PCEU celebrates successful 2013-14
To see an album of photos from the PCEU awards reception, click here.
VCU School of Pharmacy Department of Pharmaceutics chairman Peter Byron opened the third PCEU Grants, Scholarships & Awards Reception by noting that faculty, staff and students had secured more than $590,000 in new grants, contracts, scholarships and gifts during fiscal year 2013-14. Those new funds served to underpin the combined annual direct costs of departmental research, about $1 million, for a total of more than $1.5 million in total research funding.
New grant topics ranged from the investigation of new drugs and delivery systems to studies of novel mechanisms leading to alterations in drug disposition and targeting. Faculty, postdoctoral research fellows and graduate students published 26 peer-reviewed articles and assisted in producing several national and international science conferences.
The reception, which took place Dec. 11 at the Larrick Student Center, was held to acknowledge contributors to the department’s success and reputation in biopharmaceutical analysis, proteomic biomarker identification and quantification, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, drug transport and metabolism and aerosol pharmaceutics. “We maintained and grew our national and international reputation,” said Byron.
He noted that this will be his last year as “emcee” of the annual event; Byron will step down as department chairman, effective Dec. 31, and associate professor Doug Sweet will take the helm as interim department chairman. Byron also noted that professor and graduate program director Tom Karnes will retire, effective Feb. 28. “Tom has been a great faculty member,” he said. “I really appreciate him.”
Faculty honors
Jürgen Venitz was recognized at the university’s 2013 Opening Faculty Address and Convocation with VCU’s Distinguished Teaching Award.
Graduate scholarships and awards
Morse Faria – 2014 Charles T. Rector and Thomas W. Rorrer Jr. Dean’s Award for Excellence in Graduate Study, 2014 John Wood Award, Altria Tobacco Products Regulatory Sciences Fellowship, 2013 AAPS/APQ Student Symposium Award, PPD Predoctoral Fellowship, NIH Research Training Award, AAPS Travel Award
Christine Farthing – Altria Tobacco Products Regulatory Sciences Fellowship
Gopichand Gottipati – VCU Thesis Assistantship, Pfizer Consumer Healthcare R&D Leading for Innovation Award, UF Pharmacometrics Internship, ASCPT Presidential Training Award
Mengyao Li – 2013 Jyontsna and Maviji Thakker Award, NIH Clinical Investigator Training Award
Min Li – Reckitt-Benckiser Internship, FDA ORISE Fellowship
Megha Mohan – FDA ORISE Fellowship
Xiaolei Pan – AAPS Travel Award, 2014 Pfizer Summer Internship
Tien Truong – A.D. Williams Pharmacy Scholarship
Meng Wang – Joseph Schwartz Graduate Student Travel Award, FDA Internship, AAPS & VCU Travel Grants
Xiangyin Wei – Joseph Schwartz Graduate Student Travel Award
VCU Pharmaceutics’ AAPS student chapter was awarded the AAPS PPDM Education Initiative Award, and several students were inducted into the honor societies Phi Kappa Phi and Rho Chi.
Patents, patent spplications and invention disclosures
Pharmaceutics researchers submitted seven VCU invention disclosures or patent applications. Two patents were awarded:
* P. Worth Longest, J. Xi and Michael Hindle: “Effective Delivery of Nanoparticle and Micrometer Sized Pharmaceutical Aerosols to the Lung Through Enhanced Condensational Growth,” US Patent #8,479,728, Issued July 9, 2013
* Umesh Desai, B.L. Henry, a. Liang, J. Thakkar, Brad Mangrum, Ivo Torres Filho, Bruce D. Spiess, Masahiro Sakagami and Bavna Saluja: “Cinnamic Acid-Based Oligomers and Uses Thereof,” US Patent #8,491,872, Issued July 23, 2013
Conference organizers
Peter Byron and Joanne Peart: Respiratory Drug Delivery 2014, Puerto Rico
Michael Hindle: 2014 IPAC-RS Conference, Florida
Douglas Sweet and Thomas Karnes: 2013 AAPS meeting, Texas
Postdoctoral fellows
Laleh Golshahi (advisor: Michael Hindle), aerosol pharmaceutics
Anand Joshi (advisor: Phillip Gerk), drug transporters
Anubhav Kaviratna (advisor: Michael Hindle), aerosol pharmaceutics
Brad Mangrum (advisor: Adam Hawkridge), proteomics
Ph.D. and M.S. graduates (2014)
Da Zhang, M.S. (advisor: Doug Boudinot)
Ruba Darweesh, Ph.D. (advisor: Masahiro Sakagami)
Poonam Delvadia, Ph.D. (advisor: Tom Karnes)
Morse Faria, Ph.D. (advisor: Tom Karnes)
Christine Farthing, Ph.D. (advisor: Doug Sweet)
Gopichand Gottipatti, Ph.D. (advisor: Jürgen Venitz)
Min Li, Ph.D. (advisor: Peter Byron)
Jaleesa Mayo, M.S. (advisor: Phillip Gerk)
Apurvasena Parikh, Ph.D. (advisor: Jürgen Venitz)
Li Wang, Ph.D. (advisor: Doug Sweet)
Zhenxian “Clara” Zang, Ph.D. (advisor: Phillip Gerk)
Summer fellows (Dean’s Office awards)
Zaneera Hassan (advisor: Adam Hawkridge)
New grants and contracts (2013-14)
Douglas Sweet, “Organic Solute Transporters: A Potential Unrecognized Mechanism Linking Tobacco Product Use and Endogenous Monoamine Homeostatis in the Central Nervous System,” Altria Group
Masahiro Sakagami, “Lung Repair in Emphysema via HIF-1α Modulation: Reversing an Imbalance of Cell Death and Proliferation,” PeRQ Grant VCU
Masahiro Sakagami, “In Vitro Fluid Capacity-Limited Dissolution Testing and its Kinetic Relation to In Vivo Clinical Pharmacokinetics for Orally Inhaled Drug Products,” FDA
Michael Hindle, “Study to Investigate the Sensitivity of Pharmacokinetics in Detecting Differences in Physicochemical Properties of the Active in Suspension Nasal Products for Local Action,” University of Florida and DHHS/FDA
Peter Byron and Masahiro Sakagami, “Inhaled 2-O, 3-O Desulfated Heparin for Cystic Fibrosis,” Virginia CHRB
Phillip Gerk, “Increasing Oral Bioavailability of Opioids: In Vivo Proof of Concept with Buprenorphine and Naloxone,” Reckitt-Benckiser Pharmaceuticals
Continuing grants and contracts (2013-14)
The following grants accounted for about $900,000 of the department’s annual expenditures:
Adam Hawkridge, “Protective and Non-Protective Autophagic Responses to Ionizing Radiation in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer,” VCU CCTR
Douglas Sweet, “Functional Characterization of Pathways Regulated by Schizophrenia Gene TCF4,” NIH
Michael Hindle, “Nanoaerosols from Wick Electrospray for Improved Drug Delivery to Infants,” NIH/NHLBI
Staff
Scott Crenshaw
Claire Foerster
Kenya Gage
Laura Georgiadis
Ross Losapio
Brian Parris
Keyetta Tate
“Pharmaceutics could not function without their help,” said Byron of School of Pharmacy staff who have supported the department this year.
The reception concluded with the department’s second tacky holiday sweater contest. Judge Doug Sweet awarded a first-place tie to Megan Hawkridge, 6, and her brother Sean, 4. The winners sported loops of green-and-red tinsel along with Megan’s reindeer Sean’s Santa headgear. Sweet also recognized graduate student Bishoy Elrian for his overall body of work, including last year’s Santa Claus costume and this year’s elf sweatshirt.
Sweet thanked Byron for his leadership, wisdom and experience as well as his impact on the school and the department. “He will always be a … Legend,” Sweet laughed, producing a six-pack of aptly and funnily named bottles of ale specifically selected for Boss Byron.
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