COP Newsletter

Fall Semester Events Event Date XULA COP Field Day October 18 AHA Heart Walk November 16 Cultural Night November 22 Christmas December 25 Spring Semester Classes Begin January 9 Dr. Kathleen Kennedy Pharm. D. American Diabetes Month Dean’s Note ……………………………………………………… ………………………………………. November is American Diabetes Awareness Month. We want you all to be aware of how serious this disease can be. As we carry out our mission of preparing the next Thirty million adults in the US have diabetes and 1 in 4 of generation of practitioners to serve the underserved, them don’t know they have it. Diabetes is the seventh students, faculty and staff are engaged in numerous service leading cause of death in the US. It is the number one cause projects, patient care activities and research and other of kidney failure, lower-limb amputations, and adult scholarly pursuits. The newsletter will give us the blindness. At risk patients include: prediabetics, those opportunity to communicate with you and keep you overweight, individuals 45 years or older, informed about these exciting accomplishments. parents/brother/sister with type 2 diabetes, those physically active less than 3 times a week, women who had gestational This year we welcomed a new P1 class of 158 students who diabetes, or gave birth to a baby who weighed more than 9 took the Pledge of Professionalism on September 13th. We pounds, those who are African American, Hispanic/Latino welcomed two new faculty in August and our newest American, American Indian, or Alaska Native. Are you at faculty member on November 1st. The College has also risk? Take a risk test at the American Diabetes Association been preparing to welcome our first class of students for the website now! Physician Assistant Program scheduled to begin in January 2020. Their program will be featured in an upcoming Source: Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Take Risk Test at edition of the newsletter. https://www.diabetes.org/risk-test . Accessed December 1, 2019 I hope you enjoy reading about the great work that is being done here in the College. I would like to thank our student newsletter designer/editor - Elyse Chapman - Class of 2021, for her work in getting this newsletter published!

December 2019 Welcome P1’s! White Coat Ceremony ……………………………………………………………… The College of Pharmacy welcomed the new P1 class during the annual White Coat Ceremony. The dawning of the white coat symbolizes the professional responsibility of students to provide the utmost care to patients as health care practitioners. The students took the Pledge of Professionalism. This Pledge calls the students to incorporate into their lives and practice, dedication to excellence in the understanding and practice of the profession; to be compassionate and caring for patients; and to lead lives of dignity and honor. The students were encouraged to make each encounter with a patient one that will be valued by both themselves and the patients. We congratulate the students for their success thus far and look forward to their success in the College of Pharmacy. 2

December 2019 American Heart Association P2 Spotlight HBCU Scholars 4.0 Scholars Two Xavier COP students will be among the four inaugural HBCU Scholars supported by the American Heart Association conducting research related to cardiovascular health. Please congratulate Morgan Jackson and Brianna Allen on this wonderful opportunity. They are pictured below alongside the Director of Collegiate Diversity Partnerships with the AHA- Dr. Charlene Walton. Morgan Jackson, ‘22 (Pictured left to right: Dr. Kristi Rapp, Tia Bailey, Robin Celentano, Emily Corvers, Kristen Favalora, Kirstie Freibert, Dr. Kathleen Kennedy, Dr. Anne McCall, Bayla Schexnaydre, Amanda Ragland, Brandon Nguyen, Ashley Lagarde, Ashley Hooter (not pictured Vy-Evelyn Tran)) At the White Coat Ceremony we recognized the new P2’s that finished their first year of pharmacy school with a 4.0 GPA! If you pass by them in the hallway, congratulate them on this outstanding accomplishment! Brianna Allen, ‘22 3

December 2019 Meet the new 2019-2020 PSA E-Board President: Ryan Norton Vice President: Victoria Sawyer Miss COP: Brionne Bush Mr. COP: Michael Ogbonna Secretary: Senator: Treasurer: Brittany Scott Ani Onoh Kayla Smith Social Chair: Senator: Professional Chair: Myrissa Mitchell Miranda Murray Ayodele Okurinboye 4

December 2019 New Faculty Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Administration Dr. Hawkins-Taylor received her Ph.D. in Social and Administrative Pharmacy from the University of Minnesota and a Masters in Healthcare Administration from the University of Southern California. She served for the last five years as Assistant Professor at South Dakota State University. Her research focuses on factors that influence the prevalence of chronic diseases in the underserved; treatment and health outcomes of the underserved; and the influence on the social determinants of health in minority populations. Her current projects focus on opioid misuse, Chamika Hawkins-Taylor, MHA, PhD palliative care, and chronic disease management in elderly, black populations. Assistant Professor of Medicinal Chemistry Dr. Dinithia Sampson received her Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences, with a concentration in Medicinal Chemistry, from Florida A&M University. Recently, Dr. Sampson managed the research programs for the Florida Department of Health’s (FDOH) Ed and Ethel Moore Alzheimer’s Disease Program and its Advisory Board, as well as the FDOH’s Research Excellence Initiative (REI) Program, the premier research training program for FDOH researchers. Dr. Sampson’s research interests include central nervous system (CNS) drug development, particularly, psychiatric diseases, Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. Dinithia Sampson, Ph. D Dr. Justin L Wilson Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences Division of Basic Pharmaceutical Sciences Dr. Justin L. Wilson received his Ph.D. in Physiology and Biophysics from Howard University College of Medicine. Recently, Dr. Wilson created a high stakes exam for the United States and Canada, for the American Institutes for Research (Washington, DC). In addition, he served as a professor in the Department of Biology at Cleveland State University and the Department of Biology at Hampton University. Dr. Wilson managed the Ronald McNair grant and scholars at Cleveland State University. He also served as a Co-PI for the Robert Noyce Teaching Fellows grant. Dr. Wilson brings a wealth of innovative teaching pedagogy to the future pharmacy and physician assistant students. His research interests include understanding the role of the renal system in regulating blood pressure, water regulation, with a focus on health disparities. 5

December 2019 In the News ASHP Midyear We are happy to announce that twenty-one of Xavier College of Pharmacy student posters were accepted to be presented at the 2019 ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting in Las Vegas. There were over 2,300 student posters this year and we know Xavier’s COP shined. LSHP Help us congratulate the 2018-2019 Xavier College of Pharmacy LSHP members and executive board members for receiving the Outstanding Professional Development Project Award. These projects were evaluated on content, information, creativity, resourcefulness, service, outreach, impact, and overall impression. Receiving this award is a title of distinguished honor. LSHP was provided with a ribbon at the Student Society Showcase on Sunday December 8, 2019 in Las Vegas. APhA The Xavier College of Pharmacy chapter of APHA recently attended the 2019 Midyear Regional Meeting. There the APHA president, Katelyn Wren, was chosen as the APhA-ASP Region 6 Midyear Regional Meeting Coordinator for 2020. COP News We are happy to announce that the renovations of the Division of Clinical and Administrative science Office Suite are finally complete. There will be an open house once everyone is settled in their respected places. Look out for an email regarding when the open house will be. New Announcements If you have any news, announcements, and/or concerns about the upcoming newsletter feel free to contact the editor, Elyse Chapman, at [email protected]. Contact College of Pharmacy Address Phone Instagram (504)520-7500 Xula COP 1 Drexel Drive New Orleans, Louisiana 6

December 2019 In the News • Dr. Sarah Amering presented a poster at the 2019 ACCP Conference in October titled “Formulary Development for Hypertension and Malaria in Haiti.” • Dr. Ashley Taylor successfully passed the exam to become a Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE); she has been appointed to the Coordinating Body of the American Association of Diabetes Educators Louisiana Network where she serves as the only pharmacist member. • Dr. Chamika Hawkins-Taylor published a peer-reviewed article title “Cancer Survivor Self-Care Actions Taken After Receiving a Survivorship Care Plan” in the October issue of Oncology Nursing Forum. Dr. Hawkins-Taylor also received a Planning Grant from Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) for $200,000 for the Rural Communities Opioid Response Program. • Drs. Janel Bailey Wheeler and Shandrika Williams Landry presented a poster at the American Society of Health Systems Pharmacists (ASHP) National Pharmacy Preceptor Conference in Dallas, TX in October titled “Two-Tier Mentoring of PGY-1 Pharmacy Residents in an Academic Experience.” • Dr. George Nawas completed the Train-the Trainer online program offered by Howard University to work with Dr. Kierra Dotson to continue to integrate the National HIV Curriculum into Xavier’s pharmacy curriculum. • Dr. Vincent Ekenga initiated the establishment of protocols for billable services in Transitional Care and Chronic Care Management for patients at the EXCELth Family Care Clinics designed to increase the continuity and quality of care for patients with chronic disease, ultimately decreasing readmission rates. He also developed collaborative treatment protocols for diabetes management and smoking cessation. • Dr. Kierra Dotson was appointed to the Louisiana Commission on HIV, AIDS and Hepatitis C Education, Prevention and Treatment. Dr. Dotson also presented a poster during Infectious Disease Week in Washington titled “Increased Risk of Systemic Infections with Multidrug Resistant Organisms in Patients with Severe Clostridioides difficile Infection.” As a member of the Clinical Practice Affairs Committee for the American College of Clinical Pharmacy, Dr. Dotson was a co-author on a Whitepaper titled “Precision pharmacotherapy: Integrating pharmacogenomics into clinical pharmacy practice” published in the organizations journal. Finally, Dr. Dotson received IRB approval for a research project with her COE Scholar, Destiny Knatt, titled “The Use of Online Tools to Promote Active Learning in an Infectious Disease Pharmacotherapy Block Course.” • Dr. Raven Jackson was elected Chair of the Minority Faculty Special Interest Group (SIG) for the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) at the annual meeting in July. In addition, Dr. Jackson’s manuscript titled “Sitagliptin Induced Arthralgias: A Case Report” has been accepted for publication in Clinical Diabetes, a journal of the American Diabetes Association. • Dr. Joseph LaRochelle had an article accepted for publication in the journal of Medical Toxicology titled “Cardiac Collapse Secondary to Phenytoin Toxicity in a Neonate Requiring Extracorporeal Membranous Oxygenation Support.” • Dr. Patience Obih submitted an abstract that was accepted for presentation at the 2019 RCMI National Conference titled “Does Fenugreek Inhibit Alpha-Glucosidase?” • Dr. Fahamina Ahmed received an award as the Outstanding Chapter President from the Louisiana Society of Health Systems Pharmacists (LSHP) during their annual meeting in New Orleans. She also made a podium presentation at the ExamSoft Conference in Montreal in June titled “ExamSoft: Best Practices for New Faculty.” A second podium presentation was made with Ms. Candice Wilson, Director of Assessment, titled “Category Structure: The Benefits For Students, Faculty and Administrators.” • Dr. Rami Al-Horani presented two papers at scientific conferences this November – “Sulfonated Peptidomimetics are new Selective, Reversible, and Non-Active Site Inhibitors of Human Factor XIa” at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions in October and Arsylsufonates as a Platform to Develop New Anticoagulants by Inhibiting Human Factor XIIa at the American Association of Pharmaceutical Sciences meeting in October. • Dr. Sunil Sirohi is a contributing author on two publications: “Nutritional Contingency Reduces Alcohol Drinking by Altering Central Neurotransmitter Receptor Gene Expression in Rats” and “Recent Advances in the Neurobiology of Altered Motivation Following Bariatric Surgery both in the Current Psychiatry Reports November 2019. • Drs. Pramar, Bostanian, Mandal and Morris have an article published in the Nov/Dec issue of the International Journal of Pharmaceutical Compounding on the stability of Amlodipine Besylate. 7