Pharmathon 2020 highlights importance of medication safety

A virtual format did not dampen the creativity and enthusiasm of the teams participating in the third annual Pharmathon, hosted by the Thomas J. Long School of Pharmacy鈥檚 chapter of the Industry Pharmacists Organization (IPhO-91成人导航). The eight teams, each consisting of three to four doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) students, turned to online platforms, such as Google Hangouts and Facebook, to collaborate. They were given 48 hours to conduct research and create a solution for a health care related problem using publicly available data. The teams consulted with Sachin A. Shah, PharmD, FAHA, professor of pharmacy practice and regional coordinator for Travis Air Force Base, as well as current second year and third year PharmD students who intend on pursuing careers as industry pharmacists.

The theme of this year鈥檚 Pharmathon was pharmacovigilance and medication safety. Pharmacovigilance is the focus on the safety of drugs and medical devices and serves to detect, assess, understand and prevent adverse effects or any other drug related problems. Drug manufacturers are required to conduct post-marketing surveillance studies and report their data to the FDA. Consequently, this process has a direct impact on the lives of patients. The integration of pharmacists in pharmacovigilance is essential, given their expertise in monitoring the safety and efficacy of drugs.

During the public health crisis caused by COVID-19, pharmacovigilance studies are critical to avert adverse events experienced by patients. These are key considerations considered by scientists who are striving to find the safest and most effective treatment for COVID-19.

After 48 hours of critical thinking, problem solving and sleep deprivation, the eight teams presented their research to faculty, students and a panel of three pharmaceutical industry experts on Zoom. Guest judges included Jeremy Lim 鈥12, PharmD, senior clinical scientist at Genentech, Reema Dirks, PharmD, senior medical science liaison at Amgen, and Mariah Clarisse Mayo 鈥17, PharmD, senior drug safety associate at Forty Seven Inc. After much deliberation from the judges, team members Dylan Holt 鈥22, Jeffrey Hwe 鈥22, Samantha Teshima 鈥22 and Diana Wong 鈥22 were deemed the winners for their project 鈥淭he Influence of Smart Social Media on Medical Safety.鈥

鈥淧harmathon tested the limits of our creativity and health care knowledge,鈥 said Teshima. Despite the challenges associated with hosting the event virtually, IPhO-91成人导航 successfully carried on the tradition of this unique, student-led event. 鈥淲e are grateful for the technological advances that allowed us to participate in this wonderful 91成人导航 tradition,鈥 Teshima said. 鈥淎 special thank you to Dean Oppenheimer for listening in, our peers for helping throughout the entire 48 hours, and the wonderful judges for taking time out of their busy schedules to evaluate the creative student presentations.鈥

Second place went to Derek Cheung 鈥22, Renee Stutz 鈥22, Lena Tieu 鈥22 and Tiffany Vu 鈥22, who studied the role of Google Trends, a tool that analyzes the popularity of top searches, in pharmacovigilance monitoring. Third place went to Aasim Ahmed 鈥22, Cristella Ho 鈥22, Justine Do-Huynh 鈥22 and Stephanie Zeng 鈥22, who focused on the impact of virtual reality on pain.

91成人导航 Pharmathon 2020

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