Annual College of Pharmacy Research Day sparks talk of innovation
The College of Pharmacy held its annual Research Day on April 2 at The Fawcett Center, celebrating innovative research conducted in the College of Pharmacy.
Students, residents, postdocs, faculty and staff had the opportunity to present their research projects and findings during the poster presentation portion of the day. Additionally, each session included research presentations showcasing the work of trainee researchers.
Guest faculty member Wan-Tseng Hsu, PhD, from the National Taiwan University (NTU) joined this year's event as a keynote speaker. Dr. Hsu presented on “Targeting Mitochondrial Vulnerability Across Cardiovascular Stressors: 5-Methoxytryptophan and ASC Secretome-Derived Extracellular Vesicles” during the third session. The second keynote speaker was Chenglong Li, PhD. He presented on “AI-enabled/Structure-based Drug Design: Case Studies”
The trainee research group included Aliza Klein and Mike Boeckman, PhD students in pharmaceutics and pharmacology, Regina Nechi, PhD student in outcomes and translational science graduate studies and Sam Xing, PhD student in medicinal chemistry and pharmacognosy.
Research Day 2026 was made possible by CVS Health and the Ohio State Clinical and Translational Science Institute. Sheila Thomas-Jackson, PharmD '00, BS '92, vice president and general manager of life sciences research at CVS Healthspire™ Life Sciences Solutions, helped foster the sponsorship and attended the event.
The day’s events concluded with a presentation of awards.
Poster Awards
PharmD and Undergraduate Student Division
| First Place Prize: | $500 |
|---|---|
| Presenter: |
Jin Gyu Kim (PharmD) |
| Title: | Evaluating Cefepime Plasma Exposure in Patients Receiving Prolonged Intermittent Renal Replacement Therapy (PIRRT) |
| Authors: | Jin Gyu Kim1, Victoria Williams, PharmD1,2, Kari Cape, PharmD2, Min Zeng, PhD1, Nicole L. Abbott, PhD1, Mitch A. Phelps, PhD1 |
| Second Place Prize: | $250 |
|---|---|
| Presenter: |
Summer Powell (Undergrad) |
| Title: | Fluorescent Probe Cellular Binding Assays of CDK4/6 by Flow Cytometry |
| Authors: | Summer Powell, Smita Kumari, Sonam Sonam, Serena Li Zhao, and Blake R. Peterson |
| Third Place Prize: | $125 |
|---|---|
| Presenter: |
Kaitlyn M. Lauber (Undergrad) |
| Title: | BIOACTIVE TRITERPENOID CONSTITUENTS ISOLATED FROM ARONIA BERRIES GROWN IN OHIO |
| Authors: | Kaitlyn M. Lauber 1, Pratik Shriwas 1, Gunnar Meyer 1, Tyler Frank 1, Kevin DeRose 1, Jizhou Lei 1, Jessica R. Grebenc 1, Andrew T. Anderson 1, Y. Gary Gao 2,3, Xiaozhuo Chen 4‒7, A. Douglas Kinghorn 1, and Yulin Ren 1 |
Post-Doctoral Researcher & Research Staff Division
| First Place Prize: | $500 |
|---|---|
| Presenter: |
Chetan P. Kulkarni (Post Doc) |
| Title: | ROLE OF S1P-MEDIATED SIGNALING IN PACLITAXEL-INDUCED CYTOSKELETAL CHANGES IN HUMAN SENSORY NEURONS |
| Authors: | Chetan P. Kulkarni1, Abhijit Shinde1, Patrick Dib1, Mayuri Patel2, Meng Wu2,3, Zhihong Lin2,3, Blake R. Peterson2,3, Deanna L. Kroetz1 |
| Second Place Prize: | $250 |
|---|---|
| Presenter: |
Thomas Drabison (Post Doc) |
| Title: | RIBOCICLIB IS NOT A SUBSTRATE OR INHIBITOR OF OATP1B-MEDIATED UPTAKE IN VIVO. |
| Authors: | Thomas Drabison1, Eman A. Ahmed1, Alex Sparreboom1,2, and Eric D. Eisenmann1,2 |
| Third Place Prize: | $125 |
|---|---|
| Presenter: | Ermias Mekuria Addo (Post Doc) |
| Title: | USE OF LC-MS/MS-BASED MOLECULAR NETWORKING IN THE ISOLATION OF MINOR ROCAGLATE CONSTITUENTS OF THE BRANCHES AND STEM BARK OF AGLAIA PERVIRIDIS |
| Authors: | Ermias Mekuria Addo,1 Elizabeth N. Kaweesa,2 Dmitriy Uchenik,3 Tran N. Ninh,3 Djaja D. Soejarto,2,5 Joanna E. Burdette,2 Harinantenaina L. Rakotondraibe,1 A. Douglas Kinghorn1 |
Clinical and Translational Science Institute
Translation Science Award
| Award Prize: | $500 |
|---|---|
| Presenter: | Xinye Wang (Grad Student) |
| Title: | DEVELOPMENT OF A TRANSLATIONALLY RELEVANT STRATEGY TO PROTECT AGAINST PACLITAXEL-INDUCED PERIPHERAL NEUROPATHY |
| Authors: | Xinye Wang1, Thomas Drabison1, Ke Wang1, Luke Hammond2, Katy Garrity1, Shuiying Hu1,3, Sharyn D. Baker1,3, Alex Sparreboom1,3, Grace J. Shin2,3, and Eric D. Eisenmann1 |
Graduate Students
| First Place Prize: | $500 |
|---|---|
| Presenter: |
Arnav Josh |
| Title: | ENT3 regulated autophagy counteracts NRTI toxicity and HIV replication |
| Authors: | Arnav A. Joshi1, Enming Xing2, Tejinder Kaur1, Blake R. Peterson2,4, Xiaolin Cheng2, Ross C. Larue3, Rajgopal Govindarajan1,4* |
| Second Place Prize: | $250 |
|---|---|
| Presenter: |
Xinyu Zhao |
| Title: | ABROGATION OF TOPOISOMERASE IIΑ INTRON 33 INTRONIC POLYADENYLATION IN ACQUIRED MITOXANTRONE-RESISTANT HL-60/MX2 CELLS: USE OF CRISPR/CAS9 GENOME EDITING WITH HOMOLOGY-DIRECTED REPAIR |
| Authors: | Xinyu Zhao, Xinyi Wang, Sarah E. Eaton, Sydney R. Cassel, Terry S. Elton, Jack C. Yalowich |
| Third Place Prize: | $125 |
|---|---|
| Presenter: |
Akash Haria |
| Title: | EXPLORING SYNTHETIC ROUTES TO PREPARE HYDROXYLATED TRICYCLIC ANALOGUES OF NOVEL BACTERIAL TOPOISOMERASE INHIBITORS |
| Authors: | Akash B. Haria, Mark J. Mitton-Fry |
Additionally, each trainee, Aliza Klein, Sam Xing, Regina Nechi, and Mike Boeckman, received $125 for speaking at Research Day.
