Parfitt Pattie appointed director of development, and more news

Who is Marie Parfitt Pattie, and what are the de­vel­op­ment plans for the school?

Marie Parfitt Pattie joined us as director of development for the School of Pharmacy last July. She brings a wealth of experience from her career in the not-for-profit sector. Marie was most recently the director of development for the International School of the Peninsula in Palo Alto where she established and ran successful campaigns for their annual fund program, major and capital gift program, special events program, and a volunteer recruitment and management program. Prior to that, Marie was president of the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation, Toronto, Ontario, where she successfully completed a campaign to raise $50 million for a new hospital.

Development plans

Marie came to the School of Pharmacy while the overall campus was in a six-year comprehensive fundraising plan. The first three years have been focused on the Mission Bay campus. Pharmacy has been very involved with this, since the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, the Department of Biopharmaceutical Sciences, and the Molecular Design Institute will have space there. This phase of the campaign should be completed this fall. The focus of the campaign for the next three years will be more public, and development for the School will be based on priorities and goals currently being defined. Materials and plans for this portion of the campaign are being developed. An analysis is being done to determine a dollar figure to raise in the next three years from individuals, foundations, and corporations to meet the School’s fundraising goals.

In addition to Dean Mary Anne Koda-Kimble, Marie is working with department chairs Kathy Giacomini, Tom James, and Lloyd Young to identify potential funding possibilities for their priority programs. Funding sources include corporations and foundations as well as School of Pharmacy PharmD and PhD alumni.

A large part of Marie’s responsibility is in the area of major gift fundraising. In conjunction with the administration and faculty, individuals, corporations, and foundations are identified and strategies are developed. “Major gifts, particularly with individuals, don’t happen over night,” Marie said, “rather they are based on a genuine relationship between members within the organization and individuals that is developed over time.” Marie, working with the development team, will work with identified prospects, facilitate meaningful contacts with appropriate faculty members to involve prospects, and kindle their interests in the School’s plans and activities.

Marie is working closely with the UCSF Pharmacy Alumni Association, attending meetings and retreats while the association reorganizes to make the School and the association more relevant in the professional lives of the alumni. “We have an outstanding dean who is very personable and is very committed to developing a strong rapport with PharmD and PhD alumni,” says Marie. “It is this kind of dedication by the dean and others in the School that will enable us to develop and strengthen our capacity to raise the number and level of major gifts that are critically needed to help ensure financial stability for the School of Pharmacy.”

Assemi and Tsourounis give life-saving assistance to man on plane

Chris Cullander, Dean’s Office, sent us the following description of the remarkable actions of Mitra Assemi and Candy Tsourounis in the face of a crisis.

Mitra Assemi, Candy Tsourounis, and I were on the same flight back from Toronto recently. Very shortly after takeoff, there was a request from the flight deck for anyone who spoke Persian to please identify themselves. Mitra immediately did so, and as she was getting up, there came a call for a physician or someone with healthcare training. As I later found out, one of the passengers, a 70-year old Iranian male who spoke very little English, had called an attendant to say that he was experiencing chest pain and thought he was having a heart attack. No physician, nurse, etc. identified themselves, nor did any other Farsi speaker appear, so Mitra sat with the man for the entire flight and translated for him. She worked with the attendants to provide what therapy was possible (oxygen, medication that he had with him). Mitra spoke with healthcare personnel on the ground to help determine the best course of action (the pilot was prepared to land at Kansas City, but the consensual decision was to proceed at high speed to SF). Candy assisted Mitra for a good part of this time, only returning to her seat when it was clear that there was no immediate crisis. Mitra stayed with the man through his evacuation to the airway when we landed, interpreted for the medtechs and provided them with the notes she had made on what he’d said to her during the flight, and waited until his daughter came for him. She left only after it was clear that she would no longer be needed. In short, both she and Candy did a fantastic job in a very scary situation.

Breakfast with the dean

School staff should be on the lookout for a breakfast invitation from Dean Mary Anne Koda-Kimble. These monthly, informal, early-morning campus gatherings are in response to needs, voiced by staff, to meet School peers and to learn firsthand about the School’s larger plans, progress, and challenges. The breakfasts are small. Eight to 10 staff members usually attend by invitation.

Invitees are chosen at random from the School’s staff roster. Each group is interdepartmental in makeup. “The time I spend with staff at these breakfasts is terrific,” says Mary Anne. “Our staff is so very qualified and so professional. I am learning just as much from them about their backgrounds, positions, ideas as I hope they learn from me about the School.”

Kaplan to retire

Peggy Kaplan, assistant to Dean Mary Anne Koda-Kimble, will retire next month after 14 years of service to the School of Pharmacy. The entire School is invited to Peggy’s retirement party on August 15, 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., at the Faculty Alumni House, 745 Parnassus Avenue. Peggy, with her husband Gene, will next be lending her assistance to the small town of Wells, Nevada. Says Mary Anne:

It will be a shock to our systems when she’s actually gone, Peggy is one of those rare individuals who has a sixth sense about people and situations. No matter how challenging the situation, she has the ability to make all involved feel as though they have been heard and cared for to the greatest extent possible. I am certain that Peggy has saved each and every one of us. She has magically located that critical piece of paper we have misplaced; advised us on how to most successfully approach others; jogged our memories about critical events; and acted with many gestures of kindness on our behalves. Peggy is not just the dean’s assistant; she is the School’s persona. I will miss her terribly, but I wish her and Gene great happiness in their new venture together in Wells.

Peggy came to UCSF in 1987 and worked for then-chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry Les Benet, then for Deans Jere Goyan and George Kenyon. Before UCSF, she worked at UC Riverside and UC Davis after stints as a civilian employee with the U.S. Army in Vietnam and in Heidelberg, Germany, where she met Gene, an army captain with the Provost Marshal’s Office.

Peggy and Gene have purchased a building in Wells that, in its past, served as a bar, hotel, and restaurant. They plan to lease the restaurant and bring it back to life as a community focal point. Wells, which is designated a state historic landmark, is a small town located on the banks of the Humboldt River near Angel Lake.

Commencement

The class of 2001 was honored to have Randy Juhl, dean and professor, School of Pharmacy, University of Pittsburgh as the guest speaker at the commencement ceremony on June 8. In 1992, the commissioner of the FDA established the Nonprescription Drug Advisory Committee to review specific prescription drugs for their suitability to be switched to over-the-counter status.

While the committee was comprised of physicians from many medical specialties, Randy was selected by the FDA to lead the group. Currently, he chairs an FDA Advisory Committee that is addressing standards for compounding by pharmacists.

In his remarks, Randy encouraged the students to continue to keep up with pharmacy over the years, but to also branch out into other areas. “We may be data rich but wisdom poor when it comes to relating our skills to the multifaceted environment in which we practice; political, social, economic, and cultural,” he stated. He praised the class by saying:

You have already begun to contribute to your school’s reputation. I have been at the APhA meetings and have seen your ASP chapter recognized as the best in the country. You should be proud of that accomplishment, but also realize that you have raised everyone’s expectations of you. Pharmacy needs good leaders, and judging from my external perspective, there ought to be a whole crop of leaders in this class. That is why I think my message is important. I am not sure whether it is cause or effect—I will leave it to your judgment—but the most successful leaders almost always seem to have that Renaissance air about them.

Student speakers at ceremony were M. Katherine Ramos, 2001 class president, and Jocelyn Karyautomo. Katherine received the Bowl of Hygeia Award, the highest honor for a pharmacy student. Runners up for the award were Jennifer Cocohoba, Teresa Duhancik, Grace Lee, and Louise Lu. Sexton Sutherland, professor, Department of Anatomy, UCSF School of Medicine, received the J. M. Long Foundation Prize for Excellence in Teaching.

Campus memorial for Kollman

A celebration of the life and work of Peter Kollman, professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, was held July 6, 3:00 p.m., in Cole Hall. Peter died from cancer on May 25. He joined the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry in 1971 as assistant professor and became a full professor in 1980. His research dealt mainly with the interactions of molecules. “We are all greatly saddened by the loss of Peter, an exceptional teacher, dedicated mentor, and enthusiastic supporter for his many students and colleagues. His intense and infectious enthusiasm for science, teaching, and life on campus was a force that touched many of us,” said Dean Mary Anne Koda-Kimble. A fund in Peter’s memory has been established in the UCSF School of Pharmacy to further the field of computational chemistry and quantitative biology at UCSF. Checks should be made payable to UCSF Foundation and mailed to: Peter Kollman, PhD, Memorial Fund, UCSF Foundation, University of California, San Francisco; UCSF Box 0248; San Francisco, CA 94143.

New CP faculty members

The Department of Clinical Pharmacy welcomes the following new paid faculty members:

  • Karen Hudmon, assistant clinical professor. Karen previously held a without salary position. She will be teaching the epidemiology course.

  • Kathy Yang, assistant clinical professor. Kathy has been with the School as both a graduate student researcher and resident. In this position, she will be coordinating the South Bay.

  • Sharon Youmans, assistant professor of clinical pharmacy. Sharon will be working at San Francisco General Hospital. Before joining the department she was a staff pharmacist in the Medical Center.

Powell, new BPS department manager

Paulette Powell comes to us most recently from the Department of Journalism, UC Berkeley, where she reorganized the administration of the department. Paulette received her doctorate in Education: Organization and Leadership, Emphasis in Pacific Leadership International from USF in the spring of 2000. She used her education to transform the administration of companies in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Shanghai, China, Kowloon, and Hong Kong. Paulette is excited by her new assignment. “With the participation of all the faculty and staff, the Department of Biopharmaceutical Sciences is moving into the future with a new vision including a strong financial structure, full staffing of well-trained and well-developed employees, improved communications, increased understandings, and a new-found unity,” she said.

Anderson receives the ASSP Outstanding Student Award

Deborah Anderson, a class of 2001 graduating doctor of pharmacy student, received the Outstanding Student Award in May from the Associated Students of the School of Pharmacy (ASSP). Fellow PharmD student Roslind Bowens-Bono, who nominated her for the award, said:

Over the past three years Debbie has had her hand in almost every organization in the School of Pharmacy. From orientation counselor to Kappa Psi to student panels to the Spring Community Service Benefit Auction, you will find a little bit of Debbie in just about all of it. Through her hard work and dedication she has earned the respect of her American Pharmaceutical Association and Associated Students of Pharmacy (APhA-ASP) cabinet members and constituency, the faculty, and professional organization leaders across the country. Her outstanding leadership helped UCSF-ASP to earn the ASP Regional Chapter of the Year Award. Debbie’s cabinet members look up to her for guidance and advice. She is always one to give an encouraging word, making sure they stay active in the organization while having fun doing it. She is a consummate leader, leading by example, being very organized, delegating responsibility, and being prepared to discuss the issues at hand. If you were to ask any of her cabinet members, they would say it’s a pleasure to work with her.

The following excellent student leaders were also nominated for the award: Katie Barnes, Amy Bower, Jennifer Cocohoba, Teresa Duhancik, Alison Lum, Joe Ma, 2002, Conan MacDougall, Marie Claire Scott.

35 years of clinical pharmacy at UCSF

Students, staff and faculty were joined by Eric Herfindal, chair, Division of Clinical Pharmacy, 1977–1993, at the presentation of Clinical Pharmacy at UC: a 35-year Perspective, given by Bob Levin on May 23. The large audience filled HSW 300, enjoying pizza, sodas, and dessert as Bob played a 45-minute videotape of films from the 60s through the 80s. He told the story of clinical pharmacy at UCSF as a glimmer, one idea among many, and the enthusiastic, dedicated, and innovative faculty members who made it a reality.

The films were enjoyed as much for the humor and shock value of seeing faculty members in a different time (“before PC,” as Bob put it) as for their historical context. The first film showed four dedicated, serious young men in suits discussing the direction pharmacy should take in the 1960s. One man, in a perfectly natural way, was smoking a cigarette. A gasp was heard from the audience. There was a lot of horseplay and bonding among the residents and faculty members portrayed, letting you know that the serious business of changing the face of pharmacy was leveled by humor and friendship.

After the tape, Bob showed slides chronicling the increasingly complex growth of the department and the many “firsts” initiated by our faculty and administration including the first WOS faculty (1964), first participation on the Code Blue Team (1960s), changing the senior year to all clerkships (1974) and editing the first clinical pharmacy textbooks. The department continues evolving with innumerable new initiatives and programs.

Recognitions

  • Leslie Benet, Department of Biopharmaceutical Sciences, received the Outstanding Faculty Mentorship Award from the Graduate Students’ Association and the Graduate Division Alumni Association. The award recognizes and shows appreciation for faculty members who consistently provide exceptional support, both professionally and personally, to graduate students.
  • Al Burlingame, Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, was appointed deputy editor of the new ASBMB journal Molecular and Cellular Proteomics with Ralph Bradshaw, UCI, as editor. Al is also organizing and co-chairing the 5th International Symposium for Mass Spectrometry in the Health and Life Sciences to be held in San Francisco in August. In addition, Al received an NIH NCRR SIG grant for a new capillary HPLC-nanoelectrospray tandem mass spectrometer for $500K.
  • James Cleaver, Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, was awarded a competitive renewal of his R01 from NIEHS (the XP variant a human mutator gene for UV damage) for a further five years.
  • Christopher Cullander, assistant dean, Dean’s Office, Office of Student and Curricular Affairs, received the UCSF Chapter Friend of APhA-ASP award.
  • Ken Dill, Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, just completed his full term as a member of the BBCA Study Section at NIH. His group also received a new NIH grant, on Theoretical Models of Water and Aqueous Solvation.
  • Kathleen Giacomini, Department of Biopharmaceutical Sciences, was selected to be the keynote speaker for the 2001 Gordon Conference on Drug Metabolism, to be held in in Plymouth, New Hampshire in July.
  • Kathryn Ivanetich, Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, was awarded a NIH Multi User Shared Instrumentation Grant for DNA sequencing instrumentation to be utilized by the UCSF Biomolecular Resource Center.
  • Chin-Tzu Peng, professor emeritus, Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, gave an invited, opening lecture, entitled “LSC – Past and Present” at the International Conference on Advances in Liquid Scintillation Spectrometry, held in Karlsruhe, Germany in May.
  • Kathryn Phillips, Department of Clinical Pharmacy, will be presenting her work on managed care and measuring the value of interventions at the International Health Economics Association meeting in York, England in July.
  • David Quan, Department of Clinical Pharmacy, received the Clinical Pharmacy Resident Preceptor of the Year award from the clinical pharmacy residency class, 2000–2001.
  • Ulana Rey, PharmD student, received the Student of the Year UCSF APhA-ASP award.
  • Allison Tauman, PharmD student, won the 2001 American Society of Consultant Pharmacists’ Paul G. Cano Legislative Internship. The internship, in Washington, DC, began in 1991 and each year since has been giving pharmacy students experience and training in federal and state legislative and regulatory processes.
  • C.C. Wang, Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, initiated a new journal Eukaryotic Cell and was appointed editor in chief. It is sponsored by the American Society for Microbiology and will publish the very best research reports on eukaryotic microorganisms such as protozoa, fungi, slime molds, Chlamydomonas, and yeasts.

Upcoming events

  • Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacogenomics (PSPG) postgraduate students make presentations every Wednesday from 12:00 noon to 1:00 p.m. in S214. PSPG is a graduate program in the Department of Biopharmaceutical Sciences.
  • Retirement party for Peggy Kaplan, August 15, 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
  • SOP Retreat, Hayes Conference Center, San Jose, September 14–15.
  • Homecoming 2001, November 3 (evening) to 4 (day and evening), campus.
  • Inaugural White Coat Ceremony for first-year PharmD students, November 3, 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., Cole Hall

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School of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, Department of Clinical Pharmacy, PharmD Degree Program

About the School: The UCSF School of Pharmacy aims to solve the most pressing health care problems and strives to ensure that each patient receives the safest, most effective treatments. Our discoveries seed the development of novel therapies, and our researchers consistently lead the nation in NIH funding. The School’s doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) degree program, with its unique emphasis on scientific thinking, prepares students to be critical thinkers and leaders in their field.