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Washington State University
Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences lmaricle

CPPS announces faculty promotions

SPOKANE, Wash.—The Washington State University (WSU) College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (CPPS) is dedicated to developing outstanding health care professionals and scientists through a transformative student experience. This means the college also takes care to ensure faculty supporting its research and teaching offerings are “second to none,” that is, according to Gary Pollack, dean of the CPPS.

“Our faculty are contributing to university goals and priorities at a rate that has been simply outstanding,” he said. “As a whole our college is lucky to have faculty and staff that rival any pharmacy program in the country.”

Faculty demonstrating excellence in scholarship and teaching give … » More …

Letter from the Editor | March 2019

Dear friends,

It has been seven years now that I have had the honor of serving as your CougaRx News editor in chief.

This month marks the 97th newsletter I have published for the College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. The CougaRx Alumni Newsletter started in 2013, with the addition of the Dean’s Newsletter in 2014. As our Cougar pharmacy family grew with the college’s move to Spokane, the success of our newsletters took off. The alumni newsletter received a SPARK award for excellence in communication from the Spokane Regional MarCom Association, and a marketing and communication award from the Council for Advancement and Support … » More …

McKeirnan to receive national honors for work in pharmacy practice

The American Pharmacists Association announced that WSU’s Kimberly McKeirnan will be honored for her work and research in clinical pharmacy at its annual meeting later this month.

McKeirnan, a clinical assistant professor at the WSU College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (CPPS), was selected for the APhA’s Academy of Pharmacy Practice and Management 2019 Distinguished Achievement Award in Pharmacy Practice.

McKeirnan was selected for the award for her work to increase access to vaccinations, an issue very current in the state of Washington. … » More …

Meier receives $100,000 for research of fatty acid receptors

The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics announced that Washington State University’s Kathryn Meier is its 2019 David Lehr Research Award recipient.

The award will be presented at Experimental Biology 2019, a conference that brings together five national scientific societies, and $100,000 over two years to be used in support of Meier’s research. The awards ceremony will occur on April 6 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida.

A leader in research and academia, Meier has received international acclaim for her work on omega‑3 fatty acids. Meier submitted a proposal to investigate the impact of free fatty acid receptor agonists (which … » More …

WSU student to serve regionally for national pharmacy group

SPOKANE, Wash.—Student pharmacist M. Majid Nazir was elected as one of eight regional delegates, nationally, for the American Pharmacists Association Academy of Student Pharmacists (APhA-ASP). The elections were held at the APhA-ASP midyear regional meeting in Boise, Idaho, earlier this fall.

“I am looking forward to directly working on resolutions that will help advance the profession of pharmacy and make life-long connections with this position,” Nazir said.

Over the next year he will be working with APhA-ASP chapters in Region 7, which includes pharmacy programs in Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Montana, and Nevada. He will be promoting advocacy and political awareness by regularly providing updates to … » More …

Spokane pharmacist, WSU professor honored by high school Alma mater

SPOKANE, Wash.— Washington State University’s Joshua Neumiller was selected for the 2018 North Central High School Distinguished Alumnus award. His picture will be added to the “Honor Hallway” at the school. Neumiller received the award at a ceremony at North Central High School in Spokane on November 30.

Neumiller was selected because of his extensive service and passion for educating people with diabetes to understand their disease and take better control of their health. His career as a distinguished educator includes research, clinical duties, and service as editor-in-chief of the journal Diabetes Spectrum published by the … » More …

Making radiation therapy less toxic to the heart is focus of this graduate fellowship award

SPOKANE, Wash.—Panshak Dakup, a graduate student at Washington State University in Spokane, received a Pre-doctoral Fellowship from the American Heart Association (AHA). The fellowship comes with $53,688 over two years to support his research, which he is conducting in the laboratory of Shobhan Gaddameedhi at the WSU College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (CPPS).

“We are interested in pursuing this study because heart failure is a major concern with radiation treatment that target the chest region in breast cancer patients.” Dakup said. “Fortunately, we discovered that the AHA has a way to fund graduate students … » More …

WSU graduate student elected to national STEM board

Spokane-based graduate student Ana Vergara has been elected to the national board of directors for the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science. Her term begins in January 2019.

“We are excited to welcome on the new board members.  They bring a wealth of experience from their professional backgrounds and from their involvement with SACNAS over the years,” said Lino Gonzalez, president of Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS).

Vergara is a Ph.D. student at the Washington State University College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. She works … » More …

Student spotlight: a summer at NCPA

YAKIMA, Wash.—Student pharmacist Peter Tang spent last summer as an intern with the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA). The program ran for 10 weeks and is located in Alexandria, Virginia.

“I was very excited about this opportunity to improve my leadership and management skills at a national level as well as expand my interests in independent pharmacy,” Tang said.

The NCPA Summer Internship Program is co-sponsored by the NCPA Foundation. There is only one candidate selected each summer, nationally.

Tang spent his … » More …

New partnership adds experience opportunities for students at Spokane blood center

SPOKANE, Wash.—Patients who receive organ transplants must receive immunosuppressive drugs to prevent rejection, which is why pharmacists are an integral part of the multidisciplinary transplant team. For pharmacists seeking to practice in this area, most of the training and knowledge of transplant-related problems are acquired on the job after pharmacy school. While Washington State University has offered electives on immunology/transplantation to student pharmacists in the past, it is not part of the core curriculum of the program.

But now starting in 2019 through a new partnership with Vitalant (formally Inland Northwest Blood Center), the WSU College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (CPPS) will offer a … » More …