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Staff
Retreat
The annual
College of Pharmacy Staff Retreat will be 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. May
14, at Embassy Suites on Newtown Pike. The retreat is
sponsored by Dean Kenneth B. Roberts and the College of
Pharmacy Staff Council.
2002 Graduation
Recognition
Ceremony
Photos on
the Web
DeLuca is Named to FDA Advisory Committee
Patrick DeLuca,
Ph.D., professor of pharmaceutical sciences has been appointed
to serve on the Advisory Committee for Pharmaceutical Science of
the Food and drug Administration. His term began in March 2002
and ends Oct. 31, 2005.
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► UK COLLEGE
OF PHARMACY
 |
George
A. Digenis, Ph.D., professor emeritus of medicinal chemistry
and pharmaceutics at the University
of Kentucky College of Pharmacy, was
honored
during the annual Pharmaceutical Sciences
Postgraduate Research Conference Banquet held May 9,
at Spindletop Hall.
Digenis, a pioneer in the rapid
synthesis of drugs labeled
with short-lived isotopes
and the first scientist credited with
applying gamma scintigraphy
in the assessment of the in vivo performance of novel
drug formulation, retired from the College effective Jan. 1,
2002.
Mike Jay,
Ph.D., professor and director of the Center for Pharmaceutical
Science and Technology at the College, was Digenis’ 10th
Ph.D. student. “Above any paper he has published, grant that he
was awarded or patent that he was assigned, Dr. Digenis’ lasting
legacy will be his personal and academic offspring,” Jay said. “
As one of the offspring, I have a lifetime of indebtedness for
the opportunity Dr. Digenis provided me for which I will always
be grateful.”
Peter Crooks, Ph.D.,
professor at UK College of Pharmacy, was a young faculty member
just starting out when he was hired by Dr. Digenis. “I have the
highest regard for Dr. Digenis as a scientist and as a friend,”
Crooks said. “He is a shining light in pharmaceutical sciences
and has had a tremendous impact on the field and on its future
through his training and mentoring of students who now are
leaders in research, industry and academia.”
Digenis, a native of
Greece, received his Bachelor of Science degree in pharmacy in
1959 at the American University of Beirut and a Ph.D. in
medicinal chemistry in 1964 at the University of Wisconsin,
Madison.
In 1997, Dr. Digenis
he was presented an honorary doctoral degree in pharmacy and
pharmaceutical technology from the University of Athens,
Greece.
While at UK, he
served as senior scientist at Sloan-Kettering Institute for
Cancer Research from 1975 to 1980. He is the author of 170
refereed publications and 14 U.S. patents in the area of solid
phase reactions, synthesis of radiolabeled compounds, drug
metabolism, drug design and design of novel drug formulations.
He has served as a
major professor for 40 doctoral students and 22 post-doctoral
fellows and is a Fellow of the American Association of
Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS).
He also is the major
stockholder of a contract research laboratory in Lexington,
which he and his son, Alexander Digenis, founded nine years
ago. Since moving to Louisville in October 2000, Dr. Digenis
also has started a new pharmaceutical company and serves as a
member of that company’s board of directors. |