CHICAGO–(ENEWSPF)–September 10, 2015. Twenty-two students from Roosevelt University’s College of Pharmacy presented research projects in August on topics ranging from drug synthesis, pharmacology and metabolism, to herbal products, analytical assay development, the pharmacist’s role in reducing medication errors, inter-professional pharmacy practice and traditional Chinese medicines. (The student research team is pictured above).
“The number of students who participated is remarkable because it constitutes about a third of the Class of 2017,” said Moji Adeyeye, professor of pharmaceutics and chair of the Biopharmaceutical Sciences Department at Roosevelt’s College of Pharmacy.
“This is uncommon in most schools of pharmacy and is a reflection of the quality of our program,” said Adeyeye, chief organizer of the college’s end-of-summer research presentations for the third year in a row.
External reviewers were brought in to judge the projects, which were assigned to second-year pharmacy students who took elective courses at the College of Pharmacy over the summer.
“You are creating a terrific model for training future pharmacy students,” said Dr. Roy Wesley, who is a member of the college’s Biopharmaceutical Sciences Department-based Research Advisory Council and was one of the external reviewers who judged students’ work.
Projects receiving first place awards included “Development of a CYP2C9 marker assay: Potential interaction with natural health supplements in human liver” by Tasha Hobbs; “Pharmacists’ Role in Reducing Medication Errors among Pediatrics Patients” by Hebah Salamah, Zahra Soukar and Remeen Yaldo; “Analytical (HPLC) Assay Method Development of Combination Antimalarial Drugs for a Suppository Forrmulation” by Sarah Adekola; “Design, synthesis and evaluation of novel ATP competitive EGFR and AURKA inhibitors” by Robert Senese and Stephen Zych; and “Inter-Professional Education: The sooner the better” by Dawid Bula, Amira Jabal, Justine Viloria and Andrew Tsang.
Also presenting were second -year students John Rydman, Andrew Gasso, Daniella Smid, Joseph Lee, Corinee Renault, Samah Qasmieh, Freddy Sonfack, Jordan Faison, Brett Dunham, Tin Vo and Yong Cheng . Faculty advisors included Adeyeye, Subrata Deb, assistant professor of pharmacology; Ravikiran Panikanti, assistant professor of biopharmaceutics; Abby Kahaleh, associate professor of pharmacy administration, and Sonali Kurup, assistant professor of medicinal chemistry.
“This is a program that has given our students great confidence in problem solving, understanding and discussing many of the complex issues associated with drug development, pharmacological action of drugs or alternative medicines and pharmacy practice that they may face and need to be able to analyze as pharmacists or scientists,” said Adeyeye.
Source: www.roosevelt.edu
