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This version of NSU News has been archived as of February 28, 2019. To search through archived articles, visit nova.edu/search. To access the new version of NSU News, visit news.nova.edu.
This version of SharkBytes has been archived as of February 28, 2019. To search through archived articles, visit nova.edu/search. To access the new version of SharkBytes, visit sharkbytes.nova.edu.
College of Pharmacy Launches New Ph.D. Program
(L to R) Hugh M. McLean, Pharm. D., Ph.D., College of Pharmacy (COP) associate dean for research & graduate education; COP Ph.D. program students Fernando Lopez, M.S.; Nemesio Gonzalez, M.D.; Kenja Correa Nivar, MPHE, CHES; David Mastropietro, B.S., R. Ph.; and COP Dean Andres Malavé.
NSU’s College of Pharmacy (COP) launched a new Ph.D. program in September that will focus on graduate study and research in drug development, determinants of drug use, and drug discovery.
The program will take students between 4 and 5 1/2 years to complete and is the only one of its kind in South Florida. The program began with an inaugural class of four students. Those students are Kenja Correa Nivar, MPHE, CHES; Nemesio Gonzalez, M.D.; Fernando Lopez, M.S.; and David Mastropietro, B.S., R. Ph. Led by Hugh M. McLean, Pharm. D., Ph.D., COP’s associate dean for research and graduate education, the program’s three sequences will provide students with the following:
The drug development sequence emphasizes the coursework, laboratory, and literature search skills and research that are integral to the theory and practice associated with the incorporation of drug entities into the forms and formulations that best deliver the drugs to the site of the intended medical action. Students who pursue this track will be primarily under the tutelage of faculty in the department of pharmaceutical sciences, a group that has expertise in pharmaceutics-related disciplines. Particular areas of expertise include a variety of drug formulations and novel drug delivery systems.
The determinants of drug use sequence focuses on coursework, and research skills which address the dynamic and complex nature of the use and distribution of pharmaceutical products and the provision of pharmacy services. Students who select this sequence are expected to choose one of two tracks: 1) sociobehavioral and cultural pharmacy or 2) pharmacy economics and outcomes. Students who pursue either track in this sequence will be primarily under the tutelage of faculty in the department of Sociobehavioral and Administrative Pharmacy, a group with expertise in pharmacoeconomics, health disparities and vulnerable populations, cultural competency, development and implementation of sustainable pharmacy services, patients’ decision making, pharmacy marketing, outcomes research, and related areas.
The drug discovery sequence emphasizes the coursework, laboratory and literature search skills and research that are integral to elucidation of the mechanism of action of drugs, and the extent and character of drug actions. Students who pursue this sequence will be primarily under the tutelage of faculty in the department of pharmaceutical sciences, a group that has expertise in areas such as: pharmacology, medicinal chemistry, toxicology, and biochemistry. Particular areas of expertise include cardiovascular pharmacology, molecular pharmacology, anti-inflammatory steroids, and cancer pharmacology.