Medical, pharmacy students match for residencies, shape future of health care
March 22, 2024, Laura Morris
More than 200 Gamecocks learned where they’ll work as resident pharmacists and physicians during national Match Day events on March 13 and 15.
Stories for Students
A Navy submarine engineer's journey to community pharmacy
February 27, 2024, Alexis Watts
Noah Raganschmalz once orchestrated the inner workings of nuclear submarines as a Navy-trained engineer. Today, the 33-year-old first-year pharmacy student is working toward a career in community pharmacy. “Everyone has had to take medication or has needed help navigating through medical jargon,” he says. “I believe that pharmacy is the front line of helping people.”
Carolinian Spotlight: Patti Fabel
January 24, 2024
When Patti Fabel was named executive director at USC’s Kennedy Pharmacy Innovation Center in 2017, the move marked a new phase in the clinical associate professor’s career.
Health Watch: Managing diabetes during the holidays
November 20, 2023, Gregory Hardy
Jennifer Clements, the director of pharmacy education for USC’s College of Pharmacy at the Greenville campus, urges individuals with diabetes to think ahead during the holidays, offering strategies beyond checking your blood sugar levels and counting carbohydrates.
Searching for hidden connections
November 13, 2023, Page Ivey
A team of researchers, including several in the College of Pharmacy, are hoping to use the computing power of artificial intelligence to find subtle connections among the hundreds of drug-therapy studies published each year. The researchers are mining data on approved drugs and their outcomes, particularly in patients with HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders.
Collaboration, leadership break down barriers
November 13, 2023, Lauryn Jiles
USC’s Interprofessional Education program brings together students in the university’s 12 health science professional programs across six colleges and schools to help them have meaningful interactions with others training to be pharmacists, doctors, nurses, social workers, physical therapists and speech pathologists, among other fields.
Relationship between College of Pharmacy, VA helps support nation's veterans
November 07, 2023, Megan Sexton
The Veterans Health Administration is the largest health care system in the country, providing care to more than 9 million military veterans at more than 1,300 health care facilities. At the College of Pharmacy, that translates into valuable learning and research opportunities.
Expanding pharmacy care in underserved areas
November 02, 2023, Gregory Hardy
The Kennedy Pharmacy Innovation Center at the University of South Carolina for years has researched what the business model of assigning a pharmacist to a patient-centered medical home could look like. Patti Fabel, a clinical associate pharmacy professor and executive director of the KPIC, made the most of a chance to make that work.
Health Watch: FDA updates to oral decongestants
September 26, 2023, Gregory Hardy
Pharmacy professor Patricia H. Fabel explains the phenylephrine fallout and offers guidance on the FDA's vote ruling it ineffective as an oral over-the-counter cold medicine ahead of the 2023 cold and flu season.
USC researchers improve outcomes for pregnancy, birth and early childhood
May 22, 2023, Rebekah Friedman
When it comes to understanding the challenges related to pregnancy, birth and early childhood, USC’s researchers deliver answers.
Improving vaccination processes
April 06, 2023
Today’s pharmacists are key to fighting the spread of infectious disease, administering vaccines for everything from COVID-19 to shingles. College of Pharmacy assistant professor Tessa Hastings is on a mission to improve how they do that.
Pharmacy professor finds her place in the classroom
December 01, 2022, Craig Brandhorst
Pharmacy professor Michaela Almgren thought her career path was in working at pharmaceutical companies and in labs. But the clinical teaching award winner says she found what she was looking for in the classroom.
Assistant professor of pharmacy Alessandra Porcu explores blue light's effects on the brain
November 10, 2022, Craig Brandhorst
Assistant professor of pharmacy Alessandra Porcu has brought her research interests — and a $1 million, five-year NIH grant — to USC’s Department of Drug Discovery & Biomedical Sciences, where she is studying the effects of environmental light on circadian rhythm and mental health.
Pharmacy team looks at ways to improve usage of immunization databases
October 31, 2022, Rebekah Friedman
College of Pharmacy assistant professor Tessa Hastings and her research team are working to pinpoint the factors that prevent pharmacists from recording and recommending vaccines.
Many drugs have mirror image chemical structures - while one may be helpful, the other may be harmful
August 16, 2022, Sajish Mathew
Many drugs have the same atoms and bonds but are arranged differently in space. These drugs are called chiral compounds — meaning they exist as two mirror images. Sajish Mathew writes for The Conversation on how these compounds are arranged in space can drastically change the effects they have in the body.
Taking certain opioids while on commonly prescribed antidepressants may increase the risk of overdose
August 01, 2022, Ismaeel Yunusa
While doctors prescribe the opioid oxycodone to treat moderate to severe pain after surgeries and injuries, it can also become a common drug of abuse. Professor Ismaeel Yunusa writes for The Conversation on how taking oxycodone at the same time as certain antidepressants can increase the risk of opioid overdose.
Pharmacy, medicine alumni team up to find treatments for drug-resistant infections
June 14, 2022, Chris Horn
Bacteriophages are viruses that attack specific bacteria and were discovered a century ago. Phage cocktails, which combine several types of phages, could be administered on a broader scale and diminish the need for antibiotics.
Preparing all health science students for the professional world that awaits
January 26, 2022, Abe Danaher
The university’s interprofessional education program allows future social workers, pharmacists, nurses, doctors and others to step outside their educational siloes and engage their future colleagues in meaningful conversation.
Leadership program puts pharmacists on forefront of improving health care
January 11, 2022, Page Ivey
Helping develop and inspire pharmacy leaders is the goal of the Walker Leadership Scholars Program at the University of South Carolina’s College of Pharmacy, says program founder Donna Walker (1979 pharmacy, 1984 MBA). Each year, the competitive program selects two high-capacity students from the first-year pharmacy class to be scholars for three consecutive years.
Colorful sweets look tasty, but may pose health risks
December 09, 2021, Lorne J. Hofseth
Many of the colors that make up candy canes, sugar cookies and even cranberry sauce and roast ham are synthetic. Pharmacy professor, Lorne J. Hofseth, writes for The Conversation that there is evidence that these ultra-processed foods may trigger early-onset colorectal cancer.
Fewer diabetes patients are picking up their insulin prescriptions
November 18, 2021, Ismaeel Yunusa
Changes in insulin prescription rates because of the pandemic underscore the challenges that people with diabetes face in accessing care, Ismaeel Yunusa assistant professor of clinical pharmacy and outcomes sciences, writes for The Conversation. The effects of the pandemic on diabetes go beyond insulin prescriptions. As COVID-19 overwhelmed health care systems, people with chronic conditions like diabetes have experienced significant disruptions in routine and emergency medical care.
Timeline: Resolve, ingenuity define UofSC pandemic response
November 04, 2021, Chris Horn and Dana Woodward
It’s been a little more than a year and a half since the arrival of COVID-19, and the University of South Carolina has weathered the crisis thus far with resolve, ingenuity and a set of guiding principles for every pandemic-related decision.
Clinical teaching award: Kathy Quarles-Moore
September 02, 2021, Page Ivey
Kathy Quarles-Moore remembers the impact a smile and a kind word from her pharmacy professors had on her and tries to do the same for her students. For her efforts, she was awarded a 2021 Clinical Practice Teaching Award.
Gamecock family affair
August 23, 2021, Savannah Bennett
Marjorie Weber was a widow in her 40s when she decided to return to college to earn her teaching degree from the University of South Carolina where her late husband had been an education professor. She also served as a starting point for a string of family members attending South Carolina, including a granddaughter and two great-granddaughters, who are current education students. They are among the hundreds of students who follow family members to become Gamecocks each year.
Garnet Apple Teaching Award: Patricia Fabel
August 05, 2021, Craig Brandhorst
For associate professor of pharmacy Patricia Fabel, classroom education is a team effort, with students contributing their own experiences to the discussion. “Whether we're talking about immunizations, medications, over-the-counter products or things that they've interacted with and their family has interacted with, they bring different perspectives to the table,” she says.
Resilience, ingenuity define UofSC's COVID response
March 11, 2021, Joshua Burrack
From the classroom to the research lab to the front lines of testing and tracing, the University of South Carolina community has taken extraordinary steps over the past year to safeguard its students, faculty and staff in the face of COVID-19. As we mark the one-year point of the pandemic, here’s the first in a three-part video series documenting the resilience, ingenuity and commitment that have guided us through this period.
COVID-19: Overcoming addiction during a pandemic
February 11, 2021, Tenell Felder
One year after COVID-19's arrival in the United States, it's clear that its effects go beyond the disease itself. Conclusive, long-term data on how the pandemic has impacted substance abuse is not yet available — but the short-term data suggest an overall increase.
Character Counts: 2020 in Review
December 18, 2020
It’s been a year — but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t plenty to celebrate, recognize and honor at the University of South Carolina in 2020. UofSC rose to each and every challenge this year and raised the bar for the year to come.
UofSC to expand saliva-based COVID-19 testing statewide
October 21, 2020, Jeff Stensland
The University of South Carolina will expand rapid saliva-based COVID-19 testing to other colleges and universities across the state.
Behind the scenes of SAFE Testing
October 09, 2020, Caleigh McDaniel
By now most students have heard about the university’s free Saliva Assay Free Expedited (SAFE) testing program, but we wondered what happens behind the scenes. We spoke with Carolyn Bannister, who serves as the manager for the College of Pharmacy’s Diagnostic Genomics Lab, to gather insights on what happens to your saliva sample between getting tested for COVID-19 on campus and receiving your results.
How a village of scientists created better testing for COVID-19
August 23, 2020, Chris Horn
Development of a saliva COVID-19 test might never have happened if not for the efforts of a spontaneous coalition of scientists in South Carolina and across the country who worked nearly nonstop and shared results and materials with one another in the weeks before and after the initial lockdown in March.
Breakthrough Leader: Lorne Hofseth
May 11, 2020, Craig Brandhorst
When the University of South Carolina College of Pharmacy and the Center for Colon Cancer Research recruited Lorne Hofseth as one of the center’s first faculty hires in 2004, they knew they had a rising star on their hands.
Class of 2020: Pharmacy student hopes to serve in rural community
April 29, 2020, Tenell Felder
Like many University of South Carolina students, Heather Hembree recently saw her post-graduation plans take an unexpected turn. The College of Pharmacy graduate student, who graduated in May, learned that her board tests might be canceled because of the COVID-19 threat. Despite the setback, Hembree plans to eventually practice pharmacy in a rural community similar to her hometown of Ware Shoals, South Carolina
Clinical Practice Teaching Award: Celeste Caulder
September 20, 2019, Page Ivey
For College of Pharmacy professor Celeste Caulder, every day should bring some new piece of knowledge. One of Caulder’s key goals is to teach her students in the classroom and during their clinical rotations how to be lifelong learners. They will need that ability to learn something new every day as they venture into the field of pharmacy where there is not always one single right solution to a problem.
Keys to the City
August 05, 2019, Craig Brandhorst and Megan Sexton
You don’t need a degree from the University of South Carolina to get elected mayor in the Palmetto State, but it certainly doesn’t hurt. This summer, Carolinian magazine traveled the state, from the Lowcountry to the Upstate, from the Midlands to the Pee Dee, interviewing South Carolina alumni who hold the esteemed office.
The Long Run: Diane Wise
June 13, 2019, Page Ivey
They arrived in the 1970s, some after serving in Vietnam, some fresh out of high school or college. More than 40 years later, they still come to work at the University of South Carolina — some after officially “retiring.” TIMES spoke with a few of these long-term employees to see what keeps them coming back to work on campus, long after they could have settled into that place in the mountains or that home by the sea.
Colon cancer researcher finds new treatment for deadly disease
June 11, 2019, John Brunelli
When colon cancer spreads, it often ends up in the liver, where surgery can be complicated, even impossible. That’s why research in the University of South Carolina’s College of Pharmacy proving the efficacy of a new class of cancer drugs is so significant.
Breakthrough Star: Mythreye Karthikeyan
June 01, 2019, Chris Horn
It isn’t a common disease, but ovarian cancer is usually fatal, accounting for more deaths than all other female reproductive cancers. That makes Mythreye Karthikeyan’s research all the more relevant as she zeroes in on the cancer’s Achilles' heel.
For the Kids
February 28, 2019, Allen Wallace
A year ago, University of South Carolina Dance Marathon made history, raising more than a million dollars for the kids at Prisma Health Children’s Hospital (then known as Palmetto Health). Just days after that success, they began working to do it again. That yearlong effort concludes Saturday with the student organization’s annual Main Event.
An early start
November 08, 2018, John Brunelli
More than 40 middle school students visited the College of Pharmacy to envision what their future could be. Most of the students were female and African-American, part of the college’s efforts to attract underrepresented minorities to the profession.
Graduate with Leadership Distinction: Sarah Taylor
May 07, 2018, USC Times
At a very young age, Sarah Taylor knew that she would pursue a career in health care. Now interested in a career as a pharmacist, the global studies student will graduate with leadership distinction in global learning.
Galen Fellows
March 19, 2018, Megan Sexton
The first class of Galen Health Fellows arrived on campus in August, a group of more than 450 first-year students with dreams of careers in the health sciences.
Medical researchers work together to improve South Carolina's health
February 08, 2018, John Brunelli
National Council for Behavior Health medical director Joseph Parks will be the keynote speaker at the Integrated Behavioral Health Symposium spearheaded by the College of Social Work. The symposium will be held Monday (Feb. 12) at the Alumni Center.
Stronger together
February 02, 2018, Laura Kammerer
Kristal Tribble and Tina Williamson enrolled in Carolina's online RN to BSN program thinking it would be a solitary endeavor. Instead, they found community and friendship, and the pair are now pursuing the College of Nursing's online master's of nursing program together.
Nursing works with other health disciplines to improve SC's health
January 11, 2018, John Brunelli
The Carolina Family Practice, operated by nursing faculty, has a new home to better serve its patients. In November, the clinic opened at 1410 Blanding St. in downtown Columbia as part of its new affiliation with Palmetto Health USC Medical Group.
Maybe you're not allergic
November 13, 2017, Craig Brandhorst
A team of undergraduates mentored by associate professor of pharmacy Brandon Bookstaver has developed a new protocol being used at Palmetto Health Richland Hospital to determine if hospitalized patients who report having a penicillin allergy, in fact, are allergic.
Clinical Teaching Award winner: Julie Ann Justo
July 28, 2017, Melinda Waldrop
Julie Ann Justo, assistant professor of clinical pharmacy, is a 2017 Clinical Teaching Award winner. Her demanding but fun classes are structured to emphasize patient participation and produce excellent providers.
Room to breathe
May 05, 2017, Laura Kammerer
For Sarah Ostenfeld, the biggest challenge of pharmacy school came wrapped in a NICU blanket in September 2015 as she began her third year of the program.
Rx road trip
April 10, 2017, Laura Kammerer
For a trio of fourth-year USC pharmacy students, talking to low-income senior citizens and stepping inside all 70 of South Carolina’s hospitals gave them a first-hand look at the state’s health disparities and how they could improve the state’s health as pharmacists.
Fostering a passion for global health
March 28, 2017, Megan Sexton
University of South Carolina students travel to developing countries to understand and tackle global health issues