By: Neal Shah – There are two major classifications of drug-receptor activity: agonism and antagonism. Agonism occurs when a molecule binds to a receptor, causes an exertion of normal receptor operation, and eventually causes a response. Antagonism of a receptor occurs when a molecule binds to the receptor and does not allow activity to occur.1…

By: Nandini Puranprashad – As primary advocators of patient care, student pharmacists and pharmacists are well on their way in changing the public’s impression of us staying behind the counter at the corner drugstore doing nothing but “counting, licking, and sticking.” It is time to step out of the classroom and from behind the counters…

By: Jimmy Johnson, PharmD Candidate c/o 2012 – Drug shortages have become more and more of an issue in the health care industry. There are over 200 drugs on the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) drug shortage list – a number that has tripled in the last five years.1 The largest impact has been on anesthesia…

By: Mahdieh Danesh Yazdi – Dr. Elizabeth Palillo graduated from the University of Connecticut in 2006. She then worked as a manager at CVS for a year and a half, and eventually moved to New York, where she worked at two other CVS stores. Dr. Palillo then left CVS and joined Bronx-Lebanon Hospital as a…

By: Neal Shah – Dr. Ashby is a well-known Pharmacology professor for student pharmacists studying in their professional years. He graduated from the University of Louisville with a BA in Biology and Psychology in 1983. After obtaining his PhD in Pharmacology from the University of Louisville in 1987, he continued his education by obtaining a…

By: Neal Shah – The focus of pharmacy is rapidly shifting from simple filling and dispensing of prescriptions to preventative medicine and efficient clinical practice. The field of genetics has been incorporated in many defining therapies and will continue to shape how we treat our patients. Examples discussed here are the roles of human leukocyte…

By: Ebey P. Soman – Current research demonstrates a strong correlation between the length of time a child watches television and decreased long-term attention deficiency disorders. A new study by Lillard and Peterson at the Department of Psychology at the University of Virginia suggests that the popular children‘s television show, SpongeBob SquarePants, might be harmful.…

By: Neal Shah – As the year comes to a close, many pharmacy students are turning their sights onto the process of residency interviews. Residencies provide a competitive edge and an educational fulfillment to future pharmacists who wish to engage in clinical practice. On October 26th, Rho Chi held its first Mock Residency Interviews, open…

By: Dr. Olga Hilas – Foreword: Dr. Olga Hilas is an Associate Clinical Professor at Saint John’s University and a Clinical Pharmacy Manager in internal medicine and geriatrics at Weill Cornell Medical Center. Dr. Hilas agreed to provide feedback to in response to Ebey’s article entitled, “Big Pharma vs. Developing Countries: Debating Generic Drugs and…

By: Ebey P. Soman – Dr. Abu Serajuddin is a true inspiration for student pharmacists who wish to enter the pharmaceutical industry setting. He attained his Bachelors of Pharmacy with honors at Dhaka University in Bangladesh and majored in Pharmaceutics to get his Master of Sciences degree at Columbia University in New York. He obtained…

By: Ebey P. Soman – Meet Dr. Parnali Chatterjee, a new faculty member in our St. John’s University family. I had the opportunity to meet Dr. Chatterjee at the doctoral seminar hosted by Dr. Lin Mantell entitled, “Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics in Drug Discovery and Development.” I was introduced to Dr. Chatterjee through Dr. Frank…

By: Ebey P. Soman – The World Trade Organization (WTO) and its member nations met in Uruguay in 1994 to establish international norms for trade, economy, and development. They developed the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), which provided patent protection for pharmaceutical companies to make brand name medications and market those…

By: Mahdieh Danesh Yazdi – Heart failure is a condition in which the heart cannot pump blood efficiently to adequately perfuse tissues. It is often associated with serious consequences, such as kidney failure, liver dam-age, heart attack, and stroke. Patient care is focused on preventing these complications. Recently, attention has turned to other concerns: studies…