College News

Weaver Medal Nominations

The Weaver Medal Review Committee is now accepting nominations for the College of Pharmacy Lawrence C. and Delores M. Weaver Medal for Distinguished Contributions to Pharmacy Education, Research or Outreach in Minnesota. Students, faculty and staff are encouraged to submit nominations.  

Please use this nomination form to complete nominations and upload the supporting information. Please note: all documents should be uploaded as ONE PDF. Questions can be directed to Jessica Ward-Denison. For more information, see the Weaver Medal webpage.

The deadline for nominations is April 5, 2024.

Abby Boreen, PX, is featured in the Hockey News article, “Boreen Scores OT Winner For Minnesota In Whirlwind Experience.” 

Kate France, P3, has once again been named a finalist for the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) Aspirations in Computing Program (AiC)'s 2024 NCWIT Collegiate Award. This award celebrates 55 undergraduate and graduate women, genderqueer, and non-binary students from 41 academic institutions nationwide. It recognizes technical contributions to projects that demonstrate a high level of innovation and potential impact. 

Congratulations to the winners of the 2023 Epigenetics Consortium Flash Talk Competition:

• 1st place: Taimeng Liang, graduate student in the Georg Research Group
• 2nd place: Cole Scholtz, graduate student in the Pomerantz Lab
• 3rd place (shared): Tyler Karow, graduate student in the Tretyakova Research Group and Joe McPherson, graduate student in the Pomerantz Lab and the Tretyakova Research Group

Congratulations to the 2023-2024 recipients of the following graduate fellowships: 

Dr. Lyle D. & Sharon J. Bighley College of Pharmacy Fellowship

• Zengtao Wang, Department of Pharmaceutics
• Yuting Shan, Department of Experimental & Clinical Pharmacology
• Yingbo Huang, Department of Experimental & Clinical Pharmacology
• Tian Lan, Department of Medicinal Chemistry

Ted Rowell Graduate Fellowship

• Wenjuan Zhang, Department of Pharmaceutics
• Caitlin Lichtenfels, Department of Medicinal Chemistry

Biruta K. and Peter A. Olsteins Graduate Fellowship

• Lusi Zhang, Department of Experimental & Clinical Pharmacology

The Minnesota Pharmacy Student Alliance (Minnesota’s chapter of the APhA-ASP, was the recipient of several honors at the recent APhA Annual Meeting and Exposition in Orlando. Together, they were the: 

• Division A: National Chapter Achievement Winner"
• Operation Reproductive Health Second Runner Up
• Region 5 Winners for Operation Heart and Operation Diabetes

Pharmacy students invite alumni, faculty, staff and friends to reserve tickets for the upcoming Pay It Forward Gala in honor of Michelle Mentzer, ‘08.

Date: March 29, 2024
Time: 7-11 p.m.
Where: Minnesota Institute of Art | 2400 3rd Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55404

RSVP using this Google form to reserve your tickets by March 15, 2024. Tickets are $45. Cash/check and venmo accepted.

Ticket includes up to four beverages (ID required for 21+), hors d'oeuvres throughout the evening, exclusive access to MIA private galleries, and a fun night of networking and dancing!

If you are unable to attend the gala but would still like to make a donation to either the Pharmacy Gala Fund or Scholarship Fund, please let us know! Donations of any amount are welcome.

Questions: Can be directed to Valerie at nguy4799@umn.edu. 

The U of M CLARION Student Board once again hosted the annual CLARION Local Interprofessional Case Competition supported by the Center for Health Interprofessional Programs (CHIP). This year there were eight teams with a total of 23 students representing different health care professions. This year’s 1st Place team included Juekun Wen, P1, and fellow students Anandi Ganguli (Public Health) and Lauren Kress (Dentistry). The 3rd place team included Tiffany Chang, graduate student in the Department of Experimental & Clinical Pharmacology, and fellow students Molly Roettger (Dentistry) and Ingri Ramirez (Public Health).

Wen and Maddie Schaber, P3, were also recipients of a Health Equity Innovation Award. 

Winners of the University’s CLARION Interprofessional Local Case Competition will now advance to the National Competition in April!

The College of Pharmacy will be one of five teams to participate in the final round of the 2024 National P&T Competition. Competition finals will be held Tuesday, April 16, 2024 during AMCP 2024 in New Orleans, LA. Congratulations and best of luck to all team members!

Medical Laboratory Science Program

Dr. Jennifer Brown earned the ASCP Board of Certification’s Specialist in Chemistry certification. Brown is also a 2007 graduate of the MLS program.

Diane Hutchinson, director of clinical education, earned the ASCP Board of Certification’s Specialist in Hematology. Hutchinson is also a 2006 graduate of the MLS program. 

Pharmacy Program

Dr. Kerry Fierke, professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice and Pharmaceutical Science has written a new book “Leadership Legacy: Discover, Create, Live your Best Life!” published by BookBaby. The book is now available for pre-order through all major booksellers, including Bookshop.org, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon.com.

Dr. Meg Little and her colleagues at the Cannabis Nurses Network Speakers Bureau have been named Cannabis Nursing Team of the Year by the Cannabis Nurses Network.

Dr. Venketram Mereddy is featured in the Star Tribune story, “UMD startup designs and tests potential cancer-fighting drugs.”

Dr. Ann Philbrick was consulted for the verywellhealth.com story, “Some People Are Receiving the Wrong RSV Vaccine.”

Drs. Jon Schommer and Caroline Gaither were part of the author team for the CNN piece, “Opinion: Why your chain-store pharmacist is so unhappy.” 

Dr. Stephen Schondelmeyer has been appointed to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz’ Prescription Drug Affordability Board. Read more about the appointment. Schondelmeyer also recently shared his expert opinion and testimony at the Feb. 6 Congressional Ways & Means Committee meeting to examine chronic drug shortages across the U.S. and in the ABC News Story, “Drug shortage can put patients' lives at risk, experts warn.”

Dr. Todd Sorensen was interviewed for the Minnesota Daily story, “Looking deeper: behind the scenes of the 340B drug program.” 

Dr. Changquan Calvin Sun has achieved the ScholarGPS Number 1 ranking in Pharmacy among all academic scholars in the United States.

Welcome!

• Andrea Barrett, joined the college as an administrative manager, Department of Occupational Therapy
• Camille Beauduy, joined the college as a lecturer in the Pharmacy Learning Collaborative, Professional Education Division.
• Toni Brill, joined the college as executive operations/student services specialist in the Office of Student Services, Professional Education Division.
• Kaitlyn Carlson, joined the college as registrar, Professional Education Division.
• Beth Decker, joined the college as an administrative associate, Professional Education Division.
• Manisha Deore, joined the college as a researcher 5, Department of Medicinal Chemistry.
• Jay Johnson, joined the college as a gift officer, Office of Development.
• Ruth Johnson, joined the college as a strategic initiative lead, Dean's Office Administration.
• Kristen Heo, joined the college as a researcher 1, Department of Experimental & Clinical Pharmacology.
• Crystal Lee-Thao, strategic initiative lead, Dean's Office Administration.
• Bhushan Munjal, joined the college as a researcher 6, Department of Pharmaceutics.
• Claire Schmidt, joined the college as a student advisor, in the Office of Student Services, Professional Education Division.

Goodbye and good luck!

• Krzysztof Felczak, researcher 6, Center for Drug Design
• Raymond Finzel, IT Pro 2-App/Software Development, Department of Pharmaceutical Care & Health Systems
• Dr. Amanda Klein, associate professor, Department of Pharmacy Practice & Pharmaceutical Sciences
• Vijay Kumar, researcher 5, Department of Medicinal Chemistry
• Dr. Susan Marino, associate professor, Department of Experimental & Clinical Pharmacology (retired)
• Michaeline Nichols, education program associate, Office of Experiential Education 
• Dr. Raquel Rodriguez, assistant professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Care & Health Systems (retired)