The Newsletter for College of Pharmacy Alumni

PHARMSC

When Wayne Weart was a fresh-faced resident newly arrived at the College of Pharmacy at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), he could see that the equipment and facilities needed to be upgraded. At that point, MUSC’s pharmacy school had not undergone a major renovation in nearly 20 years.

Thirty-seven years later, it still hasn’t. But that will soon change.

“Our current facilities have remained essentially unchanged since I first came here for my residency in 1971,” Weart said. “They’re undersized and outdated. This new building and its state-of-the-art technologies will greatly enhance our learning environment, strengthen our research programs, and generally serve as a huge morale booster for the entire College of Pharmacy.”

In 2004, the MUSC College of Pharmacy and the College of Pharmacy at the University of South Carolina (USC) merged to form the South Carolina College of Pharmacy. By combining the strengths of the two colleges, and the affiliated assets of their universities, the South Carolina College of Pharmacy has many of the resources necessary to stake a claim as one of the best pharmacy schools in the country.

The MUSC Board of Trustees has approved a plan for a new flagship building on its MUSC

campus. The proposed facility is a six-story, 83,000-square-foot building with state-of-the-art learning and research spaces. Funds for the $30 million building will come from a combination of alumni, friends, and private foundations. Due to escalating building costs, additional funds must be obtained from other sources.

“We’re counting on our pharmacy alumni and friends to step up and take a real leadership role in raising the resources for this magnificent building,” said Arnold Karig, MUSC campus dean of the South Carolina College of Pharmacy. “As former students, alumni are acutely aware of the limitations of our existing physical space, as well as the excellence of our faculty and academic program. I am confident alumni will embrace this project not only willingly, but eagerly.”

The building, as well as endowed chairs and professorships ($4 million) and endowed scholarships ($2 million), is a central part of the recently launched MUSC-wide capital campaign, “A Partnership of Promise.” The $300-million MUSC campaign already has raised more than $200 million and is scheduled to end by 2011.

Key features of the new building include:• more than 13,000 square feet of space

dedicated to student instruction

• two lecture halls designed to accommodate a full cohort of 95 students each, fully equipped with ceiling projectors, teaching consoles, and microphones and cameras for distance-learning purposes

• reconfigurable classrooms equipped with flexible table and chair arrangements, wireless access, and distance-learning capabilities

• seminar rooms designed to facilitate instruction for small groups (12 to 18)

• student practice laboratories, student commons and lounge area, and a student activity center

• up to 15 “wet bench” and “dry bench” research labs.

Fall 2008

The new pharmacy building in Charleston will create a learning and

research environment on par with the best pharmacy schools in the

country, complementing the programmatic, faculty-driven excellence that

has long been the hallmark of the pharmacy educational experience.

SCCP Announces Plan for Landmark Building on MUSC Campus

Dean’s ListWelcome to PharmSC Extra! We are pleased to offer alumni newsletters for graduates of the University of South Carolina College of Pharmacy and the MUSC College of Pharmacy. We are proud of our alumni and want to keep you up-to-date on what is happening with your classmates and with the South Carolina College of Pharmacy (SCCP). We welcome your input!

A Bright Future, A Proud PastThere are many exciting things going on at SCCP. The Web site www.sccp.sc.edu has many stories about honors and accolades of faculty, students, and alumni; please visit the site regularly for the latest information on the college, faculty, students, continuing education opportunities, and other topics.

Recent highlights include:• recruitment of top-caliber students, with

nationally competitive GPAs and PCAT scores, and outstanding graduates, with jurisprudence and pharmacy licensing examination pass rates above the national average

• expansion of the Upstate program through affiliations with the Greenville Hospital System and Spartanburg Regional Health System

• renewed commitment to community pharmacy education, with three new faculty positions dedicated to community practice and medication management therapy partnerships with national chain drug stores

• an increase in international programs through agreements with sister institutions in France, Egypt, and Denmark

• a dramatic increase in research funding— the SCCP is now ranked in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Top 20

• planning for extensive renovations to the pharmacy building on the USC campus and a new state-of-the-art pharmacy building planned on the MUSC campus.

Alumni Weekend HighlightsAt Alumni Weekend Feb. 29–March 1, the Medical University of South Carolina

(MUSC) honored the past by rededicating a museum on the first floor of the pharmacy building and provided a glimpse of the future at the new Ashley River Tower pharmacy.

Ralph Wilkie, Class of ’53 and former faculty member, led a fund-raising drive among MUSC pharmacy alumni that netted nearly $10,000, more than enough to create additional cabinets and bookshelves for additional display space. The MUSC Pharmacy Alumni Association Museum, located in the college’s Distinguished Alumni Hallway, has many fascinating reminders of the way drugs used to be stored, compounded, and dispersed.

SCCP Executive Dean Joseph T. DiPiro and SCCP and MUSC Campus Dean Arnold Karig presented Wilkie with a certificate of appreciation for his painstaking preservation work.

“The alumni were very supportive and rose to the challenge,” DiPiro said. “They took real ownership of the project and, under Ralph’s leadership and with the help of some industrious students, did an excellent job of updating the displays.”

MUSC President Ray Greenberg presented Professor Emeritus William Golod with a Presidential Citation for his more than 50 years of service as professor and dean of the College of Pharmacy, marking both a rare achievement and honor. Since Greenberg became president, fewer than a dozen of these prestigious awards have been given.

Peter Edwards, SCCP, MUSC campus director of external affairs and member, Class of ’68, was recognized by the alumni association as the 2008 recipient of the association’s Distinguished Alumni Award. Presented by alumni association president-elect David Shirley ’02, the presentation was a surprise.

“This place is not known as a place where you can keep secrets,” Edwards said upon receiving the award. “But you kept this one.”

After graduating from MUSC, Edwards entered private industry as a pharmacist with a number of chain drug stores before becoming an instructor in the Department of Community Pharmacy Practice and Administration at MUSC in 1989. He has continued to serve as an occasional part-time pharmacist while taking on additional instructional and administrative roles. He was made assistant professor in 1995 and associate professor in 2004. As director of external affairs, he is responsible for maintaining strong relationships with clinical and community pharmacists with whom students do rotations.

In addition to the award ceremony and the dedication of the museum, Bobby Bradham ’77 presented the college with a reunion giving check for $10,220. Alumni also had the opportunity to take a tour of the new Ashley River Tower (ART), attend an open house at Anderson House, take some continuing education courses, and enjoy a family picnic at James Island County Park.

“The highlight of any event is seeing former students and celebrating their successes,” said Karig.The ART’s nuclear area offered alumni a glimpse into the future of pharmacy at MUSC.

There are two hot labs in the new facility, enabling the preparation of nuclear doses by eluting them through an on-site generator. Nuclear doses are used for medical treatments of a disease, such as cancer, and diagnoses, such as detecting a pulmonary embolism or determining if a patient has a thyroid condition. Members of the Class of ’77, for whom a nuclear track did not exist, designed the ART pharmacy, including the nuclear area.

Bradham, manager of the pharmacy before retiring last year, was joined by current pharmacy coordinator Don Neuroth ’77, Larry Grant ’77, and Carol Smalls ’77, as each selected an area to design.

“We made a real effort to make sure the pharmacy design is the most comfortable and efficient for the patients,” said Neuroth. “As long as that was our focus, I was pretty sure we’d end up with something that would work. So far, so good!”

The equipment in the ART pharmacy looks a bit different from the equipment Wilkie patiently assembled in the new cabinetry of the MUSC Pharmacy Alumni Association Museum. Nonetheless, there are some things—like focus on patients —that never change.

SCCP Executive Dean Joseph T. DiPiro

Medical University NewsOn the MUSC campus of the South Carolina College of Pharmacy, the past semester saw many of our faculty and students honored for their research and patient care. A sampling of those includes:

• national awards from Phi Lambda Sigma, including the Founder’s Award (Brianne Dunne, P4), Outstanding Chapter Advisor (Cathy Worrall), the Proctor & Gamble National Leadership Award (Joseph DiPiro), and the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (New Clinical Practitioner Award for Andrea Wessell)

• a national award for Beju Shah, one of only four P2 students in the country to receive a 2007–08 American Society of Health-System Pharmacists Student Leadership Award

• University awards from MUSC, including a Presidential Citation (William Golod), a “Master Teacher” designation from the Board of Trustees (Wayne Weart), a Student Leadership in Diversity Award (Dachelle

Johnson) and two slots on the inaugural slate of the Student Leadership Society (Johnson and Dunne)

• alumni awards from the MUSC College of Pharmacy Alumni Association, including a Distinguished Alumni Award (Peter Edwards ’68)

• numerous faculty and students presented at professional conferences, were awarded funding for research projects, and published papers or books.

We depend on our alumni to help lead our progress and to continue to represent the college as paragons in our profession. Please stay in touch!

Class NotesCatch up on the activities of your classmates

online! Many more class notes exist within the Medical University of South Carolina that cannot be reproduced here, so please visit the alumni page of the SCCP Web site at www.sccp.sc.edu/alumni/index.aspx and follow the link to the MUSC alumni association. There you can read the notes of your classmates and submit your own.

Even if you have no news to report, please visit the site and make sure we have your correct

e-mail address! We will send out occasional electronic bulletins with recent news and upcoming activities that may not be reported in hard copy format. Don’t miss out!

Class of 2008The newest alumni of the MUSC College

of Pharmacy were minted May 16, 2008, at the commencement exercises for the University. The night before, class president Brigid Boehm presented South Carolina College of Pharmacy Executive Dean Joseph T. DiPiro and MUSC Campus Dean Arnold Karig with a check for the class gift. The class committed to give three $1,000 scholarships—one for a member of the Class of 2009 and two for members of the Class of 2010. They managed to raise $3,800 to fund the scholarships and then decided to donate the rest of their class funds—$1,600—to Crisis Ministries Medical Clinic. The money will be used for immunizations and medications during the Wednesday night Interdisciplinary Clinic for which many students and faculty volunteer. The donation will provide medication for the clinic for the next five years.

MUSC Campus Dean Arnold Karig

College Advisory Boards ReconfiguredSCCP Forming New Council; Campuses Maintain Advisory Groups

In the past, the colleges of pharmacy at the Medical University of South Carolina and the University of South Carolina have each had an advisory board, usually composed of alumni, donors, friends, and others close to the college.

Administrators are organizing a new board structure that will include the now-forming SCCP Leadership Advisory Council. The council will have its inaugural meeting in September.

The SCCP Leadership Advisory Council is charged specifically with addressing the needs of the integrated college and providing input into the kinds of issues raised by this unprecedented merger.

“Having boards to provide advice and guidance gives us an opportunity to take a critical and objective look at what we’re doing,” said Joseph T. DiPiro, executive dean of the South Carolina College of Pharmacy. “This council will give us an external perspective on

what we’re doing and how we’re doing it, as well as act in an ambassadorial role to the larger pharmacy community.”

The overall objective of the council is to enhance the image and programs of the college through the prestige of its members’ representation and through the application of its counsel.

The specific functions of the council are to:• provide vision for the future of pharmacy

from a broad-based, multidisciplinary perspective

• advise college administrators regarding developments in health care and pharmacy that may influence college programs

• provide commentary on college performance

• advise college administrators regarding strategies to achieve college goals

• serve as representatives or ambassadors of the college to external constituencies

• provide guidance on college advancement efforts

• serve on selected college committees when external representation is needed.

In addition to the SCCP Leadership Advisory Council, each campus will continue to have an alumni advisory council to focus on the unique needs of each campus, such as development and alumni affairs.

“Each campus has its own alumni base and its own set of financial needs,” said MUSC Campus Dean Arnold Karig. “We want to give alumni an opportunity to engage with us on those campus-specific issues.”

University of South Carolina Campus Dean Randy Rowen agreed.

“Alumni relationships are extremely important, and we want to ensure a continuous two-way avenue for communication.”

Details about the membership and charges of these advisory groups will be forthcoming.

SCCP FacultyNew Faculty to the SCCP

Alumnus’ Book Proceeds to Benefit Memorial Fund

Stephen J. Gordin is an alumnus of the MUSC College of Medicine. But forgive him if he has a bit of loyalty to other areas at MUSC, particularly pharmacy.

First, his sister, Debby Gordin-Markel, who died in 1988, attended the College of Pharmacy, earning her bachelor’s in 1981 and her doctor of pharmacy in 1984. Second, his brother Dan Gordin earned a doctorate in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the College of Graduate Studies in 1988. Third, at each College of Pharmacy graduation since 1990, his family has presented an annual award to a deserving student from the Debby Gordin-Markel Memorial Scholarship Fund.

Gordin addresses all these factors, including the poignant tale of his sister’s courageous but ultimately doomed battle with a rare liver cancer, in his new book Debby’s Arrows, published last August by Champagne Books. His third book is an in-depth, personal

memoir that includes details of his sister’s cancer journey, his own professional development, his wife’s (Sandy’s) successful battle with breast cancer, and their efforts to have a child.

All proceeds from sales of Debby’s Arrows benefit the Debby Gordin-Markel Memorial Scholarship Fund, housed at the South Carolina College of Pharmacy, MUSC campus, and administered by the MUSC Foundation.

“Steve Gordin’s chronicle of his life chal-lenges, both personal and professional, makes for a heartwarming and inspirational read,” said Kelly Draganov, former director of develop-ment for South Carolina College of Pharmacy, MUSC campus.

The book may be ordered from www.amazon.com and other online booksellers such as Barnes and Noble, Target on-line and Borders, as well as through the publisher’s Web site, www.champagnebooks.com. To make tax-deductible donations directly to the fund, make checks payable to the MUSC Foundation earmarked for the Debby Gordin-Markel Memorial Scholarship Fund and mail to the foundation at MUSC Foundation, 18 Bee Street, MSC 450, Charleston, SC 29425-4500.

Small DosesEdward Davidson received the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists (ASCP) Archambault Award during Senior Care Pharmacy ’07, ASCP’s 38th annual meeting and exhibition, held Nov. 14–17, 2007, in Philadelphia.

Davidson is a noted researcher who is widely published and is a regular presenter at ASCP conferences. An ASCP fellow, he currently serves as ASCP’s representative to the National Transitions of Care Coalition. He maintains an active practice as a consultant pharmacist as a partner of Insight Therapeutics, Norfolk, Va., working with disabled children and the elderly.

Kelly Jones is associate professor of family medicine with McLeod Health in Florence, S.C. He was recently elected president of the South Carolina Pharmacy Association and will serve in 2008–09. He has been

Medical University of South CarolinaColumbia, SC 29208

www.sccp.sc.edu

April Miller, clinical assistant professor of clinical pharmacy and outcomes sciences; Hired: July 2007; Affilia-tion: USC campus; Education: Doctor of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina (’05); PGY1 Pharmacy Practice Residency, University of Kentucky (’06); PGY2 Critical Care Residency, University of Kentucky (’07)

Anna-Liisa Nieminen, associate profes-sor, pharmaceutical and biomedical sciences; Hired: July 2007; Affiliation: MUSC campus; Education: BS, chem-istry, University of Turku, Finland; (’75); MS, chemistry, University of Turku, Finland, (’78); Ph.D., biochemistry, University of Kuopio, Finland, (’91)

Douglas Pittman, associate professor, pharmaceutical and biomedical scienc-es; Hired: August 2006; Affiliation: USC campus; Education: Postdoctoral Fel-low, The Jackson Laboratory (’96–’99); Ph.D., University of Iowa (’96)

Alissa Smith, clinical assistant profes-sor of clinical pharmacy and outcomes sciences; Hired: March 2007; Affiliation: Greenville Hospital System University Medical Center; Education: BS, biology, Wofford College; BS, pharmacy, Medi-cal University of South Carolina (’97); Pharm.D., Medical University of South Carolina (’99); Postgraduate Training: Medical University of South Carolina, Family Medicine (’00)

James Sterrett, assistant professor, clinical pharmacy and outcomes sci-ences; head of the Community Practice Lab; Hired: August 2007; Affiliation: MUSC campus; Education: Pharm.D., University of South Carolina (’97); BS, pharmacy, University of South Carolina (’95); certification in diabetes education (’00), BCPS (’01)

an active member of the MUSC Pharmacy Alumni Association, holding various leadership positions, and co-owns Evidence-Based Solutions, a company which assists consultant pharmacists with applying evidence-based medicine to clinical recommendations.

David Shirley of Charleston, S.C., assumed the presidency of the MUSC Pharmacy Alumni Association in July 2008.