Since its founding in 1929, the College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences at St. John’s University has trained scholars and practitioners who are respected for the quality of their contributions and compassion for those they serve. The College’s advanced degree programs rely on original research and discovery through rigorous scientific investigation to help students advance their understanding of the world.
Evolving technologies
In 2018, the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences announced the acquisition of new Anatomage virtual dissection tables at the University’s Queens campus and Dr. Andrew J. Bartilucci Center. The Anatomage is the world’s first and most technologically advanced virtual dissection table for anatomy education, effectively replacing expensive and cumbersome cadaver laboratories.
Research is key
Grants for the College have amassed over the years. Most recently, Assistant Professor Vivek Gupta, PhD, obtained two grants from the American Heart Association (AHA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) totaling more than $600,000 for his research in treating pulmonary hypertension.
The two-year $154,000 AHA grant will screen drugs already approved by the FDA against cells isolated from patients who suffer from the disease to observe the drugs’ impact on pulmonary hypertension symptoms. Instead of a 15–20-year process, Dr. Gupta said the potential exists for it to take only two to three years to reach the market. The drugs will be screened using robotics, which could also reduce the cost by 60%–70%.
The three-year $492,000 NIH grant is derived from research Dr. Gupta already conducted regarding the antimalarial drug Amodiaquine to treat pulmonary hypertension. Dr. Gupta said he will be able to conduct preclinical trials to test its efficacy. The hope is that it’ll reverse the effects of the condition.
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