Department of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Chemistry

December, 2003                                                     Also available in PDF

Volume 5

Contents:

• From The Chair
• Donor Highlights
  • The George S. and Delores Doré Eccles Presidential Chair in Pharmaceutics
  • Endowment For Student Support
• Fellowships
• Individual Donors
• New Students
• Recent Graduates
• Special Course on Drug Development in Pharmaceutical Industry
• Undergraduate Summer Research Fellowship Program
• Student Activities
• Alumni News
  • Alumni and Friends Breakfast
  • Alumni Highlights
  • Letter from Africa
• Awards and Honors 2002-2003
  • Faculty
  • Students
  • Peer-reviewed Grants
• Publications of our Faculty in 2003
• Faculty Travel
• Contributions to the Alumni and Friends Fellowship

From the Chair

Welcome to the fifth issue of our Newsletter!

I would like to take this opportunity to briefly reflect on the main achievements of the last five years and to share with you our plans for the future. I want to stress that this was a collective effort and credit goes to all.

We stabilized the Department: Since 1999 we identified, hired, provided space and resources to six new faculty members (new faculty in italics). At present, there are 4 Distinguished Professors (J.D. Andrade, W.I. Higuchi, S.W. Kim, J. Kopeček), 2 Professors (Y.H. Bae, J. Mauger), 2 Associate Professors (J. Herron, K.

We increased the number of graduate students to forty. In addition, six graduate students from other departments work with our faculty. To enhance the students’ educational experience and create an atmosphere where their talent can be developed to the fullest, we have prepared and implemented a new graduate Curriculum, changed the Ph.D. qualifying exam, revived journal clubs, increased the participation of Ph.D. supervisory committees in the education process, started a joint Pharm.D./Ph.D option, organized an Industrial Pharmacy course, and modified and increased the number of professional courses.

We have also improved communications with graduate students. The Graduate Student Advisory Committee (SAC) is actively involved in Department matters, including participation in faculty meetings (see their report in this issue). We increased the number of student fellowships for first-year graduate students; up to five incoming students were supported in the first year from Fellowships. Just recently, an endowment for student stipends has been established (see “Donor Highlights”). This permits the students to rotate through several labs before choosing their adviser.

The department participates in the Global Pharmaceutics Educational Network (GPEN). Our students presented the results of their research at GPEN meetings in Uppsala, Sweden (2000) and Ann Arbor, Michigan (2002). Several students will participate in the May 2004 GPEN meeting in Kyoto, Japan.

We have a great department. Our faculty and students have received numerous awards; grant support is over $3 million per year. How can we sustain and further enhance excellence in the Department? What is the Department’s future? The faculty and students have discussed this extensively, and as a result, we have approved a new Department Strategic Plan. We have outlined strategies for adding and replacing faculty, strategies for attracting top-notch students, strategies for fund raising, and strategies to provide students with a challenging curriculum and exciting topics for research. Last, but not least, we have designed strategies for the selection of a new Chair. Effective July 1, 2004 we will have an interim Chair (hopefully for a short period). A team led by Dr. McCreary was successful in securing an endowed chair so that we can attract an outstanding new Chair (see “Donor Highlights”).

So, I leave with gratitude and warm feelings. The Department will sustain and further enhance its quality. The areas of scientific excellence will flourish thanks to the erudition, drive, and motivation of our faculty. What are my plans for the future? I look forward to a sabbatical leave in the academic year 2004-2005. In fact, throughout my whole academic career I took only one quarter of sabbatical leave. I plan to write several research grants, do collaborative research in Prague, catch up with the literature, and plan new research projects for my laboratory. This will give me more time for direct contact with my students and coworkers, a prospect I find exciting. I will continue to serve the scientific community as Chair of the new NIH Biomaterials and Biointerfaces (BMBI) Study Section.

My very best wishes to all of you for continuing success. Enjoy your work and research. There is nothing more rewarding and comforting than the feeling of joy one can receive from everyday work.

Please, keep in touch with the Department throughout the year. Visit our website at www.pharmaceutics.utah.edu. News from the Department and all previous Newsletters are accessible at this address. Finally, I would like to thank Ron Richins for the design and production of this Newsletter.

The faculty, students, and staff wish all alumni and friends a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Successful New Year.

Jindřich (Henry) Kopeček

Distinguished Professor and Chair

DONOR HIGHLIGHTS

The generosity of our donors helps to sustain and expand the excellence of our graduate program. We are grateful for their continuing support. THANK YOU ALL!!

The George S. and Delores Doré Eccles Presidential Chair in Pharmaceutics:

We are excited to share with you the excellent news that our Department has been awarded the College of Pharmacy’s first endowed chair. This is a historic event in the life of the College and Department. An endowment of $1.25 million will be available to support the next Chair. We are grateful to the Eccles Foundation for their confidence in the excellence and future of our Department.

ENDOWMENT FOR STUDENT SUPPORT:

We are pleased to announce the Dr. Dinesh and Kalpana Patel pledge of $150,000 for the support of student fellowships. A great contribution to the academic mission of the Department. Thanks.

FELLOWSHIPS

Fellowships for first year graduate students are funding their rotations in several laboratories before they decide on the dissertation topic and mentor. Thanks to all Fellowship sponsors!

In the academic year 2003-2004 the following fellowships were available:

Novartis Fellowship

Dinesh and Kalpana Patel Fellowship

Watson Fellowship

Enzon Fellowship

Roy Kuramoto Fellowship

In the academic year 2004-2005 the following fellowships will be available:

Pfizer Fellowship

Novartis Fellowship

Dinesh and Kalpana Patel Fellowship

Roy Kuramoto Fellowship

Alumni and Friends Fellowship

Distinguished Seminar Program: The Distinguished Seminar Program continues thanks to the generous donation from Dr. Sung Wan Kim. This year’s seminar speaker was Prof. K. Kataoka from the University of Tokyo.

INDIVIDUAL DONORS

The contributions from individual donors – our alumni and friends – helped to establish the new ALUMNI AND FRIENDS FELLOWSHIP. Thanks for you support!

Sandra Sims

David A. Putnam

Jindřich Kopeček

Ping-Yang Yeh

Yuji Kasuya

Jane-Guo Shiah

Eric J. Mack

Kenneth D. Hinds

Keiko Tsutsumi

Soohee Lee

Pharmacia Foundation (matching Dr. Sims’ donation)

More contributions are needed for a full one-year fellowship. We shall appreciate your donations.

NEW STUDENTS

The following students joined our Department in the Fall Semester of 2003:

Winter Chan: Winter graduated from the University of Utah in 2003 with a B.S. in Chemistry. She is currently pursuing the Pharm.D./Ph.D. degree. Winter is the recipient of the Kuramoto Fellowship and is a member of Dr. Sung Wan Kim’s group. She enjoys numerous activities, including playing the clarinet, curling, swing dancing, and photography.

Lane Christensen: Lane graduated from the University of Utah in 2003 with a B.S. in Chemistry. He is a member of Dr. Sung Wan Kim’s lab. Lane enjoys golfing, hiking, and camping.

Huifen Gao: Huifen graduated from Fudan University in 2001 with a B.S. in Materials Chemistry. In 2003 she received a M.S. degree in Chemistry from Clarkson University in Potsdam, NY. She is the recipient of the Novartis Fellowship. Huifen enjoys music, sports, and reading.

Jelena Jensen: Jelena graduated from Southern Utah University in 1992 with a B.S. in Physical Science. She is a student of Dr. Joseph Andrade. Jelena enjoys the outdoors, camping, and hiking.

Mudit Kakar: Mudit graduated from the University of Delhi in 2001 with a B.S. in Pharmacy. He is a recipient of the Patel Fellowship. Mudit enjoys listening to music.

Dongin Kim: Dongin graduated from Ajou University in Suwon, Korea in 1999 with a B.S. in Applied Chemistry. In 2002 he received a M.S. degree in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Florida in Gainesville. He is a student of Dr. You Han Bae. Dongin enjoys playing soccer.

Sarah Molokhia: Sarah graduated from Cairo University in 2003 with a B.S. in Pharmacy. She is a member of Dr. William Higuchi’s lab. Sarah enjoys playing the piano.

Manit Patel: Manit will enter the program this Spring 2004. He graduated from the University Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai, India in 2003 with a B.S. in Pharmacy. Manit is the recipient of the Watson Fellowship.

Yuda Zong: Yuda graduated from Beijing Normal University in 1993 with a B.S. in Chemistry. In 1996 he received a M.S. degree in Macromolecular Chemistry from Beijing Normal University. He is a member of Dr. Zheng-Rong Lu’s lab. He enjoys photography.

Jeff Wyrick: Jeff is a bioengineering student. He graduated from Washington State University in 2003 with a B.S. in Biochemistry. He is a member of Dr. Jindřich Kopeček’s lab. He enjoys music, hunting, fishing, mountain biking, and hiking.

RECENT GRADUATES

Darin Furgeson: Darin was a student of Dr. Sung Wan Kim. His Ph.D. dissertation is entitled, “Structural and Functional Effects of Polyethylenimine Gene Carriers.” Darin accepted a postdoctoral position in Dr. Chilkoti’s laboratory at Duke University.

Ning He: Ning was a student of Dr. William Higuchi. Her Ph.D. dissertation is entitled, “Mechanistic Study of Chemical Permeation Enhancers for Transdermal Drug Delivery.” She is a scientist at the Bayer Corporation.

Dustin Heslop: Dustin was a student of Dr. William Higuchi. His Ph.D. dissertation is entitled, “Metastable Equilibrium Solubility of Carbonated Apatites in the Presence of Solution Strontium and Fluoride.” He is now the Director of Laboratory Operations at Nutraceutical International Corporation.

Young Min Kwon: Young Min was a student of Dr. Sung Wan Kim. His Ph.D. dissertation is entitled, “Thermosensitive, Biodegradable Triblock Copolymer Microspheres for Drug Delivery.” Young Min accepted a postdoctoral position in Dr. Yang’s laboratory at the University of Michigan.

Honggang Zhu: Honggang Zhu was a student of Dr. William Higuchi. His thesis is entitled, “Investigation of Variability Issues During Iontophoresis with Human Epidermal Membrane.” Honggang is currently employed as a Senior Research Pharmacist at Merck & Co., Inc.

SPECIAL COURSE ON DRUG DEVELOPMENT IN PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY

We are grateful to Drs. Yatindra Joshi, Abu Serajuddin, and Alan Royce from Novartis Pharmaceutical Corporation for sponsoring and presenting an intensive one-week (20 hours of lectures) graduate course related to industrial pharmaceutics. It greatly contributed to the educational mission of our department. The course was attended by 15 graduate students. The positive experience is reflected in the impressions of our graduate student Malavosklish (Liz) Bikram.

Liz Bikram wrote:

The opportunity to gain insight into the industrial world pre-graduate school is rare and invaluable. In graduate school, we spend almost all of our time pursuing our research interests with little regard to the afterlife i.e., post-graduation. Even though some students enter the graduate program with clear objectives in mind, such as obtaining the degree as the next stepping stone on the path to academia or a more lucrative position in industry, the demarcation between an academic or an industrial route is less defined. Consequently, some graduate students delay the inevitable decision by selecting a post-doctoral position in an effort to resolve the quagmire. Fortunately for us, the Department of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Chemistry recognizes these conflicts and has been proactive in providing the students with the tools necessary for making these life-altering decisions. Specifically, our department chair, Dr. Jindřich Kopeček, in his unwavering attempt to maintain the highest level of education possible, has been especially sensitive to the plights of the graduate students and was recently able to secure and offer us an industrial pharmacy course presented by the pharmaceutical giant Novartis Pharmaceutical Corporation.

The course ‘Drug Development in Pharmaceutical Industry’ was offered this past Spring as an insight into the drug development process. This rare glimpse into the pharmaceutical industry was presented by Dr. Abu Serajuddin, Executive Director, and Dr. Alan Royce, Director of Product Development. Both did an outstanding job of creating a relaxed environment that fostered open dialogue between the lecturers and the students throughout the duration of the course. The end result was that students attended the lectures with unexpected alacrity. The lectures were a comprehensive review of the development process from early phase formulation to dosage form design and were well-prepared and thorough. In addition, the lecturers focused on key issues of the development process that normally would not be touched on in class material, such as attrition management, polymorphisms, regulatory considerations, formulation development and evaluation. Tantamount to the overall development process were the formulation problems and due diligence reports presented to the students who were required to assess the information and subsequently determine the drug formulations, whether or not acquisition of a potential valuable drug company would be feasible. These exercises were both challenging and stimulating since the drugs and companies were real examples – the identities of which were kept fiduciary. As a student, I greatly appreciated the efforts made by these directors. They could have just presented the minimum requirements of the course. Instead, they were enthusiastic and well-equipped with extensive notes, excellent overheads, and most importantly, they went out of their way to adequately answer questions which left me with the distinct impression that these lecturers truly cared about the course and the students.

Thus, I think this pharmacy course has prepared the students for industrial pharmacy by providing them with a rare birds-eye view of the drug development process that they would not normally be exposed to in graduate school. The course served to abrogate the material presented in our course work with the actual drug development process. In doing so, the students’ awareness of the challenges that are faced by pharmaceutical companies in bringing a drug molecule to market was increased. In addition, the students were taught how to make practical decisions for attrition management and early formulation of a drug molecule leading to clinical trial. However, apart from the development process itself, one of the most important messages that we obtained from this course was that industrial pharmacy is an integrated process where the contributions of pharmaceutical scientists from every discipline (including drug discovery, formulation, and dosage form design) all work in tandem to produce the final product. ‘Teamwork’ seems to be one of the common mantras, which I think is an important ideology frequently lost in graduate school as one pursues his or her thesis. Furthermore, this has led some of us to realize that the answer to the age old question of ‘Where do I fit in industry?’ is a rather simple one – everywhere and maybe nowhere in particular. Industrial pharmacy is an interdisciplinary science that promises to expose the scientist to a myriad of opportunities with the guaranty of life-long learning experiences.”

UNDERGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM

Bruce Yu, Ph.D., Assistant Professor

This was the 9th year of the Department’s Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship Program (SURFP).

We received over twenty applications. With funding from the Department and Dean’s Office, six applicants were accepted into the Program. The average GPA of the six trainees was 3.81. The six trainees were assigned to the laboratories of participating faculty members (Drs. Bae, Cheatham, Kim, Lim, Lu and Yu) for a period of 10 weeks.

The 10-week program began on June 9th and ended on August 15th. A mid-term luncheon was held on July 9th to introduce the students to the larger community of the Department and to provide career consultation (see below). A final oral/poster presentation session was held on August 14th with more than 30 attendees, including the summer students, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows as well as faculty members from the Department. The students reported their research results at the oral/poster session and in a written report (the written reports are available for review in the Chairman’s office in Skaggs Hall and Leshia Hoffman’s office in Research Park).

In addition to lab research, enrichment activities (both professional and social) were organized for the students. Specifically, the students were given tours of the Huntsman Cancer Institute (June 30th) and the Watson Laboratories (July 21st). The purpose of these profession-oriented tours is to familiarize the students with local biomedical learning, teaching, research and working environment. From the positive feedbacks we received from the students, we believe such tours reinforce the appeal of our graduate and professional programs to these prospective students. In addition to the professional tours, social events were also organized for the students. For instance, Drs. Lim and Cheatham invited the students to their house for a dinner and Liz Bikram (SAC member) organized a hiking trip.

This year, we again provided consultation regarding career development to the trainees. At the mid-term luncheon, Bruce Yu explained to the summer students the various graduate programs available at the University of Utah, including, Ph.D., Ph.D./Pharm.D. and Ph.D./M.D. programs. Then, faculty members participating in the luncheon discussed with each student the specific requirements of each program. In addition, career-development-related articles published in recent scientific journals were distributed to the students for their references. Throughout the summer program, participating faculty members and senior graduate students also provided career-related advices to the trainees on an individual basis. A new career option we pointed out to the students is getting into the legal profession after obtaining a Ph.D. in biomedical/pharmaceutical sciences. An article on this topic was distributed to the students (Nature, 423, 666-667, 2003).

Based on last year’s feedback, efforts were made this year to improve training on writing scientific reports. One article on writing scientific papers, published in an educational journal (J. Chem. Edu. 80, 904-906, 2003), was distributed to both students and their mentors as a reference. Each individual mentor was also asked to provide more guidance on preparing research reports. Based on this year’s student feedback, we think improvement has been made in this regard.

For the second time, we requested feedback from trainees in the form of an exit questionnaire. Again, the response is overwhelmingly positive. All six trainees indicated they will highly recommend our program to other students.

We are looking forward to making next year’s Program more successful based on this year’s experience. Finally, we thank all participating members (faculty, postdoctoral fellows and graduate students) for their efforts.

Final note: Two of year 2002’s summer trainees have come back for our graduate programs, one in the Ph.D. program and one in the Ph.D./Pharm.D. program.

STUDENT ACTIVITIES

The SAC is looking forward to working in close cooperation with the department’s faculty to foster a rich learning environment that is conducive to research with an emphasis on developing a more open environment for the graduate student body. The term of the new SAC began with arranging poster and oral presentations by the summer undergraduate research students. Six students made effective PowerPoint presentations. The present SAC has been involved in the orientation for new graduate students entering the department. During the orientation the SAC gave a detailed presentation of the some of the expectations of the department and also outlined the activities in which the SAC is involved. A written handout was provided detailing expected DO’s and DON’T’s for the new students. The present SAC also worked in conjunction with last year’s SAC to support the Annual Department Picnic that was held at Sugarhouse Park. The SAC designed and organized the printing of the departmental T-shirts that were distributed at the picnic, and helped in some of the administrative duties during the picnic. The new design of T-shirt was widely appreciated.

Student Hike to White Pine Lake

The SAC prepared full RPT reports for six non-tenured faculties for review by the Chair, the Department and the College RPT committees. This review was based on objective criteria laid out by the SAC in consultation with the Department Chair. As a new beginning, the Department’s SAC representative participated and voted in the College SAC’s RPT review of fourteen faculties in the College of Pharmacy. The involvement of the SAC during the consultation process for selection of an interim department Chairperson has helped us to voice our views. In this regard the SAC met with Dean Mauger from the College and presented its opinion on the essential attributes for the post. The SAC is hoping to continue the process by the time this newsletter comes out.

The present SAC has also worked with the faculty during the Globalization of Pharmaceutics Education Network (GPEN) 2004 Traveling Award selection. A list of criteria for selection was provided and a selection committee was chosen consisting of people from inside and outside the department.

The SAC would like to express sincere appreciation for Sivakumar, Aaron, Hui and Liz for helping out at the booth during the Graduate Career Fair to represent our department. An active effort was made to ‘sell’ the department to potential graduate students. We hope to continue the effort in the March 2004 career fair with help from the AAPS Outreach Program led by Stacey May. The present SAC is willing to make more efforts in helping recruitment for the department. A primary plan is to make posters for the department, arrange a recruitment committee consisting of domestic students, and have the domestic students send posters to their previous schools. SAC feels that it is an effective way to present our department to more schools and more people. The SAC is working with the Department Chair to arrange visits to alma maters by the domestic students. Hopefully, we can make presentations at various departments here at the U as well.

A SAC member also attended the meeting on student insurance benefit which potentially shall start at the beginning of fall semester of 2004. The SAC is working to get student feedback on health insurance at the next graduate student body meeting. The SAC was also involved with the training for TA online evaluation organized by Chuck Wight. The SAC is planning to contribute its resources both physically and financially to the Annual Christmas Party. Last year’s SAC did a good job in providing a few games and raffles for enjoyment of the students. The present SAC is planning to add more fun to the party this year to surpass the high standards set by the last SAC. The SAC is also working to attract speakers from other departments to speak at the seminars and try for possible research collaborations.

As a student activity, the SAC held an informal party off-campus immediately after taking over and provided entertainment for the students. Further efforts to involve the students on an informal basis in the coming few months will be concentrated. In addition, SAC is planning to arrange graduate student meetings with the supplement of free pizza lunches to discuss critical issues like health insurance etc. The SAC feels that the graduate student meeting is a good way to increase interactions between students, and for SAC to listen to the students’ views. SAC is considering arranging a couple of indoor/outdoor activities, such as bowling, barbeque and hiking, during spring and summer semesters. The student body would be requested to voice its opinion during the next student body meeting. The budgeting process is underway and a lot would depend on fresh funding by the AAPS for the local chapter. Do not forget to look at the February issue of AAPS newsmagazine where our student chapter will be in the ‘Graduate Focus’. Finally, the SAC will hold elections for the new SAC and pass on the baton to the new leadership.

Have a Merry Christmas, a happy new year 2004 and safe travel.

ALUMNI NEWS

Alumni and Friends Breakfast

The Alumni and Friends Breakfast took place during the annual American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists meeting in Salt Lake City, UT. Many people once associated with the Department had the opportunity to reunite and socialize. The event was successful, with over 70 people attending. The breakfast was further distinguished when Dr. John Mauger recognized Dr. Kopeček as departing chair by presenting him with two glass trophies from the O.C. Tanner Co. The ambiance, food, and associations were first-class.

2003 Alumni and Friends Breakfast

Alumni Highlights

Anthony B. Barry (Ph.D., 2001) is a staff scientist at Wyeth BioPharma, in Andover, Massachusetts, the biopharmaceutical division of Wyeth. He has been involved in the formulation of protein therapeutics since leaving Utah. Anthony is further involved in a number of projects as a lab head within the formulations group, including several drug delivery opportunities for macromolecules.

Hsin-Cheng Chiu (Ph.D., 1994). His graduate work was mainly centered on the study of enzymatic interactions of natural and synthetic water-soluble polymers, namely, dextran, poly(ethylene glycol) and poly(α-amino acids) with respect to their implications in biological performance as potential lysosomotropic drug carriers in the laboratory of Dr. Jindřich Kopeček. Following his graduation, he chose a research fellow position at the Development Center for Biotechnology (DCB) at Taipei, Taiwan. During his short stay (from June 1994 to January 1995) at the DCB, Dr. Chiu led a small team working on drug formulation using the liposome system as a drug carrier.

In February of 1995, Dr. Chiu accepted a faculty

position as an associate professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering of the National Chung-Hsing University (NCHU). It was a new department at the University, in which only the undergraduate study program was provided at that time. The University is located at Taichung City, the central part of Taiwan. Taichung is the third biggest city in Taiwan and is rather close in distance to Dr. Chiu’s birthplace. Two years later, the master program was offered and it became a great help to Dr. Chiu’s research career. In 2000, the Department started a new Ph.D. program for more basic research in the chemical engineering related areas. Dr. Chiu was promoted to full professor at NCHU in 2002. Currently, Dr. Chiu heads an independent research group of 2 Ph.D. and 7 M.S. students. His current research interests focus mainly on the design of temperature/pH-responsive shell cross-linked nanohydrogels from self-assembling graft copolymers as a potential drug delivery system and the evaluations of biological activity of

intercalated proteins within montmorillonite clays and of their biomedical applications. Dr. Chiu keeps enjoying his research, which he has learned from Drs. Jindřich Kopeček and Pavla Kopečková during his stay at the U for almost 6 years. He is grateful and hoping that he has the opportunity to visit both of them and Salt Lake in the near future.

Richard Todd Darrington (Ph.D., 1993) is currently Assistant Director of the Liquids Pharmaceutical R&D group at Pfizer, Inc. in Groton, CT where he is actively involved in the development of novel parenteral formulations. Todd continues to be actively involved in the Pharmaceutical Sciences and is currently Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Connecticut-Storrs in the College of Pharmacy where he co-instructs a graduate course on the kinetics and mechanisms of drug degradation. Todd also serves on the Editorial Advisory Boards of the Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences and The Journal of Pharmaceutical Development and Technology.

Donna Gilbert (Ph.D., 1988) is vice president of Pharmaceutical Development for POZEN Inc., located in Chapel Hill, NC.  She is responsible for development of dosage forms for clinical and commercial use.  Previously she worked at DuPont Pharmaceuticals and Marion Merrell Dow. POZEN Inc was started approximately seven years ago. The initial focus has been on developing products for migraine therapy.

Kenneth D. Hinds (Ph.D., 2001) has recently been promoted to the position of Senior Scientist in Research & Development group at PR Pharmaceuticals. He is working on the discovery and development of novel sustained-release drug delivery systems for pharmaceuticals, particularly for therapeutic proteins and peptides. His current focus is on novel sustained-release formulations for improved treatment of type II diabetes.He resides in Ft. Collins, CO with his wife, Melissa, daughter, Grace, and son, Davis.

Lars Hovgaard (Ph.D., 1991) is Associate Professor at the Danish University of Pharmaceutical Sciences. During the post graduate period The University has been base for research and teaching in Pharmaceutics. Early-on pioneering work on cell cultures established several in-vitro models at the university. Many research groups benefit from this work today. Colonic drug delivery using dextran hydrogels resulted in patents and strong collaborations with, at that time, Astra Pain Control, Sweden. The drug delivery research using polymers then moved into the area of gene drug delivery, where a number of projects on DNA-vaccines and oligonucleotides were initiated. In the year 2000 Lars Hovgaard started his own Contract Research Organization (CRO) in the field of pharmaceutical formulation. This is a great success, but the academic spirit won the internal battle and Lars is back in academia. Due to retirements in the personnel responsible

for the pharmaceutical technology at the Danish University of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Lars Hovgaard has changed his research focus. At this point the main heading is particle design with a focus on spray drying. Research projects concern microencapsulation, stabilization of amorphous states, protein stabilization. Over the years substantial funds have been brought into the department from external sources. Lars is still happily married to Helle Brøndsted, alumni from Pharmaceutics in Utah (Ph.D., 1991). Helle is currently on a leave from the University. She is an employee at ALK Abello, a pollen vaccine company. The couple has four healthy and strong kids that are being brought up to like the outdoors. They always look for a chance to go back to visit at U of U.

Glen S. Kwon (Ph.D., 1991) is an Associate Professor in the Division of Pharmaceutical Sciences in the School of Pharmacy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is an Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Alberta. He received a B.S. in Chemistry in 1986 and a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutics in 1991 from the University of Utah. He was in Japan for the Promotion of Science Postdoctoral (JSPS) Fellow at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering at Tokyo Women’s Medical College from 1991-1993. He was an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Alberta from 1993-1997. He received the Jorge Heller Journal of Controlled Release/Controlled Release Society Outstanding Paper Award in 1994. He received the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Faculty New Investigator Award in 1998. He received the National Institutes of Health FIRST Research Award in 1998. Glen was a JSPS Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Biomedical Engineering and Science at Tokyo Women’s Medical University in 2002. He received the Controlled Release Society Young Investigator Research Achievement Award in 2003. He serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Controlled Release, and he is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. Glen has published 50 scientific papers in journals, 5 chapters in books, and 4 patents. His research focuses on polymeric drug delivery systems – block copolymer micelles, biodegradable polymeric microspheres, and water-soluble polymer-protein conjugates.

Xiaoling Li (Ph.D., 1991) is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Pharmaceutics and Medicinal Chemistry, Thomas J. Long School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences at the University of the Pacific. He is also Director of Pharmaceutical and Chemical Sciences Graduate Program, a multidisciplinary graduate program of the Department of Chemistry and the School of Pharmacy. Prior to his academic career, he was a postdoctoral research fellow at Ciba-Geigy Corp (now Novartis). His research interests are focused on the areas of novel polymers for pharmaceutical and medical application, targeting drug delivery, drug transport through biological membranes, and application of physicochemical concepts to dosage form design. He had mentored many graduate students, post doctoral research fellows, and visiting scholars. He holds two patents and has a total of 78 presentations and publications. He is a Thomas J. Long Fellow and was recently recognized as a Faculty Research Lecturer at the University of the Pacific.

Eric Mack (Ph.D., 1988) is Assistant Professor of Pharmaceutics at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in Boston. Eric recently received the College's Distinguished Service Award as well as the Student Activities Club Advisor of the Year Award in recognition of his work with state pharmacy associations, consultant work with community pharmacists, co-advisor to the Academy of Students of Pharmacy chapter and advisor to the Rho Chi Pharmacy Honor Society chapter, and serving on various committees throughout the College. Eric is conducting research in the areas of polymeric dosage form development and evaluation; pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and pharmacoeconomics of drug and peptide therapy; and scholarship of teaching. Eric coordinates the introductory Doctor of Pharmacy course sequence in pharmaceutics (pharmaceutical calculations, dosage forms, physical pharmacy, and pharmaceutical compounding).

Kendall Peck (Ph.D., 1995). After graduating from the U, I worked for Abbott Labs in North Chicago as a research scientist in formulation development. In this position, I had the opportunity to work on both liquid and solid dosage forms as well as conduct some basic research that led to a patent in one area and a publication in another area. The Chicago area was a great place to live, we enjoyed being close to Chicago while living out in the “country”.

After two years at Abbott, I took a position in the chemistry department at Ricks College, a private two-year college in Rexburg, Idaho. It was difficult to leave the pharmaceutical industry, but I considered this position an experiment to see how well I would enjoy teaching science, something I had always wanted to try. This move also put us close to most of our family members on both sides, and mountains. I have found teaching very rewarding and primarily teach general chemistry. In June of 2000, the Board of Directors Ricks College unexpectedly announced that the college would become a four-year university named BYU-Idaho. For the past two years I have served as chair of the chemistry department. It has been interesting and challenging to guide the chemistry department through the process of expanding the program to offer a bachelor’s degree. Our first chemistry graduates will receive their degrees in December of 2003. Living in Idaho has also made it possible to occasionally travel to Salt Lake to consult with Dr. Higuchi’s group and be involved in working with his graduate students.

Kari and I have a son (12) and two daughters (9 and 4). As a family we enjoy hiking, camping and watching the children’s soccer games.

David Putnam (Ph.D., 1996) recently became an assistant professor in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and the Biomedical Engineering Program at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, where he teaches two new courses, “Cellular Principles of Biomedical Engineering” and “Engineering Principles in Drug Delivery”. His research focuses on the design and synthesis of functional biomaterials for drug delivery, and the innovation of combinatorial technologies to stabilize pharmaceutical formulations. Prior to joining the Cornell faculty, he was a Sr. Scientist and Scientific co-Founder of TransForm Pharmaceuticals, Inc., currently located in Lexington, MA, and also a visiting Research Associate in the laboratory of Robert Langer in the Department of Chemical Engineering at MIT. On April 19, he and his wife, Kathy, also became first-time parents of a daughter, Jane Elizabeth Putnam.

Jane-Guo Shiah (Ph.D., 1998) is currently a Research Scientist at Oculex Pharmaceuticals in Sunnyvale, CA. He is responsible for research and formulation development based on biodegradable polymers such as PLGA. He received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the National Taiwan University before he joined the Pharmaceutical Graduate Program in the University of Utah and thereafter post-graduate study supervised by Dr. Jindřich Kopeček. He is a current member of AAPS, CRS, and past member of AACR, and has published over 10 peer-reviewed papers. He received the Graduate Student Award, 2^nd International Symposium on Polymer Therapeutics in 1997, and the Pharmaceutical Graduate Student Outstanding Research Award, 25^th Controlled Release Society in 1998.

Aijun Tang (Ph.D., 2002) joined the Department in Spring 1997 and defended her dissertation in Fall 2002. During her study here, she worked with Dr. J. Kopeček on the targeted delivery of polymeric anticancer drugs to lymphocytes mediated by receptor-binding epitopes. She is now a postdoctoral research associate in the Chemistry Division at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. Her work involves the development of a new biological mass spectrometric method to detect and analyze ultrahigh molecular weight biomolecules.

Honggang Zhu (Ph.D., 2003). In March 2003, Honggang joined Merck Research Laboratories (MRL) at Merck & Co., Inc as a Senior Research Pharmacist.  His main job function here is formulation development and characterization of small molecules, for both preclinical and clinical (Phase I and II) studies.

Letter from Africa

James Cavenaugh

Sunday, February 23, 2003

As many of you know, I have at long last ended my days in Salt Lake City as a graduate student and am now employed as a postdoctoral cellular immunologist of the University of Oxford. However, I only went to Oxford for about 2 1/2 months for training, with a trip back to America over the holidays, before coming out to the Medical Research Council (MRC) in Fajara, which is a suburb of Banjul, the capital city of Gambia, in west Africa. This is where the majority of my work will be, although I expect that there will be excursions back to Europe from time to time.

I arrived here in Africa on January 24. So, what's it like? The food is at least as good as what they have in Britain (although I do miss some American junk food). The civil war in neighboring Casamance (Senegal) is at least 50 km away, and it's really pretty quiet as civil wars go. Nobody here ever mentions it, although people are probably about as concerned about the situation in Ivory Coast as they are about the looming war in Iraq. Fraud is very common (as it is in Oxford), but not robbery. Really, it's quite safe. Sometimes I don't even lock my door at night. As for catching dread diseases, so far so good. I work in a project concerned with therapeutic vaccination for hepatitis B, which is the 9th leading cause of death world-wide, or so I read. Yes, I have been immunized and I would strongly encourage all of you to be immunized again before coming out here to visit. I buy meat only from two butcher shops which were recommended to me by my boss. I boil and filter the water that I drink.

Basically, I like it here. There are lots of nice restaurants, with Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Indian, Thai, and African food, and lots of seafood. There is even a pretty good Mexican restaurant, but I haven't seen any American or fast food, not even McDonald's. Gambia is developing its tourism industry, and there are many hotels. There's also a lot of poverty, and so the cost of living is very cheap. It's about like living in 1980s prices for food. One can take a taxi into town for about 50 cents, although taxi fares are negotiated - they are not set rates as they are in American cities. I am expected to tip the maids monthly about D100. (The currency is the delasi; 100 bututs = 1 delasi (D), which is worth about 4 cents.) Unemployment is about 70%, and unskilled manual labor can be had for D50 or D100 for a day's wages, so I'm told. (I don't think I could have any self respect if I were to pay someone $2 for a day's worth of manual labor. The maids are paid by the landlord some wage that I haven't asked.) Inflation is pretty bad here; the IT guy from Nigeria complained to me that he's effectively had a 50% pay cut in the last year alone due to the devaluation of the delasi. I am fortunate in that I am paid in pounds sterling. Businesses are happy to have pounds and dollars, and one can get a better exchange rate from a grocery store here than from a bank back in England or America.

The beaches here are beautiful. The villages around here are experiencing lots of growth, and they've brought in many Chinese and other foreigners for that. My next door neighbor is a Japanese contractor. The surrounding forest is pretty. Baobab trees are very common, as well as palms, mangoes, coconuts, and bananas. I'd never seen a baobab tree before.

The Internet connection is painfully slow during the day due to lack of bandwidth. Power outages are practically a daily occurrence so it's important to have battery backup on computers and ultra-low temperature freezers. When the power goes out at home, the water pressure also drops.

My coworkers are intelligent and pleasant. My boss is very nice, and (as far as I know) I get along with all of my coworkers and other MRC personnel with whom I have any dealings. There are seminars or journal club just about every week. Last Tuesday was Gambian Independence Day and the Wednesday before that was Tabasci, a Muslim (and state) holiday.

Gambia is 90% Muslim, but the Muslims and the Christians get along well. Many of my coworkers are Christians, and I was surprised to see them at church a few weeks ago. I stumbled onto a church under construction, which it turns out, has many professionals in attendance there, many from the MRC. I will likely attend this church but it's still a bit too early to say for sure.

For those of you who care, my work is about describing the immune response in a clinical trial of a therapeutic DNA vaccine for hepatitis B virus (HBV). HBV is a very common virus which almost all Africans become exposed to at some point in their lives. It's also very common among the Chinese; Shanghai has the highest rate of liver cancer in the world. About 80% of the people infected with HBV will mount a successful cellular response and clear the virus and have lifelong immunity, but the remaining 20% become chronic carriers. Transmission is mostly sexual and through needle sharing in Europe and America, mostly from mother to infant in Asia, and both in Africa. About 10-20% of the population of sub-Saharan Africa is infected, with a similar fraction in China and other parts of the world. Although there is a very effective vaccine that has been available for nearly 20 years, it provides for only an antibody response, which is apparently sufficient for prophyllaxis but not for therapy; it does not eradicate HBV from chronically infected individuals. A strong and appropriate cellular immune is necessary for successful eradication, and within the last few years a so-called prime, boost approach has been shown to provide good cellular immunity in several model diseases. This approach involves priming with two DNA immunizations with plasmids encoding the antigen of interest, in our case the HBV surface antigen, and then boosting with a recombinant vaccinia (smallpox-like) virus that's been engineered to also express this protein. So there is a clinical trial testing this approach here in Gambia where the prevalence of chronic HBV infection is high. The primary goal of the study is to see if this approach works, and the secondary goal is to understand what's happening immunologically. My job is the secondary goal. Mostly I will be using fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) for intracellular cytokine staining. This is a technology that I find interesting. So far it's been going pretty well.

In general I like it here pretty well. I live in an apartment overlooking the ocean, on a cliff. The view is great. The beach is easily accessible. It's both sandy and rocky; it's sandy but there are lots of boulders which increase its visual appeal. It's not at all a crowded beach, at least not where I live. There are palm trees all around. My apartment has marble tile floors throughout and is very clean and new-looking. But if you're really curious, you can get an idea since I'm right next door to Ngala Lodge (http://www.ngalalodge.com/).

There's not a lot of big game here, just crocodiles. There are also lots of different kinds of birds. Lizards are common too. Mosquitoes pester me from time to time but they're really not too bad, but I expect that to change when the rainy season starts (June - October). Then I will have to use mosquito repellant regularly. The worst time to visit is September - October, but November to May is nice. The days are warm and pleasant and the nights are cool and breezy. This is a popular tourist destination with Britons especially.

James Cavenaugh

JCavenaugh@mrc.gm

If you would like to read more of James’ letter, you can do so at:

AWARDS AND HONORS 2002-2003

Faculty

Sung Wan Kim was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering. He was awarded the Rosenblatt Prize, the most prestigious award of the University of Utah. Dr. Kim was the recipient of the Ho-Am Prize, Korea’s most prestigious award, from the Ho-Am Foundation.

Jindřich (Henry) Kopeček received the J. Heyrovsky Honorary Medal for Merit in the Chemical Sciences from the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic and the AAPS PharmSci & AAPS PharmSciTech Outstanding Use of Technology Award for a paper published in AAPS PharmSci, from the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS). Dr. Kopeček was appointed Chair of the new NIH Biomaterials and Biointerfaces (BMBI) Study Section.

Students

Darin Y. Furgeson – Jeffrey L. Fox Memorial Award

Winter Chan – Kuramoto Fellowship

Huifen Gao – Novartis Fellowship

Mudit Kakar – Dinesh and Kalpana Patel Fellowship

Manit Patel – Watson Fellowship

Kristin Satterfield – Enzon Fellowship

Charu Kanwal – University of Utah Graduate Research Fellowship

Mark Liddell – AFPE Pre-doctoral Fellowship

Matt Fidler – AFPE Pre-doctoral Fellowship

PEER-REVIEWED GRANTS

You Han Bae

NIH Grant DK56884; Bioactive Polymers for Effective Islet Delivery System, Y.-H. Bae, PI.

Thomas Cheatham

NSF Grant CHE-0326027; ITR: Development of a Web-based Grid-computing Environment for Research and Education in Computational Science and Engineering; T. Truong, PI; T. Cheatham, Co-PI.

NIH Grant 1S10RR017214-01; Proteins to Populations: A Metacluster for Bioinformatics; J. Facelli, PI; T. Cheatham, Co-PI.

National Resource Allocation Board Grant MCA01S027S; Insight into Biomolecular Structure, Dynamics, Interactions and Energetics from Simulation; T. Cheatham, PI.

NSF Grant CHE-0218739; Multiscale Simulation of Biomolecular Assemblies on a Computational Grid; G. Voth, PI; T. Cheatham, Co-PI.

James Herron

NIH Grant R01 HL32132; Multi-analyte Waveguide Immunosensing; J.N. Herron, PI.

William Higuchi

NIH Grant DE06569; Quantitation of Enamel Demineralization Mechanisms; W.I. Higuchi, PI.

NIH Grant RO1 GM063559-01A2; Methods to Control Transdermal Iontophoresis Variability; S. Kevin Li, PI; W.I. Higuchi, Co-PI.

Steven Kern

University of Utah College of Pharmacy Grant 2500-07961; Developmental Variation in Morphine Metabolism; S. Kern, PI.

NIH Grant 5R01HL067646; Prevention of Hemodialysis Vascular Access Stenosis; A. Cheung, PI; S. Kern, Co-PI.

International Anesthesia Research Society Grant; Impact of Morphine Metabolites on Morphine Analgesia; S. Kern, PI.

Sung Wan Kim

NIH Grant NH65477; Functional and Targeting Polymeric Gene Carriers; S.W. Kim, PI.

NIH Grant DK65739; Functional Biomaterials for Antisense Delivery to Islet; S.W. Kim, PI.

NIH Grant HL71541; Polymer Carrier for Ischemia-Inducible Gene Therapy; D. Bull, PI; S.W. Kim, Co-PI.

Jindřich Kopeček

NIH Grant CA88047; Targeting to Lymphocytes Mediated by Synthetic Epitopes; J. Kopeček, PI.

NIH Grant CA51578; A Polymeric Drug Delivery System for Cancer Therapy; J. Kopeček, PI.

NIH Grant GM50839; Degradable Hydrogels for Oral Delivery of Calcitonin; J. Kopeček, PI.

Carol Lim

Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) Foundation 2002 Research Starter Grant in Pharmaceutics; C. Lim, PI.

Zheng-Rong Lu

NIH Grant CA095783; Biodegradable Macromolecular MRI Contrast Agents; Z.-R. Lu, PI.

NIH Grant EB000489; Biodegradable Macromolecular Blood Pool Contrast Agents; Z.-R. Lu, PI.

Bruce Yu

Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America Foundation Grant; Design, Synthesis and Characterization of a Peptide Ligand/Anti-Ligand Pair for Cancer Radiotherapy; B. Yu, PI.

NIH Grant EB002880; Molecular Docking and Imaging Devices for Drug Delivery; B. Yu, PI.

PUBLICATIONS OF OUR FACULTY IN 2003

You Han Bae

K.H. Park, Y.H. Bae, “Phenotype of Hepatocyte Spheroids in Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) Containing a Thermo-reversible Extracellular Matrix,” Biosci. Biotechnol. Biochem., 66, 1473-1478 (2002).

S.I. Kang, Y.H. Bae, “A Sulfonamide Based Glucose-responsive Hydrogel with Covalently Immobilized Glucose Oxidase and Catalase,” J. Controlled Release, 86, 115-121 (2003).

J.H. Park, Y.H. Bae, “Hydrogels Based on Poly(ethylene oxide) and Poly(tetramethylene oxide) or Poly(dimethyl siloxane): III. In Vivo Biocompatibility and Biostability,” J. Biomed. Mater. Res., 64A, 309-319 (2003).

S.K. Han, K. Na, Y.H. Bae, “Sulfonamide Based pH-sensitive Polymeric Micelles: Physicochemical Characteristics and pH-dependent Aggregation,” Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochem. Eng. Aspects, 214, 49-59 (2003).

K. Na, E.S. Lee, Y.H. Bae, “Adriamycin Loaded Pullulan Acetate/sulfonamide Conjugate Nanoparticles Responding to Tumor pH: pH-dependent Cell Interaction, Internalization and Cytotoxicity In Vitro,” J. Controlled Release, 87, 3-13 (2003).

E.S. Lee, H. Shin, K. Na, Y.H. Bae, “Poly(L-histidine)/PEG Block Copolymer Micelle and pH Induced Destabilization,” J. Controlled Release, 90, 363-374 (2003).

E.S. Lee, K. Na, Y.H. Bae, “Polymeric Micelle for Tumor pH and Folate Mediated Targeting,” J. Controlled Release, 91, 103-113 (2003).

W.J. Sung, Y.H. Bae, “A Glucose Oxidase Electrode Based on Polypyrrole with Polyanion/PEG/enzyme Conjugate Dopant: Effect of PEG Spacer Length and Synthetic Condition on the Response of the Enzyme Electrode,” Biosensors & Bioelectronics, 18, 1231-1239 (2003).

J.H. Kim, S.K. Park, Y.H. Bae, “In situ Manipulation of Degradation of Polyoxyethylene/poly(e-caprolactone) Multiblock Copolymer Hydrogel Implant,” J. Biomater. Sci. Polym. Ed., 14, 903-916 (2003).

J.H. Park, Y.W. Cho, Y.-H. Cho, J.M. Choi, H.J. Shin, Y.H. Bae, H. Chung, S.Y. Jeong, I.C. Kwon, “Norfloxacin-releasing Urethral Catheter for Long-term Catheterization,” J. Biomater. Sci. Polym. Ed., 14, 951-962 (2003).

Y.W. Cho, J.H. Park, S.H. Kim, Y.-H. Cho, J.M. Choi, H.J. Shin, Y.H. Bae, H. Chung, S.Y. Jeong, I.C. Kwon, “Gentamicin-releasing Urethral Catheter for Short-term Catheterization,” J. Biomater. Sci., Polym. Ed., 14, 963-972 (2003).

J.H. Park, Y.H. Bae, “Hydrogels Based on Poly(ethylene oxide) and Poly(tetramethylene oxide) or Poly(dimethyl siloxane): II. Physical Properties and Bacterial Adhesion,” J Appl. Polym. Sci., 89, 1505-1514 (2003).

S. Kim, S.Y. Chae, K. Na, S.W. Kim, Y.H. Bae, “Insulinotropic Activity of Sulfonylurea/pullulan Conjugate in Rat Islet Microcapsule,” Biomaterials, 24, 4843-4851 (2003).

Y.H. Bae, “Smart Polymers in Drug Delivery,” Pharm. News, 9, 417-424 (2002).

D. Lee, S.-H. Lee, S. Kim, K. Char, J.H. Park, Y.H. Bae, “Micro-phase-separation Behavior of Amphiphilic Polyurethanes Involving Poly(ethylene oxide) and Poly(tetramethylene oxide),” J. Polymer Sci. Part B. Polymer Phys., 41, 2365-2374 (2003).

Thomas Cheatham

N. Špačková, T. E. Cheatham, III, F. Ryjáček, F. Lankaš, L. van Meervelt, P. Hobza, J. Šponer, “Molecular Dynamics Simulations and Thermodynamics Analysis of DNA-drug Complexes. Minor Groove Binding Between 4'-6-diamino-2-phenylindole and DNA Duplexes in Solution,” J. Amer. Chem. Soc., 125, 1759-1769 (2003).

J. P. Lewis, T. E. Cheatham, III, H. Wang, E. Starikow, O. F. Sankey, “Dynamically Amorphous Character of Electronic States in poly(dA)-poly(dT) in DNA,” J. Phys. Chem. B, 107, 2581-2587 (2003).

R. Štefl, T. E. Cheatham, III, N. Špačková, E. Fadrná, I. Berger, J. Koča, J. Šponer, “Folding Pathways of a Guanine-quadruplex DNA Revealed by Molecular Dynamics and Thermodynamical Analysis of the Substates,” Biophys. J., 85, 1787-1804 (2003).

F. Lankaš, J. Šponer, J. Langowski, T. E. Cheatham, III, “DNA Base-pair Step Deformability Inferred from Molecular Dynamics Simulation,” Biophys. J., 85, 2872-2883 (2003).

James Herron

J.S. Cavenaugh, H.-K. Wang, C. Hansen, R. S. Smith, J. N. Herron, “How Well Can a T Cell Epitope Replace its Parent Carrier Protein? A dose response study,” Pharmaceutical Res., 20, 591-596 (2003).

J.N. Herron, H.-K. Wang, V. Janatová, J. D. Durtschi, K. D. Caldwell, D. A. Christensen, I.-N. Chang, S.-C. Huang, “Orientation and Activity of Immobilized Antibodies,” In: Biopolymers at Interfaces, 2^nd Edition (M. Malmsten, ed.), Surfactant Science Series, Vol. 110, Marcel Dekker, New York, pp. 115-163 (2003).

S.E. Tolley, H.-K. Wang, R. S. Smith, D. A. Christensen, J. N. Herron, “Single Chain Polymorphism Analysis in Long QT Syndrome using Planar Waveguide Fluorescent Biosensors,” Analytical Biochemistry, 315, 223-237 (2003).

A.-P. Wei, J. N. Herron (2003). “Assay Procedure Using Fluorogenic Tracers.” U.S. Patent 6,576,419 (issued 6/10/2003).

A.-P. Wei, J. N. Herron (2003). “Compositions and Kits for Fluorescence Polarization Assay of Large Molecules.” U.S. Patent 6,632,613 (issued 10/14/2003).

William Higuchi

K. Tsutsumi, S.K. Li, A.-H. Ghanem, N.F.H. Ho, W.I. Higuchi, “A Systematic Examination of the In Vitro Using Chamber and the In Situ Single-Pass Perfusion Model Systems in Rat Ileum of Model Solutes,” J. Pharm. Sci., 92, 344-359 (2003).

A.H. Barry, H. Zhuang, A.A. Baig, W.I. Higuchi, “Effect of Fluoride Pretreatment on the Solubility of Synthetic Carbonated Apatite,” Calcif. Tissue Int., 12, 236-242 (2003).

D.S. Shaker, A-H. Ghanem, S.K. Li, K.S. Warner, F.M. Hashem, W.I. Higuchi, “Mechanistic Studies of the Effect of Hydroxypropyl-B-cyclodextrin on In Vitro Transdermal Permeation of Corticosterone through Hairless Mouse Skin,” Int. J. Pharm., 253, 1-11 (2003).

N. He, S.K. Li, T.M. Suhonen, K.S. Warner, W.I. Higuchi, “Mechanistic Study of Alkyl Azacycloheptanones as Skin Permeation Enhancers by Permeation and Partition Experiments with Hairless Mouse Skin,” J. Pharm. Sci., 92, 297-310 (2003).

K.S. Warner, S.K. Li, N. He, T.M. Suhonen, D. Chantasart, D. Bolikal, W.I. Higuchi, “Structure/Activity Relationship for Chemical Skin Permeation Enhancers: Probing the Chemical Microenvironment of the Site of Action,” J. Pharm. Sci., 92, 1305-1322 (2003).

H. Zhu, K.D. Peck, D.J. Miller, M.R. Liddell, G. Yan, W.I. Higuchi, S.K. Li, “Investigation of Properties of Human Epidermal Membrane under Constant Conductance Alternating Current Iontophoresis,” J. Controlled Release, 89, 31-46 (2003).

M. Otsuka, S. Morunaka, Y. Matsuda, A. Ito, H. Naito, N. Ichinose, T. Kokubo, T. Nakamura, W.I. Higuchi, “Effect of Particle Size on Zinc Release from Zinc Containing Tricalcium Phosphate (AnTCP) in Zn-Deficient Osteoporesis Rats,” Bio-Medical Materials and Engineering, 13, 103-113 (2003).

Steven Kern

R.A. Lugo, S.E. Kern, “Clinical Pharmacokinetics of Morphine,” J. Pain Palliative Care Pharmacotherapy, 16, 5-18 (2002).

S.E. Kern, D. Jaron, “Healthcare Technology, Economics, and Policy: An Evolving Balance,” IEEE Eng. Med. Biol., 22, 16-19 (2003).

R.P. Huefner, N. Waitzman, J.D. Andrade, S.E. Kern, “For Cost Reducing Technologies, Knowing Markets it to Change Them,” IEEE Eng. Med. Biol., 22, 26-31 (2003).

K.B. Johnson, T.D. Egan, J. Layman, S.E. Kern, J.L. White, S. McJames, “The Influence of Hemorrhagic Shock on Etomidate: A Pharmacokinetic and Pharmacodynamic Analysis,” Anesth. Analg., 96, 1360-1368 (2003).

M. Lee, S.E. Kern, J. Kiskick, T.D. Egan, “Dose Titration with Multiple Oral Transmucosal Fentayl Citrate (OTFC) Units: A Bioequivalence Study,” J. Pain Symp., 26, 743-747 (2003).

T.D. Egan, S.E. Kern, K.B. Johnson, N.L. Pace, “The Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of Propofol in a Modified Cyclodextrin Formulation Versus Propofol in a Lipid Formulation: An Electroencephalographic and Hemodynamic Study in a Porcine Model,” Anesth. Analg., 97, 72-79 (2003).

K.B. Johnson, T.D. Egan, S.E. Kern, J.L. White, S. McJames, N. Syroid, D. Whiddon, T. Church, “The Influence of Hemorrhagic Shock on Propofol: A Pharmacokinetic and Pharmacodynamic Analysis,” Anesthesiology, 99, 409-420 (2003).

Sung Wan Kim

D.-A. Wang, A.S. Narang, M. Kotb, A.O. Gaber, D.D. Miller, S.W. Kim, R.I. Mahato, “Novel Branched Poly(Ethylenimine)-Cholesterol Water-Soluble Lipopolymers for Gene Delivery,” Biomacromolecules, 3, 1197-1207 (2002).

Y.J. Park, J.F. Liang, K.S. Ko, S.W. Kim, V.C. Yang, “Low Molecular Weight Protamine as an Efficient and Nontoxic Gene Carrier: In Vitro Study,” J. Gene Medicine, 5, 700-711 (2003).

M. Lee, S.W. Kim, “Polymeric Gene Carriers,” Pharm. News, 9, 407-415 (2003).

M. Lee, J. Rentz, M. Bikram, S-O. Han, D.A. Bull, S.W. Kim, “Hypoxia-Inducible VEGF Gene Delivery to Ischemic Myocardium Using Water-soluble Lipopolymer,” Gene Therapy, 10, 1535-1542 (2003).

D.Y. Furgeson, W.S. Chan, J.W. Yockman, S.W. Kim, “Modified Linear Polyethylenimine-Cholesterol Conjugates for DNA Complexation,” Bioconjugate Chem., 14, 840-847 (2003).

J.W. Lee, D.S. Lee, S.W. Kim, “pH- and Temperature-Sensitive Bifunctional Hydrogels of N-Isopropylacrylamide and Sulfadimethoxine Monomer,” Macromolecular Res., 11, 189-193 (2003).

S. Oh, M. Lee, K.S. Ko, S. Choi, S.W. Kim, “GLP-1 Gene Delivery for the Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes,” Molecular Therapy, 7, 478-483 (2003).

M. Lee, K.S. Ko, S. Oh, S.W. Kim, “Prevention of Autoimmune Insulitis by Delivery of a Chimeric Plasmid Encoding Interleukin-4 and Interleukin-10,” J. Controlled Release, 88, 333-342 (2003).

J.H. Jeong, S.W. Kim, T.G. Park, “Novel Intracellular Delivery System of Antisense Oligonucleotide by Self-Assembled Hybrid Micelles Composed of DNA/PEG Conjugate and Cationic Fusongenic Peptide,” Bioconjugate Chem., 14, 473-479 (2003).

M. Lee, J. Rentz, S.-O. Han, D.A. Bull, S.W. Kim, “Water Soluble Lipopolymer as an Efficient Carrier for Gene Delivery to Myocardium,” Gene Therapy, 10, 585-593 (2003).

J.W. Yockman, A. Maheshwari, S.-O. Han, S.W. Kim, “Tumor Regression by Repeated Intratumoral Delivery of Water Soluble Lipopolymers/p2CMVmIL-12 Complexes,” J. Controlled Release, 87, 177-186 (2003).

J.H. Jeong, S.W. Kim, T.G. Park, “A New Antisense Oligonucleotide Delivery System Based on Self-assembled ODN–PEG Hybrid Conjugate Micelles,” J. Controlled Release, 93, 183-191 (2003).

Jindřich Kopeček

J. Kopeček, “Smart and Genetically Engineered Biomaterials and Drug Delivery Systems,” Eur. J. Pharm. Sci., 20, 1-16 (2003).

N. Nishiyama, A. Nori, A. Malugin, Y. Kasuya, P. Kopečková, J. Kopeček, “Free and N-(2-Hydroxypropyl)methacrylamide (HPMA) Copolymer-bound Geldanamycin Derivative Induce Different Stress Responses in A2780 Human Ovarian Carcinoma Cells,” Cancer Res., 63, 7876-7882 (2003).

D. Wang, S. Miller, M. Sima, P. Kopečková, J. Kopeček, “Synthesis and Evaluation of Water-Soluble Polymeric Bone-Targeted Drug Delivery Systems,“ Bioconjugate Chem., 14, 853-859 (2003).

Z.-R. Lu, P. Kopečková, J. Kopeček, “Antigen Responsive Hydrogels Based on Polymerizable Antibody Fab’ Fragment,” Macromol. Biosci., 3, 296-300 (2003).

Z.-R. Lu, J.-G. Shiah, P. Kopečková, J. Kopeček, “Polymerizable Fab’ Antibody Fragments Targeted Photodynamic Cancer Therapy in Nude Mice,” STP Pharma Sci., 13, 69-75 (2003).

A. Nori, K.D. Jensen, M. Tijerina, P. Kopečková, J. Kopeček, “Tat Conjugated Synthetic Macromolecules Facilitate Cytoplasmic Drug Delivery to Human Ovarian Carcinoma Cells,” Bioconjugate Chem., 14, 44-50 (2003).

A. Tang, P. Kopečková, J. Kopeček, “Binding and Cytotoxicity of HPMA Copolymer Conjugates to Lymphocytes Mediated by Receptor-binding Epitopes,” Pharmaceutical Res., 20, 360-367 (2003).

M. Tijerina, P. Kopečková, J. Kopeček, “Correlation of Subcellular Compartmentalization of HPMA Copolymer-Mce₆ Conjugates with Chemotherapeutic Activity in Human Ovarian Carcinoma Cells,” Pharmaceutical Res., 20, 728-737 (2003).

M. Tijerina, P. Kopečková, J. Kopeček, “Mechanisms of Cytotoxicity in Human Ovarian Carcinoma Cells Exposed to Free Mce₆ or HPMA Copolymer-Mce₆ Conjugates,” Photochem. Photobiol., 77, 645-652 (2003).

A. Nori, K.D. Jensen, M. Tijerina, P. Kopečková, J. Kopeček, “Subcellular Trafficking of HPMA Copolymer-TAT Conjugates in Human Ovarian Carcinoma Cells,” J. Controlled Release, 91, 53-59 (2003).

K.D. Jensen, A. Nori, M. Tijerina, P. Kopečková, J. Kopeček, “Cytoplasmic Delivery and Nuclear Targeting of Synthetic Macromolecules,” J. Controlled Release, 87, 89-105 (2003).

C.M. Peterson, J.G. Shiah, Y. Sun, P. Kopečková, T. Minko, R.C. Straight, J. Kopeček, “HPMA Copolymer Delivery of Chemotherapy and Photodynamic Therapy in Ovarian Cancer,” Adv. Exp. Med. Biol., 519, 101-123 (2003).

K. Dušek, M. Dušková-Smrčková, M. Ilavský, R. Stewart, J. Kopeček, “Swelling Pressure Induced Phase-Volume Transition in Hybrid Biopolymer Gels Caused by Unfolding of Folded Crosslinks: A Model,” Biomacromolecules, 4, 1818-1826 (2003).

J. Kopeček, P. Kopečková, “Macromolecular Therapeutics: State-of-the-Art and Future Potential,” Bulletin Technique Gattefossé, 96, 9-21 (2003).

Carol Lim

H. Li, G. Yan, S. Kern, C. Lim, “Correlation Among Agonist Dose, Rate of Import, and Transcriptional Activity of Liganded Progesterone Receptor B Isoform in Living Cells,” Pharmaceutical Res., 20, 1574-1580 (2003).

Zheng-Rong Lu

Z.-R. Lu, J.-G. Shiah, P. Kopečková, J. Kopeček, “Polymerizable Fab' Antibody Fragments Targeted Photodynamic Cancer Therapy in Nude Mice,” STP Pharm. Sci., 13, 69-75 (2003).

Z.-R. Lu, P. Kopečková, J. Kopeček, “Antigen Responsive Hydrogels Based on Polymerizable Antibody Fab' Fragment,” Macrom. Biosci., 3, 296-300 (2003).

Z.-R. Lu, X. Wang, D.L. Parker, K.G. Goodrich, H.R. Buswell, “Poly(L-glutamic acid) Gd(III)-DOTA Conjugate with a Degradable Spacer for Magnetic Resonance Imaging,” Bioconjugate Chem., 14, 715-719 (2003).

John Mauger

J. Mauger, J. Ballard, R. Brockson, S. De, V. Gray, D. Robinson, “Intrinsic Dissolution Performance Testing of the USP Dissolution Apparatus 2 (Rotating Paddle) Using Modified Salicylic Acid Calibrator Tablets: Proof of Principle,” Dissolution Technologies 10(3), 6-15 (2003).

Bruce Yu

Y.B. Yu, “Computational Studies of Enzyme-Catalyzed Reactions: Where Are We in Predicting Mechanisms and in Understanding the Nature of Enzyme Catalysis” (comment), J. Phys. Chem. B, 107, 1721 (2003).

FACULTY TRAVEL AND LECTURES

You Han Bae

Dr. Bae has been on the road five times this year; four international travels and one domestic trip. The first travel to Korea was from April 8 to 18 to visit Inha University, one chemical company and one pharmaceutical company to give seminars on ‘smart polymeric micelle for multidrug resistant tumor targeting’ and potential collaboration. Dr. Bae’s group now has two visiting professors from Inha University, one medical doctor and one polymer scientist. His second visit to Korea was May 15-May 22. This travel was to attend defense meetings for two Ph.D. candidates. Both are his former students in K-JIST and to deliver lectures to K-JIST students on ‘Hydrogels.’ In July, he made a trip to Washington D.C. to attend a NIH grant review study section (July 8-10) for Drug Delivery. The next trip (Sept. 20 to Oct. 1) was to Korea again to attend the Korean CRS chapter meeting as an invited speaker and to give talks in a graduate school, KAIST, and in a venture company, NanoCarrier, Inc. located in Kashiwa, Japan. The last trip was to Korea and Thailand from Nov. 17 to Nov. 29. On the way to attend a microsymposium on hydrogels as an invited speaker in Pacific Polymer Conference 8 in Bangkok, he went to Korea to attend two Ph.D. defense meetings of his former K-JIST graduate students, Su Young Chae and Sungwon Kim, each of who had spent 2 years in our department to finish their Ph.D. research works at Dr. Bae’s research lab.

Thomas Cheatham

In an attempt to reach Platinum status in the Delta Skymiles program, Professor Cheatham traveled virtually every month in the pursuit of novel insight, to nitpick submitted grants, and to talk of his groups exciting work ranging from investigating minor groove binders interacting with DNA to probing the fast time scale dynamics of biomolecules. His wife and children were not pleased with his frequent absences. Highlights include participation in an NIH study section (BBCA)--a quite eye-opening experience-- in February, travel to Lausanne Switzerland for a focused workshop on the futures of theoretical explorations of nucleic acid structure and dynamics, a visit to Scripps for the contentious gathering of competing simulation code developers for the first ever joint AMBER/CHARMM meeting and visits to the University of Michigan, the NCI, SUNY Albany, and UCSF.

James Herron

In Janaury 2003, Prof. Herron attended the First Workshop on Biophotonics: Principles, Practice and Applications in Honolulu, HI. He presented two lectures entitled “Biophotonics Applications in Biotechnology: Evanescent Wave Biosensors” and “New Screening Technologies”. In June 2003, Prof. Herron gave an invited presentation entitled “Applications of Evanescent Wave Biosensors in In Vitro and Molecular Diagnostics” at 3M Corporation in St. Paul, MN.

William Higuchi

Bill Higuchi was keynote speaker at the 36th Annual Higuchi Research Seminar held at Lawrence, Kansas in May. From there he traveled to Fort Lauderdale to attend the ARVO meetings.

Steven Kern

I went to Sydney Australia in August to chair a symposium at the World Congress in Medical Physics and Bioengineering. The proceedings of the symposium will be published as a special issue of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology magazine. I also gave a lecture at the University of Sydney on my research in drug interactions.

I recently presented in a special symposium on Modeling of Cancer Chemotherapy and Cell Proliferation sponsored by the Mathematical Biosciences Institute (MBI) at Ohio State University. MBI is a $10 Million special center funded by NSF to bring mathematicians and experimentalists together to build collaborative projects on mathematical modeling in medical and biological systems.

I also was an invited speaker at the annual Association of Science and Technology Centers conference in Minneapolis to address ways of presenting ongoing research to the public through Science Museums. This is part of my efforts with Joe Andrade to have exhibits based on our research as part of the Utah Science Center that will open in Salt Lake City in 2005.

Jindřich Kopeček

Henry traveled to Mumbai, India in February to present two invited lectures at the Fifth International Symposium on Innovations in Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technology. In March Henry gave a lecture at Enzon in New Jersey and in May in Biomeasure in Massachusetts. In June Henry was an invited speaker at the 37th Gatefossé Meeting in Saint Remy de Provence. In July he and Pavla traveled to Prague to discuss with their collaborators at the Academy of Sciences of the

Cape Point – the place where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans merge.