By: Aiśa Mrkulic PharmD Candidate c/o 2022              Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common reasons children require referrals for mental health services.¹ In fact, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends the screening of every child with ADHD for neuropsychiatric comorbidities. With, “one in every 20 children affected,” it exists…

By: Edwin Gruda, PharmD Candidate c/o 2022; Aiśa Mrkulic, PharmD. Candidate c/o 2022              Over-the-Counter (OTC) medications are typically used for mild pain relief. Many patients rely on their OTC medications to treat headaches, fevers, muscle pain, tooth aches and mild arthritis. In March of 2020, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a new…

By: Erica Tonti, PharmD Candidate c/o 2022 Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children, or MIS-C, is a recent syndrome recognized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The emergent outbreak of COVID-19 brought concern as to who would be affected by MIS-C and how severe the impact of the syndrome would be. Children, thought to…

By: Preethi Samuel, Pharm.D. Candidate c/o of 2021              In the United States, at least one person has a heart attack every 40 seconds and 1 of every 5 is silent.1 Heart attacks are commonly a result of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). Preceding plaque buildup in arterial walls can potentially lead to a heart attack…

By: Adrian Wong, PharmD Candidate c/o 2021 On May 5, 2020, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced its approval for Farxiga® (dapagliflozin) oral tablets to have a new indication: to lower the risk of cardiovascular death and hospitalization for adults with New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class II-IV heart failure (HF) with reduced…

By: Katharine Russo, PharmD Candidate c/o 2021              As of July 1, 2000, the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) mandated for the Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) degree to be the sole degree required to enter pharmacy practice in the United States. ¹ With this advanced degree came the complex education, training, and clinical practice…

By: Shea Dorsey, PharmD Candidate c/o 2021            COVID-19 has taken a major toll on the mental wellbeing of people around the world and continues to do so today, almost 7 months after the United States first announced quarantine. Many individuals previously diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, depressive disorder, trauma-and stressor-related disorder (TSRD) or expressed…

By: Mah Noor, PharmD Candidate c/o 2021              Over the past decade, pharmacists across the nation have joined in a number of grassroots efforts to gain legislative recognition as health care providers. As of 2019, thirty-four states have recognized pharmacists as providers in at least one section of their state statute or in their state…

By: Jeremy Mesias, PharmD Candidate c/o 2022            As we begin another October, we mark the start of American Pharmacist Month and celebrate pharmacists and their work around the country. We are also reminded of the great leaps and bounds our profession has made over the years to advance patient care. Behind all great progress,…

By: Lyana Sayilar, PharmD Candidate c/o 2020 Approved on April 17, 2020, tucatinib (TukysaTM) is indicated to aid in the treatment of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) positive metastatic breast cancer and could be a potential add-on therapy.3 Among the different types of breast cancers, an increase of HER2, a transmembrane glycoprotein consisting…

By: Jason Ifeanyi, PharmD Candidate c/o 2022 Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the viral strain responsible for causing COVID-19, continues to have a profound impact on communities at a local, national and global level. As of August 20, 2020, nearly 5.7 million confirmed cases exist in the United States with a total of…

By: Preethi Samuel, PharmD Candidate c/o 2021, Aisa Mrkulic, PharmD. Candidate c/o 2022              Opioid use disorder (OUD) is a chronic illness involving misuse of opioids, both prescribed and non-prescribed, as well as the use of illicitly obtained heroin. OUD carries a risk of fatal overdose, preceded by the following triad: pinpoint pupils, respiratory depression,…

By:  Natalia Loomis, PharmD Candidate c/o 2022 The World Health Organization announced the official name “COVID-19” on February 11, 2020 when the outbreak was first identified in Wuhan, China. ‘CO’ stands for ‘corona,’ ‘VI’ for ‘virus,’ and ‘D’ for disease and 19 for the year the first case occurred.2 The Center for Disease Control and…

By: Jason Ifeanyi, PharmD Candidate c/o 2022 Severe acute respiratory syndrome 2 (Sars-Cov-2), the viral strain responsible for causing COVID-19, continues to have an undeniable impact both on a national level and a global level. As of June 20th, 2020, there have been nearly 2.4 million reported cases in the United States, with nearly 122,000…

By: Shivani Kaneria, Pharm D. Candidate c/o 2020 Postpartum depression is a mood disorder that affects 10 – 20 percent of new mothers post childbirth per year, and is caused by a combination of both physical and emotional factors.5 Mothers who experience this form of depression undergo common symptoms of feeling sad, crying often with…

By: Aiśa Mrkulic, PharmD. Candidate c/o 2022 APhA’s Red Dress Gala continues to be their largest, not-for-profit fundraising event of the year. Welcome were members and non-members all the same. Student pharmacists from other chapters are often present—the 5th Annual Red Dress Gala being no exception! DAC Ballroom housed the festivities, as awareness was brought…

By: Alisha Kuriakose, PharmD Candidate c/o 2022 Every ten seconds, someone in the United States (U.S.) goes to the emergency room with complaints of head pain, many of which can be attributed to migraines. A migraine is a neurological condition characterized by intense and debilitating headaches. Those suffering from migraines may have experiences including nausea,…

By: Mah Noor, PharmD Candidate c/o 2021 Although the opioid crisis began in the late 1990s, there has been a recent increase in prescription and illicit opioid drug use which has led to an increased prevalence of opioid overdoses due to misuse and dependency. In 2017, the number of overdose related deaths involving opioids, including…

By: Darien Lee, PharmD Candidate c/o 2021            Wuhan, the most populous city in Central China, has a population of over 11 million people. The city is one of China’s largest transportation and manufacturing centers with dozens of railways and roads as well as thousands of technological enterprises and institutions, respectively. In late December 2019,…

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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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…