In Brief: Children\'s Hospital L.A. Receives $17 Million NIH Grant; UCSF and Walgreens Collaborates
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles Receives $17 Million NIH Grant
Children's Hospital Los Angeles has received a $17 million grant from the National Institutes of Health in order to provide leadership and infrastructure for lab testing connected to the International Maternal Pediatric Adolescent AIDS Clinical Trials Network.
The network, known as IMPAACT, has been instrumental in establishing standards for treating pregnant women, children and adolescents infected with HIV. It conducts clinical trials, evaluating treatments and improving existing therapies for those who have been infected. The network is managed by Grace Aldrovandi, M.D., a principal investigator with the Saban Research Institute at Children's Hospital.
“HIV infection is a global public health issue, with children, adolescents and women being particularly vulnerable,” said Aldrovandi, who is also a professor of pediatrics, pathology and molecular microbiology and immunology at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. “Our work on optimizing the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of HIV infection in these populations will benefit nations, communities and families throughout the world.”
UCSF, Walgreens Collaborate On New Pharmacy Site
UC San Francisco Medical Center has opened a Walgreens pharmacy on its campus that will be used in part as a test bed for improving patient care and safety.
The “Walgreens at UCSF” joint enterprise will include extensive medication counseling and reviews offered by the staff pharmacists, who will also create portable medication lists patients can bring to their physicians to try and avoid potentially dangerous drug interactions. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 82% of the U.S. populations takes a medication on a daily basis, and 29% take five or more medications daily.
Many of these patients receive their medications from retail pharmacy businesses such as the Illinois-based Walgreens, which is the nation’s largest drugstore chain. It operates more than 8,200 stories in the U.S. and its territories.
“Modern medicine has transformed many diseases from urgent, life-threatening conditions into chronic illnesses that can be managed with the right medications, but that means more and more patients are juggling multiple prescriptions, with complex instructions,” said Joseph Guglielmo, dean of the UCSF School of Pharmacy. “And, in many instances, this complicated medication list is inaccurate and incomplete. This collaboration aims to transform the practice of community pharmacies to enable pharmacists to do what they’re trained to do, which is helping patients manage their health with the right medications and understand how to take them correctly.”
The collaboration was announced just as California has expanded the scope of practice for pharmacists.
In addition to increasing the interaction between pharmacists and patients, the UCSF-Walgreens site will also be used to provide some training to students at UCSF's pharmacy program.
Financial terms of the collaboration were not disclosed.
