Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Commons^™

Assessment Of Antimicrobial Transition Errors From Hospitals To Skilled Nursing Facilities, Amy Y. Kang, Guarina A. Garcia Delgado, Ashley Nguyen, Maddie Yeh, Tracy Ly, Richard C. Beuttler, Abisay Ortega, Donna Phan Tran, Evelyn Flores, Charis Tjeong, Andrew Bishop, Praneet Kalkat, Loren G. Miller

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Background More than 1 million Americans reside in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs). Antimicrobial transition errors among patients transferred from hospital to SNFs pose safety risks and may lead to poor outcomes, but data on such errors are limited.   Methods We conducted a retrospective cohort study of infectious diseases clinics from 1 June 2020 through 30 November 2023 at the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, a large safety-net health system. We performed logistic regression analyses to identify factors associated with antimicrobial transition errors and poor infection outcomes.   Results We screened records of 6865 clinic patients, among whom 112 were …

Improving Hba1c And Diabetes Preventative Screening Measures In Spanish-Speaking Patients With Clinical Pharmacist Care: A Quality Improvement Initiative, Jennifer Ko, Tila P. Nguyen, Bonnie K. Chen, Richard Beuttler

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Purpose:

Methods:

Results:

Pacific Rxtracts - March 2026, Pacific Rxtracts

Pacific RxTracts

Articles:

• FDA Approves Zycubo as First Treatment for Menkes Disease
• A Step Toward New Lung Treatment - FDA Expands Nerandomilast Approval
• Olezarsen for Severe Hypertriglyceridemia and Pancreatitis Prevention
• Increasing Accessibility of Treatment for Hepatitis C Through Telemedicine
• Efficacy of a Shortened Romosozumab Therapy followed by Denosumab in Postmenopausal Osteoporosis
• Renal Outcomes of SGLT2 Inhibitors vs. GLP-1 Receptor Agonists in T2D
• Plozasiran, A Novel Therapy for Familial Chylomicronemia Syndrome
• Incretin Agonists and Reduced CPAP Use in Obesity-Related Obstructive Sleep Apnea
• Icotrokinra: A Novel Oral Therapy for Plaque Psoriasis
• Omega-3 Fatty Acids in Pediatric Major Depressive Disorder: Limited Benefit as Adjunctive Therapy …

Health Professional Students' Experiences With Gender-Identity Inclusive Content In The Classroom And Supervised Clinical Learning, Perry Xinyi Zhang, Aria Grabowski, Olivia S. Anderson

Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice

Purpose: Gender-identity diverse populations have unique healthcare needs, but they experience stigmatization leading to negative health outcomes. Healthcare professionals have reported obstacles to delivering affirming care to gender-identity diverse patients due to limited training. We assessed how health profession students encounter gender-identity content and how students’ perceived preparedness to provide care for gender-identity diverse populations. Methods: A survey distributed to students enrolled in health professional programs at a large mid-western university included close-ended questions about exposure to gender-identity diverse curricular content in didactic and supervised clinical settings and perceived preparedness to work with gender-identity diverse populations. Open-ended questions asked what …

Issue 17: Pulmonary & Critical Care Insider, Bharat Bajantri Md, Sarah Ellsworth Mls, Stephanie Subart Pharmd

Critical Care & Pulmonary

Pulmonary & Critical Care Insider Issue 17

Compiled by Bharat Bajantri, MD, and librarian Sarah Ellsworth, MLS for the clinicians of the Pulmonary and Critical Care team of Parkview.

The Pulmonary & Critical Care Insider newsletter was created by Dr. Bharat Bajantri, MD and Sarah Ellsworth, MLS in 2023 as a form of current awareness for current practice at our hospital, Parkview Health.

Topics: 

• Management of Uncomplicated Gram-Negative Bacteremia
• Complicated Urinary Tract Infection Guidelines Update
• Ketamine vs Etomidate for RSI
• STORM-PE 
• Lung Ultrasound–Guided Weaning
•  D-Dimer for Pulmonary Embolism
• Extubation Failure
•  A Multimodal, physiology-Driven approach to pleural effusions
• Dexmedetomidine for Hyperactive …

March 2026, Swosu Rural Health Center

RURAL ROCKS

• Understanding the PREVENT Calculator in the 2025 AHA Hypertension Guidelines
• CMS Releases Medicaid and CHIP Beneficiary Profile and Infographic
• FDA Requests Removal of Suicidal Behavior and Ideation Warning from Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonist (GLP-1 RA) Medications
• Walgreens: Flu reaches highest level in U.S. in 25 years
• Walmart boosts pay potential for pharmacy technicians, elevates 3,000 roles
• FDA Launches PreCheck Pilot Program to Strengthen Domestic Pharmaceutical Manufacturing
• Pharmacy undergoes a tech takeover
• President Trump signs landmark PBM reforms into law
• Pharmacy through generations

Selectivity Modulation Of Small Cationic Membrane-Active Cyclic Peptides With Broad-Spectrum Activity Against Bacteria And Fungi, Sandeep Lohan, Rakesh Kumar Tiwari, Innokentiy Maslennikov, Kaustav Das Gupta, Shakti Singh, Keykavous Parang

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

To investigate how ring size and backbone flexibility influence antimicrobial potency and cytotoxicity, we synthesized a series of macrocyclic peptides of lead peptide p1 (c[Arg-Arg-arg-arg-dip-Trp-dip]) by incorporating Gly, 2-aminoethoxyacetic acid (EAA), or 2,4-diaminobutyric acid (Dab). Two optimized peptides, 6b and 10b, retained broad-spectrum activity against drug-resistant Gram-positive (MIC, 1.5–6.2 μg/mL) and Gram-negative bacteria (MIC, 4–25 μg/mL), as well as pathogenic fungi, while exhibiting enhanced selectivity for microbial cells. Their therapeutic indices (TI ∼407 and ∼394, respectively) were ∼2-fold higher than p1, indicating improved safety. Both peptides remained effective against Gram-negative pathogens beyond the reach of daptomycin, were rapidly bactericidal, and …

Microbiome-Responsive Hydrogels: From Biological Cues To Smart Biomaterials, Rajesh Vadlapatla, Amir Nasrolahi Shirazi, Ajoy Koomer, Judy Weng, Matthew Ernest Ghilarducci, Alai Qudus, Keykavous Parang

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Background: Stimuli-responsive hydrogels (SRHs) are smart polymeric materials that undergo reversible physicochemical changes in response to abiotic cues and externally applied fields, enabling applications in drug delivery, wound healing, and tissue engineering. However, they exhibit limited biological specificity and do not adequately reflect the dynamic, disease-relevant complexity of native tissue microenvironments. Microbe-colonized tissues display distinctive biochemical features driven, shaped by microbial metabolism, including localized pH gradients, short-chain fatty acid production, secretion of quorum-sensing molecules, biofilm formation, and expression of specialized enzymes. These endogenous, spatiotemporally regulated signals are closely linked to host physiology and pathology but remain underutilized in hydrogel …

Evidentiary Standards For Newly Approved Antibiotics For Uncomplicated Urinary Tract Infections, Rosa Rodriguez-Monguio, Enrique Seoane-Vazquez, John H. Powers Iii

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Importance: Uncomplicated urinary tract infections (uUTIs) are among the most common bacterial infections and are typically treated with existing oral antibiotics. In 2024–2025, the FDA approved two new oral agents, sulopenem etzadroxil/probenecid and gepotidacin, via expedited review pathways, for the treatment of uUTIs. Objective: To assess the clinical significance and regulatory evidence supporting FDA approval of sulopenem/probenecid and gepotidacin for uUTI, and to analyze the adherence of pivotal phase III trials to regulatory standards for approval and FDA guidelines. Design, Setting, and Participants: Comparative descriptive analysis of publicly available data from phase 3 randomized, double-blind, active-controlled clinical …

Algorithmic Opacity In Opioid Risk Scoring And The Need For Transparent Ai Regulation, Sherry Yun Wang, Ryan Stofer, Zhouzhou Chu, Xiao Huang, Ang Li

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

NarxCare®, a proprietary opioid risk scoring system embedded in Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMPs), has generated significant patient complaints. We adhered to the technical specifications and applied them to PDMP and IQVIA PharMetrics® Plus Closed Health Plan claims database. Despite adding socioeconomic covariates, precision (0.01–0.32) was far below the reported benchmark of 0.75, and F1 scores (0.02–0.39) were also substantially lower than the benchmark value of 0.65, across all our reconstructed models.

Project Score Program Manual, M. Barnard, T. Johnson, A. Ford-Wade, M. Godfrey, C. Compretta, E. Dehon, S. Nasruddin, B. Wade, W. Sparkmon, M. Presley, A. Jones-White, W. Qualen

Faculty and Student Publications

Project SCORE (student-centered outcomes research experience) is an NIH-funded year-long informal public health education program and mentored research experience utilizing a youth participatory action research (YPAR) approach and near-peer mentors (NPMs) to increase science engagement, interest in college participation, and contribute to a diverse and community-engaged health sciences pipeline.

Disruption Of Proteoglycan 4 (Prg4)-Cd44 Signaling Modulates Chronic Synovitis In Conditionally Inactivated Mice, Khaled A. Elsaid, Ling Zhang, Thomas Zhao, Ava Marks, Derek Jenkins, Gregory D. Jay

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Background

Proteoglycan-4 (PRG4) is a mucinous glycoprotein secreted by synovial fibroblasts and superficial zone chondrocytes. PRG4 inhibits synovial macrophage (SM) activation via xanthine oxidase (XO) and hypoxia inducible factor alpha (HIF-1α) suppression. We aimed to evaluate the contribution of PRG4-CD44 interaction to synovial homeostasis and investigate PRG4’s signaling dysfunction in synovial tissues from patients with osteoarthritis (OA). We hypothesized that CD44 mediates synovitis due to PRG4 loss and that PRG4 signaling dysfunction is associated with high-grade synovitis in OA.

Methods

Prg4^{FrtloxP/FrtloxP} are transgenic mice wherein tamoxifen (TAM) inactivates the Frt allele and creates a knockout state (Prg4^{FrtKO/FrtKO …}

Improving Medication Insecurity Through Community Events, Lauren Soohoo, Theresa Blanke, Faria Chaudhry, Courtney O'Keefe, Rakhi Karwa, Jasmine Gonzalvo, Gicella Garcia, Carlyn Kimiecik, Adriana Gardner, Yejin Seo

Purdue Journal of Service-Learning and International Engagement

In the United States, 58 million Americans have difficulty paying for prescription medications due to lack of insurance, high prescription costs, unstable employment, and competing financial demands. High prescription costs reportedly contribute to medication nonadherence for 60% of patients. Medication nonadherence accounts for 30% of hospital admissions, further exacerbating the detrimental impact of medication insecurity such as worsening patient outcomes, quality of life, readmissions rates, and overall health care expenditure.

To understand the prevalence and address medication insecurity among the communities served by the Center for Health Excellence, Quality, and Innovation (CHEQI), a survey was developed and disseminated via a …

2300 Ferry, Kylie Miskovic

Purdue Journal of Service-Learning and International Engagement

Gateway to Hope is the syringe service program located at 2300 Ferry Street that provides not only syringes and other sterile medical equipment for injections but also wound cleaning, medications, and even toiletries. People can also receive basic health services there, and for many people who access these services, this is the only time they interact with the health care system. Located in the same building is the Recovery Café, a welcoming space for anyone in recovery from substance use disorders and anything else. Available to members of either organization is the clothing closet, where people can come and get …

Bridging Gaps In Preventative Care: Pharmacy Students' Impact Through Point-Of-Care Testing And Education At Recovery Café Lafayette, Katherine Davis, Jailyn Jones

Purdue Journal of Service-Learning and International Engagement

Final-year student pharmacists Katherine and Jailyn served on the executive committee of Purdue’s chapter of the American Pharmacists Association–Academy of Student Pharmacists (APhA-ASP) as president and patient care vice president, respectively, during the 2023–2024 academic year. After striving for more community-based involvement with the APhA-ASP chapter, Katherine and Jailyn combined efforts and passions to serve the community by providing health services to a local community center. Preventative health services are vital for patients and also provide substantial benefit to students who are able to practice real-world counseling skills through these opportunities. Throughout the Doctor of Pharmacy curriculum at Purdue, Katherine …

Optimization Of A Kcc2 Small Molecule Agonist And The Development Of An In-Silico Model Of Intermolecular Dynamics For The Rational Design Of Therapeutics Against Opioid Use Disorder, William H.D. Ho, Alfred Amendolara, Kenyon Mitchell, Jaden Miner, Braxton Bingham, Andrew Payne

Annual Research Symposium

Roseman University Research Symposium

Wednesday, February 18, 2026 | 3:00 – 6:00 pm (local time)

Neonatal Sepsis: Empiric Treatment And Monitoring Of Gentamicin Troughs In The Nicu, Aleese Palfreyman

Annual Research Symposium

No abstract provided.

Self-Medication And Pharmaceutical Dispensing In Egypt: Practices, Policies, And Regulatory Challenges, Lobna Fawzy Ali Shaheen

Theses and Dissertations

Access to safe and appropriate medications is a critical component of public health, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. In Egypt, self-medication and informal pharmaceutical dispensing have become deeply embedded practices shaped by systemic, economic, and cultural factors. This research explores the complex interplay between self-medication behaviors, pharmaceutical regulation, and healthcare access in Egypt. Through qualitative interviews with policymakers, pharmacists, physicians, industry professionals, and citizens, the research uncovers widespread informal dispensing of prescription-only medicines, driven by high out-of-pocket costs, limited insurance coverage, and high public reliance on pharmacists as primary care providers. Despite the presence of regulatory frameworks, weak enforcement, …

Tumor Targeting With Peptide-Drug Conjugates: Showcasing Key Progress And Hurdles, Keykavous Parang, Thuy Do, Clare Dinh, Dorna Davanidavari, Max Foroughi, Troy Khong, Mahsa Moazen, Amir Nasrolahi Shirazi

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Peptide-drug conjugates (PDCs) are modular, targeted therapeutics composed of a homing peptide linked to a cytotoxic or modulating drug payload via a cleavable/non-cleavable linker. PDCs utilize peptide targeting to enhance the delivery of potent drugs to tumors, providing advantages such as superior tissue penetration, reduced immunogenicity, and simpler manufacture compared to antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). A comparison of PDCs versus ADCs highlights that PDCs’ small size (~1-3 kDa) enables deeper tumor penetration and faster clearance, whereas ADCs (~150 kDa) benefit from prolonged circulation but suffer from limited tissue diffusion. This review surveys recent advances in PDC design and application. We discuss …

Cytotoxic And Antimicrobial Effects Of Plant-Derived Compounds Used In Traditional Chinese Medicine, Amanda Ly, Diane Sun, Shelbi Salinas, Victor M. Jimenez

Annual Research Symposium

No abstract provided.