 Posted on: 10/20/2009
Kudos to Alexis Noble and Artie Strunk, the team that will represent the School of Pharmacy at the ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting and Exhibition in Las Vegas in December. More than 3,000 pharmacy students are expected to attend this year’s meeting. And many congratulations to all the participants in the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists Clinical Skills Competition. Finalist teams, all fourth-year students, were Noble and Strunk, along with Allison Lynch and Evan White, Kate Bidwell and Krista Larson, and Stephanie Atueyi and Zeenia Gilani. Alternate teams were Benu Arora and Ashley Hamilton and Jennifer Austin and Lisa Saliba.
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Posted on: 10/7/2009
VCU's Service Awards Program recognizes the important contributions faculty and staff make to the success of the university and the VCU Health System. Recipients receive their first award of recognition upon completing five years of eligible service and every five years thereafter.
Nineteen School of Pharmacy honorees are to be congratulated for having worked a total of 245 years. Whew!
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 Posted on: 10/5/2009
School of Pharmacy alumnus Samuel Wallace Cundiff, 81, died Aug. 3, 2009, in Vinton, Va.
He is survived by his wife, Dorothy Mae Vawter Cundiff; children Debbie Cundiff Davis, William “Bill” Cundiff and wife Becky, Samuel W. “Sam” Cundiff Jr. and wife Terri, and Marianne Nester and husband Mike; and seven grandchildren.
“Wallace Cundiff was a real good fellow student at MCV,” recalls Raymond McFarlane (B.S. ’54) of Roanoke.
Following his graduation from the MCV School of Pharmacy, Cundiff served in the U.S. Army Medical Field Service Corps for two years. He also served in the National Guard 29th Division from 1946 to 1956.
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 Posted on: 9/25/2009
Patty Slattum, associate professor and director of the Geriatric Pharmacotherapy Program, received the university’s Distinguished Service Award during its 27th annual Faculty Convocation Sept. 10 at the Singleton Center for the Performing Arts.
Also receiving awards were Everett Worthington, College of Humanities and Sciences (University Award of Excellence); Ena Gross, School of Education (Distinguished Teaching Award) and Rakesh Kukreja, School of Medicine (Distinguished Scholarship Award).
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 Posted on: 9/15/2009
Earle Bennett Watkins, who earned his B.S. degree in pharmacy from MCV School of Pharmacy in 1952, died July 22, 2009, at age 78.
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 Posted on: 9/2/2009
Eight Phi Delta Chi brothers did the School of Pharmacy proud Aug. 4-9, bringing several awards back to Richmond from the fraternity’s Grand Council meeting in Phoenix, Ariz.
The school’s Alpha Delta Chapter ranked at 100 percent efficiency in the Dale W. Doerr Achievement Award Program, garnered second place in the John D. Grabenstein Leadership Award and ranked No. 11 among PDC chapters nationwide.
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 Posted on: 9/1/2009
Every School of Pharmacy White Coat Ceremony has something that sets it apart. The class of 2013’s White Coat Ceremony had something that almost sent it out on the street.
About 4 p.m. Aug. 22 -- just as P1 students began to recite the Oath of a Student Pharmacist with student body president Van Tran (P3) – an alarm went off in the Greater Richmond Convention Center. A loud, insistent, disembodied recording said, “MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION, PLEASE? A FIRE EMERGENCY HAS BEEN REPORTED IN THIS BUILDING!”
Over and over. And over again.
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 Posted on: 8/21/2009
The School of Pharmacy is 130 students stronger this week, with P1 orientation having started Aug. 13. Students were welcomed that morning by Dean Victor Yanchick.
The dean offered commentary on the next four years, as well as some history of the last couple hundred.
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Posted on: 8/19/2009
“What do you think of when you hear U.S. health-care reform? Think pharmacists!”
Live from D.C.! It’s a Virginia Academy of Student Pharmacists-produced video in conjunction with the 2009 APhA-ASP Summer Leadership Institute.
The three-minute video was filmed by School of Pharmacy students Karl Bituin (P3), Amanda Botteicher (P2), Amy Dembowski (P3), Danny Jaek (P3), Lauren Marston (P3) and Alexis Noble (P4). Jaek edited and produced it.
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 Posted on: 8/12/2009
Six School of Pharmacy alumni were lauded for their accomplishments during the Virginia Pharmacists Association’s 128th Annual Convention. Alumni award winners were:
- Preston Hale ( (B.S. ’72): National Community Pharmacists Association Leadership Award. Congratulations to Hale, who also was installed as VPhA president during the convention.
- Holly Hurley (Pharm.D. ’04): Innovative Pharmacy Practice Award
- Greg Large (B.S. ’77): Bowl of Hygeia Award
- Pat Resto (B.S. ’84): Virginia Pharmacist Service Award
- Delaina Richardson (Pharm.D. ’04): Ilene B. Stiff Local Association President’s Award
- Gene White (B.S. ’56): Outstanding Pharmacist Award
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Posted on: 8/6/2009
It’s nice when School of Pharmacy faculty, staff, students and alumni are so often recognized that it’s hard to keep up. That said, here are some accomplishments we’ve not yet announced:
Jeff Delafuente, professor and associate dean for professional education, has been elected to a second term (November 2009-November 2011) on the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists board of directors. He also has been elected secretary of the Commonwealth Council on Aging for the 2009-10 program year.
Mary Jayne Kennedy, assistant professor of pharmacy, made an oral presentation, “Identification of Candidate Biomarkers and a Potentially Novel Mechanism of Aminoglycoside-Induced Renal Injury in Children via Proteomic Profiling,” at the 12th Congress of the European Society for Developmental, Perinatal and Pediatric Pharmacology, which took place June 17-20 in Chamoix, France. She also has received a National Institute of Child Health and Human Development grant of $48,321 for a study titled, “Urinary Proteomics in Aminoglycoside-Treated Newborns.”
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Posted on: 8/4/2009
The only constant is change! School of Pharmacy faculty/staff transitions include:
Karen Bryant has joined the Dean’s Office as graduate education coordinator, reporting to Susanna Wu-Pong, director of Pharmaceutical Sciences Graduate Programs. Bryant served for nine years as the Master’s of Public Health Program coordinator for the School of Medicine’s Department of Epidemiology and Community Health.
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Posted on: 8/3/2009
It’s old home week at Virginia Beach for School of Pharmacy alumni, faculty and students. Virginia Pharmacists Association is hosting its 128th Annual Convention at Cavalier Hotel.
Bronwyn Burnham (B.S. ’89) heads up the convention as VPhA president. The president-elect designate is also a School of Pharmacy alum, Cynthia Warriner (B.S. ’86).
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 Posted on: 7/21/2009
VCU School of Pharmacy faculty and staff have been all over Beantown this week.
The 2009 American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Annual Meeting and Seminars, which ends July 22 in Boston, has been helmed by SOP Dean Victor Yanchick.
In addition to his responsibilities as AACP president, Yanchick participated in the Wal-Mart Scholars Program Meet and Greet, a session for new faculty and AACP first-timers, at least five board of directors events, at least three House of Delegates events and numerous receptions, lunches and dinners … including the Teacher of the Year Luncheon, at which Joanne Peart, associate professor of pharmaceutics, represented VCU School of Pharmacy.
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 Posted on: 7/17/2009
Are first impressions everything? Rania Ramadan of Alexandria, Egypt, and Taraneh Shojaci of Stockholm, Sweden (by way of Iran), should have an answer for that question by the end of July.
The two students arrived in the States, around the Fourth of July weekend, as part of the International Pharmaceutical Students’ Federation’s Student Exchange Program. They are spending part of the month with VCU School of Pharmacy and part of the month visiting nearby scenic, historical (and shopping!) sites.
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 Posted on: 7/15/2009
Every year, the Dean’s Office supports Summer Research Fellowships for several Pharm.D. students. The students receive a stipend for two months of work and are encouraged to discuss their research areas with faculty.
Susanna Wu-Pong, director of Pharmaceutical Sciences Graduate Programs, says Summer Research Pizza Lunches began about four years ago. It’s a series of hourlong programs that feature one or two 20-minute presentations by students.
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Posted on: 7/8/2009
Donna Francioni-Proffitt, assistant professor of pharmacy and director of the Skills Lab, has left the School of Pharmacy after 11 years for a position as pharmacy program manager for the Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services. She earned her B.S. in pharmacy at VCU in 1979.
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 Posted on: 6/30/2009
Students at Cosby High School in Midlothian have a particularly interesting – and potentially rewarding – opportunity in the school’s Health Science Specialty Center.
Since Cosby’s center was established in September 2007, its teachers and administrators have worked closely with VCU faculty to offer programs for students who want to prepare for and pursue careers in the health-care industry. The School of Pharmacy’s representative is Thomas Reinders, associate dean for admissions and student services.
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 Posted on: 6/29/2009
Bruce (B.S. ’70) and Peg McWhinney, who endowed the Social Justice Award last year, met the first recipient of the award on June 25.
David Clopton (Pharm.D.’09) received the award for his work with Christian Pharmacists Fellowship International and his participation in mission projects, such as the Remote Area Medical in Wise County.
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Posted on: 6/22/2009
You know a project’s popular (not to mention beneficial) when you receive more than twice as many applications as you have spots to fill. That was the case with this year’s RAM crew.
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 Posted on: 6/12/2009
As holder of the E. Claiborne Robins Distinguished Professorship in Pharmacy, Peter Byron received an engraved medallion – “a symbol of the university’s most prestigious academic positions” -- following VCU’s first Investiture Dinner to honor faculty members in endowed chairs and professorships. Byron, chairman of the Department of Pharmaceutics, has held the Robins professorship since 1999.
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 Posted on: 6/11/2009
Opening the School of Pharmacy’s 2009 hooding and diploma ceremony, Dean Victor Yanchick remarked on the number of young children attending the May 16 event at St. Paul’s Baptist Church.
“It’s never too early to recruit,” he said, smiling.
Indeed, it’s not. Especially if those youngsters were moved, like much of the audience, as the strains of “Pomp and Circumstance” accompanied this year’s bumper crop of graduates down the aisle and into their seats.
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Posted on: 6/9/2009
Check out all the places the School of Pharmacy has popped up lately:
Richmond Public Schools’ Office of School-Community Partnerships Web site noted the School of Pharmacy’s participation in the nutritional backpack project. To see the photos and information, click here and scroll to “Central Virginia Foodbank and VCU School of Pharmacy provide weekend nutritional backpacks.”
South River Compounding Pharmacy, owned by alumnus Baylor Rice (B.S. ’94), was featured on “Monday’s Medical Minute” June 1 on WRIC-TV.
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Posted on: 6/2/2009
The early-bird registration fee has been extended to June 8 for the 2009 American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Annual Meeting and Seminars.
The meeting, set to take place July 18-22 in Boston, has as its theme “Leading the Revolution.” Online registration (at the regular rate) runs through June 26.
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Posted on: 5/28/2009
The School of Pharmacy’s brightest and best were recognized at the Senior Banquet May 15 at the Greater Richmond Convention Center. A reception, dinner and awards ceremony were all about honoring the class of ’09.
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Posted on: 5/19/2009
It’s that time of year!
Don Brophy, associate professor and vice chairman for clinical pharmacy programs, has been named interim chairman of the Department of Pharmacy, effective July 1.
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 Posted on: 5/11/2009
School of Pharmacy Dean Victor Yanchick is the first to admit he’s a man on the move.
Even during commencement season, he can’t catch a break: He’ll be working four – count ’em, four! -- pharmacy graduation ceremonies this year:
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 Posted on: 5/7/2009
Who knew the School of Pharmacy student lounge would dress up so nicely?
As part of Reunion Weekend 2009, the room was decked out the evening of April 24 in white tablecloths, vases of flowers and potted trees, giving the lounge a cozy but elegant ambience. (Students might note for future reference!)
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Posted on: 5/5/2009
At its April 22 premiere, “Pharmacy Phollies ’09” went all “Breakfast Club” on an appreciative audience of School of Pharmacy students, faculty and staff.
Dina Patel, president of the class of 2010, and Meghan Hall, class vice-president, introduced the film, which was simulcast on the Inova Campus.
The Phollies have been a School of Pharmacy tradition – intermittently, depending on whether they were considered politically correct at the time – since at least the 1960s. The live version gave way to video about the same time camcorders hit the market.
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Posted on: 5/1/2009
The agenda runs the gamut from pediatric genomics to community service at the May 1 meeting of the School of Pharmacy’s National Advisory Council.
The group’s biannual meeting will take place at VCU’s Siegel Center on the Monroe Park Campus.
Janet Silvester (B.S. ’79) will chair the gathering in the absence of Ron Davis (B.S. ’73), who will not be in town.
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 Posted on: 4/29/2009
Think Academy Awards, Experiential Education-style.
The envelope, please? The School of Pharmacy’s 2008-09 Preceptor of the Year is . . . Eve Bell of HCA Henrico Doctors’ Hospital-Forest in Richmond.
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Posted on: 4/28/2009
School of Pharmacy students took part in two recent health fairs: the second VCU/MCV Campus Community Health Fair March 21, 2009, and the SOP’s third annual Community Health Fair April 17.
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Posted on: 4/27/2009
It’s been a big weekend in Orlando, Fla., and not just for Disney: The AACP/ESCP International Congress on Clinical Pharmacy, running April 24-28, 2009, is winding down at the Orange County Convention Center.
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Posted on: 4/23/2009
VCU faculty, staff, students and alums have appeared in several print and online publications recently
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 Posted on: 4/15/2009
VCU School of Pharmacy faculty and students recently headed west for "APhA 2009: Where the Stars of Pharmacy Shine!"
The American Pharmacists Association’s Annual Meeting and Exposition took place April 3-6, 2009, at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio, Texas.
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Posted on: 4/10/2009
The School of Pharmacy says goodbye (sort of) and good luck to Kimberly Cappuzzo, assistant professor of pharmacy (Pharm.D. ’01). Cappuzzo will be a scientific liaison with Amgen Inc.
Farewell and best wishes, as well, to Bonny Lewis (Bukaveckas), assistant professor of pharmacy, whose last day is June 30. She’s leaving Richmond for Indiana.
By the way, if you don’t see Norman Carroll, professor of pharmacy, for a while, don’t panic. He’s on a yearlong sabbatical.
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 Posted on: 4/9/2009
Capt. Thomas Talamini, who earned a bachelor of science degree from the School of Pharmacy in 1961, died March 16, 2009.
Talamini, 75, was predeceased by his wife, who died in 1996, his parents and one sister. He was survived by one sister, Orsolina Alberghini of Raritan, N.J.; three nephews, William F. Hunt of Milford, Bradford Hunt of Readington and Thomas Hunt of Stewartsville, NJ.; a great-nephew and three great-nieces.
“Tom loved the medical college,” said his nephew William F. Hunt. “He often spoke of it.”
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Posted on: 4/6/2009
As part of an effort to inform School of Pharmacy alumni about Reunion Weekend 2009 – which takes place April 24-26 – we sent prospective attendees a nostalgia quiz centering on the golden class of 1959.
Check it out: You are likely to recognize some of the names, and you just might learn something!
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 Posted on: 4/2/2009
Like Elvis – only in a much more positive way – Adam Butler has left the building.
In late February, Butler vacated the fish-bowl office in the Dean’s Suite in Smith to become a contract specialist for Defense Supply Center Richmond.
In early March, Scott Crenshaw moved into the fish bowl, as well as into the position of building manager and administrative support specialist. His is a familiar face, given that he formerly served as School of Pharmacy office service aide.
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 Posted on: 3/24/2009
Part of an occasional series of VCU School of Pharmacy faculty, student and alumni profiles (Note: Alumni, students and faculty are invited to hear Quarles’ band, The English Channel, 1-4 p.m. April 25 on Clay Street between 10th and 11th streets. The free performance is part of Reunion Weekend 2009.)
Bob Quarles is a “Richmond boy,” born and bred.
Like many School of Pharmacy graduates, he grew up in Richmond, attended high school here (Douglas S. Freeman) and began his career as a pharmacist (nine years, in retail).
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 Posted on: 3/18/2009
When you ask Ron Davis (B.S. ’73) about his part in the School of Pharmacy’s recent Crystal APPLE Award, he is unassuming about his success.
“There were an awful lot of people behind it,” he says, citing his clinical director, Kelly Rea, at Buford Road Pharmacy, along with four staff pharmacists, four technicians and a nurse. (Rea was a VCU Community Pharmacy Practice Resident at Buford Road last year.)
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 Posted on: 3/9/2009
To read the Richmond Times-Dispatch’s story about the McFarlanes’ new endowed professorship, please click here.
Nancy and Ron McFarlane, both of whom earned their B.S. degrees from the School of Pharmacy in 1980, have donated $250,000 to the school for an endowed professorship in pharmacy practice.
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 Posted on: 3/6/2009
Congratulations to Kyle Webb (P4), the seventh School of Pharmacy student to be awarded the Henry Addington for Independent Pharmacy Scholarship.
Henry Addington (B.S. ’51) of Richmond created the scholarship with an eye toward keeping independent pharmacy alive and well. As he has previously noted – and as is even more true in today’s economy -- “Without the financial relief from scholarships, students are already tens of thousands of dollars in debt before they begin practicing pharmacy. They certainly don’t have a way to put down the money needed to open an independent pharmacy.
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Posted on: 2/27/2009
Check out the wide variety of print and online publications in which VCU School of Pharmacy faculty, students and alumni have recently appeared
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 Posted on: 2/20/2009
Pharmacy movers and shakers will be treated to an AACP Interim Meeting keynote address Feb. 24 by VCU School of Pharmacy Dean-slash-AACP President Victor A. Yanchick. He’ll speak on “The Academy’s Role in Healthcare Reform: Leading Through Curricular Change.”
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Posted on: 2/17/2009
We noted in November that Alexis Noble (P3) had been elected 2008-09 Region 2 member-at-large for the American Pharmacists Association-Academy of Student Pharmacists. We also noted that Virginia Academy of Student Pharmacists president Jon Carter (P3) had been appointed to serve on the 2008-09 APhA Policy Review Committee.
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 Posted on: 2/13/2009
Sharon Gatewood, assistant professor of pharmacy (pictured at right), and husband Charles welcomed Sean Austin Gatewood to the family Feb. 9, 2009.
Sean, who weighed in at 5 pounds, 11 ounces, shouldn’t have trouble beating deadlines in future: He arrived four weeks early at St. Mary’s Hospital.
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Posted on: 2/11/2009
Fresh new pages are being added daily to the School of Pharmacy’s Web site. Here are a few you might or might not have come across in your surfing
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 Posted on: 2/9/2009
Many congratulations to faculty, staff, students, alumni, preceptors, benefactors … all those who strive to make VCU School of Pharmacy the best it can be.
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 Posted on: 1/28/2009
Although she was incorrectly identified in a recent Richmond Times-Dispatch story – she’s a third-year Pharm.D. student, not a graduate student in pharmacology – Jenni Witten discovered firsthand that politicians sometimes mean what they say. Or so it seems!
Reporting on Sen. Warner’s roundtable discussion – click here to see the original article -- Witten says, “We discussed largely issues that affect students, such as FAFSA, student loan availability and student loan rates, where I was quoted [in the newspaper].
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 Posted on: 1/26/2009
Jacob Hyatt (P3), a brother in the Theta Chapter of Kappa Psi, reports that members of the pharmaceutical fraternity worked on a public service project Jan. 18 at Richmond’s Cathedral of the Sacred Heart.
Robert Cade (P2), whom Hyatt describes as having done the bulk of organizing the Personal Medical Record philanthropic project, offered information about the event
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 Posted on: 1/21/2009
Virginia Del. Harvey B. Morgan (B.S. ’55) served as moderator for the Commonwealth Prayer Breakfast Jan. 14 at the Greater Richmond Convention Center.
Morgan, R-98th District, was joined “up front” by Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, Lt. Gov. William T. Bolling, Attorney General Robert F. McDonnell and others. Keynote speaker Dr. Francis S. Collins -- a native Virginian and former director of the National Human Genome Research Institute at the National Institutes of Health -- spoke on “The Harmony of Science and Faith,” how science and religion intertwine.
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 Posted on: 1/20/2009
Kudos to faculty – not to mention the development office -- for an excellent showing in the 2008 School of Pharmacy faculty campaign.
Forty faculty members went above and beyond by contributing a total of $10,770 to the campaign. And nine of those gifts were for $500 or more, putting them at Galen Society level.
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 Posted on: 1/15/2009
Five VCU School of Pharmacy third-year students have been awarded the 2008 CVS Caremark Volunteer Challenge Grant.
The students – Ashley Allmond, Jon Carter, Kathleen Hidalgo, Joey McCloskey and Jenni Witten – all are employees of CVS and are involved with the Student Association of Consultant and Geriatric Psychiatrists.
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Posted on: 1/9/2009
Despite the holiday lull, SOP faculty, students and alumni have made their mark lately: Katie M. Muzevich and Stacy A. Voils’ research on “smart” programmable infusion pumps and how they can affect patient safety
appeared in the December 2008 issue of Pharmacy Practice News. To read “Expanded Drug Lists, Software Tweaks Can Boost Smart Pump IQ,” click
here. (You must log
onto the site to access this story.) Muzevich is a pharmacy resident with VCU Health System’s Department of Pharmacy Services, and Voils is a
preceptor who completed her critical care residency here in 2005.
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 Posted on: 1/6/2009
Welcome to 2009. Join us for a look back at 2008, which seems only – well, about a week ago.
School of Pharmacy faculty and staff certainly work hard. But they play hard, too. And they sure can tuck away a holiday potluck.
The school was adrift in parties in December, most of them ending with the dread White Elephant Gift Exchange. We say “dread” because – well, have you ever been the victim of a White Elephant snitch? Some are downright vicious.
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 Posted on: 1/5/2009
School of Pharmacy student Zeenia Galani (P3) presented a poster at the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists’ 43rd Midyear Clinical Meeting in Orlando, Fla.
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