During a general medicine rotation last summer, Krystal Memmer worked with patients who had recently undergone total joint arthroplasty. “When I was going through my patients’ files I realized that there was a lot of opportunity for improvement of pain management after they had their surgeries. That’s how the research project developed.”

Scientists who once worked together for the global pharmaceutical company Pfizer are now collaborating with URI’s George & Anne Ryan Institute for Neuroscience. The group, which is calling itself MindImmune, is working to build a company they hope will find treatment for diseases of the brain—Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other neuro-degenerative disorders.

College of Pharmacy faculty and students headed to the Rhode Island State House on April 5, for the 13th Annual Face of Pharmacy event, where they joined forces with members of organizations including Rhode Island Pharmacists Association and Rhode Island Society of Health-System Pharmacists to “put a face” on the issues and legislation that affect pharmacy.

The University of Rhode Island is putting in place a sweeping reorganization of its health programs to maximize cross-disciplinary teaching, research, and outreach and to place the University in a position of strength as health care undergoes rapid change in the United States. URI has established the Academic Health Collaborative to spur cooperation and innovation in the areas of research, inter-professional education, population health, health promotion and recognition and elimination of health disparities.

Pharmacy, nursing, and physical therapy students traveled to Indonesia to participate in an interdisciplinary exploration of global health issues and the social determinants of health there during the University’s January term.