This past summer, ACPHS PharmD candidate, Christine Gichigi ’28, was selected to participate in the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Social and Administrative Sciences (SAS) Summer Research Exchange Program.
Gimichi was one of only 27 pharmacy students from across the country chosen for the program.
Working with mentor Dr. Jagdish C. Joshi from Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM), she and another student researcher explored HIV-associated cachexia and the potential role of cannabinoids in mitigating disease progression.
For Christine, HIV research hits home. More than 3 percent of the population of Kenya, her native country, is HIV positive. And stigma around the disease often shaped how people treated those living with it.
Over the summer months, her AACP SAS research team completed the literature search, identified relevant peer-reviewed articles for review and drafted a manuscript.
According to Christine, working on a research project with a professor who has expertise in a specific research area was a great opportunity. The mentorship component guided her through every stage of the research process from identifying a meaningful research question to conducting a comprehensive literature search, evaluating and organizing scientific evidence and developing a literature review.
“This experience has given me a much better understanding of what goes into conducting research and has strengthened my confidence in reading and interpreting scientific literature,” Christine said. “Dr. Joshi gave me insight into how research questions are developed and the importance of generating new knowledge to address unmet problems in healthcare and science.”
Christine also works with Dr. Vir Singh in his lab on HIV research, most recently on his latest research. This past June, Dr. Singh began exploring a novel approach to achieve sustained drug-free viral remission and a functional cure for HIV, commonly referred to as ‘Blocking and Locking of HIV.’ The work is supported by three-year, $493,213 National Institute of Health Research Enhancement Award grant, which allows undergraduate and graduate students like Christine to conduct hands-on biomedical research.
“We are actually working on ways to prevent or even give more people ways that you’re not replicating — in a way, silencing the virus. It doesn’t spread that idea of staying away from people. The virus itself is separate from that individual,” said Christine.
Christine would highly encourage other students to participate in the AACP SAS Summer Research Exchange Program. Now in its tenth year, the program provides student pharmacists an opportunity to participate in summer research projects. More than 100 students have been paired with mentors since the program began. Exchange program students have completed research projects, presented their results at conferences and published peer reviewed articles based on their work.
“For PharmD students who are interested in research, whether in academia, clinical research, or the pharmaceutical industry, this program is an excellent opportunity to strengthen critical thinking, scientific writing and collaboration with researchers from other institutions. It has been a rewarding experience that has helped me grow both professionally and personally.”
If interested, watch for the call for program applications that comes out during the spring semester.
Social