Pharmacy students spend summer conducting research

Pharmacy students spend summer conducting research

While it’s a quiet campus during the summer months, there is action galore in the College of Pharmacy, where students are conducting research for a variety of projects. One of the projects is studying the drug that is used to treat the genetic disorder which causes some cases of obesity. Five percent of the overweight people in the United States suffer from a genetic disorder that causes severe obesity. These people have receptors in their brain that are “broken,” causing the body to store nutrients as fat. Rising junior Georgia McCartney is a dietetics major helping with the research for this drug. “Learning about research and using my understanding of obesity has helped me see dietetics in a new way,” McCartney said. “I can understand obesity in not only terms of food, but in a person’s genetics.” McCartney said she hopes to further her career in dietetics by helping people practice healthier cooking. Students majoring in pharmacy, bio-chemistry, dietetics, pre-med and more are gaining experience to further their careers. Senior Lincoln Shade aspires to be a doctor and is working on the research for a liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry with green tea catechins. “Doing research will not only be a resume builder but a good way to gain valuable experience,” he said, adding that he even participated by drinking more green tea. Shade is one of many students conducting summer research. What was once five has grown to be over 60 students working on research projects this summer. “I want to grow the undergrad population that come into the program along with the grad students in the future,” said Scott Akers, Pharmacetical Sciences...