Albany

In addition to working with undergraduate and graduate students from Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, PRI hosts students from other colleges and universities throughout the world.

Below is a representative list of institutions that have students to PRI to pursue their studies and embark on a research project:

• Ain Shams University (Egypt)
• Albany Medical Center (Albany, NY, USA)
• Alexandria University (Egypt)
• Cairo University (Egypt)
• King Saud University (Saudi Arabia)
• King Abdul-Aziz University (Saudi Arabia)
• Kuwait University
• Mansoura University (Egypt)
• Mindanao State University (Philippines)
• Uludag University (Turkey)
• Umea University (Sweden)
• University at Albany (Albany, NY, USA)
• University of Indonesia (Jakarta, Indonesia)
• Zewail City of Science and Technology (Egypt)

Visiting Philipine Students 2018-2020

The past couple of years, PRI hosted 3 students from the Philipines.  Maria Rhotsyn Dacar, Nyzar Mabeth Odchimar, and John Paul Tosoc. Maria is graduating with a PhD in Biology. Her research interests are Biodiversity and Pharmaceutical Sciences. Below is a list of some of her publications: 

1. Microhabitat of leaf-dwelling Pholcid spiders (Araneae: Pholcidae) in Rajah Sikatuna Protected Landscape (RSPL), Bohol, Philippines (ELBA Bioflux, 2016, Volume 8, Issue 1.)
2. Fluctuating asymmetry and developmental instability in Protoreaster nodosus (Chocolate Chip Sea Star) as a biomarker for environmental stress  (Computational Ecology and Software, 2015, 5(2): 119-129)
3. Density and Fecundity of Pomacea canaliculata (Lamarck, 1822) in Selected Areas of Mindanao, Philippines: Implications on Pest Management Strategies  (Advances in Environmental Biology , 9(19) Special 2015, Pages: 154-159)
4. Brine shrimp lethality assay of whole plant extracts of Eleusine indica (AAB Bioflux, 2015, Volume 7, Issue 2.) Maria’s future goals is to teach and do research. 

Nyzar’s is a Doctor of Philosophy in Biology Candidate with interests in Pharmaceutical Scinces- Pharmacology of medicinal plants. Her future goals is to teach and establish a Drug discovery laboratory in a University back in the Philipines. Below is a list of some her publications:

1. Antioxidant Activity, Total Phenolic Content, and GC-MS Analysis of the root of Kawilan (Embelia philippinensis DC.)”
2. Ethnobotany of Medicinal Plants used by the Talaandig Tribe in Brgy. Lilingayon, Valencia City, Bukidnon, Philippines”
3. Cymbopogon citratus (lemongrass) based anticancer agent and the use of nanotechnology to enhance delivery
4. Anticancer and anti-angiogenesis effects of Cymbopogon citratus (lemongrass) extracts and its bioactive compounds 

And lastly, John Paul, who is graduating as a Doctor of Philosphy in Biology. He is interested in Pharmaceutical Science, Cancer Research, Natural Products, Ethnobotanical Research, Pharmacology, Nanotechnology, and Traditional Medicine. He has published the following: 

• Antiangiogenic, antitoxic and antioxidant properties of methanolic extracts of Caladium bicolor (Aiton) Venten

And working on the following publications:

1. HPLC-UV-CAD and LC-MS/MS Analyses of the Corchorus olitorius (Saluyot) leaf extracts 
2. Chemopreventive effects of Corchorus olitorius aqueous extract and its nutraceuticals on human cancers
3. Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics and Tumor Suppressive Properties of PLGA-PVA nanoparticles loaded with Corchorus olitorius aqueous extract, chlorogenic acid, and isoquercetin
4. Quantification and qualification of phytochemicals of Corchorus olitorius (Saluyot) leaf extract with HPLC-UV-CAD and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

As of this moment, John’s academic goals include finishing his Ph.D. degree and study again to gain a Medical degree. Professionally, I want to become a medical physician and at the same time a pharmaceutical scientist. We wish our Philipine students the best of luck in their science research endeavors.

3rd Annual Bridge

PRI virtually hosted the 3rd Annual Bridge program on Friday June 26, 2020. Because of the Pandamic, the students were not able to visit us here in Albany. They worked hard on their presentations as they had to virtually present from home which is GTF (Georgia Thrombosis Forum) and Questar III New Visions. They were an amazing group of high school with much knowledge. Students either presented a power point presentation or a poster presentation and best poster and best power point presenter were chosen and given a monetary gift. The winners were: 

BEST POSTER PRESENTATIONS: Rohan Pai, a rising sophmore at Paul Duke STEM High School in Peachtree Corners,Georgia and Ryan LaBarre from Catskill High School in NY who will be attending ACPHS.

BEST POWER POINT PRESENTATIONS: Sonal Churiwal from Northview High School in Georgia and Madison Rifenberick from Troy NY High School (Questar)  who will be attending Columbia University.

The day included these awards:

Best PowerPoint Presentation: Kyleigh Chriss, Columbia High School, Decatur, GA

Best Poster Presentation: Ayush Karnik, Johns Creek High School, Johns Creek, GA

Plaques were presented to both Dr. Atul Laddu (GTF) and Dr. Ruth Russell (Questar) for: “Certificate of Achievement in recognition of your outstanding commitment and inspiration to the development of our future young scientists”.

Dr. Atul Laddu (far left), students, Dr. Mousa, and Dr. Ruth Russell (far right).

Photo of our Summer 2017 ACPHS PharmD rotation students and other student summer visitors. Left to right:  Yahya Rasoully (ACPHS), Ali Nasser (ACPHS), Shiraz Umar (ACPHS), Dhruba Bharali (PRI), Shaker Mousa (PRI), Tyler Stone (ACPHS), Gulsen Coban (Uludag University, Bursa, Turkey), and Berfin Atli (Uludag University, Bursa, Turkey).

Our 2017 summer students are pictured here with their mentors. Left-to-right:  Dr. Kavitha Godugu (mentor, PRI), Alina Mufti (Shaker High School, Latham, NY), Nancy Efstathiadis (Albany High School, Albany, NY), Harry Zay (Albany High School, Albany, NY),  Dr. Shaker Mousa (mentor, PRI), Gulsen Coban (Uludag University, Bursa, Turkey), Jaehan Kim, (mentor, PRI/ACPHS, PharmD Candidate, Class of 2019).

Dr. Shimaa Motawei (pictured, center) from Mansoura University, Faculty of Medicine, in Mansoura, Egypt was  a Fullbright Scholar at PRI for 6 months,  through May, 2017. Her PRI research project was to study harmful effects of lead during pregnancy using a mouse model.  Lead toxicity still constitutes a public health problem in many countries. It adversely affects angiogenesis, a pivotal process in growth, development, and repair. Disturbance of angiogenesis during pregnancy contributes to incidence of pre-eclampsia and small size for gestational age fetuses. Dr. Motawei studied lead effects on angiogenesis and any possible protective effect of a sulfated non-anticoagulant low molecular weight heparin, S-NACH. Her goal was to determine if S-NACH could reverse any harmful effects during pregnancy, in particular because S-NACH does not cross the placenta.

Mary Adeyeye has been accepted to the University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, for an MD/PhD degree beginning August 2017.  Mary, an undergraduate student at SUNY Albany, worked with PRI staff member Mehdi Rajabi as part of the UAlbany Summer Research Program and Collegiate Science & Technology Entry Program (CSTEP). Mary is a coauthor with Mehdi Rajabi, Schuyler Pruyn, and Dr. Mousa on a book chapter that has been submitted for peer review, titled, “Pharmaceutical Applications of Water-Soluble Polymers in Nanomedicine and Drug Delivery”.

From left to right: Taha Ahmed, Abrahim Rehman, Vandhana M-Chari (mentor), Donniecia Corke, Kimberly Guzman Reyes, Emanuel Gomez, Benjamin Braun, Juan Perez.

Donniecia Corke is an undergraduate from U Albany and did research at PRI for 8 weeks as part of UASRP (U Albany Summer Research Program). The others are high school students and did research at PRI for 6 weeks: Kim and Emanuel came as part of the ACPHS High School Summer Research Program, and   Kim was sponsored by Albany’s Light Summer Youth Employment Program. They tested and   compared the anti-coagulatory (high schoolers and Donniecia) and anti-inflammatory (Donniecia) efficiency of various test compounds to USP heparin.