OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
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Welcome to the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences in the College of Pharmacy at Oregon State University (OSU), where we seek to improve healthcare outcomes by researching and discovering new medications, ensuring their safety and efficacy, and optimizing drug delivery systems. We are located both on the main campus at Corvallis in the heart of the Willamette Valley, as well as on the Waterfront campus of Oregon Health & Sciences University (OHSU) in Portland.
We think that exposure to the combination of scientific research and clinical practice will best prepare the next generation of scientists to serve the needs of the pharmaceutical industry, public and private health care providers. The dual locations of the Department and College allows students to learn from and interact with faculties of both the Land Grant University (OSU) and an elite Medical Center (OHSU).
Our faculty is a community of scholars and innovators characterized by a spirit of inquiry, collaboration, intellectual curiosity, critical thinking, and a shared commitment to advancing pharmaceutical knowledge and making a positive impact on global health.
Our research teams uncover insights that will not only expand the boundaries of current knowledge but also contribute to solutions for real-world challenges. Our Natural Product Drug Discovery and Development teams are utilizing cutting-edge technologies to detect and produce novel pharmaceuticals. The Gene Regulation and Disease teams develop animal and mathematical models for better understanding of human diseases. The Targeted Drug Delivery teams in the new Center for Innovative Drug Delivery and Imaging (CIDDI) develop lipid-based nanoparticles for effective delivery of mRNA vaccines and disease therapeutics, unique capabilities of nanomaterials for cancer therapeutics, and image-guided therapies.
We invite you to explore the exciting opportunities and intellectual challenges that await you in this dynamic field.
Chrissa Kioussi
Professor and Chair
Spring 2024
The Drug Discovery research team is interested in bioorganic and natural product chemistry (Taifo Mahmud, Fred Stevens, Richard Van Breemen; Kerry McPhail), biosynthesis, synthetic biology, and enzymology of microbial secondary metabolites (Taifo Mahmud, BJ Philmus) and vaccine development (Aleksandra Sikora). The team works at the interface of molecular genetics, enzymology, and chemistry (Taifo Mahmud, Kerry McPhail) towards the goal of creating and developing novel, pharmaceutically active compounds and vaccines for treatment of cancer (Jane Ishmael, Arup Indra, Taifo Mahmud), infectious diseases (Taifo Mahmud, Aleksandra Sikora) and metabolic and chronic inflammatory syndrome (Fred Stevens).
The Systems Biomedicine research team is studying how combinatorial networks regulate development and pathological contexts (Kevin Brown, Theresa Filtz, Chrissa Kioussi); immunity, inflammation and skin cancer (Arup Indra); aging, skin repair and regeneration (Gitali Indra); primary and secondary brain tumors (Jane Ishmael); metabolic syndrome Chrissa Kioussi, Andrey Morgun), inflammatory bowel disease and cancer (Andrey Morgun); and neurological disorders and microbiome (Kevin Brown, Maude David, Andrey Morgun). These studies require a multidisciplinary approach involving the fields of biochemistry, pharmacology, cell biology, genetics, epigenetics, molecular systems and networks, and computational biomedicine.
The Targeted Drug Delivery research team is developing novel intelligent nanoparticle-based systems (Adam Alani, Oleh Taratula); phototherapy and heat (Olena Taratula), modified messenger RNA for treatment of neuro-degenerative disorders and cancer immunotherapy (Gaurav Sahay); and combination of radiation and chemotherapy (Conroy Sun). The nanoparticle-based delivery systems are designed to silence key, cancer-driving genes in the tumors as well as directly induce tumor cell death within the tumor mass.
The Center for Innovative Drug Delivery and Imaging (CIDDI) at OSU/OHSU College of Pharmacy focuses on innovative drug delivery technologies for disease diagnostic and therapy.
Visit their new website to find out more!
