College celebrates innovative research through annual Research Day

The Ohio State University College of Pharmacy held its 16th Annual Research Day on April 12. Research Day celebrates the innovative research that faculty, residents, staff and students have conducted to transform drug discovery, advance practice and save patient lives. Research Day provides an opportunity for the Ohio State College of Pharmacy community to present their research findings and network with potential collaborators.

This year was the first time since the pandemic that everyone could fully meet in person. The one-day event included poster and podium presentations and concluded with an awards ceremony.

Recipients from the 2022 Dean’s Innovation Research Awards presented their work funded by the grants they were awarded last year.

• Alex Sparreboom, PhD, professor of pharmaceutics and pharmacology, presented his research titled, “Damage-associated molecular patterns in chemotherapy toxicity.”
• Shuiying Hu, PhD, assistant professor of outcomes and translational sciences, presented her research titled, “A chemical biology approach for predicting OATP1B-type transporter-mediated DDI liabilities.”

Research Day’s 2023 keynote address was presented by Marilyn Morris, PhD, distinguished professor emeritus in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York (SUNY). Her research focuses on the influence of drug transporters on drug pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics and the identification of transporters as therapeutic targets. Her keynote address was titled, “Monocarboxylate Transporters (SLC16): Role in drug disposition, health and disease.”

This 2023 Research Day award winners include:

2023 Dean’s Innovative Research Award Winners

Title: “DYRK1A targeted therapy for acute kidney injury”
Author: Navjot Pabla

Title: “Understanding the interaction of botanical-derived cinnamodial with mosquito Transient Receptor Potential Ankyrin 1 (TRPA1) channels for vector control”
Authors: Liva Rakotondraibe; Peter Piermarini, Department of Entomology at the College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences

Resident, PharmD and Undergraduate Student Division

First Place $500
Presenter: Ashley Swisshelm
Title: “Assessing the awareness and utilization of campus harm reduction resources by Greek life students”
Authors: Ashley T. Swisshelm, Kelsey K. Schmuhl

Second Place $250
Presenter: Ligang Liu
Title: “Medication Adherence in Medicare-Enrolled Older Adults with both Asthma and COPD Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic”
Authors: Ligang Liu, Armando Silva Almodóvar, Milap C. Nahata

Third Place $125
Presenter: Teddy Nemunaitis
Title: “Comparison of a Machine-Learning Software Against a Conventional Software in Detecting Potential Controlled Substance Diversion”
Authors: Teddy B. Nemunaitis, Marjorie Neidecker, Robert J. Weber, Ben R. Lopez

Post-Doctoral Researcher & Research Staff Division

Post-Doctoral Researcher & Research Staff Division

First Place $500
Presenter: Daelynn Buelow
Title: “FLT3/STAT5A WT1 signaling loop plays a role in the aggressive nature of FLT3-ITD+ WT1mut AML”
Authors: Daelynn R. Buelow, Jack Stromatt, Anna Denny, Christoph Weigel, Sharyn D. Baker, Christopher Oakes

Second Place $250
Presenter: D. Ryan King
Title: “Cardiac-specific ablation of SCN8A Ameliorates cardiat arrythmias and improves survival in a murine model of sudden death in epilepsy (SUDEP)”
Authors: D. Ryan King, Mustafa Demirtas, Mikhail Tarasov, Heather L. Struckman, Xiaolei Meng, Drew Nassal, Alec Miller, Dennison Min, Thomas J. Hund, Rengasayee Veeraraghavan, Przemysław B. Radwański

Third Place $125
Presenter: Gopichand Gutti
Title: “Expression, purification and initial crystallographic analysis of DNA cleavage complexes of staphyloccocus aureus type IIA topoisomerases with novel bacterial topoisomerase inhibitors (NBTIS)”
Authors: Gopichand Gutti, Yanran Lu, Antony Okumu, Mark J. Mitton-Fry, Craig A. McElroy

Graduate Students

First Place $500
Presenter: Josie Silvaroli
Title: “Homologous recombination mediated DNA repair protects from acute kidney injury”
Authors: Josie Silvaroli, Navjot Pabla

Second Place $250
Presenter: Jeffrey Lockwood and Ross Bockbrader
Title: “Design of HIV-1 allosteric integrase inhibitor via indole and quinoline scaffold as an approach toward mitigating antiviral drug resistance”
Authors: Jeffrey R. Lockwood, Ross H. Bockbrader, Daniel Adu-Ampratwum, Arun S. Annamalai, Reed Haney, Ross Larue, Mamuka Kvaratskhelia, James R. Fuchs

Third Place $125
Presenter: Joshua Powell
Title: “From Office to Benchtop: Generating Novel Bacterial Topoisomerase Inhibitors (NBTIs) Guided by Computational Screening”
Authors: Joshua Powell, Paul Toth, Sheri Dellos-Nolan, Clare Ove, Steffen Lindert, Daniel Wozniak, Mark Mitton-Fry

2023 Laboratory Research Staff Award

$500
Winner: Alice Gibson
The nomination letter stated: “She is an extraordinarily highly valued and experienced member of our lab who excels at complex multitasking without loss of productivity and accuracy through a strong work ethic. She serves as a role model in our lab to all the staff and students, always exhibits a courteous and cheerful approach to all others she encounters in or outside the College community.”