Every day, our faculty members deliver top-notch education and pursue new

discoveries/knowledge in clinical and research endeavors. These faculty

members represent the best of the University of Illinois College of Pharmacy

and the State of Illinois. They are the face of the College of Pharmacy. In our

celebration of these faculty members and their contribution to our College’s

mission, we are pleased to share with you a profile of Drs. Hanakahi and

Koronkowski. If you seem them in the hallway, say hello and smile.

Faculty Profile

Dr. Les Hanakahi

Assistant Professor

Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy

Rockford Campus

Fun fact or quote:

I learned public speaking at Sea Life Park in Makapu’u Hawaii where I gave

short lectures on birds, seals and sea lions to park visitors of all ages. Working with animals

in front of a live audience makes one a fearless public speaker. Back in those days I never

knew what might happen and had to be ready for anything. My lecture subjects might be

defecating, fornicating or being otherwise biological when I introduce them.

Full Profile on page #3

Dr. Michael Koronkowski

Clinical Assistant Professor

Department of Pharmacy Practice

Chicago Campus

What do you love most about your role at the College? “Each day, the student’s energy and enthusiasm to learn drives my focus as

an academician. Having the opportunity to work in an interdisciplinary

environment builds trust among teams to effect the care of our patient’s and improves the

healthcare system. Full Profile on page #5

Office of Diversity & Inclusion

Contact Us

Dr Clara Okorie-Awe

Associate Dean of

Diversity & Inclusion

Director of UHP

awe@uic.edu

312-996-3516

Jason Rebello

Associate Director of

Diversity & Inclusion

jrebello@uic.edu

312-355-3535

P2 - Student Leader of

the Month

P3-4 Dr. Hanakahi

P5-6 Dr. Koronkowski

P7 - Tutoring Info

P8 - Stress Breaker info

COP Office of Diversity & Inclusion 1

November 17, 2014

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Student Leader of the Month

The Office of Diversity & Inclusion , the Office of Student Affairs, Rho Chi and Phi Lambda

Sigma is sponsoring a Student Leader of the Month. Each month you will have the opportu-

nity to nominate a fellow student who has gone above and beyond either in leadership or rep-

resenting UIC COP. The student will be selected and announced at PSC and also highlighted in

the OD&I Monthly Newsletter.

We are please to announce the latest Student leaders of the Month.

Kourtney Newell P2, Rockford “Kourtney is a great student, friend, and leader on this campus. She not

only balances her time between classes, the R. Pharm program, and lead-

ership responsibilities, but she also helps promote the Rockford campus

by assisting with open houses and devoting even more time as a peer ad-

visor. Overall, she consistently goes above and beyond and leads by ex-

ample. We’re lucky to have her here in Rockford.” Student Nominator

Numera Quraishi P3, Chicago “Numera has demonstrated excellence in all of the leadership roles she

holds, but more specifically, she became a trailblazer in modernizing

the SFRC Forum. She took the initiative to work closely with faculty

and students to make amendments to the SFRC process that, in turn,

facilitated more responses for the coordinators in record breaking

numbers. Her attention to detail and meticulous nature is something

many students seek to emulate. Her initiatives will positively effect the College for years to

come. She is a true student leader in every sense of the word.” Student Nominator

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Dr. Les Hanakahi

Dr. Hanakahi was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii. She received her B.S. in

Biology, with honors distinction, from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 1990. In

1996 Dr. Hanakahi received her PhD from Yale University, where she worked with Dr.

Nancy Maizels in the Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry and was

supported by an NSF minority graduate fellowship and an NIH MARC pre-doctoral

fellowship. After receiving her PhD, Dr. Hanakahi received multiple fellowships

including a Ford Foundation Post-doctoral Fellowship and Human Frontier Science Program post-

doctoral fellowship at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund in England. In 2009 she was recruited to

UIC COP to be part of the Department Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy on the Rockford

Campus. Dr. Hanakahi has received several awards during her career, including the Rita Allen

Scholar’s award, the Hans W. Vahlteich Research Scholar award, and the award that means the most

to her personally, Teacher of the Semester Fall 2012.

Hanakahi Research - Little things really do a lot and it

Two projects in the Hanakahi lab look at small molecules, while a third examines how DNA repair

processes may collaborate.

The first project is a collaborative effort with the laboratory of Dr. Karol Bruzik of MCP and

examines the role of the small molecule inositol hexakisphosphate, or IP6, in DNA repair and cellular

metabolism. This work has been supported by a UIC Cancer Center Pilot Project Award to Drs.

Hanakahi and Bruzik.

The second project examines the role of a small protein in DNA repair. Together with Harvard

researchers Dr. Alan Saghatelian and Dr. Sarah Slavoff, Dr. Hanakahi has demonstrated that a tiny

protein, called MRI-2, is produced in human cells and interacts with an important process that repairs

DNA double-strand breaks. This work was recently published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

The third project is a collaborative effort with Dr. John Nitiss (BPS) and looks at how a protein

normally thought to be involved in resistance to topoisomerase poisons may play an important role in

repairing double-strand breaks in DNA. An NIH R21 grant awarded to Drs. Hanakahi and Nitiss

supports this work. This R21 is the first NIH grant to be awarded to the Rockford campus and

represents an important milestone for the College of Pharmacy Researchers in Rockford.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 4…...

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Dr. Les Hanakahi

What do you love most about your role at the College?

“We are particularly interested in you because you have that pioneering spirit.” That’s

what Dr. Andrew Mesacar said to me when I was being recruited. Pioneering spirit –

that’s what being the first College of Pharmacy researcher hired for Rockford has been

about, and that’s what I love about being on the Rockford Campus. It took months to set

up my research lab on the Rockford Campus because there was no research infrastructure – we had to

build it. There were no PharmD courses originating from the Rockford campus – so we developed the

College of Pharmacy Research Colloquium P1 elective. There was no Rockford representation on the

Student-Faculty Relations Committee (SFRC) – so we established a Rockford SFRC representative.

There were no College of Pharmacy graduate classes offered on the Rockford Campus – so we

developed a graduate course in DNA metabolism (replication, damage, repair and drugs). That

Pioneering spirit is the desire to create what will be best for my research and my students, and the

Rockford campus is a build-to-suit opportunity where I can make a difference.

Fun fact or quote:

I learned public speaking at Sea Life Park in Makapu’u Hawaii where I gave short lectures on birds,

seals and sea lions to park visitors of all ages. Working with animals in front of a live audience makes

one a fearless public speaker. Back in those days I never knew what might happen and had to be

ready for anything. My lecture subjects might be defecating, fornicating or being otherwise biological

when I introduce them.

5

Dr. Michael J. Koronkowski

MICHAEL J. KORONKOWSKI, Pharm.D. received his B.S. in Pharmacy in 1986

from Drake University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. His Pharm.D.

degree was conferred in 1990 from Purdue University College of Pharmacy and

Pharmacal Sciences. He completed a Pharmacy Practice Residency at the Philadelphia

College of Pharmacy in 1992 and a Fellowship in Geriatrics at the University of North

Carolina at Chapel Hill in conjunction with Duke University and Glaxo Research

Institute in 1994.

Dr. Koronkowski joined the faculty at the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1994 as a Clinical

Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice. Currently, he practices in Internal

Medicine/Geriatrics as a Clinical Pharmacy Practitioner at the University of Illinois Hospital and

Health System. His research interest include: geriatric pharmacotherapy management, adverse drug

reactions, medication safety, transitions of care, hospice and palliative care and evidenced-based

interdisciplinary practice models.

Highlights from your research/clinical work?

Highlights from my clinical practice include working collaboratively in team based patient care to

educate healthcare trainees, as well as, patient’s to be more informed on drug therapy decisions and

behaviors in the face of uncertainty and aggressive marketing strategies employed by the US health

system.

Research highlights have included ongoing community based senior outreach programming since

2001, in partnerships with various state and regional aging agencies and local foundations. These

efforts have allowed the college to bring the “real-world classroom to the community” for our

pharmacy students. Here is where they each learn the importance of medication related problems and

drug safety issues commonly seen in the culturally diverse older adults of Chicagoland.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 6…...

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Dr. Michael J. Koronkowski

What do you love most about your role at the College?

My role in the College of Pharmacy at the University of Illinois has provided an

excellent foundation of academic respect and personal autonomy which serves as a

foundation to positively impact the training and career development of pharmacy and

health care trainees across disciplines in the area of clinical geriatrics. Each day, the

student’s energy and enthusiasm to learn drives my focus as an academician. Having

the opportunity to work in an interdisciplinary environment builds trust among teams to effect the care

of our patient’s and improves the healthcare system. In addition, I am often called upon to provide

professional input for improving the healthcare system for our aging population through various

consultant and advisory capacities.

Fun personal fact/ or Favorite quote and why?

Noteworthy Quote –

“Instead of separation and division, all distinctions make for a rich diversity to be celebrated for the

sake of the unity that underlies them. We are different so that we can know our need of one another.” -

--Desmond Tutu

I find the words of Desmond Tutu truly inspiring and relevant in today’s society. At both an

individual and societal level, one must seek to unify rather than alienate, strive for inclusiveness to

build strength and respect our differences to shape communities. In working with pharmacy students,

colleagues, and senior’s as part of collegial and community based programs, I admire the wisdom,

enthusiasm and willingness of collaboration to help “make a difference” in the lives of others.

UIC COP Office of Diversity & Inclusion 7

TUTORING

We have the following tutoring office hours available for those students that have registered for tutoring with the Office of Diversity and Inclusion.

PLEASE NOTE: ALL Tutoring will take place in the COP Student lounge

Calculations Tutoring Monday 3:30pm-4:30pm with Anmin Wang Friday 12:30pm - 1:30pm with Marcy McClean Pathophys Tutoring Monday 12:30pm - 1:30pm with Jonathan Pawlik Monday 12:30pm - 1:30pm with Mariet Eivazi Monday 3:30pm - 4:30pm with Mariet Eivazi Tuesday 12:30pm - 1:30pm with Mariet Eivazi Wednesday 2:30pm - 3:30pm with Anmin Wang Thursday 12:30pm - 1:30pm with Jonathan Pawlik Friday 10:30pm - 11:30pm with Marcy McClean Saturday 9:00am - 11:00am with Jewel Younge Med Chem Tutoring Monday 1:30pm-2:30pm with Taha Taha Wednesday 1:30pm – 2:30pm with Taha Taha Thursday 11:20am - 12:30pm with Mariet Eivazi Kinetics Tutoring Saturday 9:00am - 11:00am with Jewel Younge Cuetics Friday 10:00am-12:00pm with Rahim Pirani PDAT Tutoring

Monday 1:00pm - 3:00pm with Marcy McClean Friday 10:00am-12:00pm with Rahim Pirani Tutors Mariet Eivazi email: meivaz2@uic.edu Marcy McClean email: marcymcclean@yahoo.com Jonathan Pawlik email: jpaw32@gmail.com Rahim Pirani email: rahimpirani786@gmail.com Taha Taha email: ttaha2@uic.edu Jewel Younge email: jyounge@uic.edu Anmin Wang email: awang43@uic.edu

UIC COP Office of Diversity & Inclusion 8

STRESS MANAGEMENT

Don’t let stress bust you!

Stress Buster Workshop for All Students

Wednesday December 3, 12:30 –1:20pm UIC College of Pharmacy

Chicago - RM 231 Rockford - RM E230