School of Pharmacy Research Disciplines
Biomedical research is an integral part of the School of Pharmacy here at Pacific University. Our science faculty-led research focuses on a plethora of compelling topics ranging from infectious disease, toxicology, cardiovascular diseases to drug discovery, metabolism and pharmacogenetics. Our collaborative research is not only making a positive impact in Oregon,
but has successfully brought our university global and nationwide recognition. We take pride in providing a research environment which strongly encourages both professional and technical development.
Our students, along with conducting research in the laboratory, have presented their research findings in numerous conferences. Additionally, they have contributed to several research publications. We believe in complementing our groundbreaking research with state-of-the-art facilities. Thus, our research laboratory houses various equipment such as flow cytometer, High Performance Liquid Chromatographs (HPLC), mass spectrometers, and cell culture facilities.
Infectious Diseases
Research in infectious diseases at the Pacific SOP encompasses both basic science and clinical focused research. Two science faculty, trained in parasitology, focus on the human parasite Leishmania, which causes the devastating neglected tropical disease leishmaniasis. Host-parasite interactions and parasite biology are investigated with the overall goal of identifying new therapeutic targets against this devastating disease.
Faculty
Sigrid Roberts, PhD,MS, DiplBiol
Cardiovascular Disease & Cancer
Research being conducted to investigate pharmaceutical formulation strategies and natural products for overcoming doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity.
Faculty
Hypertension & Vascular Diseases
Research focuses on the use of phytochemicals to prevent hypertension and also employs a pharmacokinetic approach.
Faculty
Fawzy Elbarbry, BSPharm, MSPharm, PhD, RPh, BCBS
Drug Metabolism
The research on drug metabolism is currently focused on cytochrome P450 enzymes from the CYP2A, 3A, and four families with particular interest in mechanisms of metabolism-dependent inhibition and multiple-ligand binding/allosterism. Translational studies aimed at predicting in vivo changes in drug clearance based on in vitro inhibition data (in vitro-in vivo extrapolation, drug-drug and drug-herb interaction predictions) are also actively utilized in this research.
Faculty
Pharmacokinetics
Pharmacokinetics of commonly used antibiotics (e.g. vancomycin) in humans is investigated in special patient populations (e.g. renal impairment, obese) to optimize dosing.
Faculty
Fawzy Elbarbry, BSPharm, MSPharm, PhD, RPh, BCBS
Medicinal Chemistry/Drug Discovery
Traditionally, the discipline of medicinal chemistry has its roots in applying organic synthetic chemistry principles to drug discovery and optimization. For example, structure-activity and structure-toxicity relationships can be utilized to optimize pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic parameters while minimizing adverse effects.
Faculty
Toxicology
Toxicology is the study of how chemicals exert adverse effects on biologic systems. As it relates to pharmacy, an important outcome of toxicologic approaches is to generate safer chemicals and treatments for disease.
Faculty
Pharmacogenomics
Work in the Pharmacogenomics lab concerns mapping the activation or suppression of clusters of genes following various stimuli across multiple cells and tissues. The primary focus of this 21st Century technology is to generate "Big Data" pools to enable logical extrapolation of single-cell physiological events in order to enable prediction of events in a complex biological setting. Labs are currently studying the cytotoxicity of letrozole and cinnamic aldehyde in biologic systems.