You will note with excitement, as we have done in the School, the continuing work on Pharmacy Australia Centre of Excellence (PACE). At the time of writing the project is running well and we have received a degree of media coverage regarding PACE in both local and national outlets.

PACE will be a terrific development for the School and will represent a new phase of growth and development for pharmacy teaching, research and scholarship within Queensland and Australia. You will note that our growth has already started, with the recruitment of a significant number of new staff across the School. We welcome them all and wish them all success. Research activities have continued to grow and develop within the School and we also welcome new researchers and new research students to the School. You will note more research news later in this Newsletter.

One of the other important themes of this issue of the Newsletter is the degree of international interaction in which the School is engaged – from contributions at international conferences to visits to the School from international delegates. As you will note later, Lisa Nissen and I visited Singapore and Malaysia in early March. Our visit was designed to enhance the School’s profile in Singapore and Malaysia and particularly in Kuala Lumpur. Many of the Colleges and Polytechnics we visited were keen to develop links with Pharmacy and recognised the quality of the programs delivered at UQ and the reputation of the School.

The new academic year has just started. This is always a really hectic time of year but it is great to see the enrolment of our new cohort of students into the Bachelor of Pharmacy program and to greet the return of years 2, 3 and 4.

Also commencing in the School are new postgraduate students undertaking research or coursework programs. To everyone I offer my best wishes for a successful and fulfilling year!

Professor Nick Shaw
Head of School

An Introductory Lecture was presented by the Head of School, Professor Nick Shaw on February 19^th at the UQ Centre Lecture Theatre as part of Orientation Week.

The Lecture welcomed new students commencing this year in the Bachelor of Pharmacy degree at the School of Pharmacy.

The 2008 First Year group, comprising of 246 students, were introduced to Academic and Support Staff and led through a slide show that detailed them on many aspects of life at UQ and the School.

After the official lecture, students and staff were treated to a BBQ that was hosted by the Queensland Pharmacy Student's Association (QPSA), who also presented a talk on what the Association offers to Pharmacy Students.

The School of Pharmacy would like to extend a warm welcome to all new students commencing in 2008, and wish you all the best in your time with us here at UQ.

Premier Launches PACE Construction

The $120 million first stage of a new UQ centre will ease a chronic shortage of pharmacists and help to improve health care nationally and globally.

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh inspected the 1.7ha site of the Pharmacy Australia Centre of Excellence (PACE) on March 7, saying Queensland was about to realise a plan to lead the nation in bringing pharmacy education, research and industry together in one location.

"The University of Queensland will be the first cab off the rank with the relocation of its internationally-recognised School of Pharmacy to the precinct and a ramping up of its research into the Quality Use of Medicines," she said.

A first for the Asia-Pacific, PACE will combine Australia's leading pharmacy educators and researchers with key pharmacy professional organisations and commercial research and development groups.




UQ's Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International and Development), Professor Trevor Grigg, said the Queensland Government made PACE possible by donating the land - which adjoins the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane - in 2001. Construction follows an agreement between UQ and Alba Capital Partners.

“The location has risen in strategic importance since the Government donated the land. It is now part of what will become a concentrated health and pharmaceutical version of Silicon Valley.

“PACE will be a stone's throw from the planned Translational Research Institute, which will house UQ's Diamantina Institute for Cancer, Immunology and Metabolic Medicine and scientists from the Mater Medical Research Institute, Queensland University of Technology and the Princess Alexandra Hospital,” Professor Grigg said.

UQ's School of Pharmacy will move into Stage One, which is scheduled for completion in early 2010. In anticipation of PACE's extra capacity, UQ has increased new pharmacy student enrolments from 185 in 2006 to 246 in 2008. Numbers will continue growing in order to ease a widespread shortage of pharmacists that is estimated to reach 3000 nationally in 2010.

“Optimal health care requires multi-professional education as well as more graduates, and that is facilitated by co-locating education and research for health professionals in a centre such as this,” Professor Grigg said.

Michael Still, managing director of Alba, said the company is pleased to be working in partnership with UQ to provide Australia with an innovative and functional development that will set a global benchmark for medical research and education precincts.

“Alba is focused on a partnership approach as demonstrated by a history of successfully developed projects within the university sector,” he said.


“PACE will be a state of the art pharmaceutical research, education and drug commercialisation precinct cementing Queensland's position at the forefront of medical research.”

PACE will complement and enhance UQ's established strengths in biotechnology, nanotechnology and molecular bioscience.

The researchers attracted to it will include top Australian and international postgraduate students who want to develop new and improved pharmaceuticals as well as better results for consumers.
Stage one will cover 10,155 square metres including lab space, a 360 seat lecture theatre, other teaching facilities, offices, and basement parking.

Subsequent stages are envisaged to include up to 30,000 square metres to accommodate entities involved in health and pharmaceutical research and development and services.

“This unique project will eventually cover every aspect of the pharmaceutical production line from drug discovery to eventual use, offering world class, coordinated and cost-effective research and testing capability,” Professor Grigg said.

Other confirmed PACE partners and future tenants include The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia, the Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia and the Australian Institute of Pharmacy Management.

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Internationalisation Events Showcase The School of Pharmacy at UQ

During March, Head of School Professor Nick Shaw, and Dr Lisa Nissen travelled to Asia to attend multiple events, as well as make headway on discussions with key Asian Universities regarding a potential articulation arrangements with the University of Queensland.

Professor Shaw and Dr Nissen attended the IDP Singapore Health Expo on Saturday the 8th and Sunday the 9th of March to present their talk on the School of Pharmacy, "Pharmacy Education at its Best".

This talk was also presented at the Austrade Australian Education Showcase in Suntec City, Singapore, on the weekend of March 15th and 16th.

The trip also enabled Professor Shaw and Dr Nissen to visit with various Junior Colleges and Education Agents in Malaysia, as well as meeting with sponsors of Undergraduate and Postgraduate studies.

Discussions are also ongoing concerning the possibility of the School of Pharmacy working with IMU (International Medical University) in Kuala Lumpar, Malaysia, to establish a partnership between the two institutions. Discussions will progress further in mid to late 2008.

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School of Pharmacy Offers Public Weekly Seminars 

The School of Pharmacy is again offering free weekly seminars for all interested attendees including academics, RHD candidates, researchers & any UQ staff who wish to attend.

The seminars run for 45 minutes each Wednesday at 1pm, and feature speakers who are leaders in their fields from across UQ as well as other institutes, both Queensland & Australia wide.

No RSVP is required for these events. More details are available here concerning specific seminar topics and speakers.
 

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School of Pharmacy Academics Head APOP (Acute Post-Operative Pain) Project

The acute postoperative pain (APOP) project is a quality improvement initiative being undertaken in sixty-two public and private hospitals across Australia.

 

The APOP project aims to promote pain assessment, safe and effective prescribing of postoperative analgesics and effective communication of a pain management plan to patients and to general practitioners at discharge. In QLD 13 hospitals along with Darwin Hospital undertook the APOP project.

 

In consultation with anaesthetists, the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA) and Faculty of Pain Medicine, quality indicators were developed based on the Acute Pain Management: Scientific Evidence, second edition, 2005 and the Therapeutic Guidelines: Analgesic, Version 4, 2002.

 

APOP data collection commenced in October 2006 and was completed in February 2007. The educational intervention was carried out between April and June 2007. Follow-up data was collected from patients admitted from July 2007 – October 2007.

 

Key messages promoted during the education program:

• Optimal postoperative pain management begins in the preoperative period
• Measure pain regularly using a validated pain assessment tool
• Ensure all postoperative patients receive safe and effective analgesia
• Monitor and manage adverse events
• Communicate ongoing pain management plan to both patients and primary healthcare professionals at discharge.

APOP successfully improved some practices with respect to pain management in QLD especially:

• Documentation of preoperative education
• Increased use of pain scores, as well as increased documentation at rest and movement
• Increased documentation of sedation scores for patients receiving an opioid
• Increased discharge communication to the patient and GP

Improvement was also seen when comparing documentation in the patient notes with what was reported by the patient. This was particularly notable with equal reporting and documentation of pain scores. Communication at discharge to the GP also increased as per the GP report, with more summaries being received in a timely manner, more summaries containing a plan, with clear direction and improvement in overall communication.

 

On Wednesday 16h January representatives from APOP hospitals in QLD met to wrap up the APOP project.

The School of Pharmacy team -   Lisa Pulver, Donna Taylor, Judith Coombes and Sue Tett are now looking forward to commencing their next national drug use evaluation project. Recruitment for 15 hospitals to participate in a project to improve discharge medication in acute coronary syndrome (DMACS) has already commenced.

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School of Pharmacy Bursary for UQ Foundation Year Students

The School of Pharmacy at The University of Queensland is offering one bursary per year exclusively to UQ Foundation Year Students. The bursary will be awarded to an outstanding UQ Foundation Year graduate seeking admission into the Pharmacy degree at The University of Queensland.

The bursary is awarded on academic merit. The winner will be announced at the Foundation Year graduation ceremony in December.

Value

• The Pharmacy Bursary is for AUD$3,000. A cheque post-dated to March 31 2009 (census date for Semester One enrolments) will be awarded to the successful students.

Eligibility

• Applicants for the Pharmacy Bursary must be current UQ Foundation Year students.
• The award is for students intending to enrol in the Pharmacy degree. The bursary is not transferable should the student decide to enrol in any other discipline.
• The student must have studied the correct prerequisite subjects during the UQ Foundation Year to enrol in Pharmacy.

Selection Criteria

• Applicants will be assessed on academic merit and reference (submitted by their nominated teacher).
• Applicants must have a minimum IELTS of 7.
• An interview may be required with members from The School of Pharmacy to assist with the selection process.

Application Procedures

 Students should complete the application form downloadable here and include:

• A covering letter outlining why you wish to study Pharmacy at UQ.
• A brief summary of extra-curricular activities and interests you believe are relevant to the short listing committee.
• Submit these documents by email to scholarships@fdn.uq.edu.au
• Request your nominated Foundation teacher to email an academic reference to scholarships@fdn.uq.edu.au

(IES will attach your confidential reference letter from your nominated teacher and Foundation results to your application).

Closing Date

 

Closing date for February 2009 intake is 7th November 2008.

For further information, or to download an application form, please visit the School of Pharmacy website.

  

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Congratulations to Dr Christine Staatz - a Research Fellow within the School of Pharmacy - who has been awarded the highly competitive Lions Medical Research Foundation "Senior Medical Research Fellowship".

The three-year fellowship will enable Christine to further her research into anti-rejection medication for organ transplant recipients.

After organ transplantation, recipients need to take anti-rejection medications for the rest of their lives to stop their immune system from rejecting their new organ. The treatment with powerful drugs is vital for the long-term success of their transplant. Christine said too many people experienced transplant rejection, drug toxicity or infection due to poorly managed therapy. Her research project aims to improve the use of immunosuppressant drugs and eventually enhance the quality of life of Australian organ transplant recipients.

Christine’s Lions Fellowship Project will be carried out at the Princess Alexandra hospital and UQ. Christine works in close collaboration with the Faculty's Professor Susan Tett and Professor Stephen Lynch, Professor David Johnson and Mr Paul Taylor from the Princess Alexandra Hospital. The research work will be performed with assistance from a larger multi-disciplinary group, including transplant physicians, nurses, scientists, university academics, pharmacists and transplant coordinators.

Early Researchers Recognised in 2007 Pharmacy RHD Quality Awards

Each year the School of Pharmacy recognises its high achieving PhD candidates with 3 RHD Quality Awards. The awards for 2007 were announced at the Postgraduate Research Day held at the School on February 20^th, 2008.

Congratulations go to the 3 winners whose research efforts were rewarded with the following prizes:

• The prize for the highest quality research output by a research higher degree candidate in the area of Modeling and Simulation, is named after Professor Ted Triggs who was an early leader in the area of Pharmacokinetics with early key publications in the prestigious journal Nature. He also contributed greatly to the teaching of Pharmacy at UQ.
  
  This year the $1000 Professor Ted Triggs prize ($1000) goes to Michael Barras for his paper – “Individualized Compared with Conventional Dosing of Enoxaparin”, Published in the Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics journal.
  
  The role of pharmacokinetic modeling and simulation in assisting drug development is well recognized. However, few dose strategies have been evaluated against current therapy using a prospective, randomized design. This study demonstrated a significant reduction in bleeding for a common anticoagulant and was published in the highest ranking pharmacology journal.

 

• The prize for the highest quality research output by a research higher degree candidate in the area of Therapeutic Targeting, is named after William Harris (1917-1989). He is remembered for his great intellect and his amazing recall of a wide spectrum of pharmaceutical science information, as well as for teaching many of the current leaders in pharmacy research.
  
  This year the $1000 William Harris Prize goes to Cho Aung for her paper “Plasma membrane Ca²⁺-ATPase expression during colon cancer cell line differentiation”, Published in the Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications journal.
  
  BBRC is “the premier international journal devoted to the very rapid dissemination of … results in diverse fields”. Cho’s work has since been confirmed by an article published in Cell Calcium and the paper has been cited in Nature Reviews Cancer.

  

• The prize for the highest quality research output by a research higher degree candidate in the area of Quality Use of Medicines is named after Professor Lloyd Sansom. He is a role model for many in the Pharmacy profession and has been a leader in Quality Use of Medicine across many professions. Professor Sansom was the inaugural Chair of the Australian Pharmaceutical Advisory Committee (APAC); he now Chairs the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC).
  
  This year the $1000 Prof Lloyd Sansom prize goes to Ian Coombes for his paper “Safe medication practice tutorials: a practical approach to preparing prescribers”, Published in The Clinical Teacher.
  
  This article describes a novel QUM intervention to improve the safety and quality of interns’ prescribing. It has been quoted in the journal’s editorial and in a forthcoming MJA article. The intervention has been implemented by The University of Queensland School of Medicine and has also been adopted by the National Prescribing Service.

 

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Jia Yan See Awarded 2008 Foundation Year Bursary

 

Ms Jia Yan See received the School of Pharmacy Foundation Year Bursary for 2008.

The $3000 scholarship recognises Jia's outstanding performance during her Foundation Year, which she completed during 2007.

Jia commenced her Bachelor of Pharmacy degree with the School in Semester One this year.

Many congratulations go to Jia on winning this highly competitive award, and we wish her the best of luck while completing her Bachelor of Pharmacy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Helen Faddy Receives David Walsh Symposium Presentation Prize

 

Several of the School's Research Higher Degree candidates and Honours candidates attended the Annual Combio meeting held at Darling Harbor in Sydney between the 22^nd and 26^th of September, 2007.

 

Combio represents one of the largest biological meetings in Australia and includes Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Plant Scientists and Cell and Developmental Biology.

 

Helen Faddy, a final year PhD candidate, was awarded the David Walsh Symposium Presentation prize for her oral presentation, which was titled "Calcium transport in the mammary gland: a role for secretory pathway calcium ATPase 2 (SPCA2) in normal physiology and breast cancer".

 

Congratulations Helen on this outstanding achievement!

 

 

 

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School of Pharmacy Graduate Heads Research Into New Addiction-Busting Drug

UQ pharmacy graduate Dr Selena Bartlett is starting clinical trials of a drug that could potentially curb addictions such as smoking, drinking, gambling even depression.

The drug, marketed as Chantix by Pfizer, has reduced alcohol consumption in laboratory rats by 50 percent and will be trialled in humans next month by Dr Bartlett and Dr Markus Heilig's team in the United States.

Chantix latches onto ‘good feeling' receptors in the brain to block cravings for addictions such as nicotine or alcohol.

Dr Bartlett is the Director of the Preclinical Development Group at the Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Centre, one of the world's top alcohol and addiction research centres, at the University of California in San Francisco.

She said she was convinced of the drug's potential but it had been hard to convince others, despite the drug gaining widespread media attention in the US.

“Big companies still do not believe in the potential of addiction as a market, believe it or not,” Dr Bartlett said.

The Chantix trials are just one of 10 major projects for Dr Bartlett's lab team, which is working on reducing ethanol consumption and new drug screening technologies.

Dr Bartlett was asked to set up her preclinical lab to study addiction and how it modifies brain function.

“I wanted to make a difference in the world and develop treatments that would help people,” she said.

“Addiction is currently one of the most under-served and least understood.”

Her passion for understanding brain functions stemmed from her late-sister who had schizophrenia.

“She is still very much a driving force in my life and the reason I am doing this type of translational research.”

She also hopes to create a Foundation to fund research and develop better treatments for neuropsychiatric diseases such as schizophrenia, in memory of her sister.

Dr Bartlett grew up in the small South Burnett town of Nanango, where her parents ran the local pharmacy for 35 years — until last November.

She went to UQ like many of her siblings, parents and her husband's parents and grandparents going back to the 1920s.

She studied pharmacy at UQ with a Bachelor, Hons and PhD by 1994, with the expectation that she eventually work back in the family pharmacy.

By the time she finished her pharmacy study with a focus on morphine tolerance and dependence, she had also found two loves — her husband and neuroscience.

“I loved my time at UQ. It changed my life. I went in with all intentions of becoming a practising pharmacist and left a neuroscientist.

“I became addicted to the thrill of a new discovery and research . . .I also fell in love with neurosciences.

“I could see that understanding the neurobiological basis of addiction would provide valuable insights into brain function but also would help to uncover the causes of this devastating disease.”

Dr Bartlett and her husband Peter, also a UQ student at the time studying electrical engineering and computer science, met while windsurfing at the Gold Coast.

After working in Australia they moved to the US and then Dr Bartlett was offered the job of setting up a lab to develop a new model of translational research.

“I was advised not to do it. This is where being Australian and my early experiences in Nanango really kicked in. I decided to give it a go.”

She said growing up in a small country town and her time in the family's pharmacy gave her a pioneering attitude, fearlessness and stubbornness.

“I remember counting pills the old way, one by one, or ten by ten.

“I have vivid memories of my dad making ointments on a glass slab.

“My dad used to make industrial quantities of ointments at one time. The ointment was gooey and took forever to make, sometimes hours."

(Thank you to Mr Miguel Holland of UQ News for the use of this story)

Congratulations go to the following Scholarship Awardees:

• Ms Neeraj Bala (PhD Candidate) - Australian Postgraduate Award
• Ms Felicity Davis (PhD Candidate) - NHMRC Biomedical Postgraduate Scholarship
• Mr Venkatesan Moorthy Rao (PhD Candidate) - School of Pharmacy International Living Allowance Scholarship
• Mr Shafiur Rahman (PhD Candidate) - School of Pharmacy International Living Allowance Scholarship

We are pleased to welcome the following staff to the School of Pharmacy:

• Dr Alexandra (Zandy) Clavarino joined us in February in the position of Senior Lecturer
  
• Ms Michele Dixon from the Faculty of Health Science has joined us in the role of Acting School Manager
  
• Ms Katja Hjort has taken up a position as an Occupational Trainee working with Dr Carl Kirkpatrick
• Dr Therese Kairuz joined us in February in the position of Senior Lecturer
  
• Ms Rebecca Lee has joined the School as a Conjoint Associate Lecturer from Ipswich Hospital
  
• Ms Catherine Lynch joined the School as a Conjoint Associate Lecturer from the Princess Alexandra Hospital
  
• Ms Nimali Rahathungoda joined us in March as a Conjoint Associate Lecturer from the Princess Alexandra Hospital
  
• Dr Santosh Rudrawar will be taking up a Postdoctoral Fellowship to work with Dr Ben Ross, Professor Nick Shaw & Dr Pete Cabot
  
• Ms Heidi Wong, a Clinical Pharmacist with the Royal Children's Hospital has joined us as Conjoint Associate Lecturer

Farewells:

With our very best wishes we say farewell and thanks to the following staff:

• Ms Christie Bentley, Scientific Officer, has finished in the School as of February
  
• Dr Nigel Davies has left the School after many years. We wish him all the best for the future
  
• Ms Bis Parry has left the School as of March. We would like to wish Bis all the best for the future and thank her for her work as School Manager
  
• Dr Samantha South from TetraQ has left the School as of February
  
• Mr Garry Walker has left the School as of February

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