Pharmacy Perspectives - Fall 2011 - 6

news Eye-Opening Experience at Utah Conference
Six	pharmacy	students	and	one	faculty	member	took	time	 this	summer	to	attend	the	annual	University	of	Utah	School	 of	Alcoholism	and	Drug	Dependency	conference.	According	 to	attendee	and	second-year	pharmacy	student	Norm	Fenn,	 it	was	“an	eye-opening	experience.” For	six	days,	the	group	heard	lectures,	presentations,	 personal	stories	of	addiction	and	recovery,	as	well	attended	 therapy	sessions	and	an	Alcoholics	Anonymous	meeting.	 “The	week	was	full	of	information,	but	what	was	really		 surprising	was	the	emotional	toll	it	took	on	all	of	us,”		 says	Norm. The	personal	story	of	a	recovering	pharmacist	and	his	 wife,	though	harrowing,	made	a	real	impact.	“We	gained	 first-hand	insight	into	just	how	powerful	addiction	can	be,	 regardless	of	the	success	one	has	in	life.”	Lectures	and		 informative	sessions	were	interspersed	with	a	school-wide	 picnic	and	hikes,	and	culminated	in	a	presentation	on		 positive	personal	power,	“which	left	us	on	a	high	note.” Norm	considers	it	a	“great	honor	to	have	attended	this	 conference,	and	I	will	carry	what	I	have	learned	throughout	 my	career.”

Book Edited by Dr. Kompella
Professor	Uday	Kompella,	PhD,	together	with	Dr.	Henry	Edelhauser,	recently	 edited	Drug Product Development for the Back of the Eye	–	a	resource	for	ophthalmic	 researchers,	drug	formulation	scientists,	drug	delivery	and	drug	disposition		 scientists,	and	clinicians	involved	in	designing	and	developing	novel	therapeutics	 for	the	back	of	the	eye	diseases.	Dr.	Kompella	is	a	Fellow	of	the	American		 Association	of	Pharmaceutical	Sciences	(2005)	and	the	Association	for	Research		 in	Vision	and	Opthalmology	(2010).	

Drug Disposal Day
With	the	help	of	9NEWS,		 University	of	Colorado	Hospital,	 Cares	Alliance,	University	of		 Colorado	Police	and	the	Aurora	 Police	Department,	the	school’s	 second	annual	prescription	drug	 disposal	day	was	a	major	success.	 Twenty	pharmacy	students,	five		 faculty,	one	alumnus	and	eight	 police	officers,	helped	collect		 1207	lbs	of	medications.	“We	saw	a	 Dr. Gina Moore (left) helps police collect medicines 60	percent	increase	in	the	number	of	medications	collected	over	the	previous	year,”	says	event	organizer	Dana	 Brandorff.		The	event	was	planned	in	conjunction	with	the	DEA’s	national	take	 back	event	where	a	total	of	14,000	lbs	of	medications	were	collected	at	111	sites	 throughout	Colorado.	The	School	hosted	two	drop-off	locations	–	one	at	the		 Anschutz	Medical	Campus	and	the	other	at	the	Aurora	Municipal	Building.	“Our	 combined	sites	collected	the	most	medications	of	any	site	in	Colorado.”	News	 coverage	of	this	year’s	event	included	the	Aurora Sentinel,	KOA	radio,	9NEWS,	the	 Denver Post,	as	well	as	channels	4,	7	and	Fox	31.	

In The News
Dr.	Lisa	Thompson	was	interviewed	for	a	piece	in	Oncology	Nurse		 Advisor	about	managing	the	effects	of	chemo	brain	and	citrus	fruit-drug		 interactions.	 Dr.	Sarah	Anderson	was	interviewed	by	USA Today	reporter	Mary	Brophy	Marcus	 for	a	piece	on	overuse	of	acetaminophen	and	other	over-the-counter	medications	 that	appeared	in	the	Aug.	3	edition	of	USA Today,	which	has	a	daily	circulation	 of	2.3	million	readers.	The	article	was	in	response	to	Johnson	&	Johnson’s		 announcement	that	it	planned	to	cap	the	active	ingredient	in	Extra	Strength	Tylenol	 (acetaminophen)	in	order	to	reduce	the	risk	of	liver	damage	resulting	from	overuse	 of	acetaminophen.	The	drugmaker’s	McNeil	division	will	soon	reduce	the	product’s	 daily	dose	recommendation	from	4,000	milligrams	(eight	pills	a	day)	to	3,000		 milligrams	(a	total	of	six	500-miligram	pills	a	day).	Dr.	Anderson	was	interviewed	 along	with	Brian	Strom	at	Perelman	School	of	Medicine	at	the	University	of	Pennsylvania;	Winston	Parris	with	Duke	University	Medical	Center;	Lisa	McDevitt,	Tufts	 Medical	Center	and	Ausim	Azizi	at	Temple	University	School	of	Medicine.	Sage	 advice	imparted	by	Anderson	–	“Read	labels	and	check	things	out	with	your		 physician	and	pharmacist.”

Students who attended the Utah School of Alcoholism and Drug Dependence conference take a hike during the conference

Students Help Develop iPhone App
Third-year	pharmacy	students	Andrew	Webb	and		 Mohammed	Ali	have	been	busy	this	summer	helping	Dana	Brandorff,	director	of	communications	and	 alumni	affairs,	develop	a	mobile	application	for	the	 school	which	includes	a	GPS-programmed	map	of	 the	campus,	class	schedule	and	important	contact	list.	 When	Webb	and	Ali	began	the	project	they	knew	nothing	 about	developing	a	mobile	application.	“It’s	been	a	lot	of	 reading,	research,	trial	by	error	and	asking	for	help,”	says	 Webb.	Help	that	came	in	the	form	of	IT	professional	Tim	 Tracy	and	ESRI,	a	Broomfield-based	developer.	 Look	for	the	new	application	to	launch	by	the	end	of		 August	or	early	September	(GPS	portion	available		 summer	2012).

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CU School of Pharmacy
Pharmacy Perspectives - Fall 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pharmacy Perspectives - Fall 2011
