Research News – Page 3 – College of Pharmacy

Making new connections: Pharmacy meets Political Science.

Political science isn’t the field that comes to mind when considering how to address vaccine hesitancy in adult minorities. For Professor Kerry LaPlante, however, the connection is clear. She is currently at work with URI Political Science Professor and Chair Brian Krueger and Associate Professor Marc Hutchison on a $606,173 research grant to develop science-based messaging to improve pneumococcal vaccination rates in black and Hispanic/Latino populations.

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East meets West in Global Approach to Pharmacy Research

East and West have always converged in the Bioactive Botanical Research Lab of Pharmacy Professor Navindra Seeram. But a new gift with roots in Traditional Chinese Medicine has brought these culturally different approaches to treating disease and pain even closer.

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Pharmacy researcher developing nicotine vaccine, novel drug delivery

Dr. Chen demonstrating the drug delivery patch

Xinyuan Chen, assistant professor of biomedical and pharmaceutical sciences, is developing a nicotine vaccine and accompanying drug delivery system that he believes could lead to one of the most effective methods of combating cigarette smoking and other tobacco use. He joined the College of Pharmacy after seven years at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, bringing with him a $1.08 million career development grant from the National Institute of Drug Abuse and a $432,000 grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease.

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URI scientists discover estrogen interaction preventing some pregnant women from expelling bile acids

A University of Rhode Island pharmacy professor has discovered an interaction involving the hormone estrogen that occurs in some pregnant women preventing them from expelling bile acid, leading to disease in their fetuses.

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Champlin Foundations awards URI three grants for technology to support teaching and research

The Champlin Foundations have awarded the University of Rhode Island three grants totaling $421,795 to purchase high-tech equipment to advance education and student learning. The three grants will fund new teaching and research tools for in-vitro testing of pharmaceuticals, advanced characterization of powders, and imaging of nanoscale materials and processes.

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Alex and Ani donates $1 million to URI to support natural product research

A new $1-million donation to the University of Rhode Island from Alex and Ani, LLC will support natural product research and the discovery of plant-based molecules to improve human well-being. In recognition of the generous gift, the University will name a research lab in the College of Pharmacy building the Alex and Ani Impact Lab.

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SURF Program opens up the world of biomedical research

Sarah Bilida, Julie Scott, and Miles Martin are among the students selected for the 2014 Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Program working at URI this summer on a variety of biomedical research projects. All of the students’ research will culminate in poster presentations at the annual SURF Conference on Aug. 1 at the URI College of Pharmacy.

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Professor named Ernest Mario Distinguished Chair in Pharmaceutics

Professor of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences Fatemeh Akhlaghi, who has gained a national reputation for her work on alcoholism, Type 2 diabetes, and measuring drug levels in organ transplant patients, has been named the Ernest Mario Distinguished Chair in Pharmaceutics. Professor Akhlaghi was named to the prestigious post this summer.

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A Mission to Bring Promising Alzheimer’s Drug to U.S. patients

If Professor Nasser H. Zawia succeeds in his quest for an effective new treatment for Alzheimer’s disease—and the evidence so far suggests he will—it will be more than a medical triumph with the potential to benefit millions. It will be proof that there is still room in this age of profit-driven drug development for a researcher primarily motivated by empathy and a passion for science.

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