May 2021 Updates

FACULTY SCHOLARSHIP

Publications

Pharmacotherapy Associate Professor and Director for the Center for Pharmacy Practice Research Kimberly McKeirnan and five co-authors published, “Improving pneumococcal vaccination rates among rural older adults through academic detailing: medicine, nursing and pharmacy partnership,” in the Molecular Diversity Preservation International (MDPI) Journal in March 2021.

Research Fellow Sorosh Kherghehpoush and Kimberly McKeirnan published, “Pharmacist-led HIV and hepatitis C point-of-care testing and risk mitigation counseling in individuals experiencing homelessness,” in Elsevier’s March 2021 Exploratory Research in Clinical and Social Pharmacy Journal.

Kimberly McKeirnan, Vice Chair and Allen I. White Distinguished Associate Professor of Pharmacotherapy Joshua Neumiller and one co-author published, “Teaching advanced pharmacy practice experience students to be effective teachers of second-year pharmacotherapy students,” in Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning

Pharmaceutical Sciences Assistant Professor Anil Singh (Ahmed lab) and four co-authors published, “EGCG, a green tea catechin, as a potential therapeutic agent for symptomatic and asymptomatic Sars-coV-2 infection,” in Molecules in February 2021.

Pharmaceutical Sciences Postdoctoral Research Associate Jingrui Chen (Cheng lab) and Pharmaceutical Sciences Assistant Professor Zhaokang Cheng with student co-authors Yuening Liu (pharmaceutical sciences and molecular medicine), Shayne Fontes (Doctor of Pharmacy), and Erika Bautista (Doctor of Pharmacy) published, “Physiological and pathological roles of protein kinase a in the heart,” in Cardiovascular Research, the international journal of the European Society of Cardiology for basic and translational research, spanning all topics within cardiology and cardiovascular biology in January 2021.

Pharmaceutical Sciences Assistant Professor Abdul Basit Shaikh (Prasad lab) and Pharmaceutical Sciences Associate Professor Bhagwat Prasad with student co-author Deepak Ahire (pharmaceutical sciences and molecular medicine), and one other co-author published a research article, “Ultrasensitive quantification of drug-metabolizing enzymes and transporters in small sample volume by microflow LC-MS/MS,” in the Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences in April 2021.

Presentations

The United States Transuranium and Uranium Registries (USTUR) held its annual Scientific Advisory Committee Meeting on April 8-9, 2021 via video conference. The meeting included updates by Department of Energy AU-13 Program Manager Joey Zhou, College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Dean Mark Leid, and WSU Tri-Cities Chancellor Sandra Haynes. USTUR staff and collaborators gave nine presentations about research and operations at the USTUR.

Pharmacotherapy Assistant Professor (Yakima) Dana Bowers presented via videoconference, “The wonderful world of antibiotics,” to Mr. Karim’s seventh-grade microbiology class at North Central High School in Spokane, Washington four times over April 26-27. The presentation was a primer on antibiotics, antimicrobial resistance and the path to becoming a pharmacist.

Pharmacotherapy Assistant Professor Cheyenne Newsome was recognized in the WSU Insider article, “Raising trans awareness in pharmacy education and across campus,” for her continued advocacy and work on transgender patient care in pharmacy education.

Grants & Awards

Pharmaceutical Sciences Assistant Professor Senthil Natesan was selected to receive the WSU Health Sciences Chancellor’s award for Excellence in Teaching.

Pharmaceutical Sciences Associate Professor Zhenjia Wang was selected as the 2020-21 WSU College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Graduate Program Teacher of the Year.

Pharmaceutical Sciences Assistant Professor Connie Remsberg and Pharmacotherapy Assistant Professor and Yakima Director of Student Success Damianne Brand-Eubanks were voted the 2020-21 Teachers of the Year by College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences first-year student pharmacists.

Sorosh Kherghehpoush and Pharmacotherapy Assistant Professor Jennifer Miller were voted the 2020-21 Teachers of the Year by College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences second-year student pharmacists.

Pharmacotherapy Professor and Director of Residency Training Brian Gates and Joshua Neumiller were voted the 2020-21 Teachers of the Year by College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences third-year student pharmacists.

Pharmacotherapy Assistant Professor Nicole Rodin, Pharmacotherapy Associate Professor Megan Undeberg and Pharmacotherapy Assistant Professor (Yakima) Megan Giruzzi were voted the 2020-21 WSU College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Preceptors of the Year by fourth-year student pharmacists.

Pharmaceutical Sciences Assistant Professor Boyang (Jason) Wu has been awarded an R01 from the National Institutes of Health—National Cancer Institute (NIH–NCI) in the amount of $1,942,816 over five years for his project, “Deciphering mechanisms of tumor stromal interactions in prostate cancer.”

Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Associate Md Masud Parvez (Prasad lab) received third place in the Drug Metabolism and Disposition category for his poster titled, “Proteomics-informed scaling of irinotecan metabolism, transport, and gut microbial activation explain its intestinal toxicity after intravenous dose,” at the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET) Annual Meeting at Experimental Biology 2021 in April 2021.

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT          

Pharmaceutical Sciences and Molecular Medicine students

Yuening Liu (Cheng lab) with faculty co-authors Zhaokang Cheng, and Jingrui Chen and Doctor of Pharmacy student co-authors Shayne Fontes and Erika Bautista published, “Physiological and pathological roles of protein kinase a in the heart,” in Cardiovascular Research in January 2021.

Deepak Ahire (Prasad lab), with faculty co-authors Abdul Basit Shaikh, Bhagwat Prasad and one other co-author published a research article, “Ultrasensitive quantification of drug-metabolizing enzymes and transporters in small sample volume by microflow LC-MS/MS,” in the Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences in April 2021.

Christopher Szlenk (Natesan lab) was selected as the 2020-21 WSU College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Molecular Medicine Graduate Program Student of the Year.

The following students successfully passed their preliminary exam:

  • James Nguyen (Paine lab), January 12, 2021
  • Shelby Coates (Lazarus lab), March 22, 2021
  • Deepak Ahire (Prasad lab), March 29, 2021
  • Peter Obi (Natesan lab), April 1, 2021
  • Victoria Oyanna (Clarke lab), April 13, 2021
  • Paul Panipinto (Ahmed lab), April 19, 2021
  • Keti Bardhi (Lazarus lab), April 20, 2021
  • Farheen Shaikh (Ahmed lab), April 21, 2021
  • Sheena Sharma (Prasad lab), April 22, 2021

The following students successfully passed their final defense:

  • Soumyadeep Sarkar, March 15, 2021
  • Yuening Liu, April 8, 2021
  • Xiaolu Zhu, April 14, 2021

Joshua Gallo successfully passed his final exam for a Master of Science degree on January 5, 2021.

Shamema Nasrin (Lazarus lab) was selected to receive WSU Health Sciences Chancellor’s Legacy Award.

Deepak Ahire (Prasad lab) received second place in the Drug Metabolism and Disposition category for his poster titled, “Inter-individual variability and differential tissue abundance of mitochondrial amidoxime reducing component 1 (mARC1) enzyme in human,” at the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET) Annual Meeting at Experimental Biology 2021 in April 2021.

Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) students

Shayne Fontes (class of 2022), Erika Bautista (class of 2021) with faculty co-authors and Zhaokang Cheng, Jingrui Chen and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Molecular Medicine student co-author Yuening Liu (Cheng lab) published, “Physiological and pathological roles of protein kinase a in the heart,” in Cardiovascular Research in January 2021.

Misty Lefler, class of 2022, was chosen as the Washington State University Graduate Student Woman of Distinction.

Catherine Chung (class of 2024) with faculty co-author Josh Neumiller published, “Always reevaluate background therapies when starting a new glucose-lowering agent,” in the Disasters Averted forum on March 30, 2021 of the Diabetes in Control’s website.

Maggie Godsey received the APhA-ASP Senior Recognition for the graduating class of 2021.

Taylor Birkland received the Wolters Kluwer Clinical Drug Information: Facts and Comparisons Award Excellence in Clinical Communication for the graduating class of 2021.

Peter Bonilla received the Mylan Pharmaceuticals Excellence in Pharmacy Award for the graduating class of 2021.

Nicole Conde, Katie Couch, Zhanhuang Huang and Hanh Nguyen received the Merck Manual Award for Academic Excellence for the graduating class of 2021.

Katie Couch received the Providence Health Care Foundation: Larry G. Bettesworth Providence Sacred Heart Health System Pharmacy Award for the graduating class of 2021.

The following students were selected as the 2020-21 WSU College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Students of the Year:

  • Elissa Chung, Yakima class of 2024
  • Fred Lienhard, Spokane class of 2024
  • Dana Radbourn, Yakima class of 2023
  • Artem Golub, Spokane class of 2023
  • Trevor Schultz, Yakima class of 2022
  • Elizabeth Satterwhite, Spokane class of 2022
  • Austin Nguyen, Yakima class of 2021
  • Lee Roy Esposo, Spokane class of 2021

The following students were selected to receive the WSU Health Sciences Chancellor’s Leadership Award:

  • Stephanie Vien, Spokane class of 2022
  • Shayne Fontes, Spokane class of 2022
  • Virginia Gonzalez, Yakima class of 2021

Kellyan Nguyen, Spokane class of 2022, was selected to receive the WSU Health Sciences Chancellor’s Student Impact Award.

The Student National Pharmaceutical Association (SNPhA) was selected to receive the WSU Health Sciences Chancellor’s Registered Student Organization Impact Award.

The following students were selected to receive the WSU President’s Award for Leadership:

  • Brian Wu, Yakima class of 2022
  • Dana Rabourne, Yakima class of 2023
  • Minwoo Park, Spokane class of 2021
  • Misty Lefler, Spokane class of 2022
  • Olivia Hiskey, Spokane class of 2023
  • Shannon Patterson, Spokane class of 2022
  • Trevor Schultz, Yakima class of 2022

Kayla Leland, class of 2022, recently attended the Independent Pharmacy Conference (IPC). Read more about her experience on Instagram.