VCU news

Erin R. Freeman, D.M.A., assistant professor, Department of Music, School of the Arts

Wintergreen Performing Arts has selected Freeman as its new artistic director effective Oct. 1. Freeman brings a background in orchestral, choral and ballet conducting; secondary, college, and conservatory teaching; artistic and community planning; and nonprofit management. As part of the position, Freeman will become creator and producer of the Wintergreen Summer Music Festival and the associated Wintergreen Summer Music Academy, as well as the organizer of other WPA programs throughout the year.

In June, Freeman filled a new joint position of director of choral activities at VCU and director of the Richmond Symphony Chorus. The position is being piloted as a one-year, non-tenured faculty appointment for the 2014-2015 academic year. The joint position includes overseeing all of the choral ensembles and vocal chamber music at VCU, and preparing the 150-voice Richmond Symphony Chorus for all of its performances.

Gretchen Brophy, Pharm.D., professor in the Department of Pharmacotherapy & Outcomes Science, VCU School of Pharmacy

Brophy has been named a fellow of the Neurocritical Care Society. She will be recognized formally during the 12th Annual Neurocritical Care Society Meeting, which takes place Sept. 12-14 in Seattle. NCS fellowships are awarded based on contributions to the field of neurocritical care in program development, scholarship activity and leadership.

Her research and practice areas of expertise include neurocritical care, biomarkers, brain injury biomarkers and neuroprotective strategies. She has served as co-investigator for several National Institutes of Health and Department of Defense brain injury research grants, has authored numerous neurocritical care articles and book chapters, and has served as invited lecturer at national and international conferences.

Active in multiple professional organizations, Brophy was elected to the Neurocritical Care Society Board of Directors in 2011 and has served as NCS Guideline Committee co-chair since then.

Richard O. Bunce Jr., adviser, Office of the President

Bunce received the Robert W. King Memorial Award from the Association of Government Accountants (AGA) on July 16.

The Robert W. King Memorial Award was established in honor of AGA’s founding president. This gold medallion award is given to an association member for distinguished service of such significance that it has greatly enhanced the association’s national prestige and stature.

This award serves in recognition of Bunce’s sustained professional commitment to AGA in many leadership positions throughout the past 15 years. His 37 years of service in the government arena, specializing in accountability and stewardship issues, demonstrate his strong commitment to advancing government accountability.

Bunce serves as an adviser in the Office of the President at VCU and the chair of the Board of Directors for the VCU Health System. He also served for 23 years at VCU, first as the executive director of Audit and Management Services and then as the senior adviser to the President.

The AGA is a professional association that serves government accountability professionals by providing quality education, fostering professional development and certification, and campaigning in the public interest to forward higher standards of government accountability and transparency.

Malgorzata Dukat, Ph.D., associate professor, Department of Medicinal Chemistry, VCU School of Pharmacy

Dukat has received an unrestricted gift from Biophore, a pharmaceutical technology development center, to support her research.

Dukat’s research interests include the central nervous system and drugs with emphasis on novel mechanisms in Alzheimer’s disease, depression, pain and drug abuse treatment.

Her tools are classical (synthesis of neurotransmitter receptor and transporters selective ligands) and computational medicinal chemistry (modeling of neurotransmitter receptors and transporters, QSAR studies) as well as pharmacology (animal behavioral assays).

Main interests stress 7 nicotinic cholinergic (nACh) receptors, serotonin (5-HT) receptors, organic cation transporters (OCTs) and 2-adrenoceptors and their subtype-selective agonists (substrates/activators) and antagonists (inhibitors).

Biophore was founded by Jagadeesh Babu Rangisetty and Manik Reddy Pullagurla. Rangisetty and Pullagurla met while conducting research and studying at VCU.

A United States Food and Drug Administration-approved facility, Biphore is based in Balanagar, Hyderabad, India, with a registered office in New Jersey. It focuses on developing novel, patent non-infringing processes for production of active pharmaceutical ingredients. The 5-year-old company has filed more than 20 patent applications to date.