A major approach to drug discovery is high-throughput screening, and researchers at The Ohio State University College of Pharmacy (COP) and Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James) now have access to it.

In 2019, COP and OSUCCC – James announced a partnership to build and fund a $3 million small molecule high-throughput facility that will allow for synergies in the discovery and development of new cancer therapeutics.

Story originally published on health.osu.edu by Jami Brunk Young

Andrea Pfeifle, EdD, PT, FNAP, associate vice chancellor for Interprofessional Practice and Education, professor of Family and Community Medicine, is connecting interprofessional teams, patient care and education at Ohio State.

Dr. Pfeifle's life purpose began to take shape as a teenager babysitting an 11-year-old boy who used a wheelchair due to severe spastic cerebral palsy.

He lived with his parents in Lexington, Kentucky, near her hometown of Versailles. She saw the immense challenges they faced—feeding, skin care, positioning, bowel and bladder functioning, range of motion exercises, bed transfers, and other basic practices. She longed to improve things for this child she had come to know and love while volunteering at the local children’s hospital—and for his parents—but didn’t yet have the skills to do so. Neither did the well-intentioned and well-trained doctors and hospital caretakers.

She realizes now the gap was the lack of a treatment plan that considered every aspect of his life, including his living conditions and any physical, emotional and socio-economic barriers that might interfere with his progression toward better health.

Students don’t have to wait until graduate school to step into a research lab. A collaboration at The Ohio State University gives undergraduate students a head start in cancer research.

The Cancer Research Experience for the Advancement and Training of Emerging Scientists (CREATES) program is a collaboration between the Ohio State College of Pharmacy and the Center for Cancer Mentoring, Education, Leadership and Oncology-Related Training (CAMELOT) at Ohio State's Comprehensive Cancer Center – James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC—James).

CREATES provides students with experience in cancer-based research no matter their desired career path. Through this year-long program, students learn how to read, write, analyze and communicate scientific data while also learning how to set up and conduct cutting-edge experiments – all crucial skills most students don’t learn until they reach graduate or professional school.

The Ohio State University College of Pharmacy held its annual Alumni Awards ceremony on April 1, 2022, at the Grand Event Center in Columbus, Ohio, celebrating both 2021 and 2020 stand-out pharmacy Buckeyes.

“I have been blown away by the commitment our faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends have shown to their profession and to the college during the past few years,” said Dean Henry Mann, PharmD, FCCP, FCCM, FASHP, at the ceremony. “COVID-19 has sparked us to adapt in ways that none of us were expecting to, and pharmacists have demonstrated to our communities something we’ve known all along – that we are vital members of the health care team.”