Recap of the 2023 Accelerating Research Retreat
During summer 2023, the first retreat focused exclusively on the College of Pharmacy’s research enterprise was held on both campuses, connected by Zoom. Organizers sought to expand the internal college community’s awareness of the breadth and depth of research within the college, and research resources available through centers and institutes.
Programming included short presentations by many faculty members and center/institute leaders to reveal new collaboration opportunities and strengthen connection across the college. Research administrative staff members and leaders were engaged to improve partnership and optimize ongoing endeavors to pursue external support; assure good standing in terms of research integrity and ethics; cultivate investment partners, and enable innovations to be impactful for society.
Highlights of the retreat included key updates from associate vice president Pamela Webb and Shashank Priya, vice president of research, sharing his vision for the University research enterprise and how the research in the College of Pharmacy flows along a continuum of drug discovery, development, and implementation.
The retreat also aimed to leverage the broad expertise of the faculty and research partners to envision the top key priorities anticipated for the next five to ten years. Participants asked themselves how pharmacy practice will be revolutionized through new ideas and technologies that originate in the college. Groups considered current research strengths and how best to amplify reputation around these strengths. Resources to address gaps in basic research infrastructure and other forms of support were identified. Faculty and staff members are unified in their commitment to optimizing resources to ensure the college remains a vibrant and world-class environment to support graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, communities that are the power behind research innovation.
The summer research retreat engendered a consensus commitment to maintain the energy around accelerating the research mission. Throughout the coming year the Office of the Associate of Dean for Research will foster ongoing connectedness within the research community and cultivate the continuing conversations around prioritization and pursuit of resources. College faculty members are solving the world’s greatest challenges including, but not limited to, infectious disease, Alzheimer’s, addiction, chronic pain, contraception, epilepsy, cancer, AIDS, community health, personalized medicine. Maximizing support and optimizing strategy for the research enterprise will accelerate the collegiate commitment to improving human health and well-being.
Celebrating Postdoctoral Associates
Since 2009, the National Postdoctoral Association has celebrated National Postdoctoral Appreciation Week (NPAW) to recognize postdoctoral associates’ contributions to academic teaching and scientific research.
Faculty and staff from the College of Pharmacy gathered in September for a luncheon to honor and celebrate postdoctoral associates and their important role in the college and University. This special tradition celebrated their invaluable contributions to the college’s research mission. Nine postdoctoral associates gave short research presentations which engendered broader community understanding of the breadth of postdoctoral research in the college. Four postdoctoral associates received special honors for their research presentations.
- Dr. Holly Korthas (Ling Li, advisor), received first place for her research entitled “Does APOE connect COVID-19 to Alzheimer's Disease?”
- Dr. Benu George (Beshay Zordoky, advisor) received second place for the presentation, “Cardiosplenic Axis and Delayed Anthracycline-induced Cardiovascular Complications.”
- Tied for third place were Dr. Bhushan Munjal (Raj Suryanarayanan, advisor, “Interplay of formulation components in pharmaceutical systems and its implications.” and Dr. Jaehyeok Roh (Reena Kartha, advisor, “N-acetylcysteine, a potential adjunctive therapeutic option for Gaucher Disease.”