On a crisp fall afternoon in Ann Arbor, surrounded by the energy of a packed stadium, John Osborn found himself in a place that would unexpectedly connect past and present. Sitting in a suite at the Big House, he struck up a conversation with then-Dean of the College of Pharmacy, Jim Dalton. What began as […]

We regularly talk about the many career paths a pharmacy degree can launch – community, clinical practice, industry, etc. But what if your PharmD could take you somewhere a little…higher? Have you ever considered that you could be a pharmacist for NASA and work in spaceflight? Well, once upon a time, a 16-year-old had a […]

When Shawna Kraft, PharmD ’06, began her career as a clinical pharmacist specializing in cancer treatments, a diagnosis of metastatic melanoma meant very limited survival. Today, with advances in immunotherapy, she sees patients live with the disease for a decade or more. 
But that usually requires years of treatment, careful management of side effects and still […]

After 20 years as a clinical pharmacist specializing in bone marrow transplantation, David Frame, PharmD, is an expert in dialing down the body’s immune response. That’s essential in therapies where you are basically replacing the patient’s immune system. Unchecked, the transplanted cells will attack not only the disease, but the host. 
Frame, a Clinical Associate Professor […]

Undergrad PhD Future Professor + Researcher

Meet Casey McCarthy, a College of Pharmacy PhD student whose work in medicinal chemistry is already making an impact. With research published in multiple scientific journals, Casey is helping shape the future of medicine as he works toward a career in academia. Scroll to learn about his journey […]

James Moon’s work has shown that a new plant-based fiber formulation may dramatically boost the tumor-fighting power of anti-cancer drugs. Now, he is collaborating with Michigan Medicine colleagues on a clinical trial to see if it can help patients fight kidney tumors.
A class of drugs called immune checkpoint blockers (ICBs) can spur the immune system […]

Bringing a new drug to patients is one of the most complex challenges in modern science. It can take 10 to 15 years and cost billions of dollars. On top of that, nearly 90% of drug candidates fail during clinical testing stages.
To confront this harsh reality, the University of Michigan has launched the Institute for […]

As a student in Novara in Italy’s Piedmont region, Francesca Brunelli was not sure what she wanted to do with her future until she took some medicinal chemistry classes as an undergraduate. It was after taking these courses that she was hooked and pursued her master’s and PhD in drug innovation at the Università degli […]

As we celebrate 150 years of U-M College of Pharmacy, it’s only fitting that our first story spotlights the person who set the entire journey in motion, Albert B. Prescott, MD. A name you may have seen in a textbook or in the portrait on the second floor of our pharmacy building, but behind that […]

Millions of people worldwide suffer from neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) that damage neurons in the brain. The need for therapies that can repair the damage—or prevent it—is enormous.
Treatments developed so far have had limited benefits, and one of the reasons is that it’s difficult to get a therapeutic dose […]