Clockwise form top left; Outstanding Alumnus Award winner Rosemary Bacovsky, professor Dr. Michael Doschak, marathon man Tyeren Deacon, the Samycia "pharmily," incoming dean Dr. Neal Davies and diabetes researcher Rami Al Batran.
In 2016, our faculty went through some significant changes highlighted by welcoming a new dean and the approval of the Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) program. We look back at the top 10 stories that were the most newsworthy, most read and most shared in 2016.
1. New dean of pharmacy aims to give back to alma mater. Neal Davies, dean of the College of Pharmacy, University of Manitoba, was named as the new dean of the University of Alberta's Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, effective Sept. 1, 2016.
2. Doctor of Pharmacy program approved. The faculty's proposed Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) program was recently approved by the Advanced Education ministry of the Government of Alberta.
This means that new curriculum will be developed for the implementation of three programs: the Bridging Program for BSc in Pharmacy students, Doctor of Pharmacy and Doctor of Pharmacy for Practicing Pharmacists programs.
3. BONE TREK: The NEXT GENERATION of bone diagnostics and drugs to treat osteoporosis, arthritis and bone cancers. Michael Doschak, an associate professor, received a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Proof of Principle - Phase 1 Grant for his project titled "Bone-Seeking Iron Oxide Nanoparticles for Imaging Bone Metabolism." This project will study how "diagnosing metabolic bone disease at an early stage plays a vital role in the success of treatment and management of diseases such as osteoporosis, Paget's disease and osteoarthritis, and the accurate diagnosis of overuse bone shin splints, or even metastatic bone cancers."
4. Preceptors: the heart of our profession. Practicing pharmacists see value in long-standing faculty preceptorship program
5. Deep roots in the 'pharmily' tree. In the Samycia family, the profession of pharmacy is profoundly intertwined in the family's history spanning three generations.
6. The fight against Type 2 diabetes. Research team studies new treatment using existing drug for angina. High drug development costs challenge researchers and pharmaceutical companies worldwide to look at new ways of using drugs that are already approved and safe to use. Researchers look at existing, safe drug therapies to treat one disease and investigate if those same therapies can be repurposed to treat other diseases.
7. Leading the way in pharmacy practice. A profile of one of our Outstanding Alumnus Award winners. Rosemary Bacovsky's curriculum vitae (BSc '74, BSc Pharm '77, M Pharm '85, MHSA '97) reminds one of the Beatles song "The Long and Winding Road."
8. Movember marathon man aims to run 24 hours straight. First-year pharmacy student Tyeren Deacon goes the distance to support men's mental health.
9. Where health and the law meet. A unique faculty position provides pharmacy students with amazing learning opportunities. Ubaka Ogbogu (LLM '05), assistant professor in the faculties of law and pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences and Katz Research Fellow in Health Law and Science Policy, is possibly the first-if not the only-cross-appointment in these two disciplines in Canada.
10. Professor Afsaneh Lavasanifar wins patent award for new drug technology. Nanotechnology improves cancer drug efficacy, reduces side effects. A new technology to help improve the efficiency and efficacy of cancer drug therapies received a patent award from TEC Edmonton at its Innovation Makes Sense event.