's Pharmaceutical Engineering and 3D Printing (PharmE3D) Labs have earned a bevy of national and international awards for their work in pharmaceutical drug delivery and 3D printing personalized medicines.

Fewer Than Half of U.S. Pharmacies Carry One of the Most Effective Drugs for Opioid Abuse

A pharmacist holding a box of medication.
June 13, 2022
Tara Law from Time writes about how few pharmacies carry buprenorphine, a life-saving drug to help treat opioid use disorder (OUD). Lucas Hill, Pharm.D., BCACP, director of the college's Pharmacy Addictions Research & Medicine (PhARM) program, offers his insight on the issue, and how the DEA's crackdown of the drug puts OUD patients at risk.

PharmE3D Labs Receive Federal Funding for 3D Printed Contraception

Four people wearing masks and lab coats.
March 14, 2022
Dr. Mo Maniruzzaman's Pharmaceutical Engineering and 3D Printing Labs have received a federal grant from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to develop personalized 3D printed non-hormonal intrauterine devices (IUDs). The project’s goal is to increase global access to long-term and effective contraception while minimizing some of its most debilitating side effects.

Opioid Use Disorder Paper Earns ACCP Award

A box of naloxone vials.
October 8, 2021
A paper from UT College of Pharmacy researchers was awarded the 2021 Outstanding Paper of the Year from the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) Ambulatory Care Practice Research Network. The paper investigates the availability of buprenorphine and naloxone in Texas to treat opioid use disorder.