Skip to main content Skip to navigation
Washington State University
Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences 2022

Pharmacy student helps hundreds of Afghan refugees in Washington

Third-year pharmacy student Ghazal Meratnia does not particularly enjoy the spotlight. She likes to keep things low key, but in many ways she’s an everyday hero for hundreds of Afghan refugees living in Washington state. Aside from being a full-time pharmacy student at WSU, Ghazal has served as a certified medical interpreter for Washington state for the last 10 years. Most of her clients are Afghan refugees who recently arrived to the Spokane area and are receiving medical checkups.

“It’s been an amazing journey,” said Ghazal whose family immigrated more than 10 years ago to the United States from Iran, a country which shares a … » More …

Pharmacy students’ law a game changer for patient care

Brandy Seignemartin (’20) had just completed her third year of pharmacy school when a bill she worked on with fellow WSU Health Sciences students and faculty was officially signed into law by Gov. Jay Inslee. It was May 7, 2019, and the perfect exclamation point to end the school year. Less than one year later the world would go into lock down as COVID-19 quickly spread from country to country and the law that she helped to set in motion would have a significant impact on the health of Washingtonians across the state and COVID-19 testing and vaccinations for years to come.

“It is awesome … » More …

July 2022 Updates

FACULTY SCHOLARSHIP

Publications

United States Transuranium and Uranium Registries (USTUR) Director and Professor Sergei Tolmachev and two co-authors published “Quadrupole and multi-collector ICP-MS analysis of 226Ra in brain from a radium dial painter,” in the Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry.

Pharmaceutical sciences and molecular medicine students Deepak Ahire (Prasad lab), Laken Kruger (Prasad lab), and Sheena Sharma (Prasad lab), with faculty co-authors Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Associate Vijaya Saradhi Mettu (Prasad lab) and Pharmaceutical Sciences Associate Professor Bhagwat Prasad and one co-author published, “Quantitative Proteomics in translational absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion and precision medicine,” in Pharmacological Reviews in July 2022.

Laken Kruger, with faculty … » More …

Pharmacy Careers: Psychiatric Pharmacy Specialty Practice

Approximately one in five adults in the United States live with a mental illness and a survey published by the CDC found that 16.5% of American adults have taken prescription medication for their mental health. As the medication experts of the health care team, pharmacists are uniquely positioned to have an impact in mental health.

In the final Career Seminar presentation of the 2021-22 academic year, College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences doctor of pharmacy alums Glen Chase (’15) and Aubrie Duke (’16) from Comprehensive Healthcare in Yakima, Washington talked to WSU doctor of pharmacy students about pharmacy roles in psychiatric care.

Chase and … » More …

June 2022 Updates

FACULTY SCHOLARSHIP

Publications

Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Associate Jin Gao (Wang lab), Pharmaceutical Sciences Postdoctoral Research Associate Yujie Su (Wang lab), and Pharmaceutical Sciences Associate Professor Zhenjia Wang published an Invited Review article of “Engineering bacterial membrane nanovesicles for improved therapies in infectious diseases and cancer,” in Advanced Drug Delivery Review, a peer-reviewed resource from the Elsevier online in May 2022.

Pharmacotherapy Associate Professor Rustin Crutchley (Yakima) with student co-author Angelina Gladchuk (’22 PharmD) and four other co-authors published “Cathelicidins and defensins antimicrobial host defense peptides in the treatment of TB and HIV: Pharmacogenomic and nanomedicine approaches towards improved therapeutic outcomes,” in Biomedicine & … » More …

Discovery could improve cancer immunotherapy

By Sara Zaske, WSU News

A type of white blood cell previously known only as a helper in the immune system appears also to be the instigator of the body’s defenses against cancerous tumors. The discovery could lead to more effective cancer immunotherapy, a promising treatment which uses the body’s own immune system, rather than radiation, to attack cancer cells.

In an animal study, Washington State University researchers found that a population of T cells called CD4-positive helper T cells helped start a chain of antitumor immunity defenses that allow killer cells to better infiltrate melanoma and breast cancer tumors. T cells belong to a … » More …

Balancing military service and pharmacy school

Colton Sorensen is one of many service men and women who pursued his doctor of pharmacy degree at Washington State University. Colton, who served in the United States Marine Corps, shares how his military training as a marine translates to becoming a better health care provider as a pharmacist. In 2020, Colton was asked to press pause on his third year in pharmacy school to deploy to Georgia, a country which shares a border with Russia, Azerbaijian, Armenia, and Turkey. The deployment ended up delaying his graduation by one year. Along with an active-duty tour to the countries of Georgia, Afghanistan, and Qatar, Colton also … » More …

Interview with an infectious diseases pharmacist

May 22 is Infectious Diseases Pharmacists Day intended to recognize ID pharmacists and their impact on patient care and contributions to the health care team. This year’s theme for ID Pharmacists Day is deprescribing antibiotics amid COVID-19. To understand the role of ID pharmacists and what patients can do to protect their health, we speak to our very own infectious diseases expert and assistant professor at the college, Dana Bowers.

What does an infectious diseases (ID) pharmacist do and how do they differ from other pharmacists?

ID pharmacists focus on the appropriate use of antibiotics. We make sure that when patients are prescribed an … » More …