College Connections- The latest news for you

College Connections

An electronic newsletter from the College of Pharmacy

December 19, 2022

Greetings from the Dean

Greetings from the College of Pharmacy and the dean’s desk. As the holidays are rapidly approaching, it is a good time to reflect on the successes of the college and our students. It is also an opportunity to give thanks for the generosity of our alumni. preceptors and friends. Your contributions help our students succeed in the classroom and out in the community. Below is just a sampling of highlights from the year:

An independent analysis of NAPLEX scores over the past three years resulted in the College being ranked number one amongst all 142 pharmacy schools.
An objective publication in 2022 comparing US PharmD programs, research and overall quality saw the College ranked tenth among the 141 schools evaluated.
This semester, several of our students participated in research poster presentations at both the American College of Clinical Pharmacy and American Society of Health-System Pharmacy conferences this fall, both competing and presenting research posters.
The class of 2022 achieved over an 80% residency match rate and most students found jobs either before graduation or shortly thereafter.
Our faculty continue to be productive in scholarship and teaching. As in past years, they ranked in the top 10 per FTE of research funding and in the top 20 overall.

Recently, the College was notified of a substantial unrestricted gift that will allow us to implement many of our strategic initiatives including the matching of endowed scholarships and endowed professorships and chairs. A special announcement from UNMC will be shared n the coming days.

On behalf of the College, I wish you the most joyous holidays and new year.

College News

College Welcomes Two New Faculty Members

Jessica Witt, PharmD, originally from Kansas City, earned her PharmD at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Pharmacy.

Dr. Witt practices in ambulatory care at the One World Community Health Centers, Inc, and will serve as a Clinical Assistant Professor at the college. Her interests include diabetes, hypertension, and women’s health.

Greg Zumach, PharmD joins UNMC as a Clinical Assistant Professor in the department of Pharmacy Practice and Science. He will also practice as an internal medicine pharmacist at Nebraska Medicine.

Dr. Zumach earned his PharmD at Drake University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. His interests include gastroenterology, inflammatory bowel disease, and pain management.

ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting

Faculty, students and alumni all gathered in Las Vegas for the ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting, December 4-8. Six students presented posters at the event, and P4s Kimberly Gollhofer and Chase Petersen represented UNMC during the student clinical skills competition.

A Nebraska reception was hosted by the College, UNMC Alumni Association, the NPA, and Nebraska Medicine department of pharmacy services. 75 guests met and mingled at the event.

Student News

APhA-ASP Midyear Regional Meeting

Students attending APhA-ASP Midyear

A group of nine UNMC College of Pharmacy students recently attended the APhA-ASP Midyear Regional Meeting in Minneapolis. At the meeting, the UNMC Chapter was awarded 2 of the 5 Regional Patient Care Project Awards.

The awards were presented for the chapter’s Operation Reproductive Health and Operation Substance Use Disorders projects.

Kapa Psi Fundraiser

The Kappa Psi fraternity held a fundraising event to collect coins benefiting the Reach out and Read Charity. The event dubbed the 'Pie in your Face Coin Race' pitted Drs. Klepser and Shaffer against each other. The associate dean with the most coins at the end of the week would get a pie in the face. Coins could be offset by dollars in the competition.

In the end, a tie was declared and both deans recieved a pie in the face. Over $100 was raised for charity. The pie-ing can be viewed here!

Faculty News

Dr. Scarsi wins Distinguished Teaching Award

Dr. Scarsi and family celebrating her Distinguished Teaching Award win.

Dr. Kimberly Scarsi is the 2022 recipient of the UNMC College of Pharmacy Distinguished Teaching Award. The award, which is voted on annually by P2s, P3s and P4s, was presented to Dr. Scarsi during the Fall Honors Celebration on October 6th.

Among the praise Dr. Scarsi received, students mentioned her genuine kindness and desire to see everyone succeed . One student commented “She is empathetic, approachable, and dedicated to her students.” Additional comments included “She's a mentor” and “someone they can turn to for help.”

The announcement was a surprise to Dr. Scarsi and it was made sweeter by her family joining her on stage to help her celebrate.

Dr. Scarsi is the Pharmacotherapy IV course coordinator and coordinates the infectious disease section and Advanced Concepts in HIV elective.

2022 Faculty Awards

Dr. Aaron Mohs

Dr. Anthony Podany

Dr. Paul Trippier

Three faculty members were honored with 2021-2022 College of Pharmacy faculty awards on August 16th at the faculty meeting.

The Scholar of the Year Award recognizes and encourages excellence in scholarly activities. This year’s recipients are Dr. Anthony Podany– Department of Pharmacy Practice and Science Scholar of the Year, and Dr. Paul Trippier– Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences Scholar of the Year.

The College Impact Award is presented to a faculty member who has excelled in advancing the mission of the UNMC College of Pharmacy. This year’s recipient of the award is Dr. Aaron Mohs.

Diamond Scholars Club

2022 Diamond Scholars Club inductees

On December 7th, ten faculty members at the College of Pharmacy were inducted into the Diamond Scholars Club. The honor recognizes faculty who have 100 or more peer-reviewed publications. Reaching 100 publications is a significant achievement because it recognizes a strong and enduring research program. Each publication symbolizes discovery, innovation, education, training, mentorship, collaboration, perseverance, and a commitment to improve human health; principles that are deeply valued in the College of Pharmacy and UNMC. The inaugural recipients include:

Department of Pharmacy Practice and Sciences

Courtney Fletcher, PharmD- 206 publications

DJ Murry, PharmD- 114 publications

Keith Olsen, PharmD- 130 publications

Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Corey Hopkins, PhD-114 publications

Yuri Lyubchenko, PhD, DSc- 302 publications

Ram Mahato, PhD- 116 publications*

Luis Marky, PhD-146 publications

David Oupicky, PhD- 174 publications*

Jonathan Vennerstrom, PhD-127 publications

Dong Wang, PhD- 103 publications

*not pictured

College of Pharmacy Spotlight

Highlighting college alumni, students, and/or faculty members!

Jeremy Gieseke, PharmD

Class of 2012

Where were you born and where did you go to high school?

I was born in Crookston, MN and attended high school at Win-E-Mac High school, Erskine, MN.

Where did you complete your undergraduate requirements for pharmacy school?

I earned a BS in Education (Secondary Social Studies Emphasis, history minor) in 2004. Unfortunately, there is not a lot of overlap between requirements to be a social studies teacher and a pharmacist, so I completed my UNMC prereqs at Western Nebraska Community College in Scottsbluff, NE. Being a professional student for a total of 10 years was a lot of fun!

Describe your career path since you graduated.

I started out right after school as the pharmacy manager of the Kmart location in Millard. I transferred with Kmart to Sioux Falls, SD in 2014, where I floated to locations throughout South Dakota until taking a position with Walmart in Sioux Falls in 2016, where I continue to practice.

Please list any honors or recognitions you have received during your career.

I was named Walmart Pharmacist of the Year in 2017, for our South Dakota market.

What is your favorite memory of pharmacy school?

I don't have one specific memory, just an overall thankfulness for the friends I made in pharmacy school, and the general closeness of faculty and students at the college. It was such a fun, yet challenging time in my life, and I look back at the time with an overwhelming fondness.

I'm also particularly fond of the mentorship I experienced from the late Dr. Charles Krobot, and loved learning from the brilliant nd fun-loving Dr. Ally!

If you could give 1 message to future pharmacists, what would it be?

Do not neglect your own or your family's physical and mental health needs. You cannot properly take care of patients who are depending on you if you are not taking care of your own needs first.

Kristen Cook, PharmD, BCACP

Class of 2005

Where were you born and where did you go to high school?

I was born in Grand Island, NE and attended Grand Island Senior High.

Where did you complete your undergraduate requirements for pharmacy school?

I attended Nebraska Wesleyan for undergrad.

Describe your career path since you graduated.

I headed to Wisconsin for my primary care residency in the VA and loved it. In residency we had a teaching requirement with the school of pharmacy. Luckily my teaching blocks were early in the year, and it was during those experiences where I discovered how much I loved teaching.

I took a split academic/ambulatory care clinical position with One World and then the Omaha VA and then Nebraska Medicine where I could be both a clinician and an educator. Slowly I became more interested in things like curriculum, assessment, and innovation in education and had the opportunity to take a new role to revamp the Pharmacotherapy Lab

curriculum to match the Pharmacist Patient Care Process.

I now dedicate a large percent of my time to teaching, as well as developing future educators! I’ve had many different roles in my 17 years as a pharmacist which I think is one of the great things about the pharmacy profession.

Please list any honors or recognitions you have received during your career.

The honor I’m most proud of is the UNMC Innovative Educator Award. It was great to have my work recognized by peers and students. I’m also particularly proud of my Preceptor of the Year Award. I love teaching students one on one in the clinical setting.

What is your favorite memory of pharmacy school?

Getting a phone call (yes, they used to do phone calls) from my future residency director telling me I was selected for my residency while seasick on a cruise!

If you could give 1 message to future pharmacists, what would it be?

Be open to career paths you may have never envisioned yourself in, those opportunities can take you in the direction you were meant to go.

While Jeremy was on rotation at the Omaha VA, he had the opportunity to connect one on one with Dr. Kristen Cook. During this rotation, Kristen mentioned that she and her husband, Adam, were in the process of adopting a little girl from China. It just so happened that Jeremy and his wife, Emily, were in the early stages of the adoption process as well.

"Kristen was an invaluable source of information and helped us decide to go forward with the process of adopting a child from China. I had my rotation with Kristen in the spring of 2011, and on August 20, 2012, we adopted our first son, Beck, from Changchun, Jilin province, China." - Dr. Gieseke

Each family went on to adopt two children each from China. The children are very close in age, all four are in the 6th and 7th grade, and have become great friends. While no longer in the same city, the two families still connect with an annual Lunar New Year celebration and family camping trips. In 2016, they traveled to China together and hope to do so again soon.

"We have shared experiences that not many have, and they are just some of the best people we know. I can’t wait to see our kids grow and I have no doubt we will be lifelong friends. It’s a great reminder to me that faculty and students all have full lives outside of the College, and sometimes there is a unique connection waiting to be shared. I’m grateful for having discovered one" - Dr. Cook

The Giesekes and Cooks in China 2016

Recent Faculty Publications

Urea-Modified Self-Assembling Peptide Amphiphiles That Form Well-Defined Nanostructures and Hydrogels for Biomedical Applications

Xing H., Rodger A., Comer J., Picco A.S., Huck-Iriart C., Ezell E.L., Conda-Sheridan M.

ACS Appl Bio Mater 2022 5:10 (4599-4610)

Surface Modification of Biodegradable Microparticles with the Novel Host-Derived Immunostimulant CPDI-02 Significantly Increases Short-Term and Long-Term Mucosal and Systemic Antibodies against Encapsulated Protein Antigen in Young Naïve Mice after Respiratory Immunization

Parriott J.E., Stewart J.P., Smith D.D., Curran S.M., Bauer C.D., Wyatt T.A., Phillips J.A., Lyden E., Thiele G.M., Vetro J.A.

Pharmaceutics 2022 14:9

Nanorings to Probe Mechanical Stress of Single-Stranded DNA Mediated by the DNA Duplex

Zagorski K., Stormberg T., Hashemi M., Kolomeisky A.B., Lyubchenko Y.L.

[In Process] Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2022 23:21

From dopamine 4 to sigma 1: Synthesis, SAR and biological characterization of a piperidine scaffold of σ1 modulators

Tolentino K.T., Mashinson V., Sharma M.K., Chhonker Y.S., Murry D.J., Hopkins C.R.

[In Process] Eur. J. Med. Chem. 2022 244:

In Vitro and in Vivo Evaluation of DTPA-HPMA Copolymers as Potential Decorporating Agents for Prophylactic Therapy of Actinide Contamination

Alshehri S., Fan W., Zhang W., Garrison J.C.

Radiat. Res. 2022 198:4 (357-367)

Functionalized Allopurinols Targeting Amyloid-Binding Alcohol Dehydrogenase Rescue Aβ-Induced Mitochondrial Dysfunction

Morsy A., Maddeboina K., Gao J., Wang H., Valdez J., Dow L.F., Wang X., Trippier P.C.

ACS Chem. Neurosci. 2022 13:14 (2176-2190)

Divalent Metal Uptake and the Role of ZIP8 in Host Defense Against Pathogens

Samuelson D.R., Haq S., Knoell D.L.

Front. Cell Dev. Biol. 2022 10:

Polymeric Chloroquine as an Effective Antimigration Agent in the Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer

Khan R., Panja S., Ding L., Tang S., Tang W., Kapoor E., Bennett R.G., Oupický D.

[Article in Press] Mol. Pharm. 2022 :

A historical cohort study of glycemic control in patients with concurrent type 2 diabetes and substance use disorder treated in a primary care setting

Deyoung O.A., Boehmer K., Hung D., McAdam-Marx C.

Fam. Pract. 2021 38:5 (562-568)

pH-sensitive nanomedicine of novel tubulin polymerization inhibitor for lung metastatic melanoma

Bhattarai R.S., Bariwal J., Kumar V., Hao C., Deng S., Li W., Mahato R.I.

[In Process] J. Control. Release 2022 350: (569-583)

Efavirenz Pharmacokinetics and Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 (HIV-1) Viral Suppression Among Patients Receiving Tuberculosis Treatment Containing Daily High-Dose Rifapentine

Podany A.T., Pham M., Sizemore E., Martinson N., Samaneka W., Mohapi L., Badal-Faesen S., Dawson R., Johnson J.L., Mayanja H., Lalloo U., Whitworth W.C., Pettit A., Campbell K., Phillips P.P.J., Bryant K., Scott N., Vernon A., Kurbatova E.V., Chaisson R.E., Dorman S.E., Nahid P., Swindells S., Dooley K.E., Fletcher C.V.

Clin Infect Dis 2022 75:4 (560-566)

The Use of Renal Biomarkers in Pediatric Cardiac Patients With Acute Kidney Injury

Shaffer C.L.

J. Pediatr. Pharmacol. Ther. 2022 27:6 (506-516)

Macromolecular Dexamethasone Prodrug Ameliorates Neuroinflammation and Prevents Bone Loss Associated with Traumatic Brain Injury

Wei X., Zhao G., Jia Z., Zhao Z., Chen N., Sun Y., Kelso M., Rathore G., Wang D.

[Article in Press] Mol. Pharm. 2022 :

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