News

Cyrielle Billon, Ph.D., assistant professor of pharmacology at University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis, has been chosen to serve on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Center for Scientific Review’s Cell Signaling and Molecular Endocrinology (CSME) study section.

Two articles featuring breakthrough kratom-related research conducted by Soumen Chakraborty, Ph.D., postdoctoral research associate in the Center for Clinical Pharmacology, were published in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry this fall.

In a recent study published in Nature Biomedical Engineering on November 25, 2021, Jordan McCall, PhD, MPH, alongside Jae-Woong Jeong, PhD, at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), and Sangtae Ha, PhD, at the University of Colorado, Boulder, have developed a method to remotely control brain circuits in multiple animals simultaneously and independently. By creating a wireless network utilizing implantable devices and equipment integrated with Internet of Things (IoT) technology, scientists have enabled leading-edge, large-scale neuroscience experiments that can study the brains of animals from almost anywhere outside of the lab. The low-cost setup of this system means it can be easily adopted by other labs due to its minimalistic hardware, ease of use, and customizability. Scientists will be able to implement this technology in their existing laboratories with minimal budget concerns to achieve remote access and automate experiments where having a human present could affect the outcomes of the study.

Susruta Majumdar, Ph.D., associate professor of medicinal chemistry and pharmacology at University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis, has been awarded $2 million in grants to further his work to target opioid and non-opioid receptors with the goal of creating safer analgesics for pain relief.

Sineadh Conway, Ph.D., postdoctoral research associate at the Center for Clinical Pharmacology in the Al-Hasani Lab, was a recipient of the Ruth L. Kirschstein Postdoctoral Individual National Research Service Award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Breakthrough research from Ream Al-Hasani, Ph.D., assistant professor of pharmaceutical science at University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis, and her research team at the Center for Clinical Pharmacology, has identified a new pathway in the brain that may contribute to more effective treatments for drug addiction and depression.

Soumen Chakraborty, postdoctoral research associate in the Majumdar labs in the Center for Clinical Pharmacology, was the lead author of a paper recently published in ACS Chemical Neuroscience, which highlighted his research team’s efforts to isolate new, less prevalent alkaloids from the plant kratom.

Sarah has recently joined the labs of Drs. Tao Che and Susruta Majumdar.

In April 2020, Dr. Pieper, president and professor of University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis, announced he would retire in June 2021, following 11 years as president of the University and a 41-year career in academic pharmacy.

Dr. Burris, Alumni Chair in Pharmaceutical Education and vice president for research at University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis, was ranked among the top 150 pharmacologists in the world in the recently released 2020 Highly Cited Researchers List published by Clarivate.

Manish Kumar Madasu, Ph.D., postdoctoral research associate at the Center for Clinical Pharmacology, was the recent recipient of the Toni Shippenberg Young Investigator Award during the KappaCon 2021 Kappa Therapeutics Conference.

The paper highlights a newly discovered molecule with the potential to provide analgesic pain relief with fewer side effects and less addictive properties than opioids. Majumdar and Che’s research team has been studying the molecule to determine its orientation and how it binds to opioid receptors.