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College Connections

An electronic newsletter from the College of Pharmacy

June, 2015
Dean's Message
Dr. Fletcher Graduation is always an inspiring time of the year as we celebrate the accomplishments of our students and faculty, and the contributions of our alumni to our educational programs.

This issue of College Connections highlights the graduation of our class of 2015, and the start of the next chapter of their professional careers in pharmacy. To the class of 2015, it was a pleasure to have you as students. After four years together you have become part of the College of Pharmacy family. We were fortunate to have you as students and are sorry to see you go. But it is time, you are ready and you have important contributions to make to the pharmacy profession and to improving the human condition. Our graduates influence the quality of health care in communities across Nebraska and the U.S. Their successes - and your successes are a key strength of this College of Pharmacy, and why we are recognized as a preeminent institution for pharmacy education and research. It is my honor to welcome you to the ranks of our distinguished alumni. As I remarked to you at graduation, quoting from Garrison Keillor, "be well, do good work, and stay in touch".

Graduation is always a bittersweet occasion. Graduation for the Class of 2015 was particularly so. Nolan Hannan was a member of the graduating Class of 2015. Sadly, Nolan died on April 5, 2015. He was an outstanding student and would have been an outstanding pharmacist. He had already accepted a pharmacist position in Nebraska.

I rarely make a request for donations from our Alumni and Friends in College Connections. But, in this case, I would ask you to consider a gift to a new - and very close to our heart - scholarship fund: The Nolan J. Hannan Memorial Scholarship. We can best fulfill the promise of Nolan Hannan as a pharmacist by helping other pharmacy students succeed - and that will be the purpose of this scholarship. The scholarship will be for Nebraska residents, who have a GPA greater than 3.0, are hard workers, and have a sense of humor. We need to raise of total of $25,000 to create a permanently endowed scholarship. I ask our pharmacy community to please help in funding this scholarship. The Class of 2015 has already raised approximately $5000 for this scholarship. Please join Nolan's classmates and help fund this scholarship. You may contact me, or Patty Sherman with the University of Nebraska Foundation at any time to discuss how you can help. Patty's contact information is: 402-502-4114 (direct) or 800-432-3216 (toll free); her email address is: [email protected].

On behalf of the students, faculty and staff at the College of Pharmacy, I want to offer a sincere thank you for your generous support of the College.

With warmest wishes to all of our Alumni, including now our most recent graduates, and Friends.

Courtney

Courtney V. Fletcher
Dean, College of Pharmacy 
Class of 2015

The Holland Performing Arts Center was the venue for the 2015 Scholastic Honors Convocation on May 8.  Fifty-six seniors were vested with their doctoral hoods and took the Pharmacist's Oath.  Senior recognition awards and the 2015 Preceptor of the Year Award were also presented at the Convocation.  Spring Commencement was held at the Ralston Arena.

 

Congratulations, Class of 2015!

Ashley Austin, Omaha
Daniel Bailey, Boulder, CO
Tara Bergland, Treynor, IA
Joshua Blood, Beatrice
Elizabeth Brabec, Wayne
Brice Buryanek, Hawarden, IA
David Cawthorn, Elkhorn
Carolyn Corn, Omaha
     with distinction
Sylvia Dang, Rosemead, CA
Zhan Ge, Sheffield, IA
Nolan Hannan, Wahoo
Sloane Hartzell, Hallam
Deeko Hassan, Rochester, MN
Chet Hellbusch, Columbus
Kayla Hoelting, Lawrence
Yimei Huang, Chengdu, China
Megan Irlmeier, Exira, IA
Caroline Jamison, Arlington
     with distinction
Katrina Keebler, Sterling
Jessica Kehm, Grand Island
Michael Keiser, Gothenburg
Justin Lane, Auburn
     with high distinction
Hien Le, Lincoln
Andrew Lemke, St. Paul
Cody Lobeda, Aurora
Michelle Mahr, Sidney
Richard Marlatt, Gordon
Amy Mayer, Elkhorn
Marissa McMahon, Palmyra
Khalid Mohamed, New Brighton, MN
Ban Mohammed, Lincoln
Daralyn Morgenson, Louisville
     with high distinction
Kelsey Morris, Lincoln
Joseph Nekola, Ralston
Olivia Nguyen, Lincoln
Sarah Paasch, Elkhorn
     with distinction
Cassandra Pauley, Panama, IA
Charleen Phan, Lincoln
Emily Prinz, West Point
     with distinction
Amanda Reinhardt, Cambridge
Andrea Scheiblhofer, Lincoln
Ashley Schenk, Prague
     with high distinction
Caci Schulte, Blair
     with distinction
Jenalee Schwab, Hampton, IA
Drew Smith, Milburn
Hannah Snyder, Yutan
Cory Sueper, Humphrey
Amanda Summers, Auburn
Van Tran, Lincoln
Philip Van De Velde, Papillion
     with distinction
Amanda Voigt, Topeka, KS
Jenna Waters, Lincoln
Stephanie Wetovick, Kearney
     with distinction
Lance Wilson, Grant
Jenna Woods, Omaha
Li Yin, Rowland Heights, CA
College of Pharmacy honors preceptors
The College of Pharmacy honored its annual Preceptors of the Year and added a new award, Preceptor Site of the Year, at the annual scholastic honors convocation.
College of Pharmacy alums Staci Hubert, Pharm.D., and Joy Beranek, Pharm.D., were named 2015 Preceptors of the Year. Fourth-year students lauded the Ashland Pharmacy pharmacists for a rotation which included hands-on experience with patients, including providing cognitive services and blood-pressure readings. Students who took the Ashland rotation also got the unique experience of working in both retail and compounding pharmacy.  Full article.

 

First CSC student graduates from COP program
Yimei Huang, Pharm.D., UNMC College of Pharmacy class of 2015, has an adventurous spirit.
She would have to, to travel 7,300 miles from Chengdu, China, to take on a rigorous program, in another nation, in a second language.
Dr. Huang along with Dr. Zhang, from the School of Allied Health, were the first enrollees in, and first graduates of, a unique, innovative program established in 2011 as a component of the Shanghai Sino-U.S. Health Science Initiative.  Full article.

 

Welcome Drs. Conda-Sheridan and Mohs
Martin Miguel Conda Sheridan, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, is a new faculty member at UNMC. 

Hometown: Buenos Aires, Argentina

Research/professional interests:
My research focuses on the design, synthesis and characterization of small molecules and biomaterials to treat bacterial infections and cancer. Later, I would like to expand to other areas, such as heart diseases. I love to collaborate with other scientists, so if someone has an idea, I am open to expand my current research interests.
Full article.
Aaron Mohs, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, is a new faculty member at UNMC.

Hometown: Webster, S.D.

Research/professional interests:
Our research is focused on the development of new fluorescent imaging contrast agents to guide surgical removal of tumors. We have also developed instruments that could one day be used in the operating room to see these contrast agents in real time. As opposed to a paint by numbers, this is a cut-by-color technology. We also are interested in developing new drug delivery systems that target tumor metabolism.
Full article.
Poster earns first place
Mrs. Yinnong Jia, a Pharmaceutical Sciences Graduate student, and her advisor, Dr. Jered Garrison, recently attended the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) annual meeting in Baltimore, Maryland. The SNMMI is the major international conference for the radiopharmaceutical sciences, which is the focus of most of the work in Dr. Garrison's lab. At this meeting, Yinnong's work/poster was recognized as a highlight at the Radiopharmaceutical Summary session, which synopsizes the most prominent abstracts (> 400 for that section) that were submitted. Also, her poster won 1st place in the Molecular Targeting Probes division (~180 posters).

"Our lab is very proud of her accomplishments and how well she represented our lab, our department/graduate program, the CDDN, the COP and the UNMC," said Dr. Garrison. 
Pharmacy beam, signatures now in place
South view of Pharmacy building, June 2015
On Thursday, May 7, Leslie Neal stopped by the Scott Student Plaza to sign a beam for the new Lozier Center for Pharmacy Sciences and Education and the UNMC Center for Drug Discovery.

Neal is not a pharmacy graduate, but her father, Lawrence Helser, is a 1951 graduate, and, because he was unable to travel from Rockwall, Texas, she signed for him. Only a few inches away was the signature of Neal's daughter, Shannon, who will graduate from the college in 2018.  Full article.
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