Rural Research Alliance of Community Pharmacies

05/14/2026

BIG NEWS. RURAL-CP is expanding to Texas!!! This brings our state count up to 8 throughout the Southern US! Dr. Doug Thornton at the University of Houston College of Pharmacy will be our Texas state liaison. RURAL-CP Director Delesha Carpenter and Program Manager Abby Shackley from UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy visited Houston and kicked off the collaboration with a site visit to a rural pharmacy in Brenham, TX. We are excited to bring more rural pharmacies in TX onboard!

05/09/2026

RURAL-CP Director and Program Manager have been busy visiting 11 rural pharmacies in Northeastern NC this week! We love seeing rural communities first hand and hearing directly from rural community pharmacists the impact they have as well as the challenges they face that we could bring attention to in future research. Pharmacists took the time to share their stories with us, including continued challenges related to reimbursement and excitement around starting new remote patient monitoring services.

03/09/2026

WNC pharmacists! Check out these FREE opportunities this month for live CE on overcoming dispensing barriers:
3/21 from 2-3:30 in Sylva at Jackson County Library
3/24 from 5:30-7 in Asheville at the Mountain Area Health Education Center (MAHEC)

If you can't attend in person, an online version of the training is available. DM us or comment for more information.

02/24/2026

RURAL-CP Director, Dr. Delesha Carpenter, gave an excellent, very informative presentation yesterday at Virginia Commonwealth University's Center for Pharmacy Practice Innovation Seminar! She shared tips and lessons we've learned over the years on effectively engaging rural community pharmacies and patients in research.

01/29/2026

Newly published! Dr. Stefanie Ferreri et al. highlight the knowledge and practices of RURAL-CP pharmacists around opioid use disorder-related education and counseling in the Southeastern U.S. The study presents data by pharmacist demographic characteristics, knowledge, and experience with medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD).

Check out the full article here: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12954-025-01364-z

11/20/2025

Happy ! Here’s to the more than 170 rural pharmacies throughout AL, AR, GA, MS, NC, SC, and TN that are a part of RURAL-CP, as well as all rural pharmacists, who provide essential health care services to their communities, often overcoming struggles to do so. Thank you for all you do, and we look forward to continuing to work with you on projects that are important to you and your rural communities!

11/19/2025

Re-sharing this UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy article in light of tomorrow’s . The Eshelman School of Pharmacy is helping ensure rural communities have access to the care they need. One example of how the School is giving back is through RURAL-CP! Our network is growing, now serving more than 170 pharmacies across 7 states. Read more at the link below about how RURAL-CP is giving a voice to and developing solutions for rural pharmacies!

In seven states, students dispense medication and counsel patients as part of the Rural Research Alliance of Community Pharmacies.

11/18/2025

Save the Date for our winter CE webinar! FREE CE for RURAL-CP member pharmacists!!

11/13/2025

The map found on http://NaloxoneNearMe.org shows how rural pharmacies are important sources of naloxone across NC. Check out Dr. Carpenter's WRAL interview and the NaloxoneNearMe website!

“Every life is worth saving.” Hear more from Professor Delesha Carpenter about how her personal tragedy has fueled her mission to combat opioid overdoses through increased naloxone access and a new website, http://NaloxoneNearMe.org It’s all in her interview with WRAL TV below: https://www.wral.com/lifestyle/health/unc-researcher-naloxone-website-connects-nc-communities-oct-2025/

11/13/2025

RURAL-CP is featured in the latest issue of American Pharmacists Association’s !

Check out the article here: https://www.pharmacist.com/Publications/Pharmacy-Today/November-2025