epartment of harmaceutical sciences - wilkes … · · 2018-03-01visioned that the modified...

This is my last note as I will be stepping down at the end of the semester. I have been

active in the area of pharmaceutical sciences for over 40 years and have enjoyed it

greatly. I am sure my replacement will bring a fresh and invigorating energy to the de-

partment. The purpose of this newsletter was to give the faculty in my department a

chance to showcase their scholarship and to share it with the other departments of

Pharmaceutical Science in schools of pharmacy across the country. I hope that you en-

joy the read and use it to stimulate your own department to develop an organ to show-

case your own faculty. I also hope you will consider interacting directly with the faculty

here on projects that might overlap our areas of scholarship. I will continue to do re-

search in the area of characteristics and properties of pharmaceutical excipients and

novel drug delivery forms. If you have similar interests please contact me directly.

Note from the Chair

WILKES UNIVERSITY’S NESBITT COLLEGE of PHARMACY & NURSING

Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences May 15, 2013 Issue 4

Special points of

interest:

Chair’s Note

Faculty Profiles

Departmental

Staff News

Faculty Research

Mentoring/Team

Building with Stu-

dents

©2013 Pictures by Jacqueline Ruane

DEPARTMENT OF

PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES

Faculty Update

Professor Arthur H. Kibbe, Ph.D. R.Ph. BS Pharmacy Columbia University M.S. & Ph.D Pharmaceutics University of Florida

Dr. Kibbe continues his research activities associated with Excipients and dosages forms. Most recently he has been examin-ing the Rabbit as a model to evaluate topical absorption. It is a smaller animal than the pig which is the standard for the evaluation of absorption of the API from a topical application and thus easier to use in small laboratories. He and his students tested the ab-sorption of Ketoprofen from extemporaneously compounded gels using formulas commonly thought to promote absorption. The lev-els reached in the rabbit after administration were below therapeutic levels. Anyone interested in col-laboration on this or other formulation issues should contact him directly at [email protected]

Professor Harvey Jacobs BS. Chemistry, & Ph.D. Pharmaceutics, University of

Utah

He is rejuvenating his research endeavors after several years of service to the School as asso-ciate dean for admissions and student affairs. He is focusing on two projects. The first is to chemi-cally modify glucose so it can be included in a polymeric delivery device and investigated for oral drug delivery systems. This research relies on procedures that were developed in the 1950’s and are still useful techniques today. The goal is to selectively perform chemical modifications on glucose through the C-6 carbon atom, rather than on the C-1 carbon. Modification through this site will allow the C-1 position (where the ring opens and closes) to be unchanged. This will allow binding of the modified glucose to specific receptors on cells. Once the modification is performed and characterized, the modified molecule will be included in a polymeric drug delivery device. It is en-visioned that the modified glucose molecules attached to the polymer will bind to glucose receptors along the GI tract. This will delay the transit of the device through the GI tract and allow for extended release of the drug. Research accomplishments to date include successful coupling of a vinyl-terminated group to the C6 posi-tion through an amide bond. Continued work will involve the polymerization of this group with other monomers to form the drug delivery device.

Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Professor Dan McCune B.S. Pharmacy, Butler

University, Ph.D. in Pharmacology, University of Kentucky Col-lege of Medicine, Postdoctoral studies, Cleveland Clinic Founda-tion Interests include neuropharmacology, alpha1-adrenergic receptor pharmacology, medicinal plants of the Amazon, Spanish, and com-petitive fencing. In the laboratory Dr. McCune continues his work with human arterial smooth muscle cells as a model system. Using Western blots, they have verified co-expression of three alpha1-adrenergic receptor (α1-AR) subtypes (α-1A, -1B, and -1D) in primary human aortic, coronary and pulmonary smooth muscles cell types. RT-PCR has confirmed the presence of mRNA in aortic and pulmonary cells. Assays for subtype selective differences in signal transduction and function are just beginning. Additionally, Dr. McCune plans to return to the Peruvian Amazon this summer as a preceptor for students at GAI Global’s “Study of Medicinal Plants of the Amazon”. Dr. McCune continues to coach the Wilkes Fencing Club. Alumni News Kyle A. Olszewski, Pharm. D., a Wilkes University graduate in 2009 is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Pharmacology in the Department of Pharmacology and Systems Biology, University of Colorado. Kyle works with Lynn E. Heasley, Ph.D. Dr. Heasley’s laboratory is investigating the role of MAP ki-nases and specific receptor tyrosine kinases in lung epithelial cells and human lung cancer cell lines.

Professor Marie Roke Thomas, Ph.D. B.S. Biology, Wilkes University, Master in Public Administration, Seton Hall University, Ph.D., Human Development and Health Promotion, Marywood Univer-sity. Marie Roke Thomas is an Associate Professor in the Nesbitt School of Pharmacy, Wilkes University. She is a member of the Pharmaceutical Sciences Department where she has been recog-nized as Teacher of the Year 2010, 2011 and 2012 and also re-ceived the 2011-2012 Faculty Member of the Year by the student body of Wilkes University. She serves on Student Affairs and as Faculty Advisor to students in APhA (American Pharmacists Associ-ation). Her focus is to increase student awareness as it applies to providing health care services to the uninsured. She encourages the development of responsible citizenship and promotes the development of integrated, collabora-tive, multidisciplinary learning, to better coordinate patient care in the underserved populations. She and her team of advisees also received the Nesbitt Trophy for outstanding public service for 2010, 2011, and 2012. Dr. Thomas serves on the Board of Directors of the Volunteers in Medicine (VIM), the HIV Procurement Committee with the United Way, and as a volunteer for the YMCA. She collab-orates with Dr. Mary McManus to provide pharmaceuticals, fund raising and service learning oppor-tunities with students to the several free clinics set up to serve the Wilkes Barre and surrounding ar-eas.


Professor Adam VanWert, Pharm.D., Ph.D. Pharm.D., Wilkes University; Ph.D. (Pharmacology/Toxicology), Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC).

Adam returned to Wilkes in the fall of 2008 after receiving his Ph.D. at MUSC. His doctoral research was in the area of drug transport in the kidney. His didactic training was broad, with a fo-cus on toxicology. His current research involves investigation of the interactions between antibiotics and kidney transporter pro-teins (e.g., OAT3). Techniques used include HPLC, Western blot-ting, and cell culture. He works with students in the lab during both the school year and summer; the latter being supported by a Wilkes Mentoring Grant. He was introduced to research at Wilkes while working with Dr. James Culhane from 2000-2003. He was offered jobs in both the FDA and biotech sector, but chose to return to Wilkes because of his passion for teaching, his positive experience with the faculty, and the family-like environment on campus. On the teaching front, Dr. VanWert has been recognized as Teacher of the Year (2009-2010). He teaches pharmacology of several disease states, e.g., cardiovascular, neoplastic, and gastrointestinal. He has also developed a toxicology elective in which guest lecturer, Jeanna Marraffa, Pharm.D., DABAT (Upstate Medical University Poison Center, SUNY), introduces clinical toxicology to pharmacy students. Most recently, Adam has been invited to become a Graduate Affiliate Faculty member in the Phar-maceutics Department at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). He will serve on dissertation com-mittees in this role. In addition, he was invited to present his research at VCU in the Pharmaceutics Seminar Series on October 23, 2012.

Professor Ajay Bommareddy, Ph.D. B.Pharm; Osmania University India, Ph.D. (Pharmacology); South Dakota State University, Post-doc; University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Ajay continues teaching pharmacology of important drug clas-ses used in major disease states, e.g., renal, neoplastic, and endocrine disorders, along with the elective on phytochemi-cals. In addition, he also started teaching Anatomy and Physi-ology to P-1 students along with other instructors for that course. On the research front, he is continuing with his efforts on prostate cancer chemoprevention employing alpha-santalol. Currently two P-3 students and a P-2 student are as-sisting him with a research project on “Role of alpha-santalol on prostate cancer cell cycle arrest” employing cell culture models. As per the research conferences, he attended the annual American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) conference in Washington, D.C. from April 6-10, 2013 and presented a research poster. Research Interests: The long-term goal of my research is to identify the mechanism (s) through which the naturally occuring active compounds inhibit the prostate cancer growth, and contribute substantially to enhance our understanding of the disease prevention and treatment.



Professor Zbigniew J. (ZJ) Witczak, M.S. & PhD. Medical University of Lodz, Poland. Postdoctoral fellow Purdue University (Professor Roy L. Whistler)

Dr. Witczak continues his work on L-arabinose enones which are starting templates for the synthesis of various classes of rare sugars. His developments of novel (thio-sugars, aminosugars) as potential ther-apeutics directly from novel chiral building “synthon” L-arabinose epox-ide have pointed the way toward new generation of antiproliferative agents with potential antibacterial and antiviral activity.

Recently Dr. Witczak was selected as 2011 American Chemical Society Fellow for his “excellence in contribution to the chemical sci-ences and in service to the ACS and the chemistry community”.

Students working with Dr. Witczak in Independent Research project: Neepa Patel, Nathalie Kocon, Elham Takin

http://www.foodsci.purdue.edu/wccr/

Mary F. McManus, Ph.D., R.Ph. Dr. McManus joined Wilkes University in 2000 as a molecular toxicologist with ex-pertise in neurotoxic agents. In response to the needs of the underserved individ-uals of the region, Dr. McManus’s research interests transitioned into the area of public health, patient advocacy, and poverty medicine focusing on delivery of im-proved medical care to underserved and vulnerable individuals. To this end, she has developed, directed and collaborated in initiatives which improve health care for underserved individuals at local, state and national levels. This includes fo-cused application of pedagogical principles in the evolving discipline of poverty medicine with the goal to improve the interprofessional scholarship of practitioners in this area. She currently teaches anatomy and physiology, immunology and bio-technology, and service learning in pharmaceutical sciences. Dr. McManus has recently completed a Medical Education Research Certification to enhance com-munity based participatory research initiatives in underserved populations. She is involved in preventative public health programs which will decrease the disease

burden within vulnerable populations. In addition to Dr. McManus’s teaching and research interests, she is

active within the University community. She is dedicated to student learning, faculty and staff development and the overall well being of the community at large.

Professor Kenneth Pidcock B.S.Ed, Secondary Education, Millersville State College; M.S., Ph.D., Biology, Lehigh University Kenneth Pidcock is an Associate Professor in the Biology department at Wilkes University, and he teaches the introductory microbiology course in the Nesbitt School of Pharmacy. Ken is a bacteriologist whose research involves molecular investigation of the biology and persistence of bacteri-al agents of infectious disease, with an emphasis on nosocomial and mul-tiply drug-resistant infections. He and his colleagues are currently con-ducting surveillance of KPC carbapenemase-producing Klebsiella pneu-moniae. The KPC carbapenemase confers resistance to essentially all β-lactam antibacterial drugs, and K. pneumoniae carrying its gene are typically resistant to multiple other clas-ses of drugs, limiting treatment options.. Ken and his colleagues have focused on carbapenem-resistant K. pneumoniae isolated in northeastern Pennsylvania, examining them for clonality and expression of KPC and other β-lactamases. To date, they have learned that there are multiple clones of K. pneumoniae expressing KPC-3 genes circulating in the region, and that the replicons on which β-lactamase genes harbored by these isolates are located are highly mobile.

Adjunct Professor Roman Bielski, MS, & Ph.D. in or-

ganic chemistry. Warsaw University of Technology (Poland). He carried out his post-doctoral research with Sir Derek Barton at Im-perial College in London. After spending several years in academia (Warsaw Agricultural University, Lehigh University and Cornell Univer-sity) he worked in and co-founded a few small biotech companies. His research interests include origin of homochirality (together with M. Tencer he discovered a novel chiral influence – a set of three orthogo-nal orienting factors), environmental solutions and sustainable materi-als. He published about three dozen papers and co-authored more than a dozen patents. He is helping our Department to secure funding for research projects.


Jackie Ruane Jackie Ruane coordinated Women Empowered by Science this Fall and Spring semester for the Pharmacy Department. The lab was entitled “Stick It to Me, An Introduction to Aseptic Technique.” Lo-cal grade school students from the area had the opportunity to learn about aseptic technique and how pharmacists prep intravenous medications in a laminar flow hood. The students were so excited to ac-tually get to use a needle and syringe to inject an orange with water! “I use an orange because the out-side skin resembles human skin,” says Jackie. Most of the students have had vaccine injections when they were younger and some have had actual IVs when they were hospitalized. They really enjoyed the lab but most importantly gained the knowledge of what hospital pharmacists do!

Departmental Staff

Theresa Rule

Theresa joined the Pharmaceutical Sciences Department as the Administrative Assistant in Au-gust, 2008. Ms. Rule has taken on many new responsibilities both within and outside the department pertinent to both faculty and students. Theresa, is currently a member of the Wilkes University Staff Ad-visory Committee. Ms. Rule is a graduate of Lackawanna Junior College. Presently, she is pursuing her education further in the Business Administration area at Wilkes University. Theresa enjoys spending time with her family. She and her husband, Jim, have three daughters, Tera, Brittny, and Tiffany. Tera is a recent graduate of the Doctorate of Pharmacy Program here at Wilkes. Brittny and Tiffany are also students at Wilkes University.


Dan McCune, Ph.D. Three α1-adrenergic receptor (AR) subtypes have been cloned, the α1A-, α1B-, and α1D-AR. Additionally, 16 splice variants of the α1A-AR have been isolated in human tissues. We characterized the expression and function of α1-ARs in primary human aortic, coronary, and pulmonary vascular smooth muscle cells (ASMCs, CSMCs, PSMCs). Receptor expression was detected by western blot in all three cell lines, while mRNA was detected by RT-PCR utilizing subtype and splice variant specific primers. Both ASMC and PSMC express mRNA for the α1A-, α1B-, and α1D-ARs. Interestingly, mRNA for α1A-AR splice variants 1-3, but not 4, was de-tected in ASMCs and PSMCs.. Response to agonist was assayed by measuring increases in intracellular cal-cium. Both ASMC and PSMC displayed increases in intracellular calcium in response to the α1-AR selective agonist phenylephrine, suggesting functional receptor expression. This was blocked by the antagonist prazosin, which also displayed inverse agonist properties. Simultaneous expression three α1-AR subtypes is consistent with previous reports. The significance of α1A-AR splice variant expression is currently unknown. Further study with selective ligands in order to assesses subtype specific signal transduction is required. This work resulted in abstracts presented by Wilkes students at the international Experimental Biology conference. One of the student participants has since joined the Department of Pharmacology as a graduate student at the University of Colorado.

Adam L. VanWert, Pharm.D., Ph.D. Dr. VanWert’s research deals primarily with characterizing drug transporters in the body. During his graduate training he was interested in determining the role of organic anion transporter 3 (Oat3) in the disposition of a variety of drugs. A major finding from this work was the discovery that Oat3 is a critical protein involved in the renal elimination of benzylpenicillin (penicillin G), as well as other commonly used drugs. With knowledge gained on this transporter, and an arsenal of techniques to assess transporter function and expression, he has formulated several new research questions. One major goal is to evaluate the potential for quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) analysis in the development predictive models; particularly models that can predict drug-drug transporter affinity/activity based on physicochemical properties of the drug. This pur-suit will ideally lead to more opportunities for rational drug design, and thus, more expeditious development of efficacious drugs. Techniques that students are actively learning and employing in his lab include HPLC, flu-orescence spectroscopy, drug transporter assays, mammalian cell culture, immunoblotting, and others. He welcomes new opportunities for collaboration, and encourages interested readers to contact him at [email protected].

Adam and several students have recently published an original research article in Drug Metabolism and Disposition. Their findings revealed important information about drug recognition by Oat3.

Organic Anion Transporter 3 Interacts Selectively with Lipophilic β-Lactam Antibiotics


Ajay Bommareddy, Ph.D. Cancer chemoprevention which primarily focuses on employing bioactive plant compounds, dietary com-pounds and certain chemicals in blocking or inhibiting/reversing the development of cancer in normal or pre-neoplastic tissues has gained significant attention in recent years among scientific community. Dr. Bomma-reddy research interests primarily focuses on exploring the chemopreventive properties of naturally occurring compounds using prostate cancer as a model. Currently, he is investigating the role of alpha-santalol, derived from sandalwood oil on prostate cancer development employing cell culture and animal models. Building up-on the data obtained in cell culture models which was published last year (Phytomedicene, 19: 804-811, 2012), he will be working on the upstream signals responsible for the apoptotic cell death caused by alpha-santalol selectively in prostate cancer cells. He actively collaborates both with in the department and also with scientists from South Dakota State University and University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Interested readers can contact him at [email protected] for collaboration.

Faculty Research Interests

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23344796

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23344796

Faculty, Staff & Students’ News/Accomplishments


Dr. Zbigniew J. Witczak Book: Click Chemistry in Glycoscience:New Development and Strategies, Edited by Z. J. Witczak and R. Bielski,

John Wiley & Sons, New York, 2013. Publications:

Paradigm and Advantage of Carbohydrate Click Chemistry Strategy for Future Decoupling” R. Bielski, Z. J. Witczak, in “Click Chemistry in Glycoscience: New Developments and Strategies”

Edited by Z. J. Witczak, R. Bielski, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 2013. Thio-Click Chemistry Overview and Perspectives” Z. J. Witczak, in “Click Chemistry in Glycosci-

ence: New Developments and Strategies” Edited by Z. J. Witczak, R. Bielski, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 2013.

Strategies of Coupling Molecular Units when later Decoupling is needed” R. Bielski, Z. J. Witczak, Chem.

Rev. 2013, 113, 2205.

Mycalamides, Pederin and Psymberin as Natural Carbohydrates and Potential Antitumor Agents: Past and Future Perspectives” Z. J. Witczak, R. M. Rampulla, A. Bommareddy, Mini Review in

Medicinal Chemistry, 12, (14), 1520-1532, 2012.

Thio-click Approach to Glycomimetics” Z. J. Witczak, Phosporus, Sulfur & Silicon and the related Elements, 188, 237-244, 2012.

Lecture Presentation :

Chiral building blocks from L-arabinose for thio-click functionalization” Z. J. Witczak, presented at 245th ACS National Meeting, April 7-11, 2013, New Orleans, LA, Abstract CARB-,

Dr Arthur H. Kibbe

Poster Presentation: B. Beidel, J. Bohan, E. Thudium, C. D’Ippolito, A. VanWert, H. Jacobs, and A.H. Kibbe Liq-

uid dosage forms intended for pediatric use: Lisinopril & Meclazine presented at APHA, 2011.

Dr. Ajay Bommareddy Publication:

Santha S, Bommareddy A, Rule B, Guillermo R, Kaushik RS, Young A, Dwivedi C. Antineoplastic effects of α-santalol on estrogen receptor-positive and estrogen receptor- negative breast cancer cells through cell cycle arrest at G2/M phase and induction of apoptosis. PLoS 8(2): e56982. 2013

Wolman AT, Gionfriddo MR, Heindel GA, Mukhija P, Witkowski S, Bommareddy A, Vanwert AL. Or-ganic anion transporter (OAT3) interacts selectively with lipophilic β-Lactam antibiotics. Drug Me-tabolism and Disposition Drug Metabolism and Disposition, 41(4):791-800, 2013.

Witczak ZJ, Rampulla RM, Bommareddy A. Mycalamides, Pederin and Psymberin as Natural Car-bohydrates and Potential Antitumor Agents: Past and Future Perspectives. Mini Reviews in Me-dicinal Chemistry, 12 (14): 1320-32, 2012.


Special Research Project Conducted by our Students

Students from the Nesbitt School of Pharmacy, under the direction of Marie Thomas, Ph.D., have em-barked on a research project involving pain medication and daVinci® Robotic Surgery. Mohamed Jalloh and Paul Boylan, two P3 students, have been working with Dr. Clark Gerhart of Surgical Specialists of Wyoming Valley, in collecting data on the first fifty robotic cases for cholecystectomy versus the first fifty cases done with traditional single incision laparoscopic surgery (SILS). Dr. Gerhart is a board certified general surgeon who has extensive training in laparoscopic and bariatric surgery. Students are collecting data on operating room times, cost, anesthe-sia time, blood loss, diagnosis, complications and pain medication given in the recovery room. The introduction of minimally invasive surgical techniques has led to smaller and fewer incisions being used for general surgical procedures. Single incision laparoscopic surgery (SILS) has taken this progression to its ultimate conclusion of only one incision in the abdominal wall. Single site techniques have been reported as safe and feasi-ble alternatives to standard four port laparoscopic cholecystectomy (Ikeda, et al, 2013; Kurpiewski, et al, 2012; Chuang, 2013; Van Den Boezem, et al, 2012; Culp, et al, 2012). However, the SILS techniques have not been widely accepted into common practice and it has been suggested that the steep learning curve, longer operative times, and increased costs have limited its use (Culp, et al, 2012; Chang, et al, 2012). Recent reports of increased bile duct injuries (Phillips, et al, 2012) have raised significant concerns about the use of SILS cholecystectomy in common practice. The concept of single incision surgery is still appealing to minimally invasive surgeons, however, who would still like their patients to experience the benefits shown to accompany single incision procedures such as improved cosme-sis, less pain, quicker recovery, and improved patient satisfaction. (Culp, et al, 2012; Madureira, et al, 2013; Vi-lallonga, et al, 2012; Ikeda, et al, 2012). In an attempt to retain these benefits, robotic instrumentation has been developed that allows single incision laparoscopic surgery to be performed with greater dexterity due to the wristed articulation of the laparoscopic instruments. Initial reports have suggested that robotic instrumentation will allow single incision procedures to be performed with similar advantages and potentially safer than the SILS procedures (Pietrabissa, et al, 2012;Spinoglio, et al, 2012;Spinoglio, et al, 2008). Robotic assisted cholecystectomy is a new, single incision approach to removal of the gallbladder. Students from

the Nesbitt School of Pharmacy, under the direction of Dr. Marie Thomas, have embarked on a research project

involving pain medication and daVinci® Robotic Surgery. Mohamed Jalloh and Paul Boylan, two P3 students, have

been working with Dr. Clark Gerhart of Surgical Specialists of Wyoming Valley, in collecting data on the first fifty

robotic cases for cholecystectomy versus the first fifty cases done with traditional single incision laparoscopic sur-

gery (SILS). Students are collecting data on operating room times, cost, anesthesia time, blood loss, diagnosis,

complications and pain medication given in the recovery room.

http://pubget.com/search?q=author:%22Giuseppe%20G%20Spinoglio%22&from=18484134


Here are some students from WEBS dosing an orange with water! The orange is a good tool to practice with because it simulates natural skin.

By Jacqueline Ruane

Ajay Bommareddy and students William Eggelston, Stacy Prelewicz, Andrea Antal presented a

poster on “Chemoprevention of prostate carcinogenesis in TRAMP mice by α-santalol by causing cell cycle arrest and induction of apoptosis” at the 104th annual American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) conference held at Washington D.C (April 9th 2013).


epartment of harmaceutical sciences - wilkes … · · 2018-03-01visioned that the modified...

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