By: Michael Lim, PharmD Candidate c/o 2020            Osteoporosis is a bone disease affecting nearly ten million people in the United States.1 It can be caused by excess bone loss, insufficient bone production, or a combination of both factors. The disease is responsible for two million broken bones and 19 billion dollars in related healthcare…

By: Yao Jiang, PharmD (St. John’s University c/o 2019)            “Do you want to do a residency?” a senior pharmacy student asked me as I strolled past their booth on Pharmacy Organization Day during my first year of pharmacy school. I stopped for a minute, but everything they said about post graduate training and clinical…

By: Evanthia Siozios, PharmD Candidate c/o 2020            Anxiety, nausea, muscle pain, insomnia are some of the most common withdrawal symptoms experienced when users stop taking opioids. According to a randomized controlled trial entitled Prescription Opioid Addiction Treatment Study (POATS) conducted in outpatient treatment settings across the United States including Mclean Hospital in Massachusetts and…

By: Daniela Farzadfar, PharmD Candidate c/o 2020            Over 30 million Americans are currently living with diabetes. According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), in 2017, the total cost of diagnosed diabetes in the United States was 327 billion dollars with 237 billion dollars alone attributed to direct medical costs.1 Among these direct medical costs…

By: Michael Lim, PharmD Candidate c/o 2020            In a February 2019 Senate Finance Committee hearing, executives from major pharmaceutical companies including AbbVie, Merck, and AstraZeneca were criticized for the high cost of brand-name prescription drugs.1 When asked why brand-name prescription drugs in the United States were more expensive compared to other developed countries, an…

By: Michael Lim, PharmD Candidate c/o 2020            As modern technology continues to grow ever more complex and powerful, it is no surprise that the healthcare industry is constantly searching for medical applications of the latest technological advancements. Whether it be new health system software or medical devices for at home testing, the integration of…

By: Evanthia Siozios, PharmD Candidate c/o 2020            A diagnosis of epilepsy requires either two unprovoked seizures or one unprovoked seizure with the possibility of having more.1 These seizures are not usually caused by factors such as alcohol withdrawal or hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). Missing doses of seizure medication is the most common cause of…

By: Michael Lim, PharmD Candidate c/o 2020            In 2017, 70,237 overdose deaths occurred in the United States. Of those deaths, 47,600 (sixty-seven point eight percent of all drug overdose deaths in 2017) involved opioids.1 As the current main driver of drug overdose deaths, opioids and their misuse and abuse represent an ongoing health epidemic…

By: Sylvia Hong (PharmD Candidate c/o 2021), Muaz Sadeia (PharmD Candidate c/o 2021)            On March 5, 2019, Janssen Pharmaceuticals gained approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for esketamine (Spravato™), the first fast acting nasal spray antidepressant indicated for treatment of resistant depression as conjunctive therapy to oral antidepressants in adults.1 This new…

By: Michelle Lavrichenko, PharmD Candidate c/o 2020            What does it mean to be a pharmacist? A pharmacist is a qualified health care professional who reviews, prepares, and dispenses medications; but what is the definition of the term qualified as it pertains to pharmacy practice? In order to obtain a license to practice pharmacy, one must pass the North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination…

By: Sarah, Hewady, PharmD Candidate c/o 2020            Calcium’s fundamental importance in the early hemostasis phase of wound healing has been established through its role as a cofactor in the blood-clotting cascade, facilitator of platelet aggregation with von Willebrand factor, and activator of protein kinase C, ultimately leading to glycoprotein IIb/IIIa’s increased binding affinity for…

By: Michael Lim, PharmD Candidate c/o 2020            In the investigation of gene function and its role in health care and disease management, RNA interference is an important scientific tool. Possessing the ability to individually turn off nearly 22,000 genes upon introduction into human cells, small interfering ribonucleic acids (siRNAs), while useful in research settings,…

By: Vasantha Kolluri, PharmD Candidate c/o 2019 With the recent advancement of oral oncology drugs, there has been an ever-growing need for specialty pharmacy services. Although these oral agents allow for patients to receive therapy at home, clinical outcomes heavily depend upon patient adherence and management. Specialty pharmacy is a niche area of pharmacy practice…

By: Yeonah Suk, PharmD Candidate c/o 2020 Of all the industrialized countries in the world, the United States (US) still ranks number one in having the highest rate of maternal mortality. Data from the World Health Organization demonstrates that overused procedures including early labor induction, restricting food and drink, as well as mandating bed rest…

By: Mah Noor, PharmD Candidate c/o 2021 As society flourishes, life seems to grow more complex. Among the barrage of images, voices and social media campaigns, a domestic issue which often seems to be neglected in the United States is the overall deficit in addressing various aspects of mental health. On May 30, 2018 The…

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: 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: 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: 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…