The University of Findlay School of Pharmacy Welcomes New Faculty and Staff:

• Laura Perry, Pharm. D., Assistant Professor

  From Pittsburgh to Pilani

During this summer, Dr. Chandra Sekar, an associate professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the University of Findlay, had enriching professional experiences across two continents. In May and June, he was a visiting scientist at Dr. Alan Wells’s laboratory at the University of Pittsburgh’s pathology department. Dr Wells has a long-standing interest in the areas of wound healing and cancer metastasis. About a decade ago, when they were both at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Dr. Wells and Dr. Sekar published a paper demonstrating that the epidermal growth factor causes enhanced breakdown of a lipid called phosphoinositide when it binds to its receptor on an endothelial cell. This summer, Dr. Sekar used a novel inhibitor to further dissect this pathway. Dr. Sekar said, “It was exciting to observe this novel inhibitor attenuate the signaling leading to cell motility.” Dr. Wells’s laboratory is continuing with further studies on this topic.

 In July and August, Dr. Sekar travelled to two locations in India. In JSS college in Mysore, the first college in India to start a clinical pharmacy program, he presented a research seminar to graduate students and a continuing education presentation on Diabetes Management to local community pharmacists. His presentation on the latest advances in diabetes management included the concepts he had learned from the 2008 APhA meeting in San Diego this spring.  Dr. Sekar concluded his travels in India by visiting his alma mater, BITS, Pilani, where he was a visiting professor.  During his week- long stay, he gave two seminars and taught four classes in pharmacology to graduate students.  He also had meetings with the vice chancellor, dean, and head of pharmacy program, exploring ideas for future collaboration between UF and BITS. Dr. Sekar firmly believes that a study abroad program between the two institutions would enrich the experiences of students and, in this very competitive educational environment, increase the profiles of both universities. He hopes that, one day, he will be bringing “Findlay to Pilani” and vice-versa.

Global Health Online

The University of Findlay's School of Pharmacy and College of Business have collaborated to develop a new online journal, Global Health Online, which can be found at http://globalhealthonline.findlay.edu.  

The mission of Global Health - an Online Journal for the Digital Age is to provide writing and editing opportunities for students preparing to enter the field of health care in venues that span the globe. Faculty members and guest authors are encouraged to contribute articles that will help students in their quest for knowledge. Student, faculty and guest contributors will use the Journal as a repository for scholarly articles on: 1. Careers in Global Health Care (articles on interesting careers that people, especially young people, have carved out for themselves in various health care settings) 2. Entrepreneurship in Global Health Care (articles on exciting entrepreneurial businesses and initiatives within larger businesses could be featured, especially entrepreneurial businesses and ventures initiated by younger individuals) 3. Having an impact (articles about people, businesses, organizations, or initiatives that are having a demonstrable impact on some facet of global health care and/or people) 4. Alternative Health Care (articles about nontraditional approaches to health care around the globe) 5. Guest article (by a recognized authority) 6. Reviews of health care in various countries