The UF College of Pharmacy’s 2021 Annual Research Showcase featured a record number of poster presentations, as participants embraced a new format in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. With the addition of a new postdoctoral trainee category, the event also featured more oral presentations than ever before. The hybrid format saw posters presented virtually and oral talks presented live in the HPNP auditorium, April 12-13. The 116 poster and 12 oral presentations explored diverse topics, from plasma microRNA profiling and biocatalytic synthesis to PROTAC-mediated BCL-XL degradation. Headlining the event was keynote speaker Kathleen M. Giacomini, Ph.D., a professor of bioengineering and therapeutic sciences at the University of California, San Francisco.
Pharm.D. students, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and undergraduates had the opportunity to share research findings and compete for awards in the poster competition. Postdoctoral associates and graduate students competed in four oral presentation categories. The showcase gave faculty and students an opportunity to come together, identify common ideas and explore research collaborations.
Giacomini gave an address titled, “Transporters in Precision Medicine: From Genomewide Association Studies to Functional Genomics.” She is a leader in the field of membrane transporters with a focus on genetic polymorphisms. She cloned, characterized and discovered the endogenous role of the human xenobiotic transporter, OCT1 (SLC22A1), and recently de-orphaned SLC22A24, an anion exchanger that preferentially transports steroid glucuronide conjugates.
Oral presentation winners
Postdoctoral Trainee Division
Arashdeep Singh, Ph.D. Pharmacodynamics: Unraveling underlying mechanisms of Bardet-Biedl Syndrome (BBS) phenotype
Junior Division
Corey Perkins, Pharmaceutics: Human pancreatic organoids to study the early events of pancreatic cancer
Senior: Basic Sciences Division
Manyun Chen, Medicinal Chemistry: Biocatalytic synthesis of natural anti-UV agents
Senior: Clinical Sciences Division
Mohammed Gbadamosi, Pharmacotherapy and Translational Research: The CIDDR gene expression signature predicts response to gemtuzumab ozogamicin
Poster presentation winners
Graduate Student Research: Cancer
- Kelton Schleyer, Medicinal Chemistry: Expanding the toolkit of small molecule imaging probes for heparanase
Graduate Student Research: Pain and Addiction
- Ariana Brice-Tutt, Pharmacodynamics: Development of a kappa opioid receptor antagonist to treat opioid use disorder
Graduate Student Research: Chronic Diseases
- Mingxin Yang, Pharmacodynamics: The role of nutrient-sensing hippocampal neurons in feeding
Graduate Student Research: Infectious Diseases
- Elham Amini, Pharmaceutics: Can pharmacokinetics assess the local bioequivalence of suspension nasal sprays?
Graduate Student Research: Drug Metabolism, Interactions and Outcomes
- Yuli Qian, Pharmacotherapy and Translational Research: Pharmacokinetic interactions between methylphenidate and cannabinoids
Postdoctoral Trainee/Resident Research
- Khalid Elsaafien, Pharmacodynamics: Angiotensin signaling in the paraventricular nucleus elevates blood pressure
Undergraduate Research
- Katelyn Rourke, Pharmacodynamics: Can sweetened drinks impair metformin’s effect on glucose control in obese mice?
Pharm.D. Research
- Kylie Paul: Comparative outcomes of Intralipid to SMOFlipid in extremely premature neonates
- Wendy Caba Piloto: TSLP/WDR36 variant associates with PPIREE
- Joshua Bilbrey: Evaluating effects of terpenoid compounds in mice with chronic neuropathic pain