Our Crowdfunding Groups
There's still time!
To make a gift, visit give.uafoundation.org/pharmacy. Choose "other" then in the comments box, specify Brick Campaign.
We want to extend a sincere thank you to all of the donors who helped us smash through our fundraising goal. Through your generous efforts, we were able to raise $4,900. More than $1,900 past our goal. These funds will be used to offer our fellow graduate students a variety of professional development opportunities to help them cultivate fulfilling careers in healthcare and research.
Please be on the lookout for a follow up email I the coming weeks with information on your engraved brick, if applicable.
We could not have done this without you and we look forward to putting your dollars to good use!
Thank you to everyone who has contributed towards our Career Building Brick Campaign so far!
There's still 16 days left to donate and receive an engraved brick in our courtyard, the proceeds of which will go towards supporting our graduate students! Every donation brings us one step closer towards helping our students excel in their career.
We're excited for the progress we've made and look forward to future contributions!
Sincerely,
COP Graduate Student Council
Kayla Frost, PhD Candidate
Pharmacology and Toxicology Representative, President
Nathan Cherrington's Lab
Kayla received her B.S. in Forensic Chemistry from the University of Mississippi where she conducted research on the developmental toxicity of cannabinoids with Dr. Kristine Willett. She also completed a 9-month internship in Forensic Toxicology under Dr. Curt E. Harper at the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences before pursuing her doctorate degree. Kayla’s Ph.D. research focuses on adverse drug reactions and renal toxicity due to altered renal physiology during times of hepatic stress including non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), hepatitis C virus, and alcoholic steatohepatitis. She created the first repository of human biopsy verified NASH patient renal biopsies with annotated medical and social histories. She is conducting global transcriptomic expression analysis as well as statistical analyses to find correlations between the presence of obesity, diabetes, renal and hepatic diseases. She continues to develop proficient communication, leadership and organization skills to facilitate her passion in mentoring and inspiring others grow in their scientific training. She plans to complete her doctorate in Spring of 2022 and aspires for an integrated pharmaceutical industry position or postdoctoral research fellowship.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kayla-frost-b36bb3126/
Srujitha Marupuru, PharmD, MS, PhD Candidate
Health and Pharmaceutical Outcomes Representative—Vice President
Terri Warholak Lab
Srujitha Marupuru completed her Doctor of Pharmacy from India in 2017 and currently working on her PhD focusing on Health Economics and Outcomes research. Srujitha’s main research interest centers around patient reported outcome measures and qualitative measurement techniques. She recently earned her masters in the same department focusing on assessing the validity and reliability of the student refractive error and eyeglass questionnaire-R in myopic school-aged children and young people in London. Her future research interests include large database analysis and real-world evidence generation to address access to care and inform better healthcare decisions.After completing two summer industry internships at Regeneron and Merck, she is looking forward to her career progression after graduation in Pharmaceutical industry or a postdoctoral research fellowship.
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/srujitha-marupuru
Ernest Vallorz, PhD Candidate
Pharmaceutical Sciences Representative—Treasurer
Rick Schnellmann and Heidi Mansour Lab
Ernest has a degree in chemistry from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill with a focus on biochemistry and as an undergraduate worked in an analytical laboratory researching synthesis and techniques for the characterization of silica nanowires for photovoltaic cells. His graduate work has focused on pre-formulation and formulation activities for a variety of dosage forms including inhalation and transdermal drug delivery. His primary research focus is on designing targeted nanoparticle drug delivery systems for the treatment of acute and chronic renal diseases including ischemia reperfusion injury and diabetic nephropathy. He has prior experience as an inhalation formulation scientist at a CRO in North Carolina and is looking forward to rejoining industry following graduation.
Chris Zerio, PhD Candidate
Drug Discovery and Development Representative—Secretary
Eli Chapman Lab
Chris Zerio is originally from Pleasanton, CA. He graduated from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA in 2016 with a B.S. in Biochemistry. In college, along with his undergraduate studies and research, he played varsity baseball, and in graduate school, he continued to stay active and incorporate sports and the outdoors into his hobbies! Chris’ undergraduate research consisted primarily of organic synthesis, but as he spent more time in lab, it became clear that he wanted to incorporate biological and health sciences into his graduate research. Specifically, his main research project involves discovery and development of an inhibitor of a protein called eukaryotic Initiation Factor 4A (eIF4A), which has shown to be a promising target in many cancers (specifically leukemia, lymphoma, breast, lung, and prostate). In 2019, Chris discovered a small molecule that inhibits recombinant eIF4A ATPase activity with acceptable potency, and the compound has been shown to kill Burkitt Lymphoma cells, a cancer cell line that is known to depend on eIF4A for its malignancy. Ever since, Chris have been synthesizing derivatives of the original inhibitor to increase its inhibitory potency and developing additional assays to further study the mechanism of inhibition of this compound. Soon, our lab will file a patent for this class of molecules and we will publish our results. Chris will finish his PhD in 2021 and plans on pursuing pharmaceutical industry or postdoctoral research opportunities.
Honor a graduate student by helping them cover the fees for society membership.
Honor a graduate student by helping them to cover the cost of publishing their research or subscribing to invaluable research publications. As a thank you for making a gift of $150, your name will be engraved on a 6x6 portion of a brick which will reside in the courtyard outside of the Skaggs Pharmaceutical Sciences Center.
Provide support for a student to attend a conference or travel. As a thank you for making a gift of $500, your name will be engraved on a full 6x12 brick which will reside in the courtyard outside of the Skaggs Pharmaceutical Sciences Center.
Cover all fees and travel expenses for a graduate student in a full school year. A donation of this amount will also come with the opportunity to receive an engraved brick.
