Dean’s Message
Long Winter Finally Yields to Spring
It’s been a 
little longer winter and break from issuing newsletters than we would have liked or intended. The long break has not been without news of accomplishments and great progress at your college. We’ve won awards, advanced the building project under difficult conditions and also built new relationships around the world that will benefit our faculty, students, research and teaching agenda.
In February I traveled with Dr.’s Ahmed, Parang, Seeram and Shaikh on different legs to India, Pakistan and United Arab Emirates. We visited academic institutions, partner industrial companies and spoke at conferences and seminars. The trip formalized academic understandings between The University of Rhode Island and a number of Universities in the region including the University of Dehli and Karachi University. Our goal was to establish faculty to faculty relationships which could be leveraged to advance research and provide international learning opportunities for URI’s students. The hospitality of those who sponsored our trip was so impressive; it has led our group to want to work harder with our international visitors to be sure we return the kind graces we received. The college, as is the rest of the University, is advancing our global agenda and the diversity of our community according to plans by President Dooley and Provost DeHayes who are leading the efforts to bring the world to Kingston. See the academic plan (link below) for more information.
The new college facility is quickly being closed in, and interior work is rapidly progressing. The building is on track to open in early 2012. While the difficult winter caused more down time than would have been optimal, the contractors continue to make good progress, and planning of the finer details of the interior laboratory and teaching facilities is reaching conclusion. We continue to seek funding assistance to make this the best College of Pharmacy facility possible, and we have hopes of funding a Botanical Garden and Conservatory addition to the project with donor assistance.
We have had an excellent semester of awards and accolades for our students and faculty.
March 2011 — At URI’s first Discovery@URI day College of Pharmacy graduate students took first and third place honors. Simon Sarkisian, a MS student in the College of Pharmacy, and his group for their work on “Inhibition of Bacterial Growth and Biofilm Production by Metabolites from Hypericum spp” took the top research prize. The work, in collaboration with the VA Medical Center Infectious Disease Research Laboratory and Susquehanna University in PA, may lead to new antimicrobial treatments. In a tie for Third Place, Joseph Schrader a B.S.P.S. student in the College of Pharmacy won honors for his work entitled “Synthesis, Purification, and In-Silico Modeling of Second Generation Anti-Epileptic Compounds.” This was an amazing showing for the college at this first time event showcasing the best and brightest student and faculty collaborative research efforts! Congratulations to all those involved!
View the posters @ https://www.uri.edu/pharmacy/news/discovery2011
January 2011 — In the fall Dr. Iqbal Choudhary, Director of the University of Karachi’s International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences, was hosted by the College of Pharmacy as URI’s first Distinguished International Visiting Scholar. In return, Dr. Choudhary hosted us in Karachi at ICCBS which was a most impressive potential collaborator for our natural products medicinal research.
February 2011 — President Dooley joined myself and URI professors from Pharmacy and Horticulture at the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Garden to formalize an understanding between the two organizations. Phipps is led by College Alum, Richard Piacentini ‘77. Piacentini went on to earn a masters in Botany and a masters of Business Administration and was recently selected to receive a lifetime achievement award from the American Horticulturists Society.
March 2011 — College of Pharmacy alum Paul Hastings ‘84 received the University’s Lifetime Achievement Diversity Award. Also, as President and Chief Executive Officer of OncoMed, Paul gave lectures on the research efforts of his company and his pathway to success.
April 2011 — The Kappa Psi Brothers and the College were honored by the Rhode Island Blood Center for our service to their bone marrow and blood drives.
May 2011 — Dr. Erica Estus received the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists Leadership in Education Award for her highly acclaimed geriatric care program. Congratulations Erica, keep up the passionate commitment to this population and to changing our students’ lives and commitment to care in the process.
May 2011 — College of Pharmacy Dr. Nasser Zawia was appointed Dean of the URI Graduate School after serving as Interim Dean. The selection of Dr. Zawia and the advances being made in the graduate school under his leadership are sources of pride for the College of Pharmacy! In Collaboration with Dr. Zawia and the Graduate School, the College of Pharmacy will again host a Distinguished International Visiting Scholar this fall. Dr. Patrick Aebischer, President of Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) will visit URI this next semester. He is a Brown University Alumnus and conducts leading research on neurodegenerative diseases at this world renowned Swiss Research Institute.
It’s been a long winter and now finally we are experiencing spring. Despite the weather, your college is shining daily, and we look forward to our upcoming commencement and next fall’s white coat ceremony. You’ll see a commencement edition of this newsletter rather quickly in comparison to this long wait. Please enjoy. Remember we need your help to continue our great work, and plan to visit our new facility anytime you are in the area by contacting me.
Dean Ronald P. Jordan ‘76