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Alkadhi, Wanat Receive 2013 UH Rho Chi Teaching Awards 

Boblitt Lecturer Stuart Haines Encourages Students to 'Mash It Up'

UH College of Pharmacy faculty members Karim Alkadhi, Ph.D., professor of pharmacology, and Matthew A. Wanat, Pharm.D., BCPS, clinical assistant professor, were recognized as the recipients of the Rho Chi Society UH Beta Omicron Chapter 2013 Teaching Excellence Awards at the Robert L. Boblitt Lecture on Oct. 11.

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Above, Alexandra Whiddon, UH Rho Chi Society Beta Omicron Chapter president, center, presents faculty members Matthew Wanat and Karim Alkadhi with the 2013 Rho Chi Teaching Excellence awards. Below, Whiddon thanks University of Maryland School of Pharmacy Professor Stuart Haines for serving as the 2013 Robert L. Boblitt Lecturer.
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With a research interest in neuropharmacology
and more than 100 journal publications, Alkadhi has been a UHCOP faculty member since 1981 and a member of Rho Chi since 1966.

"I would like to thank the Rho Chi Society, Beta-Omicron Chapter for the honor of the Teaching Excellence Award," Alkadhi said. "It has been always rewarding to teach and interact with our wonderful students."

One of the college's newest faculty members, Wanat specializes in critical care pharmacy and maintains a practice site at Houston's Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

"Receiving the Rho Chi teaching excellence award is
a great honor, especially because it comes from our students," Wanat said. "This award recognizes all of the hard work put in teaching and mentoring our students, and is the reason I chose to become a faculty member - to have a positive impact on our student’s education and in their lives! Thank you once again to the students at UHCOP, I truly appreciate it!"

Fellow faculty members Elizabeth A. Coyle, Pharm.D., FCCM, BCPS, and Aditi Marwaha, Ph.D., received certificates of recognition as runners-up for the teaching awards.

The 2013 Rho Chi Boblitt Lecture was presented by Stuart T. Haines, Pharm.D., BCPS, BCACP, BC-ADM. Haines serves as Professor and Vice Chair for Clinical Services in the Department of Pharmacy Practice and Science at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy in Baltimore, Md., and Clinical Pharmacy Specialist – Primary Care at the West Palm Beach VA Medical Center in West Palm Beach, Fla.

From hip-hop pioneers Run DMC's remix of Aerosmith's rock-n-roll classic "Walk This Way" to the "re-imagining" of the Pocahontas tale for the blockbuster film "Avatar," Haines employed a variety of humorous and thought-provoking examples from the world of entertainment in his lecture entitled "Boosting Your Creativity: Mashing Things Up." Haines encouraged students and faculty to be creative and unafraid of failure in searching for a solution to a problem by applying practices, technologies and techniques from one discipline or scenario to a seemingly incongruent discipline or scenario.

For more information, please visit the Rho Chi Society Robert Boblitt Lecture page.