By: Joseph Eskandrous, PharmD Candidate c/o 2019 Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) is a gram-positive, anaerobic, sporogenic bacterium that is primarily responsible for antibiotic-associated diarrhea and is a significant nosocomial pathogen.1 Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is triggered by toxin production from the bacteria. Normal bacterial flora is disrupted when the colon is colonized with C. difficile…

By: Ruchira Kasbekar, PharmD Candidate c/o 2020 It is estimated that approximately 80,000 Americans died from the flu during the 2017-2018 flu season which is the highest death toll from influenza in the last four decades.1 As the 2017-2018 flu season progressed, there was a shortage of oseltamivir (Tamiflu®) availability. To prevent shortages during the…

By: Jonathan Mercado (PharmD Candidate c/o 2019), Rebecca Sin (PharmD Candidate c/o 2019) Immuno-oncology is an advanced and rapidly growing area of research focused on utilizing the body’s immune system to help fight cancer. Immunotherapy has demonstrated clinical efficacy and unprecedented rates of response in treating specific cancers, usurping the classical approach to chemotherapy and…

By: Michael Lim, PharmD Candidate c/o 2020 In 2010, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved fingolimod (Gilenya®) for the treatment of adults with relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS).1 Historically, fingolimod has been used as a convenient second line oral treatment upon failure of initial disease-modifying therapy for relapsing-remitting MS in adult populations.2 Therefore, when a…

By: Karen Chen, PharmD Candidate c/o 2019 On July 13th, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a voluntary recall of several different national drug codes (NDCs) of medications containing the active ingredient valsartan (Diovan®) after the discovery of an impurity called N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA). The reason for the recall was because the impurity…

By: Michael Lim, PharmD Candidate c/o 2020 As the nation continues to struggle with the growing opioid epidemic, numerous organizations, researchers, and even the president are taking initiative in resolving the crisis. Of these groups, perhaps one of the most proactive in its efforts is the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). With its promotion of…

By: Shivani Shah, PharmD Candidate c/o 2021 Medication therapy management (MTM) is a service provided by pharmacists to eligible patients who participate in a Medicare drug plan, namely part D. The geriatric population, which is included among the aforementioned eligible patients, is prone to taking numerous medications as they tend to have multiple disease states…

By: Rizwan Atiq, PharmD Candidate c/o 2019 – Biotin is a nutrient that is present in certain foods and is available as a dietary supplement. It is present in many multivitamins as well as sold as its own supplement in pharmacies and supermarkets. It is marketed as a vitamin which is used to improve the…

By: Maria Spilios, PharmD Candidate c/o 2019 – Opioid dependence is a major public health concern. Misuse of prescription opioids and heroin affects more than two million Americans and an estimated fifteen million people worldwide per year; the prevalence of misuse and addiction is rapidly increasing with each passing year. More than 20,000 deaths in…

By: Lameesa Dhanani, PharmD Candidate c/o 2019 – *Disclaimer: In November 2018, the FDA issued a Safety Communication against changing a patient’s medications solely based on the genetic test results since these genetic tests have not been reviewed by the FDA. In a competitive market where pharmacy jobs are scarce, I always remind myself why…

By: Michael Lim, PharmD Candidate c/o 2020 – In an era of widespread pharmaceutical innovation, the rise of biological products is no surprise. Biosimilars – biological products that are highly similar to and have no clinically meaningful differences compared to reference products that are approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) – have taken…

By: Shireen Farzadeh, PharmD Candidate c/o 2019 – Nivolumab (Opdivo®) is a monoclonal antibody that blocks programmed death receptor-1 (PD-1). PD-1 plays an important role in the immune checkpoint cascade. It is indicated for the treatment of melanoma, renal cell carcinoma, non-small cell and small cell lung cancer, squamous cell carcinoma of the head and…

By: Karen Chen, PharmD Candidate c/o 2019 – Ibalizumab-uiyk (Trogarzo®) is specifically indicated for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus type- 1 (HIV-1) infection in combination with other antiretroviral medications in heavily-treatment experienced adults with multidrug resistant HIV-1 infections who are failing their current antiretroviral regimen. Ibalizumab-uiyk is a CD4- directed post-attachment HIV-1 inhibitor that…

By: Alex Chu & Joseph Eskandrous (PharmD Candidates c/o 2019) – The geriatric population grows older with each passing day and is more likely to experience chronic pain due to shifts in body composition and pathological diseases.1 Chronic geriatric pain may be defined as an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential…

By: Shireen Farzadeh, PharmD Candidate c/o 2019 – Collaborative Drug Therapy Management (CDTM) began as a three year demonstration project in 2012. It was extended and passed as a bill in September 2015 by the New York State Assembly and Senate and signed into law by the Governor Andrew Cuomo. The CDTM authority was initially…

By: Shivani Shah, PharmD Candidate c/o 2021 – Pharmacists are the primary drug experts in the medical field. Medication reconciliation, patient counseling, and creating drug therapy regimens are important components of health care which are the pharmacist’s responsibility. Many pharmacists are commonly seen behind the counter at your local CVS or Walgreens, glued to a…

By: Natalie Rodriguez, PharmD Candidate 2019 Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, University of the Sciences  and Stacey Gorski, Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences – PRESS SUMMARY The most common cause of hyperthyroidism, or an over-active thyroid, is an autoimmune disease known as Graves’ disease.  In patients with Graves’ disease, the immune system attacks the thyroid gland…

By: Katharine Russo, PharmD Candidate c/o 2021 – Flight tickets, check. Passports, check. Luggage, check.   Month supply of Metformin, uh oh. Two months separate many from the beginning of summer and the slew of travel plans already being made. Pharmacists are often your overlooked travel specialists during the summer months. Stop by your local pharmacy…

By: Kathleen Horan, PharmD Candidate c/o 2020 – During my institutional Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experiential (IPPE) rotation in the emergency department at NYU Winthrop University Hospital in the spring of 2018, I witnessed a variety of interesting cases while shadowing my preceptor, emergency department pharmacist Megan Czuba, PharmD. Among these emergencies cases, I witnessed a…

By: Jonathan Mercado, PharmD Candidate c/o 2019 – In November of 2017, the FDA approved the first drug to contain digital sensors.1 Abilify MyCite® (aripiprazole) is indicated for schizophrenia and is manufactured by Japanese company, Otsuka Pharmaceutical.2 While patients may be hesitant to use a medication that digitally tracks whether or not they’ve taken it,…

By: Yeonah Suk, PharmD Candidate c/o 2020 – Despite the $107 billion a year cancer drug industry there is no substantiated cure for cancer. Cancer can be treated by targeting a variety of cellular mechanisms. One innovative approach incorporates the use of proteasome inhibitors in the regulation of programmed cell death. Damaged or inessential proteins…

By: Yao Jiang, PharmD Candidate c/o 2019 – While each flu season comes and goes, the 2017-2018 flu season caught health care professionals by surprise.  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), this season’s flu activity was the most widespread since the 2009 influenza pandemic caused by the influenza A (H1N1) virus,…

By: Shivani Shah, PharmD Candidate c/o 2021 and Jagannath Muzumdar, PhD Associate Professor Pharmacy – Pharmacy Administration and Public Health – INTRODUCTION The Center for the Advancement of Pharmacy Education (CAPE), in its most recent pharmacy education outcomes report, has called attention to the lack of personal and professional development of pharmacy students. In what…

By: Gabrielle Flavoni, PharmD Candidate c/o 2018 – This past November, the ACC/AHA released a new definition for the word “hypertension” that has been updated for the first time since 2003. Under these new guidelines, more than half of the U.S. population will now be categorized as having high blood pressure. Presented at the AHA’s…

By: Michelle Huang, PharmD Candidate c/o 2021 – In the midst of countless chronic diseases that we face today, one that is usually overlooked is posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). On average it affects 5.2 million individuals per year and women are twice as likely to develop PTSD.1 This overwhelming incidence is greatly attributed to the…

By: Jonathan Mercado, PharmD Candidate c/o 2019 – Hydroxyurea is a versatile, multi-functional drug that has been used for decades in the United States. It was originally approved in 1967 as an antineoplastic drug for use in multiple cancers including melanoma, ovarian cancer, and most prominently chronic myeloid leukemia (CML).1 Although approved as a chemotherapeutic…

By: Gabriel Ilyayev, PharmD Candidate c/o 2018 – My grandpa is a type 2 diabetic. My father is a type 2 diabetic. I’ve seen the injections, the side effects, the limitations that they’re forced to accept because of their condition. You know what I say to that? This must be stopped. My aunt, Stella Ilyayeva,…

By: Katharine Russo, PharmD Candidate c/o 2021 – With the continued increase of antibiotic resistant diseases, scientists are calling this current healthcare climate a pre-antibiotic era. β-lactam antibiotics, the most common class of antibiotics globally, include penicillins, cephalosporins, and carbapenems. They all act on the human body through the same mechanism of action (MOA) –…

By: Shireen Farzadeh, PharmD Candidate c/o 2019 – Sofosbuvir/velpatasvir/voxilaprevir (Vosevi®) is the first pangenotypic fixed-dose combination tablet that includes 400 mg of sofosbuvir, a Hepatitis C virus (HCV) nucleotide analog, 100 mg of velpatasvir, an HCV NS5A inhibitor, and 100 mg of voxilaprevir, an HCV NS3/4A protease inhibitors.1,2 In the interest of brevity, sofosbuvir/velpatasvir/voxilaprevir will…

By: Katharine Russo, PharmD Candidate c/o 2021 – The DEA announced in August 2017 that 2018 would bring strict manufacturing reductions to commonly prescribed schedule II opioid painkillers. As the opioid epidemic continues to take countless lives, the government, including President Donald Trump are cracking down on regulations. Under this directive, there will be a…

By: Katie Lee, PharmD Candidate c/o 2019 – In 2015, FDA approved evolocumab (Repatha ®), a human monoclonal antibody of the PCKSK9 (proprotein convertase subtilisin kexin type 9) inhibitor class.1 Evolocumab is used to treat adult patients with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HeFH) or clinical atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease who need further lowering of their LDL-C levels,…

By: Anna Diyamandoglu, PharmD Candidate c/o 2020 – The specificity of individuals’ genetic makeup has been one of the primary obstacles facing healthcare professionals in their attempt to treat cancer patients. Cancer is at the forefront of disease states which have proved difficult to understand and treat due to each patient’s unique genetic makeup and…

By: Katharine Russo, PharmD Candidate c/o 2021 – A traditional rite of passage, the 18th Annual Pharmacy White Coat Ceremony on October 21st, 2017 marked a student’s progression into the rigorous academic and professional years of pharmacy school at St John’s University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. As Senior Associate Dean for Pharmacy Dr.…

By: Gabrielle Flavoni, PharmD Candidate c/o 2018 – Pharmacists have always been deemed one of the most accessible health care providers in the community, especially to those who cannot often travel long distances. Over the years, many retail pharmacies began offering delivery services for prescription medications, specifically for the elderly and disabled. However, delivery services…

By: Vicky Liu, PharmD Candidate c/o 2018 – Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver commonly caused by viruses which can lead to self-limitation, fibrosis, cirrhosis, or liver cancer. Viral hepatitis is categorized into five types: A, B, C, D, and E. Of the five types, A, B, and C are the most prevalent in…

By: Anna Chen, PharmD Candidate c/o 2020 – Every day the public faces an onslaught of a new fad diet that promises to prevent boredom and the feelings of restriction that regular diets are famous for. One example is the banana diet that promises to keep one satiated with the high volume and fiber content…

By: Thanesha Graham, PharmD Candidate c/o 2019 – Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Gehrig was an American first baseman who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball for the New York Yankees and passed away from ALS at the age of 37. According to the Centers for Disease…

By: Zachary Reale, PharmD Candidate c/o 2018 – Today there are over fifty oral anticancer agents on the market and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have approved much of these agents within the last ten years.  The number of oral anticancer agents will likely continue to grow in the near future, as more than…

By: Yan Yi Chan, PharmD Candidate c/o 2018 – Tardive dyskinesia is a movement disorder characterized by involuntary and repetitive movements of the tongue, jaw, lips, face, trunk, upper and lower extremities, and respiratory system.1 This is usually associated with the use of dopamine receptor blockers such as antipsychotic medications in treating psychiatric disorders and…

By: Zachary Reale, PharmD Candidate c/o 2018 – Every April, pharmacists and pharmacy students from all across New York State gather in Albany for Pharmacy Lobby Day. The event, organized by the Pharmacists Society of the State of New York (PSSNY), is held in collaboration with many other New York State pharmacy associations including the…

By: Vicky Liu, PharmD Candidate c/o 2018 – On July 11, 2016, lifitegrast (Xiidra®), the first lymphocyte function-associated antigen 1 (LFA-1), was approved by FDA for the treatment of the signs and symptoms of dry eye disease. The risk for patients to develop dry eye syndrome increases with age, occurring in 5% of adults ages…

By: Katherine Russo, PharmD Candidate c/o 2021 – “Treat the whole patient and not the whole in the patient”  – Unknown From the new temporal scanner thermometers in your local pediatrician’s office, to needle-free diabetes care at home, to medication dispensing boxes in hospitals, the ever-evolving world of technology is no stranger to the healthcare…

By: Anna Diyamandoglu, PharmD Candidate c/o 2020 – Hepatitis C is an infectious disease which is caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV) and is characterized by inflammation of the liver. Its effects on the body range from a mild illness that lasts several weeks to a chronic illness that attacks the liver and affects…

By: Jonathan Mercado, PharmD Candidate c/o 2019 – In April 2016, the FDA approved the first drug specifically indicated for the symptoms of psychosis associated with Parkinson’s disease (PDP).1 Currently, clozapine and quetiapine are used off label to treat symptoms associated with Parkinson disease such as voices in patients’ heads, various hallucinations and delusions. In…

By: Kenny Chan, PharmD – Competition is the greatest driver of innovation and cost savings. The U.S. health care system relies heavily on generic medications to reduce the cost of drug spending. Since the Hatch-Waxman Act of 1984, generic versions of chemically synthesized, “small molecule” drugs have dominated the market and contributed to over 80%…

By: Victoria Hom, PharmD Candidate c/o 2018 – This year marked the 31st anniversary of Chernobyl, the worst nuclear disaster in history due to a malfunctioned reactor operated by inadequately trained staff. The accident’s explosion released a large plume of iodine-131, one of many radioactive substances, into the atmosphere, which prompted an evacuation around the…

By: Kimberly Lapierre, PharmD Candidate c/o 2017 – Since its inception in 2003, the Johnson Space Center Pharmacy has taken giant leaps to advance the field of pharmacy on Earth and in space. Under the direction of pharmacist Tina Bayuse, the pharmacy is responsible for preparing medication kits for astronauts at the International Space Station, creatively approaching medication challenges that come…

By: Jack (Hongkai) Bao, PharmD Candidate c/o 2018 – Inhalers are one of the most prescribed therapies used to treat respiratory disorders in patients. Anticholinergics, β-agonists, and corticosteroids are all packaged into a miniature device that patients must use correctly every time to ensure delivery of their medication. To complicate matters, a myriad of inhaler…

By: Gabrielle Flavoni, PharmD Candidate c/o 2018 – The release of this year’s updated immunization schedule has sent a buzz throughout the healthcare industry. From small changes in the footnotes to an addition to an entire new table, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has done what it could to clarify the guidelines, while…

By: Omar Rahman, PharmD Candidate c/o 2017 – Stevens-Johnson Syndrome is a unique skin disease that may be due to an infection, a response to medication, or other idiopathic causes. It is uncommon, as there are approximately only 20,000 cases worldwide annually. The etiology confirms that about half of the cases are in reaction to…