Topic of Choice 2025

Over my many years of listening to conspiracy theories and anti-science rhetoric, I found that there are comprehend statistics and math.  The first issue is solvable, if the person is sincere.  Instead of listening to pseudoscience, politicians or those who simply want to advance their agenda, any individual can go on wonderful journeys to understand the science from primary sources and observations.  These journeys have been the most wonderful in my life, which I might even say are more rewarding that my travels to different places in our globe (not our flat earth!). The issue with numbers is different.  From my research and observations, I think we have evolved in a way to think about life in a finite smaller periods, which may be essential for survival and livelihood.  It is really hard to comprehend beyond 100 years, because that has been double or triple our life spans.  This has affected our ability to effectively think in terms of millions or billion...

Unfortunately, this is not a list of reasons why Dr. Beleh should lecture in P3 MedChem (I think that list writes itself). I tried to write about something positive, I promise I really did. But I can’t seem to move past the season finale of the Pitt, our discussion this past week on vaccines, and a chart note I came across  at work.  For those who have not seen the show, the Pitt is a medical procedural that takes place over a shift in a busy ER in Pittsburg. Without spoiling anything, a child comes into the ER via ambulance presenting with an unknown viral infection. While the fictional doctors are throwing out differentials, I immediately thought of measles because TV writers love that stuff. Naturally, the child had measles and of course, the parents were against vaccines. They were also against lumbar punctures because the mother had read a post about how they could be dangerous. I won’t give anymore away, but I think you can imagine the frustration of the team trying to c...

I'm taking this opportunity to talk about one of my favorite obsessions: naming medicines. I promise I am being so dead serious right now. I think half of the reason why I passed orgo with flying colors is because I knew how to name medications. But, I will admit, molecules like tenofovir are horrendous so thank god we have new naming conventions. -Vir for antivirals, -pril for ACE inhibitors, and -priprazole for antipsychotics. An then you have antifungals like ibrexafungerp. We are currently in a (minor) crisis where we are running out of names for medications, and so you end up with medications like ibrexafungerp. If you want to get controversial, there's the whole Versed/vecuronium issue that happened at Vanderbilt. It's a little funny because we have 1025 different Pokemon names and somehow none of them overlap.  However, to make this more amusing than not, I have added a Kahoot which includes either medication names or Pokemon names and you have to guess which is whic...

     As you all might know, or not know, I am a big Post Malone fan. I have been to every one of his concerts since the 2019 Hollywood’s Bleeding tour. Now you might be asking yourself, didn’t he already win a grammy? He’s always there, yes, and he has had 18 nominations, but never WON any of them. It’s so disappointing since he has won three American Music Awards, eleven Billboard Music Awards, six MTV Video Music Awards, and seven iHeartRadio Music Awards. He also has 8 DIAMOND-certified records, including White Iverson, Congratulations, I Fall Apart, Rockstar, Psycho, Better Now, and Circles, and a 20 time Platinum of Sunflower. So, clearly a lot of people like his music and he is very accomplished, and yet somehow doesn’t have a grammy. This could be because the grammies are rigged, *cough* *cough* Beyonce *cough* *cough*, but lets talk about the obvious objective reasons he should be given a grammy for any of his albums and why he is simply the best.   ...

I am the self-proclaimed Snow White of Michigan (formerly Arizona). I believe animals know I have a good heart and therefore they love me. This might be a delusion, but I do know for a fact I LOVE animals. I wanted to attend the University of Michigan for pharmacy school because I saw they a veterinary pharmacy rotation for P4s, which then started a snowball effect into me getting really into veterinary pharmacy as a career option. Now I've gone back and forth with this a lot over the past 3 years. On one hand, saying I want to be a veterinary pharmacist when pharmacy school is (mainly) focused on human medicine and disease states is kind of silly. On the other, I don't care :p Growing up, I wanted to be a veterinarian (and still kind of do) but I don't think I have the emotional bandwidth to see animals be euthanized, go through traumatizing experiences, or get sick with terminal illnesses. I don't even support zoos and I cry every time I think about wild animals being...

 After Katy Perry went to space this week, I was inspired to look into what medicine they bring to space and other details! Here are some key points from a NASA Pharmaceutical Care Technical Brief (https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ochmo-tb-006-pharmaceuticals.pdf)  In space, crewmembers are at risk for:  Bone fracture due to spaceflight-induced changes to bone Renal stone formation CV adaptations contributing to adverse mission performance and health  Performance decrements and adverse health resulting from sleep loss, circadian resynchronization, and work overload  There are concerns about medication efficacy and stability: Altered gravity, radiation, temperature/humidity (radiation has not been shown to significantly interfere with usability of medications, but long-duration missions require additional considerations) Studies show limited alteration in changes (including rate of degradation), but most medications lost less than 20% of API  ...

Three-dimensional (3D) printing has rapidly evolved, with major applications emerging in the field of medicine. One of the greatest advancements enabling 3D bioprinting is the development of biomaterials, cells, and supporting components for the fabrication of functional living tissues. The biomanufacturing of tissues and organs in vitro is driven by organ transplantation and the development of accurate tissue models. Developments in 3D Bioprinting   D evelopments in 3D bioprinting have been mostly motivated by the limited availability of organs globally, which are needed for the rehabilitation of damaged or falling organs and tissues. Over the past few decades, 3D bioprinting has been widely applied in the construction of tissues and organs such as skin, blood vessels, and even hearts. These developments not only lay the groundwork for future organ replacement but also serve as in vitro models for pharmacokinetics studies and drug screening.   Process of 3D bioprinting ...

After being told this blog could be about truly anything, I considered writing about my family dog Georgie (legally Giorgio and usually just George). Then, I thought surely I have more to talk about than just my dog. Then, I accidentally cried in medchem at the shock that we had Dr. Beleh’s last lecture and didn’t know it until the end, so I thought I’ll write about adapting to change and surprises poorly. All of this to say, Dr. Beleh and my dog are very important to me (I cry over him too). I’m not writing about either of these things! Consider this my personal campaign for everyone to spice up their life and love the little things just a little bit more. Life is so hard. Add pharmacy school and that’s hard too. I won’t begin to wonder what’s hard in your personal lives, but I know it’s not always easy. I’m a pessimist. But if I worried and pessimist-ed every hard thing in my life, I don’t think I’d get out of bed in the morning. Or I’d become the worst combination of the Grinch and ...

       Giovanna (Gigi) Caprathe is a female mackerel tabby American shorthair cat whom I picked up from the shelter in 2017 after her previous family dumped her there when she was eight months old. (They named her "River"...what kind of cat name is that...) The name Giovanna came to me immediately after I saw her, and her last name is that of my husband's. As soon as peeked into her sad little shelter cage, I knew that Gigi and I were going to be best friends. Of course, I was right, and now we're inseparable.      Though some might think that cats are fickle while dogs are loyal (and thus superior), I couldn't disagree more when it comes to Gigi. Following a messy breakup, she snuggled with me and provided me comfort. When I get home, the first one to greet me at the door is always Gigi. She comes when called! She demands to be in the same room as me at all times (and yes, this includes the bathroom), and looks at me with the most loving gaze.  ...

  Introduction      Past           Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) injections (TCMIs) are preparations of herbal extracts formulated for injection. Compared with traditional forms such as pills, powders, and decoctions, TCMIs emerged relatively late. During the 1930s, TCMIs were developed in order to address the shortage of medical resources and the limited efficacy of traditional preparations.   TCMIs are characterized by high bioavailability, definite therapeutic effects, and rapid onset of action, making them widely used in the clinical treatment of acute and severe diseases.        Now           Currently, in China, TCMIs are regulated as traditional chinese medicine products because their approval numbers begin with " 国药准字 Z" (indicating a TCM drug), while those for chemical drugs begin with " 国药准字 H." Till July 6, 2022, data from the National Medical Products Admin...