Summer Research Program launches students to careers in pharmaceutical research

As part of this summer’s Pharmaceutical Sciences Summer Research Program, 14 Lipscomb students spent 10 weeks exploring new drugs and treatments for various conditions including Alzheimer’s Parkinson’s, cancer, seizures and ALS.

Janel Shoun-Smith | 615.966.7078  |  12/11/2018

P2 students Breyanne Bannister and Vivian Truong, along with Ellie Boster, a visiting undergraduate student from Samford University, worked in the laboratory of Scott Akers, professor and chair of the pharmaceutical sciences department, to develop a phosphate prodrug of celastrol, a natural product used in pre-clinical models to treat seizures.

 A major limitation in celastrol’s development as a potential drug therapy for seizures is its limited oral bioavailability. Boster and Bannister began modifying the chemical structure of celastrol and utilized cheminformatic software to predict how these modifications could improve its bioavailability profile. Bannister and Truong worked to establish solubility and bioconversion assays to evaluate celastrol’s prodrug performance characteristics in simulated gastrointestinal fluids.

 These studies provided preliminary support for a recent NIH grant submission in collaboration with Vanderbilt University.

 Joe Deweese, associate professor in pharmaceutical sciences, focused on studying DNA topoisomerase II, which is an enzyme that is an anticancer and antibacterial drug target. Myles Keck, a P3 student, continued his work on characterizing the mechanism of thiosemicarbazones as inhibitors of topoisomerase II, which is in the process of being written for publication.

Kristine Hoang, P2 student, and junior Carmen Ayes focused on a project studying protein-protein interactions and modifications of topoisomerase II. This project focuses on a relatively unexplored region of the topoisomerase II enzyme with the goal of finding a way to more specifically target topoisomerase II in cancer.

 Juniors Madeline Wurst and Melica Nikahd worked with Nate Daniels, assistant professor in pharmaceutical sciences, developing novel antagonists of the dopamine D4 receptor in an attempt to combat L-DOPA induced dyskinesia (abnormal involuntary movement) in Parkinson’s disease patients. Wurst was an author of a published peer-reviewed journal article on the topic of psilocybin. P4 student Samuel Starks also published work from research he previously completed in the Daniels lab in collaboration with the Jackson lab.

 Spencer Oskin, a biochemistry senior, was supported by the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and he worked with Matt Vergne, assistant professor in pharmaceutical sciences, on two projects in the bioanalytical core laboratory. Spencer identified and characterized metabolites of masitinib, an investigational drug for ALS, colorectal cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. Spencer also characterized antioxidants in rooibos tea beverage in a collaboration with the Tennessee State University College of Agriculture. Spencer will present the masitinib research at Pittcon Analytical Chemistry conference in March.

 Undergraduate juniors Arsany Abouda and Jennifer Bissada and P2 students Elizabeth Burnham, KJ Li, and Truong worked with Klarissa Jackson to study the metabolism of the anti-cancer drugs, lapatinib and sunitinib, to better understand the mechanisms and risk factors of liver injury associated with these drugs.

 Abouda’s research was supported by a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship from the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. Bissada and Abouda received travel awards to present their summer research at the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students in November 2018. Burnham and Li also worked on a collaborative project studying the metabolism of compounds synthesized by a lab at the University of Michigan.

 The Pharmaceutical Sciences Summer Research Program is a 10-week internship that has supported nearly 100 full-time, part-time or volunteer research experiences for pharmacy and undergraduate students to engage in faculty-mentored laboratory research projects over the past 10 years. In addition to participating in hands-on research, students attend research seminars and presentations, evaluate the scientific literature, develop and present a research poster or seminar, and explore research career opportunities in the biomedical and pharmaceutical sciences.  

 Students in this program have gone on to secure highly competitive travel awards, scholarships, and fellowships at the national level. 

The program also serves as a bridge for students to pursue a graduate research degree in pharmacology through Lipscomb’s Pharm.D.-to-Ph.D. Pathway Program in collaboration with Vanderbilt University, Students are now being recruited by other premier, research-intensive academic institutions to pursue a graduate research degree in the areas of medicinal chemistry, pharmacology and the pharmaceutical sciences.