UH College of Pharmacy Associate Professor Diana S-L. Chow, Ph.D., and UHCOP alumnus and adjunct faculty member Dong Liang, Ph.D. ('95), have been awarded a U.S. patent for a potential new, targeted weapon in the fight against cancer. Chow and Liang have developed oral and parenteral (non-oral or injectable methods, such as an intravenous route) nanoformulations of the compound mebendazole, which has been used for decades as an antiparasitic agent but recently has shown significant activity in the suppression of tumor growth and inhibition of cancer cell growth. Chow's patents for formulations of the drug Busulfex® (busulfan), a conditioning agent for leukemia and other cancer patients undergoing blood, marrow or stem cell transplant, is the most profitable patent in UH history with more than $3.5 million in royalties generated for the university. Liang is an associate professor and Chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Texas Southern University.

UH College of Pharmacy alumnus Alex C. Varkey, Pharm.D. ('05), M.S., has been elected to the New Practitioner position on the American Pharmacists Association-Academy of Pharmacy Practice and Management's Section on Hospital and Institutional Practice. Varkey recently returned to Houston to accept the position of Pharmacy Manager in The Methodist Hospital's Department of Pharmacy Services after completing a Master of Science and PGY1/PGY2 residency in Health-System Pharmacy Administration in Ohio.

UHCOP alumnus Bruce Biundo, R.Ph. ('61), has been appointed to the Texas Pharmacy Association Board of Directors as Representative for the Academy of Compounding Pharmacists. Biundo will fill the unexpired term recently vacated by UHCOP alumna Terry Mielke, R.Ph. ('90), owner and pharmacist-in-charge of Thrifty Health & Compounding Pharmacy in Humble. Biundo, who was installed as Academy Chair in July, is a consultant at Professional Compounding Centers of America in Houston.

Two clinical pharmacists - Jessica M. Cottreau, Pharm.D., and Rustin D. Crutchley, Pharm.D., AAHIVE - have joined UH College of Pharmacy as clinical assistant professors. Cottreau earned her Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of Wisconsin School of Pharmacy in Madison, Wis., completed a pharmacy practice residency at the University of Oklahoma School of Pharmacy and an infectious diseases residency at The University of Texas-M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. In addition to her faculty position, Cottreau maintains a clinical practice site at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital. Her primary research interest is infectious diseases, specifically Candida species. Crutchley earned a B.S. in Biology from Duke University and his Pharm.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He also completed a pharmacy practice residency at The University of Texas Health Center at Tyler and an HIV/Infectious Diseases specialty residency at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences. Crutchley also has earned the new HIV Subject Matter Expert (AAHIVE) credential from the American Academy of HIV Medicine. With a clinical practice site at Therapeutic Concepts under Dr. Joseph Gathe, Crutchley’s primary research interest is in therapeutic drug monitoring of antiretrovirals and pharmacogenomics.

UH College of Pharmacy alumna Carrie Sacky, R.Ph. ('80), pharmacist-in-charge at a Dallas-area CVS Pharmacy and Vice President of the Texas Pharmacy Association, has created the Henry and Charlene McClain Endowed Scholarship in honor of her parents and her daughter, third-year UH pharmacy student Stacie Sacky Dacus. Sacky said her parents supported her academic goals and worked tirelessly so that she could attend college.

UH College of Pharmacy alumna and Dean's Advisory Council member Lydia Aguilera, R.Ph. ('80), recently received her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Florida in Gainesville College of Pharmacy. A graduate of the college's Working Professional Pharm.D. Program, Aguilera also was honored with the Outstanding Student Leadership Award. Her thesis was titled, "Medication Therapy Management: A Pharmacist's Expertise is Acknowledged and Rewarded." Aguilera is president and owner of Mom's Pharmacy, with operations in the Texas Rio Grande Valley cities of Mission and Weslaco.

Several new faces have joined the UH Pharmacy Alumni Association Board of Directors, which recently held its installation dinner to welcome the 2008-09 officers and directors. Serving as officers are Renee Prescott, Pharm.D. ('02); president; Ziad Ghanem, Pharm.D. ('04), president-elect; Bindhu Batra, R.Ph. ('98), treasurer; Allera Porter, Pharm.D. ('02), secretary; A.J. Day, Pharm.D. ('07), historian; and Bruce Biundo, R.Ph. ('61), and Eva Couvillon, Pharm.D. (’02), social co-chairs. Rounding out the board are councilors Jeff Baek, R.Ph. ('95); Rachel George, R.Ph. ('96); Joe Ickes, R.Ph. ('73); Alton Kanak, R.Ph. ('69); Sheryl Symonette, R.Ph. ('82); and Shaji Varghese, R.Ph. ('94).