Campbell student awarded grant to conduct research on heart disease

Campbell pharmacy student Carisa N. Shaw was one of 15 students to receive the 2006 Gateway to Research Scholarship. Scholarships in the amount of $5,000 each were awarded to outstanding students in Doctor of Pharmacy and undergraduate science programs by the American Foundation for Pharmaceutical Education (AFPE). The purpose of the AFPE awards is to encourage research faculty at accredited pharmacy and bachelor’s degree programs to identify promising professional pharmacy students or undergraduates with strong potential and to encourage them to participate in a mentored pharmaceutical science research experience. Shaw and mentor Dr. Thomas Abraham, assistant professor of pharmacology and toxicology, won the grant for their research on the expression of atherosclerotic placques that cause heart disease. “The research focuses on a very specific protein found inside blood vessels and whether that protein is altered in its amount or behavior in the formation of atherosclerotic placques,” Abraham said. “If the protein is altered as we suspect, its levels might increase in the formation of plaques, which could lead to the development of a drug to target that specific protein thereby decreasing the formation of these placques.” Shaw is a rising second-year pharmacy student who became interested in pursing a Doctor of Pharmacy degree after working as a technician for Abraham. She also received her bachelor’s degree in biology from Campbell. “She’s a very hardworking student and one we’re fortunate and pleased to have in our program,” said Abraham. “She collaborated with me on the grant, but wrote the majority of it herself. I’m proud of her accomplishments and we look forward to seeing some very interesting results from this study.”

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