Pharmacy Graduate Students Take Home AAPS Research Awards
| Two graduate students with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Pharmacy received top marks for their research presentations at the annual American Association of Pharmaceutical Sciences (AAPS) PharmSci 360 meeting, held Nov. 9-12 in San Antonio.
Sood’s presentation was one of only three to receive a Best Poster Award.
Saloni Sood, a second-year Ph.D. student in the college’s pharmaceutical sciences track, was one of only three researchers to pass a two-round selection process and receive a prestigious Best Poster Award for her presentation, “Discovery of Mitochondria Targeted Non-apoptotic Cell Death Inducers against Resistant Triple-Negative Breast Cancer.” She also received a Best Abstract Award given to the top 10% of all presentations, and her work was featured in the AAPS President’s Special Poster Collection for the meeting’s most innovative research.
Veronica Piedra, a second-year Ph.D. student in the UA Little Rock-UAMS joint graduate program in bioinformatics, also received a Best Abstract Award for her presentation, “Overcoming Intracellular Delivery Challenges of Small- and Large-Molecule Through First-in-Class Macropinocytosis Activators.”
Both students conduct their research in the College of Pharmacy’s Cancer and Systems Therapeutics Laboratory, supervised by Amit Tiwari, Ph.D., associate dean of research and graduate studies.
“I am extremely proud of Saloni and Veronica for their outstanding achievements and for representing UAMS with excellence on a national stage,” Tiwari said. “As a mentor, it’s immensely rewarding to see our learners recognized nationally for their creativity and impact. Saloni and Veronica continue to exemplify the future of translational research at UAMS.”
More than 1,200 abstracts were submitted for AAPS PharmSci 360, with only 850 selected for presentation. Saloni is among the top three to get best poster award, Tiwari said.
Piedra received a Best Abstract Award for her research.
“I am honored and grateful to have had the opportunity to present at AAPS PharmSci 360,” Sood said. “I want to thank Dr. Tiwari for his mentorship and for always creating opportunities for students to grow and be visible on these platforms.”
“I am honored to receive the AAPS Best Abstract Award,” Piedra said. “It is encouraging to see this work recognized.”
Sood’s research led to the discovery of new ways to trigger non-apoptotic cell death to treat triple-negative breast cancer. Apoptosis is the body’s normal, programmed process for removing damaged cells, and most cancer drugs rely on this pathway to work. When cancer cells acquire mutations that help them avoid apoptosis, they become resistant to treatment, which is a major challenge in chemotherapy. By bypassing this pathway and targeting a key mitochondrial protein called Drp1, Sood’s work has shown a promising strategy to overcome drug resistance and create new treatment possibilities for this highly aggressive disease.
“As a Ph.D. student, I’m learning that drug resistance isn’t just a scientific problem, it’s the moment when a patient’s options begin to close,” Sood said. “My research feels like a small but meaningful way I can contribute to giving those patients one more chance. I chose this field because the skills I’m still building at the bench might one day be part of a real solution for someone I will never meet, and that possibility keeps me motivated and grateful every day.”
Piedra’s research uses first-in-class small-molecule inducers of macropinocytosis, a process that allows cells to take in fluids, to enable systemic delivery of large macromolecular therapeutics like proteins and antibodies into aggressive, treatment-resistant cancers. Some medicines have difficulty permeating cell membranes, which reduces their effectiveness. By selectively activating cell pathways through actin-driven endocytosis, the inducers overcome this issue and significantly improve the effectiveness of therapeutics for difficult-to-treat cancers.
“My research focuses on exploiting macropinocytosis to deliver drugs into therapy-resistant cancer cells,” Piedra said. “This is important to me because many patients eventually run out of effective treatment options, and if we can use this process as a delivery platform, many new therapeutic windows will open up for these patients.”