School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences kudos, summer 2021
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Founding Dean Gloria Meredith promoted to distinguished professor
Gloria Meredith, founding dean of the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, was promoted to distinguished professor of pharmaceutical sciences by the State University of New York Board of Trustees in April.
Meredith is an internationally recognized neuroscientist whose foundational studies on structural and functional plasticity of the dopamine signaling system in the brain have shaped two complementary research fields: the study of Parkinson’s disease and the understanding of psychostimulants on neural circuits. Her seminal work was the first to develop a Parkinsonian model that showed a slow, progressive loss of nigrostriatal dopaminergic function over weeks to months that mimics the progressive Parkinson’s disease in humans. This model, now used broadly in preclinical studies, has significantly improved our understanding of Parkinson’s disease pathology. In a seemingly separate line of inquiry, her work has examined how psychostimulants, such as amphetamine, precipitate synaptic changes during emotional learning for drug reward, thereby providing a novel framework for understanding neural circuits and mechanisms contributing to reward learning that propelled the field forward significantly. And at Binghamton, she has expanded the School of Pharmacy’s research profile. Her research has been cited over 7,500 times, she is the recipient of the Morris L. Parker Award for meritorious scientific research and she has received over $10 million in grants from agencies such as the National Institutes of Health (including two ROI as PI and one as co-PI), the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Disease and the Department of Defense. As founding dean of two separate schools of pharmacy, she has shaped a generation of scientists.
“I am pleased and truly honored to have my career in neuroscience research recognized by the SUNY Board of Trustees as significant enough for promotion to distinguished professor,” Meredith said. “This is an accomplishment of a lifetime but, of course, I must give credit to the many collaborators from around the world with whom I worked so closely over the years. I also hope that the recognition of my research will be an encouragement to the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences faculty and students.”
Acknowledging that much of Meredith’s research has been accomplished while she held administrative appointments and established two schools of pharmacy, Stenger lauded her for transformational achievements for Binghamton University.
“Her reviewers note her dedication to her students and the act that many of them are now senior scientists in the field themselves,” Stenger said, before citing research accomplishments, her h-index of 46 and her strong grant funding record. “Her scholarly experience and excellence have made her a role model for faculty, not just in pharmacy, but across the entire campus.”
P3 students win NYSCHP clinical competition
Anthony Hopkins and Tony Feng, who just completed their P3 year, took first place in the New York State Council of Health-system Pharmacists clinical competition that pitted them against other teams of two students from every pharmacy school in New York state. The competitors in the three-round competition were given random, open-ended questions that required them to answer with the appropriate drug, proper dosages, time it takes to act and side effects.
Hopkins and Feng used the critical-thinking skills taught at the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences to answer and were “head and shoulders above the rest” according to Founding Dean Gloria Meredith. “I’m so proud of them,” she said. “They we so professional and so convincing in their thought patterns.”
Hopkins and Feng were ahead by 30 points after round two, and were allowed to wager from their points for round three, which they answered correctly.
The pair was prepared for the competition by Clinical Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice Wesley Kufel.
Excellence in Community Engagement (Organization)
The American Pharmacists Association Academy of Student Pharmacists was selected as the recipient of this Binghamton University Division of Student Affairs award.