UConn’s Board of Trustees recently approved the following promotions among School of Pharmacy faculty in recognition of their continued high quality contributions to the academic mission of the University. 

Brian Aneskievich, Ph.D., has been promoted from associate professor to professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences. He is also the School of Pharmacy’s Pharm.D. honors advisor.

A professor of pharmacology and toxicology, Aneskievich has devoted much of his research to molecular pharmacology including, regulation of inflammatory signaling and transcriptional consequences of nuclear receptor activity relevant to skin cell growth, aging, and wound healing.

“I’m  a research-intensive faculty member but am adamant about getting our professional program students involved in research too, to their benefit of developing translational skill sets that can carry forward to diverse career aspects that may not be viewed as obvious or traditional research tracks,” says Aneskievich.  In recent years he has expanded both the absolute and relative numbers of pharmacy program students completing UConn’s Honors distinction upon degree conferral with his honors student retention and progression efforts. In 2018, Aneskievich was recognized by the UConn Honors Program with being named Faculty Member of the Year and by the School of Pharmacy with the R.L. McCarthy Faculty Service Award.

 

Jennifer Girotto, Pharm.D., BCPPS, BCIDP has been promoted from associate clinical professor to clinical professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice. She has also recently been named Assistant Department Head of the Department of Pharmacy Practice.

Girotto earned her undergraduate ’00 and Pharm.D. ’02 degrees at UConn. She re-joined the School, as a faculty member in 2003 as a clinical assistant professor. In 2005 she was awarded the title of Pharmacist of the Year by the Connecticut Society of Health-System Pharmacists and in 2020 she received the prestigious Margherita Giuliano Award by the Connecticut Pharmacists Association for exemplary leadership and an entrepreneurial spirit in the profession.  She was also honored, in November 2020, to be named to the Allocation Subcommittee for the State of Connecticut’s COVID-19 Vaccine Advisory Committee.

Helping to develop the future generations of pharmacists is important to Girotto.   She developed and coordinates the pediatric pharmacy scholars track and has helped develop the School of Pharmacy’s immunization certification program.  She also directs a post-graduate year 2 infectious diseases residency program.

Girotto’s is board-certified in infectious diseases and pediatric pharmacotherapy.  In 2019 she was elected as a member of the Board of Pharmacy Specialties Infectious Diseases Specialty Council, for which she is currently serving as Vice Chair. She also Co-Directs the Antimicrobial Stewardship Program at Connecticut Children’s.

 

Kyle Hadden, Ph.D., has been promoted from associate professor to professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences. He was also recently named Director of Research and Graduate Programs in the School of Pharmacy.

Since coming to UConn as an assistant professor in 2009, Hadden has utilized medicinal chemistry and chemical biology to understand the mechanisms through which aberrant cellular signaling contributes to the onset and progression of human cancer and apply this knowledge to develop improved therapeutics. Major ongoing projects include the development of hedgehog pathway modulators as therapeutic agents and the identification and development of small molecule inhibitors of translesion synthesis.

Within the university, Hadden has served as medicinal chemistry discipline coordinator. He advises and mentors undergraduate and professional Pharm.D. students and has served on a variety of University-wide committees focused on enhancing research at UConn.

In his new role as Director of Research and Graduate Programs, Hadden will utilize his background to grow research within both the Departments of Pharmacy Practice and Pharmaceutical Sciences and also manage the graduate program.

Externally, Hadden sits on the editorial board of the journal Molecules, is the co-chair of the ACS Cancer Drug Discovery Study Section, and has reviewed grants for other national and international funding agencies.

 

Lisa Holle, Pharm.D., BCOP, FHOPA, FISOPP has been promoted from associate clinical professor to clinical professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice.

Holle joined UConn in 2009 as an instructional specialist in the School of Pharmacy. She is also an associate professor in the Department of Medicine at the UConn School of Medicine and serves as adjunct faculty within the UConn Health Hematology/Oncology medical fellowship program.

Since arriving at UConn, Holle’s research has focused on ensuring safety of oral anticancer therapies and understanding the role of pharmacists and other care professionals within the oncology sector, impact of drug shortages, and the role of cannabis in cancer patients. Additionally, she collaborated with Dr. Fitzgerald within the UConn School of Pharmacy and national and international colleagues to develop a US version of MyDispense (a community pharmacy simulation education program) and has conducted research on assessing the use of this teaching tool on educational outcomes.

Holle has previously served as president of the Hematology/Oncology Pharmacy Association (HOPA) and treasurer of the International Society of Oncology Pharmacy Practitioners (ISOPP). She is a board certified oncology pharmacist who practices in a team-based clinic caring for patients with genitourinary and gastrointestinal cancers within in the Carol and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center at UConn Health. Dr. Holle is a fellow of HOPA and ISOPP, a recognition bestowed those who have distinguished themselves within oncology pharmacy.

 

Nathaniel Rickles, Pharm.D., Ph.D., BCPP, FAPhA has been promoted from associate professor to professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice. He is also the School’s associate dean for admission and student affairs.

Rickles arrived at UConn in 2016, beginning as a tenured associate professor of pharmacy practice. His research interests span from medication adherence and safety, implementation science, pharmacy communication, mental health, opioid use, geriatrics, to broader methodological evaluations. His research involves multiple grants from the Department of Public Health, Department of Mental Health and Addictions Services, and the Food and Drug Administration. He is deeply involved with students and campus life, advising a number of pharmacy student organizations, acting as a past pharmacy admissions interviewer, and being a member of the University’s Scholastic Standards Committee

Outside of the university, Rickles is involved with the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, the American Pharmacists Association, and the College of Psychiatric and Neurologic Pharmacists. He is passionate about engaging pharmacists and students in expanding their vision of practice and establishing new roles and opportunities to enhance chronic disease management for diverse and vulnerable patient populations.