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Departmental News/EventsThe Department is accepting applications for faculty positions. On April 14-17, 2008 the College of Medicine held its annual Student Research Days. The Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology had a great showing with twelve of our pharmacology and toxicology graduate students and post-docs participating. Special congratulations goes out to Jon Hubbard, MD/PhD candidate in pharmacology, for winning a 1st place $1,000 travel award from the Graduate School for his abstract “Gestation stage-dependent changes in monoclonal antibody pharmacokinetics and function during rat pregnancy” and Sarah White, PhD candidate in pharmacology for winning a $500 UAMS IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) travel award for her abstract “(+) Methamphetamine pharmacokinetics in timed-pregnant rats during early- and late-stage pregnancy”. Both students are the lab of Dr. Michael Owens. Congratulations to Biny Joseph (Interdisciplinary Toxicology Program) for winning the Junior Scientist Graduate Student competition in Cardiovascular Pharmacology sponsored by ASPET at Experimental Biology, April 8, 2008 in San Diego. Biny's presentation was entitled “Shaker Kv1 channel-MAGUK complexes are down-regulated in cerebral arteries of hypertensive rats”. Congratulations go out to Venkata Bhogaraju (Pharmacology Program) for placing 2nd in the ASPET-sponsored Best Abstract Competition in Neuropharmacology at Experimental Biology, April 7, 2008 in San Diego. His poster presentation was entitled "Biochemical characterization of G93A mutant human Cu,Zn superoxide dismutase purified from transgenic rat spinal cord". Shankar Munusamy, Pharmacology Graduate Student, received the Chair's Fund Award at the Gordon Conference on Oxygen Radicals in Ventura, California in March 2008. Shankar presented a poster entitled “Protective role of manganese superoxide dismutase against hyperglycemia-induced mitochondrial dysfunction and renal cell injury”. Congratulations Shankar! Congratulations to Dr. Piotr Zimniak for his VA Research Career Scientist award. This award is based on career success in funding, publications, teaching and service. This 5-year award is a tremendous honor. The Department of proud to announce that Dr. Philip Mayeux has receive funding for his NIH R01 grant entitled “Mechanistic targets for intervention in sepsis-induced renal injury” and Dr. Paul Prather has received funding for his NIH R21 grant entitled “Selective CB2 cannabinoid agonists as candidate therapeutics for ALS”. Both grants will begin July 2008. Congratulations to Brian Donahower (Pharmacology) and Zabeena Shaik (Pharmacology with Pharmaceutical Sciences Track) for successfully defending their dissertations in December 2007. Dr. Donahower's dissertation was entitled “Examination of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in a mouse model of acetaminophen toxicity”. Dr. Shaik's dissertation was entitled “Protective role of protein kinase B/AKT against mitochondrial dysfunction and cell death in nephrotoxicant injured renal cells”. We wish both of them the best of luck! Congratulations to January Baumgardner (Interdisciplinary Toxicology) for defending her dissertation on October 5, 2007 entitled "Effects of diet and nutritional status on progression of fatty liver disease in rats fed via total enteral nutrition". Dr. Baumgardner worked in the laboratory of Dr. Martin Ronis. The Department welcomes the arrival of William (Bill) E. Fantegrossi, Ph.D. as Assistant Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology. Dr. Fantegrossi came to us by way of Emory University. He brings to the Department his unique approach to studying drugs of abuse in rodent models. Learn more about Dr. Fantegrossi's research interests at his web page. The Department welcomes the arrival of Paul E. Gottschall, Ph.D. as Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology. Dr. Gottschall's research interests include studying the role of matrix-degrading proteases in several models of neurological disease. Learn more about his research in neural plasticity at his web page. Congratulations to Rajesh Vadlapatla (now Dr. Vadlapatla) for defending his Ph.D. dissertation on July 23, 2007 entitled "Drug-Organic Electrolyte Complexes as Controlled Release Systems". Rajesh is the first Pharmaceutical Sciences Track graduate in the Pharmacology Program and his advisor was Dr. Cherng-ju Kim. Best of luck to you Dr. Vadlapatla! The Department made a great showing at the 2007 Student Research Days April 4-5 event. A special congratulations to Shankar Munusamy (Pharmacology) and Zabeena Shaik (Pharmaceutical Sciences Track) for their research awards! Eric Peterson, Ph.D. (postdoctoral fellow) won second place in the fellow category with his research titled Preclinical Testing of a High Affinity Single Chain Antibody Against (+)-Methamphetamine (METH). Our graduate student presenters were: Rohit Singhal Estrogenic Status Modulates DMBA-Mediated Hepatic Gene Expression: A Mechanistic Approach Using Microarrays; Nichole Dowdy-Sanders Effect of d-Amphetamine (SO4) on Learning in Ts65Dn, a Murine Model of Down Syndrome, at 21-Months of Age; Shankar Munusamy Overexpression of Manganese Superoxide Dismutase in Renal Proximal Tubular Cells Protects Against Hyperglycemia-Induced Renal Injury; Lalit Oberoi UV-Visible Spectroscopy and Inotropic Effects of Organic and Aqueous Extracts of Terminalia Arjuna Bark on Adult Ventricular Myocytes; Brian Donahower Evaluation of VEGF as a Treatment for Acetaminophen Toxicity; Biny Joseph Down Regulation of Shaker-Type Voltage-Gated Potassium Channels in Cerebral Arteries During Hypertension; Dinesh Hirenallur-Shanthappa Upregulation of Ca2+ Channels in Pulmonary Microvessels of Neonatal Piglets with Hypoxia-Induced Pulmonary Hypertension; Swapnil Sonkusare Expression of a B2 Subunit Mutant Alters Ca2+ Currents in HLp1 Cells; Kathryn Seely Treatment with CB2 Specific Cannabinoids Modulate Expression of Inflammatory Cytokine/Chemokine mRNA in Spinal Cords of G93A-SOD1 Mice; Sarah White Pharmacokinetics and Postnatal Effects Following Acute Methamphetamine Administration to Rats during Late-Stage Pregnancy; Himani Vejandla Hydrogen Peroxide and 4-Hydroxynonenal Downregulate L-Type Calcium Channel Expression in Rat Aortic Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells; and Zabeena Shaik Protein Kinase B/Akt Activation Improves Oxidative Phosphorylation in Injured Renal Cells. Congratulation to Nichole Dowdy-Sanders, a graduate student in the Interdisciplinary Toxicology Program! She has received a travel award from American Society of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics to attend the Experimental Biology meeting in April, 2007. Nichole's abstract “Effect of d-amphetamine-SO4 on learning in Ts65Dn, a murine model of Down syndrome, at 20-months of age” was also chosen for a press release. Accolades to the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences! They were ranked 5th in the nation by the Chronicle of Higher Education (Jan. 12, 2007) in the pharmaceutical sciences and medicinal chemistry category - despite having the smallest faculty among the top 10. Their faculty, headed by Dr. Russell Melchert, and the pharmacology graduate students in the Pharmaceutical Sciences Track, Zabeena Shaik, Rajesh Vadlapatla, and Lalit Oberoi, are to be congratulated for this outstanding accomplishment. Rohit Singhal, an INTOX graduate student working with Dr. Ronis, was recently awarded not one but three travel awards! One is to attend the Society of Toxicology meeting in March, 2007 and the other two: the Colgate Palmolive Award for Student Research Training in Alternative Methods and the Technology Transfer Award from the South Central Chapter of the Society of Toxicology will support Rohit to travel to the lab of his choice to learn new techniques. Rohit has chosen to visit Dr. Stephan Safe's lab at Texas A&M to learn Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) analysis. The 9th annual Seager-Braswell Graduate Student Research Symposium was held on February 9, 2007. Fourteen junior and senior graduate students from the Pharmacology and Interdisciplinary Toxicology programs presented their research findings to the department. We are very proud of our graduate students and special congratulations go out to this year's winners: Biny Joseph and Kathryn Seely in the Junior Division and Jennifer Shoemaker and Shankar Munusamy in the Senior Division. Pictures can be found here. Congratulations to graduate students Zabeena Shaik (Pharmacology Program) and Liping Wu (Interdisciplinary Toxicology Program) for having their research selected for presentation at the American Society of Nephrology meeting in San Diego on November 18, 2006. Our annual Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium was held on August 10, 2006. Six students presented results from their 10-week research projects. Congratulations to these outstanding undergraduates! Congratulations! to Manish M. Tiwari, Ph.D. for successfully defending his dissertation entitled "Mediator-directed interventions in experiemental sepsis-induced renal failure" in the Pharmacology program on December 2, 2005. Manish has enrolled at the University of Nebraska to complete his M.PH. degree. We wish you all the best! At our August 2005 faculty meeting, Dr. Rusch announced that Dr. Galen Wenger was named Vice Chair of the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology. Congratulations! Congratulations! to Nancy Rusch, Ph.D., chair of our department, on her new R01 grant from NHLBI entitled "Calcium channels in neonatal pulmonary hypertension". A special Congratulations! to Robert B. Dorman, Ph.D. for successfully defending his dissertation entitled "Early Mechanisms of Remote Liver Injury" on June 14, 2005. Dr. Dorman is our newest Interdisciplinary Toxicology Ph.D. graduate and will be returning to medical school to complete his M.D. degree. UAMS Student Research Week (April 11-14, 2005) was a big success. Seven
of our graduate students participated in the poster session: Manish Tiwari
"Disruption of renal microvascular flow in endotoxin-induced renal failure",
Robert Dorman "Cobalt protoporphyrin is hepatoprotective during
experimental rhabdomyolysis", Rohit Singhal "Soy protein isolate
reduces steady state aryl hydrocarbon receptor expression and cytochrome P4501A1
induction", January Baumgardner "Undernutrition fails to exacerbate
alcohol-induced liver damage despite evidence of increased oxidative stress",
Shankar Munusamy "Role of oxidants in cyclosporin A-mediated cytotoxicity
in rat proximal tubular cells", Venkata Bhogaraju "Zn-deficient
SOD1 as toxic species in ALS: demonstration of Zn-deficiency in SOD1 in vivo",
and Jennifer Shoemaker "Noladin ether: an endogenous, full agonist
at CB2 receptors". A special Congratulations to Jennifer! She won
the Graduate School Travel Award for her poster presentation! Congratulations to Zabeena Shaik! She was awarded an American Heart Predoctoral Fellowship for her project entitled "Role of Protein Kinase B/Akt in Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Renal Proximal Tubular Cells". Zabeena is working with Dr. Grazyna Nowak in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Four graduate students attended the Experimental Biology Meeting in San Diego in April. Robert Dorman, Jennifer Shoemaker, Nichole Dowdy, and Manish Tiwari each presented poster of their research. Congratulations! to Galen Wenger, Ph.D. on his new R01 grant from NIAAA entitled “Alcohol preference and cognitive function”. Robert Dorman, an M.D./Ph.D. graduate student in interdisciplinary toxicology was awarded the American Physiological Society Professional Opportunity Travel Award to attend the Experimental Biology meeting in San Diego in April. Mr. Dorman will be presenting his research entitled “Cobalt Protoporphyrin is hepatoprotective during experimental rhabdomyolysis.” This work was supported by UAMS through the Committee for the Allocation of Graduate Student Research Funds (CAGSRF). Manish Tiwari, a Ph.D. graduate student in pharmacology was awarded a Travel Award by the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics to attend the Experimental Biology meeting in San Diego in April. Mr. Tiwari will be presenting results from this study entitled “Bradykinin B2 signaling in murine proximal tubule epithelial cells”. This work was supported by UAMS through the Committee for the Allocation of Graduate Student Research Funds (CAGSRF). Alessandra Milesi-Hallé, a Ph.D. graduate student in pharmacology was awarded a Travel Award by the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics to present her research entitled “Pharmacokinetics of (+)-methamphetamine and its metabolite (+)-amphetamine in a methamphetamine self-administration paradigm in rats” at their annual meeting in Orlando in March. Angela Reid, a Ph.D. graduate student in pharmacology was awarded a Travel Award by the Society of Toxicology to attend their annual meeting in New Orleans in March. Ms. Reid will be presenting her research entitled “Reactive oxygen/nitrogen species in acetaminophen toxicity in freshly isolated mouse hepatocytes.” Page last modified 4/08 |
