School of Pharmacy

Elizabeth Denn

I am a first year Pharmaceutical Sciences Master's student. I received my Bacehlor's degree from Truman State University, where I majored in Biology and minored in Chemistry. While at Truman, I used electron microscopes and learned EM sample preparation, and took a confocal microscopy short course at the Danforth Plant Science Center to gain further experience.

I am a first year Pharmaceutical Science's Master student with specialization in Pharmacology. I received my undergraduate degree at the University of IIorin Nigeria in Human Physiology. After my studies, I then worked at the Federal Medical Center Asaba in Nigeria, as a Cardiac Physiologist for a year. I started my masters degree in Clinical Exercise Science at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, and a second masters in Pharmaceutical Sciences. My current research is in Computational Chemistry working under the direction of Dr. Maria Kontoyianni.

Rafael Frare

I am a first year Master student in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences.

I completed my Pharmacy degree in 2015 at Universidad de Los Andes, Venezuela. Prior to obtaining my degree, I had the opportunity as a visiting student, and interned in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at SIUE, under the direction of Dr. William Kolling. I experienced other academics and research as well, during my internship.  I have worked as Head of Quality Control Department of VALMOR, C.A. Laboratories at Merida, Venezuela. 

I am highly interested in research regarding the three main fields of pharmacy, and I am looking forward to starting my own soon. 

Sagar Gilda

I am a first year Pharmaceutical Science graduate student. I completed my Bachelors in Pharmacy from Shivaji University Kolhapur, India. After I completed my undergraduate studies, I went on to join Biocon Academy and completed training in clinical development. Before joining this program, I worked as a pharmacist in hospital pharmacy.

My reserach interest is in formulation and development of dosage forms. I am looking forward to working under the direction of Dr. Tim McPherson, and developing stability data for a formulated liquid dosage form.

Austin House

I completed my Bachelor's degree in Chemisty with a specialization in biochemistry at SIUE. My area of focus is pharmacology, under the direction of Dr. Ken Witt. My current research involves looking into the use of somatostatin receptor 4 (SSTR4) selective agonists, as possible treatment for Alzheimer's disease. It was previously shown that the SSTR4 selective agonist NNC-26-9100 lead to increased learning and reduction of amyloid beta oligomers in mice. So, I am using NNC-26-9100 to better understand their mechanism of action in microglia, and by doing so, possibly determining how these compounds lead to increased learning and a reduction of amyloid beta oligomers.

Hannah Lupton

I am a first year Master's student in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences. I completed my undergraduate degree in May 2018 in Chemistry with a specialization in Biochemistry at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. While in this program, I plan to do my thesis work in Medicinal Chemistry with a projected graduation of May 2020.

Christopher Reeb

I am a first year graduate student in the Deparment of Pharmaceutical Sciences, MS Program. I attended SIUE and graduated in May 2018, receiving my Bachelors of Science degree in Chemistry, with a specialization in ACS certified Biochemistry. 

My research interests are focused in the discipline of Pharmacology, working under the direction of Dr. Ken Witt. I am currently working on a project studying the effects of dietary factors, which may have an impact on the expression of specific tight junctional proteins in the blood brain barrier (BBB), the vascular network of the brain. Tight junctional proteins are essential in maintaining the structural integrity and BBB functionality, and may be targeted for drug treatment.

Olivia Slater

I have worked on Somatostatin-4 (sst4) Receptor agonism, a key protein, under the direction of Dr. Maria Kontoyianni.  Because there is no known crystal structure of sst4, I created a homology model, using the most recent available information. Exploration of the sst4 binding pocket, and ligand interactions (both ligands made in our department, as well as recently patented ligants). Tabulation of ligand properties to see if the ligands were able to pass through the blood brain barrier, a key characteristic of all central nervous system drugs. Developed a quantitative structure-activty relationship (QSAR) model. The ultimate goal was to study ligand-induced conformation changes that catalyze signaling pathway mechanisms in the sst4 receptor. 

Khush Nahar Srabony

Khush holds a BS and MS in Microbiology from the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Her Masters dissertation research involved characterization and determination of cytotoxicity of the V. fluvialis exotoxin, an emerging water borne pathogen, for which she was awarded the National Science & Technology Fellowship. She has received training on cell culture techniques and statistical data analysis for biological sciences (R programming). Khush has always been passionate about advancing her career in Biomedical Science and Technology. 

Before enrolling in a PhD program, Khush decided to earn a Masters degree in pharmaceutical sciences in order to strengthen her academic foundation. Being intrigued by the advanced research works at the School of Pharmacy, SIUE, she has enrolled for the Fall 2018 program.

Konstantina Stavroulaki

I am a first year Masters student in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences. I earned my Bachelors degree in Chemistry at Lindenwood University, Missouri. Prior to starting this program, I worked as a quality control laboratory analyst, testing various hygiene products at Reckitt Benckiser. My research interest is in Pharmacology.

I am a first year graduate student in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences.

I completed my Bachelor degree in Pharmacy in 2019, from Birla Institute of Technology and Science in Hyderabad, India. Prior to obtaining my degree, I contributed to a project on chitosan-siRNA based treatment, for amelioration of crystal induced nephropathy by moderation of macrophage activation. I was also part of a team aimed at exploring the role of HDAC-5, as a target for diabetic wound healing. While I explored my areas of interest in research, I was also an intern at Zephyr Biomedicals (now PerkinElmer), where I learned about mass production of rapid diagnostic kits used to detect various diseases.

I am highly interested in research areas related to Diabetes and Nanoparticle based delivery systems.

Nathan Scott

I am a first year graduate student in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences. I earned my BS in biology from Truman State University in Kirksville Missouri. Prior to my graduate studies, I worked as a research technician at Washington University in St. Louis in the department of Neurology where I assisted in research on underlying neurodegeneration, particularly as it's related to Alzheimer's. My current research interest is in Pharmacology. 

Shaluah Vijeth

I am a first year Pharmaceutical Sciences Master's student with specialization in Pharmacology. I completed my Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery degree from Belgaum Institute of Medical Sciences, India. Prior to starting this program, I worked as a research assistant at Karnatak University Dharwad. My primary area of research was in improving drug delivery systems across the blood-brain-barrier for glioblastoma treatment. My current research interest is in neuro-pharmacology and cancer biology.