ASPET congratulates all the poster awardees at the ASPET 2023 Annual Meeting.

Division for Behavioral Pharmacology

Undergraduate Students

• 1st place: “Characterizing How Lesioning of Cocaine Activated Ensembles in the Nucleus Accumbens Affects Cocaine Related Behaviors”, Rishik Bethi, Vanderbilt University
• 2nd place: “Antinociceptive Effects of Fentanyl and Non-opioid Drugs in Methocinnamox-treated Rats”, Saba Ghodrati, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio

Graduate and Post-baccalaureate Students

• 1st place: “Effects of Cannabinoids on Fentanyl Antinociception”, Dalal Alkhelb, Northeastern University
• 2nd place: “Fentanyl-Targeting Monoclonal Antibodies Block Fentanyl-Induced Respiratory Depression in Non-Human Primates”, Emily Burke, McLean Hospital
• 3rd place: “Modifying the Conditioned Reinforcing Properties of Cocaine in the New Response Acquisition Procedure”, Lauren Rysztak, University of Michigan

Postdoctoral Scientists

• 1st place: “Targeting A3 Adenosine Receptor (A3AR) Attenuates Paclitaxel-induced Cognitive Impairment”, Silvia Squillace, Saint Louis University School of Medicine
• 2nd place: “Evaluating Serotonin 2C and Dopamine D3 Receptor Ligands, Alone and in Mixtures, as Candidate Medications for Substance Use Disorders”, Briana Mason, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
• 3rd place: “Microglia in the Locus Coeruleus Mediate the Behavioral and Neuronal Consequences of Social Stress in Females”, Cora Smiley, University of South Carolina

Division for Cancer Pharmacology

Undergraduate Students

• 1st place: “Defining the Role of Mitochondrial Dynamics in Regulating PDAC Cell Sensitivity to KRAS and ERK Inhibition”, Amber Amparo, UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center

Graduate and Post-baccalaureate Students

• 1st place: “Direct Targeting of Menin-MLL1 Interaction Inhibits Cancer Stem Cells to Inhibit Neuroblastoma Growth”, Rameswari Chilamakuri, St. John's University
• 2nd place: “Sotorasib, a KRAS-G12C Inhibitor, Induces Chemoresistance by Activating Human Pregnane Xenobiotic Receptor”, Julia Salamat, Auburn University
• 3rd place: “Direct Targeting of the Cell cycle Regulator WEE1 is a Novel Therapeutic Approach for Neuroblastoma”, Parul Suri, St. John's University

Division for Cardiovascular Pharmacology

Undergraduate Student

• 1st place: “Clopidogrel Induces More Bleeding in P2Y12-deficient Mice: Optimization of Murine Tail Bleeding Assay”, Taylor Rabanus, Michigan State University

Graduate and Post-baccalaureate Students

• 1st place: “Resolving Unchecked Inflammation in Atrial Fibrillation”, Deanna Sosnowski, McGill University
• 2nd place: “A Convolutional Neural Network Model classifies Beat-to-Beat Arterial Pressure Time-Series: Sex Stratification and Cardiovascular Risk Prediction”, Nour Mounira Bakkar, American University of Beirut
• 3rd place: “Effects of Dapagliflozin as an Adjunct Therapy to Insulin in Streptozotocin-induced Diabetic Rats” Abdul-Azeez Lanihun, Southern Illinois University

Postdoctoral Scientists

• 1st place: “Mitochondrial CaMKII as a Novel Regulator of Cardiometabolic Dysfunction”, Kimberly Ferrero, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
• 2nd place: “Cardiomyocyte Signaling Factors are Responsible for Heart-Fat Communication and Mediate the Development of Cardiometabolic Disease”, Stephanie Kereliuk, Temple University

Division for Drug Discovery and Development

Undergraduate Students

• 1st place: “Effects of Simultaneous Inhibition of Fatty Acid Amide Hydrolase and Soluble Epoxide Hydrolase on Acute and Persistent Pain in Male Rats”, Cassandra Yuan
  

Graduate and Post-baccalaureate Students

• 1st place: “Structure, Function, and Pharmacology of Delta Opioid Receptor Bitopics”, Sarah Bernhard, Washington University School of Medicine
• 2nd place: “An Elastin-like Polypeptide-fused Peptide Inhibits MMP-2 Activity at nM Concentrations with High Specificity” Adesanya Akinleye, University of Mississippi Medical Center
• 3rd place: “Efficacy of LSD1 Directed Agents is Enhanced with Kinase Signaling Inhibition in Glioblastoma Stem Cells”, Lea Stitzlein, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Postdoctoral Scientists

• 1st place: “Pharmacological Rescue of Human Disease Mutations in KCNJ10 and KCNJ16 by Novel Kir4.1/5.1 Potentiator, VU0493206”, Samantha McClenahan, Vanderbilt University
• 2nd place: “Pharmacological and Genetic Preclinical Models of Ghrelin Receptor Functional Selectivity to Investigate Metabolic Disease Pathophysiology”, Joshua Gross, Duke University School of Medicine 
• 3rd place: “Profiling Context-Dependent Activity of Allosteric Modulators at mGlu7”, Xia Lei, Vanderbilt University

Division for Drug Metabolism and Disposition

Graduate and Post-baccalaureate Students

• 1st place: “Tenofovir Activation in Brain and Liver is Diminished in Creatine Kinase Brain-Type Knockout Mice”, Colten Eberhard, Johns Hopkins University
• 2nd place: “The Plasma Membrane Monoamine Transporter (PMAT) is Highly Expressed in Neuroblastoma and Functions as a Mitochondrial mIBG Transporter”, Leticia Vieira, University of Washington
• 2nd place: “Human Cytochrome P450 Interactions with Redox Partner Cytochrome P450 Reductase”, Sarah Burris-Hiday, University of Michigan
• 3rd place: “Development of Novel DIA Based Proteomics Tools for Quantification of Drug-protein Adducts”, Ellen Riddle, University of Washington

Postdoctoral Scientists

• 1st place: “High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry Coupled with XCMS Online for High-throughput Detection and Identification of Drug Metabolites”, Dilip Singh, Washington State University
• 2nd place: “Metabolism of (-)-∆9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in Chicken and Potential Exposure of THC and Its Metabolites to Humans”, Ziteng Wang, National University of Singapore
  

Division for Molecular Pharmacology

Undergraduate Students

• 1st place: “Structural and Functional Characterization of Phospholipase C β3”, Kennedy Outlaw, Purdue University
• 2nd place: “Urothelial Knock-in of the Engineered Chloride Channel EG3RF as a Potential Treatment for Cystitis-Induced Bladder Inflammation”, Grace Ward, Emory University

Graduate and Post-baccalaureate Students

• 1st place: “N-cadherin Signaling via PI3Kβ-Akt3 Stabilizes Occludin Tight Junctions in the Blood-Brain Barrier”, Quinn Lee, University of Illinois Chicago
• 2nd place: “Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) Spatiotemporal Mapping of Atypical P38 Reveals an Endosomal and Cytosolic Spatial Bias”, Jeremy Burton, University of Georgia Athens
• 3rd place: “The Adhesion GPCR GPR114/ADGRG5 is Activated by its Tethered-Peptide-Agonist Following Receptor Fragment”, Tyler Bernadyn, University of Michigan
  

Division for Neuropharmacology

Undergraduate Students

• 1st place: “Characterization of Novel Tryptamines' Anxiolytic and Anti-Inflammatory Effects in Relation to their Psychoactive”, Catharine Carfagno, Louisiana State University
• 2nd place: “Characterizing the Role of Nicotine on Sex-Specific Neural Circuit Mechanisms Underlying Sensory Reinforcement”, Grace Bailey, Vanderbilt University

Graduate and Post-baccalaureate Students

• 1st place: “Nucleus Accumbens Single Nucleus RNA Sequencing Identifies Cell Subtype-Specific Maladaptations after Prolonged Spared Nerve Injury”, Randal Serafini, Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai
• 2nd place: “Sex Differences in GABA Regulation of Dopamine Release in the Nucleus Accumbens and its Role in Cocaine Use Disorder”, Brooke Christensen, Vanderbilt University
• 3rd place: “Butyrate Prevents Opioid Induced Peripheral Hypersensitivity via a Gut Dependent Mechanism”, Donald Jessup, Virginia Commonwealth University

Postdoctoral Scientists

• 1st place: “Antidepressants and Dopamine Levels Induced by Substance Misuse Regulate Inflammation and HIV in Myeloid Cells”, Stephanie Matt, Drexel University College of Medicine
• 2nd place: “Effect of Inhibition of Xenobiotic Transporter MRP5/ABCC5 on Neurite Elongation: Screening for MRP5 Inhibitors among Clinically Used Drugs”, Takahiro Ishimoto, Kanazawa University
• 3rd place: “Chronic Morphine and Fentanyl Induce Intestinal Dysbiosis by Decreasing the Antimicrobial Activity of the Ileum”, Karan Hitesh Muchhala, Virginia Commonwealth University

Division for Pharmacology Education

Graduate and Post-baccalaureate Students

• 1st place: “Identifying Students' Causal Mechanistic Reasoning (CMR) in Medical Pharmacology” Rosalyn Bloch, Michigan State University
• 2nd place: “Acute and Subchronic GPR171 Agonism Affects Anxiety and Depression in Female Mice”, Megan Amber Lim, Carle Illinois College of Medicine

Division for Toxicology

Undergraduate Students

• 1st place: “Eugenol Protects Against Diclofenac-Induced Hepatocellular Injury in an In Vitro Mouse Model”, Jaiden Martin, Pacific University
• 2nd place: “Cutaneous Exposures to Nitrogen Mustard in C57BL/6 Mice Cause Hematologic Toxicity that could lead to Acute and Long-term Effects”, Ellen Kim, Michigan State University

Graduate and Post-baccalaureate Students

• 1st place: “The Influence of Arsenic on Selenium Uptake by Red Blood Cell Anion Exchanger 1/SLC4A1 Variants”, Serena Li, University of Alberta
• 2nd place: “Mitragynine Pretreatment Prevents Morphine-Induced Respiratory Depression”, Julio Zuarth Gonzalez, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
• 3rd place: “Nrf2-dependent and independent effects of tBHQ on dendritic cell function”, Saamera Awali, Michigan State University

Postdoctoral Scientist

• 1st place: “Differential Induction of Microsomal and Soluble Epoxide Hydrolases by Arsenic in Drinking Water”, Hui Li, University of Arizona

Division for Translational and Clinical Pharmacology

Undergraduate Students

• 1st place: “3D Reconstruction Reveals Changes in Mitochondrial Morphology in Mouse Skeletal Muscle Across Aging and Upon Loss of the MICOS Complex”, Kit Neikirk, University of Hawaii at Hilo
• 2nd place: “Excessive exercise increases metabolites associated with pathophysiologic changes in ultramarathon runners”, Mikolaj Marszalek, Medical University of Warsaw

Graduate and Post-baccalaureate Students

• 1st place: “Chronic Exposure to Organophosphate Pesticides and Elevated Markers of Systemic Inflammation: Possible Neuroinflammatory and Genotoxic Effects”, Dina El-Gameel, Alexandria University Hospitals
• 2nd place: “Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) causes Erythropoietin Hyporesponsiveness”, Huixi Zou, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
• 3rd place: “Social stress causes the emergence of functional Histamine H3 Receptors in urinary bladder smooth muscle”, B Malique Jones, Michigan State University

Postdoctoral Scientist

• 1st place: “Acute restoration of respiratory function in mice with botulism after treatment with aminopyridines”, William McClintic, University of Tennessee

Dolores C. Shockley Awards

Undergraduate Students

• 1st place: “Defining the Role of Mitochondrial Dynamics in Regulating PDAC Cell Sensitivity to KRAS and ERK Inhibition”, Amber Amparo, UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center
• 2nd place: “Antinociceptive Effects of Fentanyl and Non-opioid Drugs in Methocinnamox-treated Rats” Saba Ghodrati, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio 

Graduate and Post-baccalaureate Students

• 1st place: “An Elastin-like Polypeptide-fused Peptide Inhibits MMP-2 Activity at nM Concentrations with High Specificity”, Adesanya Akinleye, University of Mississippi Medical Center
• 2nd place: “N-cadherin Signaling via PI3Kβ-Akt3 Stabilizes Occludin Tight Junctions in the Blood-Brain Barrier”, Quinn Lee, University of Illinois Chicago
• 3rd place: “The Plasma Membrane Monoamine Transporter (PMAT) is Highly Expressed in Neuroblastoma and Functions as a Mitochondrial mIBG Transporter”, Leticia Vieira, University of Washington

Postdoctoral Scientist

• 1st place: “Evaluating Serotonin 2C and Dopamine D3 Receptor Ligands, Alone and in Mixtures, as Candidate Medications for Substance Use Disorders”, Briana Mason, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antoni
• 2nd place: “Sexual Dimorphism of the Fasting Adipose:  Mitigation of Metabolic and Cardiovascular Dysfunction in a Non-Obese Prediabetic Rat Model”, Haneen Dwaib, Palestine Ahliya University 
• 3rd place: “Organic Cation Transporter 3 is a Crucial Modulator of Serotonin Clearance in Basolateral Amygdala and Sex-Dependently Modulates Fear Behaviors”, Nikki Clauss, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio

Oral Competition Award Winners

Division for Cancer Pharmacology

Young Investigator Symposium (Oral Sessions)

In the postdoctoral category, “finalist” prizes were awarded to: 

• Jingwen Zhu - St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
• Maria Voronkova - West Virginia University
• Vrushank Bhatt - Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey
• Gavin Traber - UC Davis School of Medicine

Division for Cardiovascular Pharmacology

Graduate and Post-baccalaureate Students

• 1st place: “Opposing effects of ß2-ARs on ß1-ARs on phospholipase C-mediated cardiac hypertrophic signaling”, Wenhui Wei, University of Michigan
• 2nd place: “Delivery of Human ACE2 Across the Blood Brain Barrier Attenuated Development of Neurogenic Hypertension Using An Engineered Liposome-Based Delivery System”, Yue Shen, North Dakota State University Press
• 3rd place: “Angiotensin-(1-7) and Gut-Bone Marrow Axis in Aging”, Kishore Chittimalli, North Dakota State University 

Postdoctoral Scientists

• 1st place: “Sexual Dimorphism of the Fasting Adipose:  Mitigation of Metabolic and Cardiovascular Dysfunction in a Non-Obese Prediabetic Rat Model”, Haneen Dwaib, Palestine Ahliya University
• 2nd place: “ANGPTL4 attenuates hypoxia/reoxygenation-induced cardiomyocyte apoptosis via activation of Akt signaling”, Weiyi Xia, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Division for Molecular Pharmacology

Postdoctoral Scientists

• 1st place: “Optimization of a Novel D2 Dopamine Receptor-Selective Antagonist into Lead Candidates for the Treatment of Neuropsychiatric Disorders” Ashley Nilson, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
  and
  “Identification and pharmacological characterization of a novel β-arrestin-biased negative allosteric modulator of the β<-adrenergic receptor” Francesco De Pascali, Thomas Jefferson University

Division for Neuropharmacology

Postdoctoral Scientists

• 1st place: “Metabotropic mGlu1 Receptor Regulation of Cortical Inhibition and Cognitive Function: Implications in Adolescent Cocaine Exposure” Deborah Luessen, Vanderbilt University 
• 2nd place: “Role and Regulation of BNST GluN2D-containing NMDARs in a Continuous Access Ethanol Task”, Marie Doyle, Vanderbilt University
• 3rd place: “Antidepressants and Dopamine Levels Induced by Substance Misuse Regulate Inflammation and HIV in Myeloid Cells”, Stephanie Matt, Drexel University College of Medicine
• Honorable Mention: “Impact of Maternal Overnutrition in Central Nervous System Circuits that Regulate Feeding”, Sai Shilpa Kommaraju, Barrow Neurological Institute

Division for Neuropharmacology

Young Investigator Awards Platform (Oral Sessions)

In the Graduate Student category, prizes were awarded to: 

• Shams Osman - Alexandria University
• Mikolaj Marszalek - Medical University of Warsaw
• Yin Zhu – University of Pittsburgh
• Kennedy Kuchinski - Xavier University