{"id":9944,"date":"2010-02-05T11:00:05","date_gmt":"2010-02-05T15:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=9944"},"modified":"2011-05-31T12:42:38","modified_gmt":"2011-05-31T16:42:38","slug":"pharmacy-students-unlocking-secrets-to-better-medicine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2010\/02\/pharmacy-students-unlocking-secrets-to-better-medicine\/","title":{"rendered":"Pharmacy Students Unlocking Secrets to Better Medicine"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"<p>Pharmacy<\/a>
Pharmacy graduate students Kristyn Greco, left, and Archana Rawat. Photo by Elizabeth E. Anderson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Graduate students in the UConn School of Pharmacy<\/a> are learning about more than just molecules and chemical structure \u2013 they\u2019re pursuing research that may one day lead to more efficient and effective drugs.<\/p>\n

Two of these students \u2013 Kristyn Greco and Archana Rawat \u2013 were recognized recently for their research by the United States Pharmacopeia<\/a> (USP).<\/p>\n

Each year, the USP awards six fellowships of $25,000 to graduate students enrolled in chemistry, pharmacy, or other related doctoral programs nationwide, in order to help support research that may yield results impacting the medical and food industries. Greco and Rawat were among the six fellowship recipients this year.<\/p>\n

Greco received her undergraduate degree in chemical engineering in 2001 from Northeastern University in Boston and spent the next three years working for a pharmaceutical company before she realized that she wanted to go to graduate school to develop her craft. Accepted into the School of Pharmacy, she began working in the lab of associate professor Robin Bogner<\/a> in 2004, where she became interested in studying the dissolution of potential drugs.<\/p>\n

For a drug to be effective, it needs to be incorporated into your bloodstream, explains Greco.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis research is important because a lot of drugs being developed today have really low dissolution rates and really low solubility, which in turn lead to reduced effectiveness,\u201d she says. \u201cIn order to increase effectiveness, we\u2019re aiming to increase solubility and increase dissolution rates.\u201d<\/p>\n

The drugs that Greco is currently studying have high solubility rates but, based on physiological conditions such as when the drugs enter the stomach or intestines, they can convert to low solubility forms, thereby reducing effectiveness.<\/p>\n

Greco\u2019s <\/strong>research deals with drugs just after they have been synthesized or discovered; as such, she is on the frontlines of drug development. One goal of her research is to help researchers further down the production line determine which drugs will stay in solution and be effective during treatment. She also hopes that her research can help develop techniques that will keep drugs in solution (through the development of new coatings, for example), and that it will help researchers determine which form of a drug is most effective for its given purpose, be it pill, capsule, intravenous injection, or some other form.<\/p>\n

This project is an extension of one she led in 2007, which was also funded by USP. Greco would like to apply the science she\u2019s learned in a practical way, and is planning for a career working for a pharmaceutical company where she can continue to develop new drugs.<\/p>\n

At the same time, she hopes to pass along her love of learning and research to future generations of scientists.<\/p>\n

\u201cBe persistent,\u201d says Greco to the undergraduate <\/strong>students she works with. \u201cNothing is trivial in nature; nothing is trivial in science. Sometimes you\u2019ll think an experiment is going to work and that you\u2019ll have all the answers and it won\u2019t. You\u2019ll be frustrated, but you have to just keep pushing on. That\u2019s the hardest part, but it makes finding the answers that much more rewarding.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rawat received her undergraduate degree in pharmacy and master\u2019s degree in pharmaceutics from the University of Delhi in India and worked for a while at a drug company before coming to UConn in 2005 to pursue her Ph.D. Accepted into Professor Diane Burgess\u2019s lab<\/a>, Rawat <\/strong>became involved in studying controlled-release microsphere formulations.<\/p>\n

Microsphere formulations are delivery systems used to prolong the duration of a drug\u2019s release in the body, explains Rawat, whose research has garnered two other fellowships from USP. Her current research is an extension of those past fellowships.<\/p>\n

\u201cConventional methods of drug release that are available today \u2013 pills, capsules, tablets \u2013 must be taken once a day, twice a day, thrice a day\u201d in order to maintain effective levels of a medication, she says. \u201cMicrospheres are a form of long-term drug release, and so one injection into the body can provide a continuous, steady, and controlled release for anywhere between one and four months, depending on the formulation used and the disease being treated.\u201d<\/p>\n

These formulations are particularly well-suited for patients who must take frequent doses of a medication over a long period of time, such as those suffering from schizophrenia, growth-hormone deficiencies, or certain forms of cancer. These diseases are best treated with steady streams of medication, and so microsphere formulations prove invaluable to patient well-being, says Rawat.<\/p>\n

Pills, capsules, and tablets, even if they are time-releasing compounds, can result in fluctuating blood levels of whatever drug they are delivering. Microspheres combat this problem by maintaining constant drug levels in a patient\u2019s blood stream over the course of the treatment, thereby increasing efficacy of the drug.<\/p>\n

The medications are also helpful to patients who may be traveling or who may forget to take their medications. Ease of use leads to higher rates of patient compliance.<\/p>\n

There are currently few microsphere formulations that have been approved by the FDA. Rawat\u2019s research involves developing methods to test new microsphere formulations, because it is important for researchers to know how each formulation will perform in the body.<\/p>\n

After completing her doctorate, Rawat intends to pursue a career in industrial research so that she can put her knowledge and education to good use in developing new and effective drugs. Research is something she has always loved, and she credits at least part of her success to that passion.<\/p>\n

\u201cA student should pursue a career that they enjoy,\u201d she advises current students, particularly those who are preparing to graduate. \u201cBe honest, have interest in what you are doing, and work hard, and you\u2019ll have success no matter what field you choose to go into.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two UConn students have received prestigious national fellowships for their pharmaceutical research.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[43],"class_list":["post-9944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-28 08:35:40","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9944"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9944\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37515,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9944\/revisions\/37515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9944"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=9944"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=9944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}