Alumni News

 

CLASS NOTES
The following information arrived with donations to the College, was sent by Interactions readers, or was reported by various other sources. To update us on your activities or those of other alumni, mail the form on page 26, fax it to 734-763-2022, or e-mail: interactions@umich.edu.

THE FIFTIES
Last summer, William H. Haithco Sr., BSPharm'52, self-published an autobiography entitled From the Farm to the Pharmacist and Beyond: What a Man Does for Himself Will Die with Him. What a Man Does for Others Will Live Forever. In very personal terms, the 124-page book recounts -- through narrative, photos, and other visuals-- Haithco's lifejourney: from his birth in Saginaw, Mich., in 1923, to old age. As an African-American raised in a Dutch- German neighborhood, Haithco was already in his 40s before enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1965. In straight-forward fashion, he tackles the subtle and not-so-subtle ways racism played out in his personal and professional life. He also reveals how he molded his own proud but independent identity through the redemptive power of family, faith, friends, personal action, hard work, professional commitment, compassion, wit, and humor.

Haithco is a 2003 recipient of the University of Michigan Alumni Association's Distinguished Alumni Service Award, the highest honor the Alumni Association can confer. His pharmacy career spanned 34 years, all in Saginaw, his hometown. He now lives in Fayetteville, Ga. All proceeds from the sale of his book will be used to fund scholarships for Haithco's grandchildren. From the Farm to the Pharmacist and Beyond (ISBN: 0595438652; ISBN-13; 9780595438655; iUniverse, Inc.) may be purchased online through Barnes and Noble (www.bn.com). E-mail: sweetwilliamsaunt@hotmail.com.

THE SIXTIES
John R. Cardinal, BSPharm'67, is retired and living in Wilmington, N.C., with his wife, Sharon, also retired, after a career in pharmacy. John's career included positions at the University of Utah, Pfizer, Merck, AAI Pharma, and Andrx Labs (now part of Watson Pharmaceuticals). "After about 10 years in academia at Utah, I spent the remainder of my career in industry doing drug delivery systems work," he explains. In addition to his BSPharm from Michigan, Cardinal received an MS in 1969 and a PhD in 1973, both at the University of Wisconsin. He reports that he plays golf almost every day and that he and Sharon enjoy traveling in the U.S. and abroad. "I am thankful for the great education we Pharmacy students received at U-M, and the opportunity we had to meet and learn from great College faculty," he says. John and Sharon have two grown daughters: one married and living in San Francisco; the other engaged and living in Albany, N.Y. E-mail: JRCardinal1@cs.com.

In June 2004, Emmett Kyle Hammond, PharmD'67, retired as chief of pharmacy service at Cincinnati VA Medical Center. He spent the final 20 years of his career there. Prior to earning his PharmD at U-M, Hammond had earned a BA in pharmacy from Auburn University and an MS in pharmacy from the University of Florida. He and his wife, Sena Anna, a retired teacher, live in Covington, Ky. They have two children and six grandchildren.

Don Harju, BSPharm'67, retired after 35 years as a staff pharmacist at St. Mary's Hospital in-patient pharmacy, and satellite pharmacy in Grand Rapids, Mich. A resident of Hudsonville, Mich., Harju says he is active in his church choir and board, and plays tuba in a community concert band. Favorite College memories include the time Pharmaceutical Chemistry Professor Joe Sinsheimer showed up for a biochemistry lecture wearing two different socks; and the class trips to pharmaceutical firms. Don and Marilyn Harju have three children and five grandchildren. E-mail: dmharju@yahoo.com.

Straight out of Michigan, Colin J. Le Quesne, MSPharm'67, joined the Association of The British Pharmaceutical Industry where he was executive officer, 1967-1970. He left the work force long enough to earn an MBA from London Business School, and then joined Roche Products Ltd. where he was diagnostics manager, 1972-1979. In 1980, Le Quesne joined W.D. Scott and Co. in New Zealand, where he was a senior consultant. Four years later, he became principal of Chemical Systems Ltd. He remained with that firm until he retired in 2001.

"I'm still alive and sometimes kicking," Le Quesne writes. While noting that he was in Ann Arbor for just one year, he still fondly recollects the "welcome flexibility of the MSPharm program. The courses I was able to take in Michigan's School of Business inspired me later to undertake an MBA at London Business School." He also recalls the help and support of Professors of Pharmaceutical Sciences Bill Higuchi and George Zografi, MSPharm'58, PhD'61, and his own "imperfect assistance to [then- PhD student and teaching assistant] Art Goldberg, PhD'68, in the lab."

"If anyone remembers me, please get in touch if you are or will be in London," Le Quesne says Colin and Barbara Le Quesne have two sons and one grandchild. E-mail: colinlequesne@aol.com.

THE EIGHTIES
Sandra Chase, BSPharm'83, PharmD'84, received the inaugural President's Award of the Michigan Society of Health-System Pharmacists (MSHP) at the MSHP Annual Meeting in November 2007.

The President's Award recognizes an individual pharmacist or group of pharmacists for commitment that advances an annual theme and goal set by the MSHP board and president. The theme for 2007 was legislative advocacy for pharmacy.

Chase is recent past-chair of the Michigan Pharmacists Association executive board and a clinical pharmacy specialist at Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids. She has organized fundraising events for legislators who support the profession of pharmacy in Michigan, and has hosted key meetings with government officials. She educates legislators and others about pharmacy issues by personally demonstrating the value of the pharmacist in achieving quality patient-care outcomes.

She maintains a clinical practice at Spectrum's heart failure, transplant, and pulmonary hypertension services clinic and coordinates all cardiovascular pharmacotherapeutics for the health system. In addition to having served several terms on the U-M College of Pharmacy Alumni Society Board of Governors, Chase is an active member of the local and state chapters of the American Diabetes Association, the American Heart Association, the State of Michigan Cardiovascular Health Task Force, and the Pediatric and Adult Asthma Network of West Michigan. E-mail: schase731@aol.com.

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Samuels, Swidan Launch "THE" Pharmacy
Countless times since she graduated from pharmacy school and entered practice, Kiela Samuels, PharmD'87, has thought about running her own pharmacy. She and her husband, Brian, even considered buying an existing pharmacy practice in Detroit the year she graduated. But with young children and lots of debt to pay off, they had to put that dream on the back burner.

With Brian's encouragement, Kiela finally took the plunge last fall, going into business with fellow alumna, adjunct clinical faculty member, and serial-entrepreneur Sahar Swidan, PharmD'92, PostDoc'92.

"When Sahar opened Pharmacy Solutions [just west of Ann Arbor city limits] a few years ago, I was so in love with what she wanted to do: to practice pharmacy the way we were taught in school," Samuels says. Working part-time at Swidan's one-of-a-kind pharmacy only whetted Samuels' appetite for greater involvement.

So they teamed up to open "THE" Pharmacy in Ypsilanti Township, with "THE" being an acronym for "The Health Experts." Samuels is the store's vice president of clinical operations; Swidan, president and CEO.

"Our name reflects our approach to pharmacy: to be our community's preferred choice for pharmacy services, health products and expertise, healthy lifestyle support, and educational programs on a variety of health-related issues," explains Samuels.

In addition to traditional pharmacy services, their store's products and services include immunizations, customized prescription compounding, vitamins, herbs, therapeutic essential oils, over-the-counter medications, and expanded prescription education services.

Patients with medication or health issues have the option of meeting, one-to-one, with a pharmacist in the seclusion of a private office. THE Pharmacy also specializes in diabetes education and training, offering an extensive line of diabetes-care products, such as blood glucose monitors, specialty items, and sugar-free foods. THE Pharmacy held its grand opening Oct. 18. E-mail: ksamuels@umich.edu, sswidan@umich.edu.

THE AUGHTS
Parag Aggarwal, PhD'06, successfully defended his thesis in late 2006, and in January 2007 became a postdoctoral researcher with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in Frederick, Md. His research dissertation was on the validation of the Kdo pathway as a potential antimicrobial target. At the NCI, Aggarwal works in the nanotechnology characterization laboratory where his research focuses on understanding the role and significance of the interactions between nanoparticles and proteins in blood plasma. He is also interested in understanding the process of cellular uptake of nanoparticles for cancer therapy and the effects of these nanoparticles on the immune system.

Aggarwal's PhD faculty advisor was Ronald Woodard, PhD, chair and professor, Department of Medicinal Chemistry at the College of Pharmacy, and professor in the Chemistry Department at the College of LSA.

In early October, Kelly L. Damm, PhD'07, successfully defended her PhD thesis, "Protein Flexibility in Structure-Based Drug Design: Method Development and Novel Mechanisms for Inhibiting HIV-1 Protease." She moved to San Diego, Calif. in January where she joined Johnson and Johnson's Pharmaceutical Research and Development Division. At J&J, Damm is a scientist in the firm's computational chemistry group. Her faculty advisor was Heather Carlson, PhD, an associate professor in both the Chemistry Department at the College of LSA and the Medicinal Chemistry Department at the College of Pharmacy.

In her PhD thesis preamble, Damm acknowledged the personal contributions of Graduate Program Coordinator Lynn Alexander. "I am ... grateful to Lynn, ... an invaluable asset to the graduate students, [who] has gone out of her way multiple times to help me resolve a variety of concerns." E-mail: kdamm@umich.edu.

Jennifer Lum, PhD'07, successfully defended her PhD thesis in May, and in October started a postdoctoral position with Sir Alan Fersht, Herchel Smith Professor of Organic Chemistry at Cambridge University and director of the Medical Research Council Centre for Protein Engineering, Cambridge, England. Lum's thesis was "Peptides as Tools to Probe Transcriptional Activator Function." Her faculty advisor was Anna Mapp, PhD, an associate professor in both the Chemistry Department at the College of LSA and the Medicinal Chemistry Department at the College of Pharmacy.

In joining Fersht, Lum will be working with one of the founders of protein engineering. Fersht's research combines chemistry with molecular biology in order to study complex problems at the interface of chemistry, biology, and medicine. His focus is in the structure, activity, stability, and folding of proteins, and the role of protein misfolding and instability in cancer and disease. E-mail: lumj@umich.edu.

On Nov. 24, Carrie Mulvahill wed Paul Lewis, both PharmD'07, in a ceremony at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church in Ann Arbor. Their nuptials were followed by a reception at Polo Fields Golf and Country Club, also in Ann Arbor.

The Lewis' wedding party included classmates Tiffany-Jade Kreys (matron of honor); and Chris Karpinen, Neil Mattai, and Joe Remesz-Guerrette (groomsmen). Other PharmD Class of 2007 members attending the wedding included Tina Aquino, Valerie Caroselli, Erica Geier, Long Hoang, Eugene Kreys, Shilpa Kurpad, Todd Mekjian, Carrie Nemerovski, Snehal Patel, and Marissa Waldman. Also attending the wedding were: Josh Bayer (P-3), Jennie Driver (P-4), Seema Ganatra (P-4), Christie Schumacher (P-4), Alan Thomas (P- 4), and Assistant Dean for Student Services Valener L. Perry and her daughter, Valener Oliver.

"Jennie Driver was my florist and the flowers were amazing," Carrie exclaims. "I'd highly recommend her to anyone who needs a wedding florist!"

Carrie and Paul honeymooned in Maui, Hawaii, during the week between their wedding and the ASHP Mid-year Clinical Meeting. After the honeymoon, Paul flew back to Michigan, and Carrie flew to Las Vegas to attend the ASHP meeting.

Carrie is in the midst of a one-year general practice residency at Ann Arbor's VA Hospital. Paul is a pharmacist at a CVS store on the city's north side.

"I absolutely love my job at the VA," Carrie explains. "I love the patient population and the VA healthcare system. The most challenging aspects are the long hours and trying to get everything done each day. The greatest reward is hearing patients tell me how much they appreciate my help. That definitely makes the long hours worth it."

Paul enjoys community practice and "is always coming up with competitions for his technicians to make work more fun," Carrie adds.

Carrie and Paul plan to stay in the Ann Arbor area when she completes her residency. She has begun looking for an ambulatory care position.

As a student, Carrie was very involved at Hope Clinic on Ypsilanti. (She wrote a column about her experiences in the Spring 2007 issue of Interactions.) Carrie continues to volunteer at the clinic, albeit not as often as during her student years. "It's exciting to be the pharmacist and interact with the students who are at the clinic with me," she says. "I feel lucky to have been able to work there in both capacities." E-mail: carrie.mulvahill@gmail.com.

In June, Anish Patel, PharmD'05, completed a two-year Fellowship with Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, and was hired as a senior medical manager in Bayer's Medical Affairs Department.

"As a senior medical manager, I'm involved in every aspect of educational programming: continuing medical education, publication planning, and working with key opinion leaders and advisory boards," Patel explains. "It's a lot of fun because it blends science with business. I use my PharmD science training to analyze and translate data, and then communicate it."

He's immersed in two product areas at the moment: Betaseron(R), a drug used to treat multiple sclerosis; and a therapeutic agent, now in Phase 3 clinical trials, for management of Parkinson's disease.

Patel notes that he's on the road about 20 percent of the time.

"I enjoy the personal contact with customers," he says. "That was a key concern for me when I joined Bayer. Meeting clients helps me keep my perspective on what I'm doing, and why."

To help maintain his patient focus, Patel works as a relief pharmacist in a community pharmacy setting.

Prior to starting his new job at Bayer, Patel, his mother, Madhu, his uncle, and two cousins took a two-and-one-half-week vacation to East Africa.

From mid-June to early July, they visited Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. Their holiday included a 10-day wildlife-spotting safari around Lake Manyara National Park, Ngorongoro Crater, and the Serengeti.

"It was incredible," Patel remarks. "We saw giraffes, elephants, lots of exotic birds, chimpanzees, lions, cheetah, a leopard, hyena, wildebeest, water buffalo, hippo, even a black rhino."

Black rhinos are an endangered species, the result of poach poaching for their horns to support the aphrodisiac trade. To protect the black rhino from extinction, each one has its own bodyguard, Patel says.

One of the highlights of the East African vacation was a visit to Ginga, Uganda, where Patel's mother grew up. She and her family fled Uganda in 1968 when dictator Idi Amin began to take control of the country. He completed his power grab via military coup in 1971. His abuses included the expulsion of Indians from Uganda.

"We saw not only the primary school where my grandfather taught, but also the house where my mom grew up, and the streets where she played as a girl," Patel says. "To see the smile on her face, the good memories flooding back nearly 40 years after leaving --that made the whole trip worth it right there."

Patel visited a community pharmacy in Nairobi. While the store carried a variety of branded products standard in any U.S. pharmacy, he was surprised at the casual way antibiotics were dispensed.

"I watched people walk in, pick out some antibiotics, pay for it in cash, and leave," he explains. "I wondered if there was any government oversight, or if anyone in authority had considered the frightening public health implications of drug-resistant bacteria." E-mail: anish.patel@bayer.com.

In September, Jie Jennifer Sheng, PhD'07, successfully defended her PhD thesis, "Toward an In Vitro Bioequivalence Test." Her faculty advisor was Charles R. Walgreen Jr. Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences Gordon L. Amidon, PhD'71.

In Memoriam
Jayant A. Patel, MSPharm'61, PharmD'66, Sept. 23, 2007, Ann Arbor, Mich. Patel worked in the toxicology/pathology lab at University of Michigan Hospital for 45 years before retiring in summer 2006. At the time of his retirement, he was supervisor of the drug analysis laboratory, Department of Pathology, U-M.