Pharmacy students win research honors

Seven University of Florida students won top honors at the College of Pharmacy's 14th Annual Research Showcase Day April 19.

Faculty judges selected the winners from 29 oral and poster presentations. Amy Buchwald won the senior graduate oral competition for research exploring the development of a safe anti-glaucoma drug.

Buchwald received her doctoral degree in pharmaceutics/center for drug discovery at the May 5 commencement ceremonies Wu Xiao, department of pharmaceutics, won the junior division oral competition for research on the infection mechanism of adeno-associated virus, an apparently harmless virus commonly used as a vehicle for gene therapy.

Jerry Ryan Holder, a graduate student in medicinal chemistry, won the Levitt Award, an oral competition award provided by Dr. Robert and Phyllis Levitt for students interested in the field of neuropsychopharmacology. Holder researched drugs that trigger a response by cellular receptors for the hormone melanocortin. The hormone and its receptors play a role in feeding behavior and therefore are a potential therapeutic target in the treatment of obesity. Each of the divisional winners in the oral competition received a $600 cash award.

Sooyeon Kwon, from the department of pharmacy health care administration, and Anthony Smith, from the department of pharmacodynamics, were co-winners in the graduate student poster competition. Kwon presented her research on a new way to evaluate a drug from the perspective of society or payors. Smith measured levels of the amino acid taurine in the brains of rats after they had received an ethanol injection. Because taurine appears to play a role in detoxification, supplementation of the amino acid is considered a possible pharmacological approach to aid in the process of withdrawal from alcohol. Kwon and Smith each received a $300 award.

Postdoctoral fellow division winner, Brian Puckett, department of pharmacy practice, identified genetic differences in patients undergoing a dobutamine stress test, which is used to evaluate coronary artery disease in people who cannot exercise on a treadmill. Genetic factors may influence an individual’s resting blood pressure and heart rate, thus predicting a response to dobutamine.

DeArcy Campbell, department of pharmacy health care administration, won the pharmacy student division poster competition. Campbell showed how unit-of-use medication packaging produces dispensing efficiency. Puckett and Campbell each received a $200 prize. Winners in both oral and poster competitions received a commemorative plaque in addition to their cash awards.

Barr Laboratories Inc. is the major sponsor of the Research Showcase. Andrex Corp. sponsored the poster competition and Dr. Robert and Phyllis Levitt sponsored the Levitt Award.