A new study into a controversial asthma therapy by UH College of Pharmacy alumnus and Professor Richard Bond (BS '83, Ph.D. '88) will be published in an upcoming issue of the prestigious journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Comprising investigators from UH, Baylor College of Medicine and M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, the collaborative study team failed to trigger asthma-like symptoms in a mouse model lacking a key receptor gene. The findings lend further support to Bond's hypothesis that blocking the activity of the receptor with beta-2 adrenoreceptor antagonists (beta blockers) might be a safer, more effective long-term alternative for patients with mild, chronic asthma patients than the long-standing practice of using beta-2 adrenoreceptor agonists to stimulate the receptor. The study, "Beta2-Adrenoreceptor Signaling is Required for the Development of an Asthma Phenotype in a Murine Model," is currently available as an e-pub PDF on the PNAS Web site.  

UH College of Pharmacy alumnus Jason C. Lovero, Pharm.D. ('08), has won the 2009 American Pharmacists Association-Academy of Student Pharmacists Mortar & Pestle Professionalism Award Essay Contest. Lovero won the college's McNeil Mortar and Pestle Award, which is sponsored by APhA-ASP and among the criteria for essay contest eligibility, at the 2008 graduation banquet. Lovero, who served as a 2007-08 National At-Large Director on the APhA-ASP Executive Committee, is currently in a two-year M.S./residency in health-system pharmacy administration program at The Ohio State University College of Pharmacy and The Ohio State University Medical Center.

A UH College of Pharmacy alumnus and a UH pharmacy student will be among the award recipients at the Texas Society of Health-System Pharmacists 2009 Annual Seminar in Austin on April 18.  Alumnus Andrew P. "Andy" Laegeler, Pharm.D. ('08), who is currently a pharmacy practice resident at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital, will receive the Leo F. Godley Resident/Fellow Award. UH pharmacy student Jacob Hall, who will graduate with a Pharm.D. degree in May, will be honored with the Glenda Lawson McRee Pharmacy Student Award.

UH College of Pharmacy faculty member Elizabeth A. Coyle, Pharm.D., BCPS, has received the Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists’ 2009-10 Wyeth Residency Award and a $40,000 grant to develop a 12-month PGY-2 infectious diseases pharmacotherapy speciality residency. Coordinated by the college and the Houston Infectious Diseases Network, the resident’s primary practice sites will be at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital and Cardinal Health Pharmacy Management Services with elective opportunities at several Texas Medical Center institutions. UHCOP faculty members Kevin W. Garey, Pharm.D., M.S., and Jessica M. Cottreau, Pharm.D., are co-recipients of the award.

Nearly 30 UH College of Pharmacy alumni, friends and prospective students welcomed Dean Mustafa F. Lokhandwala, Ph.D., to McAllen, Texas. Dean Lokhandwala updated attendees on the state of the college and the ongoing search for college’s next dean during the reception, which was generously hosted by alumni Lydia Aguilera, Pharm.D., R.Ph. (’80), Ben Fry, R.Ph. ('72), FIACP, FACA, and Elvia Saenz, R.Ph. (’74). Lokhandwala’s speech was met by a generous response from alumni and friends alike, generating more than $5,000 in gifts.

Reception hosts Ben Fry, Lydia Aguilera and Elvia Saenz with Dean Mustafa F. Lokhandwala.

Alumni and friends Robert Segura, R.Ph. (’97), and Delia and Johnny Benitez, R.Ph. (’86) were on hand to welcome Dean Lokhandwala to South Texas.

Nationally recognized pharmacy educator and scholar Joseph T. DiPiro, Pharm.D., executive dean and professor of South Carolina College of Pharmacy, will be the featured speaker at the 2009 Phi Lambda Sigma James T. McCarty Lecture from 11:15 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. Wednesday, March 11, at the UH Law Center's Krost Hall. A past-president and fellow of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP), DiPiro is editor of The American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education and the "Encyclopedia of Clinical Pharmacy," senior editor of "Pharmacotherapy: A Pathophysiologic Approach," and author of "Concepts in Clinical Pharmacokinetics." During his career, DiPiro has received several educator and literature awards from the ACCP, the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy and the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.