Dixon to receive New Investigator Award
VCU School of Pharmacy assistant professor Dave Dixon has been named a 2015 recipient of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy’s New Investigator Award. His $10,000-funded research proposal is titled “Nighttime Dosing of Amlodipine Versus Lisinopril in Non-Dipping African Americans.”
Dixon is one of 15 pharmacy faculty nationwide who will receive start-up funding to complete their research, which will be presented at AACP’s Annual Meeting in July 2016 in Anaheim, Calif. He is the first VCU recipient since the award was initiated in 2011. Co-investigators in the study are Evan Sisson, associate professor, and Michael Kelly, PGY-1 ambulatory care resident.
In reference to the study, Dixon notes that blood pressure normally follows a diurnal pattern, higher first thing in the morning and lower at night. The absence of a nighttime dip in blood pressure increases risk for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.
“Non-dipping” is more prevalent in African-Americans, which might explain why they are at greater risk for target organ damage. The study’s primary objective is to evaluate the efficacy of nighttime administration of two blood pressure medications, Lisinopril versus Amlodipine, in non-dipping African-Americans.
Dixon, who joined the SOP faculty in 2012, focuses primarily on lipid disorders, hypertension and heart failure. He is a fellow of the National Lipid Association, a diplomate of the Accreditation Council for Clinical Lipidology and an associate of the American College of Cardiology. He is also on the Southeast Lipid Association board of directors and serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Clinical Lipidology and iForumRx.org.
Dixon, along with Sisson and Veronica Shuford, director of educational innovation and assessment, received the 2014 AACP Innovations in Teaching Award for “Use of Video-Recorded Clinic Visits to Improve Student Pharmacists’ Clinical Interviewing Skills.” He also was named a VCU School of Pharmacy Outstanding Preceptor in 2013.
Dixon earned his Pharm.D. degree at Campbell University and completed a primary care residency at Charles George VA Medical Center in Asheville, N.C.
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