Two department of pharmaceutical outcomes and policy graduate students competed for top honors in the oral competition at the University of Florida College of Pharmacy’s 31st Annual Research Showcase on Feb. 12. Yan Li placed first in the Levitt Division of the oral contest for his presentation titled, “Prevalance and duration of skeletal muscle relaxant treatment among commercially insured adults in the United States: 2005 to 2015.” Ghadeer Dawwas earned second place honors for her presentation titled, “Cardiovascular outcomes of sodium glucose contransporter-2 inhibitors in patients with Type II diabetes.”
Li and Dawwas were among eight UF College of Pharmacy graduate students who competed in three divisions of the oral competition at Research Showcase. The annual event entered its fourth decade of celebrating discovery, collaboration and community at the UF College of Pharmacy this year. With 85 poster presentations, eight oral competition finalists and one amazing keynote speaker, the 31st consecutive showcase continued the college’s successful tradition.
Pharm.D. students, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows had the opportunity to share research findings and compete for awards in either oral or poster competitions. The showcase gave faculty and students the opportunity to come together, identify common ideas and explore collaborations.
Joseph W. Polli, Ph.D., a senior director and senior fellow at GlaxoSmithKline delivered the keynote address titled, “The Role of Transporters in Lapatinib CNS and Tumor Disposition.”
Polli specializes in the study of supporting drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics in drug discovery and development. His research emphasis focuses on drug disposition properties, particularly on central nervous system penetration, gastrointestinal drug absorption, liver disposition and drug-drug interactions.
Oral presentation winners
Levitt Division
Yan Li: Prevalence and Duration of Skeletal Muscle Relaxant Treatment Among Commercially Insured Adults in the United States: 2005-2015
Junior Division
Peilan Zhang: A Cytotoxic Protein from the Mushroom Coprinus comatus Possesses an Unique Mode for Glycan Binding and Specificity
Senior/Millard Division
Yasmeen Abouelhassan: RNA-Seq Reveals Unique Mechanism of MRSA Biofilm Eradication Using Halogenated Phenazine HP-14 as a Probe Molecule
Oral Competition Judges
Levitt Division
- Joshua D. Brown
- Kalen Manasco
Junior Division
- Chris McCurdy
- Daiqing Liao
- Qui-Xing Jiang
Senior/Millard Division
- Chris McCurdy
- Joseph Polli
- Yousong Ding
Poster competition winners
Ph.D. Category
- Salma Bargal: GWAS for the Identification of Genetic Variants Predictive of Cytarabine In Vitro Sensitivity in Pediatric AML
- Sarthak Singhal: Oxytocin Enhances Excitatory and Inhibitory Synaptic Transmission in a Layer Specific Manner in the Rat Medial Prefrontal Cortex
Postdoc Category
- Sonal Singh: A Novel Missense Variant in the BEST3 Gene is Associated with Antihypertensive Response to Hydrochlorothiazide
Pharm.D. Category
- Brian Piotrowski: Time Analysis of the Effect of Binge Ethanol Intake on Reinforcement Caused by Optogenetic Acitivation of Oxytocin Receptor Expressing Neurons in the VTA
Poster Competition Judges
Poster judges
- William Cary Mobley, R.Ph., Ph.D.
- Margaret O. James, Ph.D.
- Thomas Schmittgen, Ph.D.
- Sihem Bihorel, Ph.D., Pharm.D., M.S.
- Drake Morgan, Ph.D.
- Ashley N. Brown, Ph.D.
- Chengguo Chris Xing, Ph.D.
- Anthony M. Casapao, Pharm.D.
- Ranjala Ratnayake, Ph.D.
- David DeRemer, Pharm.D, FCCP, BCOP
- Jenny Wilkerson, Ph.D.
- Christopher Campbell, Pharm.D., BCPPS
- Kalen Manasco, Pharm.D., BCPS, FPPAG
- Lance McMahon, Jr. Ph.D., M.S.
- Kelly K. Gurka, MPH, Ph. D.
- Joseph Polli, Ph.D.