A link in the chain: Building on his mentor’s work, Martin Safo closes in on sickle cell treatment
By Greg Weatherford School of Pharmacy News For 30 years, Martin Safo, Ph.D., has worked to find a solution to a complex puzzle: How can chemistry stop human blood cells from twisting and sticking together? The answer is critical for millions of people with sickle cell disease. Their blood cells fold into bizarre shapes including […]
SoP Pride Month designs
Our SoP team has created special designs to honor Pride Month! You can access a special (Photoshopped) Pride version of the Smith Building — seen above — as well as our Welcome to the Future logo recolored to represent many LGBTQIA+ flags like the one below by clicking on this link to a Google Drive […]
Cen wins Powe award
Yana Cen, Ph.D., an assistant professor at the School of Pharmacy’s Institute for Structural Biology, Drug Discovery and Development, has been awarded the prestigious 2021 Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award from the Oak Ridge Associated Universities. The award comes with a $5,000 financial award and an equivalent match from the winner’s local institution. […]
D. Brophy departs after 25 years
By Greg Weatherford SoP News When Don Brophy first visited Richmond more than 25 years ago, he was struck by the balmy weather. Compared to the Minnesota winters he was used to, Richmond’s mild climate seemed like the tropics. “I was instantly sold,” Brophy recalls, though he adds, “It didn’t hurt that [VCU] was an […]
After year like no other, the Class of 2021 celebrates diplomas with ‘The Pharmacist’
By Greg Weatherford VCU School of Pharmacy The star of the Netflix documentary series “The Pharmacist” has strong advice for the VCU School of Pharmacy Class of ’21: Work with your patients and watch for danger. In his keynote speech to the graduating pharmacy students, Dan Schneider, the Louisiana pharmacist whose quest to solve the […]
Student group aims to bridge the digital divide in health care
By Greg WeatherfordVCU School of Pharmacy The digital divide is cutting many people off from health care. A group of pharmacy students at Virginia Commonwealth University aims to bridge that gap. “We’re trying to help and make an impact,” said Emily Ko, a first-year Pharm.D. student and co-founder of the student group Pharmacists for Digital […]
Wellness program brings health and social connection to seniors
By Paul BrockwellMCV Foundation Social isolation can be dangerous. In 2020, isolation became the experience of people across the country as states issued stay-at-home orders to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. The loss of social activity can be detrimental to health and reduce access to care when people may not have the means to participate […]
At VCU, pharmacy students take lead role in COVID-19 vaccination
By Greg Weatherford VCU School of Pharmacy One by one they filed down a narrow corridor into a small side room in the VCU Health hospital and took a seat beside one of an array of industrial tables. On each table lay a tray lined with pre-loaded syringes. “Can you roll up your sleeve?” asked Meghan […]
Once a coronavirus vaccine exists, a VCU researcher’s mailable patch could deliver it to millions
Greg WeatherfordVCU School of Pharmacy Someday, hundreds of millions of vaccinations against the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 could show up in people’s mailboxes and be applied as simply as slapping on a Band-Aid. That’s the vision of Guizhi “Julian” Zhu, Ph.D., at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Pharmacy. Zhu, an assistant professor in the school’s Department of […]
He was 24 and healthy. COVID-19 almost killed him.
Pharmacy student warns: No one is immune to the pandemic, so stay alert and careful. Greg WeatherfordVCU School of Pharmacy In the first months of the pandemic of 2020 Dan Buth already had done a lot to avoid getting sick. He had stopped social travel — a big adjustment; he loved to visit new places. […]