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Division News
The Division for Pharmacology Education (DPE) inducted three new fellows into The Academy of Pharmacology Education this year. The Academy of Pharmacology Educators was established in 2010 to recognize individuals who have made exemplary contributions to pharmacology education in one or more of the following areas: student-teacher interaction, innovative contributions, scholarly endeavors, professional development, and service. Additional information about the Academy, including application instructions and a roster of inductees, can be found here: https://bit.ly/38T6nCI
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Dr. Joe B. Blumer is an Associate Professor in the Department of Cell and Molecular Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) College of Medicine. He received his PhD in microbiology and molecular genetics at Emory University and completed his postdoctoral fellowship in pharmacology at the LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans. Dr. Blumer’s research efforts are focused on identifying the roles of accessory proteins for heterotrimeric G-protein signaling systems, specifically the Activator of G protein Signaling (AGS) proteins AGS3 and AGS4, within the context of GPCR signaling, particularly that of chemokines. He is the Theme Leader for the Molecules, Metabolism, and Therapeutics (MMT) theme, Course Director for the Respiratory/Renal/ Acid-Base course, and Course Co-director of the Cardiovascular course in the MUSC College of Medicine. He has been actively involved in dental and graduate school teaching as well. A 20-year member of ASPET, Dr. Blumer has served on the Executive Committee and as Secretary/Treasurer for the Division for Molecular Pharmacology and currently serves on the Executive Committee and as Secretary/Treasurerelect for the Division for Pharmacology Education. He also represents ASPET on the AAMC-Council of Faculty and Academic Societies (AAMC-CFAS) and serves as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. Dr. Blumer is a Distinguished Teaching Scholar in the MUSC Academy of Medical Educators and has received numerous teaching awards, including five Golden Apple Teacher of the Year awards in the MUSC College of Medicine.
Dr. Khalil Eldeeb is an Associate Professor of Pharmacology at Campbell University Jerry M. Wallace School of Osteopathic Medicine (CUSOM). He earned a Medical Degree and a Master’s in pharmacology with distinction from Al-Azhar University in Egypt, then a PhD in pharmacology from the University of Nottingham, UK. Dr. Eldeeb completed a research/teaching postdoctoral scholarship at Wake Forest University School of
Medicine among the first cohort of the Postdoctoral Research, Instruction, and Mentoring Experience (PRIME) program. He completed the Health Equity Research Opportunity (HERO) Fellowship at Wake Forest University and the International Association of Medical Science Educators (IAMSE) Fellowship. His research findings investigating cannabinoid receptors and associated proteins were published in peer-reviewed and high-impact journals and presented at different international conferences. His health/medical education research identifies student learning, instruction, and success features presented at the ASPET and IAMSE meetings. Dr. Eldeeb has been a member of the British Pharmacological Society for 14 years and ASPET for 10 years. He is the recipient of the BPS Schechter Award, IAMSE Faculty Travel Award, CUSOM Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research, and ASPET Pharmacology Educator Award. Dr. Eldeeb is a National Faculty for Pharmacology at the National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners (NBOME), member of the IAMSE educational scholarship Committee, the British Pharmacological Society (BPS) Awards Panel, the BPS International Advisory Group, and Executive Committee of the Division for Pharmacology Education at ASPET. Dr. Teresa Wilborn is a Professor and Vice Chair of the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) where she is the discipline lead for pharmacology in the medical curriculum. She instructs dental, optometry and graduate students at UAB and recently led the design of pharmacology courses for the Multidisciplinary Biomedical Science program. Dr. Wilborn received a BS in pharmacy from the University of Florida, a PharmD from Mercer University and a PhD in pharmacology from UAB. She completed a fellowship in renal physiology sponsored by the National Kidney Foundation. Dr. Wilborn was previously on the faculty at Samford University where she taught pharmacy, nurse anesthesia, and nurse practitioner students. She also led a studies abroad course, Healthcare in Great Britain, for several years, and participated in a Latin American Fellows Program focused on enhancing cultural competency. She has served on the USMLE Pharmacology and Biochemistry Test Development Committee for the past four years and was recently asked to serve on the USMLE Interdisciplinary Review Committee. Dr. Wilborn enjoys creating online interactive pharmacology content and recently participated in designing an online game, EndoFlix, using the Kaizen-Education platform to increase student engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic. She has received numerous teaching awards at the UAB School of Medicine including Best Educator Awards for the Fundamentals of Medicine course, the best educator award for the Reproductive curriculum, and the Dale Benos Award for Excellence in Education.
The Division for Pharmacology Education appreciates Dr. Blumer, Dr. Eldeeb and Dr. Wilborn for their many contributions to the discipline. The Academy of Pharmacology Educators is pleased to add these educator-scholars to the roster.
Thummel and Paine Share Thoughts on the Importance of Mentorship Through DMDD
Submitted by Lindsay C. Czuba, PhD and Andrew Rowland, PhD
For over 20 years, Ken Thummel, PhD, has been actively involved both in ASPET and the Division of Drug Metabolism and Disposition (DMDD). During this time, he was President of ASPET in 2014 and the recipient of the 2022 Bernard B. Brodie Award. As a professor and former chair in the Department of Pharmaceutics at the University of Washington, he has served as both a formal and informal mentor to many early career researchers over the years.
One of his former mentees, Mary Paine, PhD, is now a Professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Washington State University and serves as an Associate Editor of Drug Metabolism and Disposition. She leads the Center of Excellence for Natural Product Drug Interaction Research, where she mentors a highly collaborative, and multidisciplinary team of researchers and junior scientists. In this interview, Ken and Mary discuss their mentoring style, creating a respectful training environment, and providing insight for establishing long-lasting and collaborative mentor-mentee relationships.
How has your definition and approach to mentorship evolved over your careers?
KT: When my career began, I had a top-down approach to mentoring graduate students. I was often in the lab alongside my students yet felt acutely the pressures to succeed at securing grant funding and publications. While I did interact with my first trainees like Mary Paine frequently, I probably did not give them sufficient time to work through inevitable methodological problems, imposing recommendations from my past experience. They were often the correct actions, but that didn’t do much to foster selfconfidence and intellectual growth in the trainees.
My approach to mentoring changed with time, in part because of increasing administrative demands that prevented the kind of close interactions I had with trainees earlier in my career. This change helped foster greater independence in trainees who were poised to take more initiative and didn’t necessarily need the benefits of daily interactions. I came to rely on the creative energies of my trainees in charting project directions and bringing novel technical expertise to the action plans. On reflection, I think that some trainees benefitted from this type of mentor-mentee interaction experience, but others did not.
As I moved away from administrative commitments in recent years, I tried to customize my mentormentee relationship to best suit what I think are the strengths and weaknesses of the individual and areas of necessary growth. I strive to create a truly impactful learning experience built on respect and the needs of the trainee, rather than my own ambitions.
MP: As I believe is still largely the case for even young principal investigators, you learn how to be an effective mentor on-the-job. Since establishing my own lab nearly 20 years ago, I would describe my mentoring approach to be more middle-out, as I profess not to know more than my trainees. Early in my career, I found that meeting with each trainee one-on-one regularly at least every two weeks is an effective way to learn of their strengths and weaknesses, as well as get to know them personally. Having this knowledge early during their time in the graduate program allows me to tailor my mentoring approach to maximize their chances of success, as no one approach is applicable to all. Mentoring is a two-way street that requires mutual respect. I learn from them as much as they learn from me. I sometimes seek their advice when I encounter certain difficult issues, as gaining an understanding from a younger, different perspective can help me better formulate a resolution plan.
Ken Thummel, PhD Mary Paine, PhD
What advice would you give to junior scientists looking to establish a strong mentor-mentee relationship?
KT: Listen and match mentoring advice to what you think they need in the short- and long-term. Be willing to give the mentee time to absorb and change and accept to the extent possible stylistic differences. Embrace opportunities for joint mentoring that provides the mentee with invaluable complementary expertise. Support mentee requests for additional didactic and experiential training. Enrich their education however possible.
MP: Be willing to devote regular quality, one-on-one time with each trainee. Respect and learn from them to improve your mentoring style. Confront and talk through any conflicts as soon as possible. Respond to their questions and requests in a timely manner. Encourage them to apply for funding opportunities, such as fellowships and travel grants, to gain writing skills that will help them sell themselves to review panels and even prospective employers. Ensure regular social interactions with your research team to maintain positive group dynamics.
Reflecting on your history as a graduate mentor-mentee pair through to your present interactions as collaborators, in what ways has your relationship both stayed similar and how has it evolved?
KT: As Mary has progressed through her career, I have continued to try and open doors whenever the opportunities have presented themselves, recommending her for positions in our professional society, academic positions, and research collaborations based on her strengths and interests, which I believe I know well. Her success is incredibly rewarding to me. While I am always there to offer her advice, no matter how important or trivial the issue, I keep that private and carefully avoid interjecting my opinions on strategic issues in public unless she explicitly asks me. She has good instincts and strong leadership skills and appears to be a great mentor in her own right.
MP: Ken’s thirst for new and exciting scientific knowledge was readily apparent when I first joined his lab in the early 1990s, and his zeal has not changed. He has maintained his uncanny ability to take the seemingly most uninteresting set of data and turn it into a positive. Our mentor-mentee relationship has matured exponentially over the years and has only strengthened since I moved back to Washington state and became collaborators on an exciting NIH center grant focused on natural product-drug interactions. I have learned a lot from him about strategic ways to lead a large multi-investigator, multi-site grant to deliver the best product possible while meeting annual grant milestones. I take comfort in knowing that I can always call upon him when I need his sage advice. I value his mentorship more and more each day.
How has your involvement with ASPET/ DMDD helped you become a better mentor?
KT: Participation in the Division and Society has given me numerous opportunities to learn from other mentor-mentee pairs that I have encountered at national meetings and other venues. There have been some wonderful role models to emulate – training success takes many different forms. It is the final product that matters. When I witness the professional success of a trainee during a scientific presentation or in a nascent leadership role, I ask myself, “How did they get there and what role did the mentor play in bringing them to that stage of accomplishment”? I find those successes equally enriching as my own.
MP: Like Ken, my participation in the division and society has afforded me many opportunities to observe other successful mentor-mentee pairs at societal and other (inter)national meetings. I strive to give credit where credit is due, and one cue I have taken from other mentors is to place a picture of a trainee on the relevant PowerPoint slide(s) whenever I am presenting data they generated. Not only does this signify my pride for these individuals, but it gives them greater recognition for their accomplishments. I have learned that publicly crediting and thanking trainees for their hard work is fundamental to effective mentorship.
2022 ASPET Young Scientist Award Winners
The ASPET Student/Postdoctoral Poster Competition was held Sunday, April 3, during the ASPET Annual Meeting at EB 2022 in Philadelphia, Pa. Of the 143 members selected to compete, the following are the poster award winners. Additionally, several divisions held oral competitions for young scientists on Monday, April 4. These winners are also recognized.
2022 Shockley Competition Winners
The 2022 Dolores C. Shockley Competition took place at the Student/Postdoctoral Poster Competition. Dr. Shockley was the first African American woman to earn a PhD in pharmacology and the first to be appointed to chair a pharmacology department in the United States.
In the undergraduate student category, prizes were awarded to Kennedy Outlaw, (1st place) from Purdue University and Suzannah De Almeida (2nd place) from University of Connecticut.
In the postbaccalaureate/graduate student category, prizes were awarded to Nathalie Momplaisir (1st place) from the University of Michigan, Carolina Caban Rivera (2nd place) from the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University and Nina Beltran (3rd place) from the University of Texas at El Paso.
2022 ASPET Division Award Winners
Division for Behavioral Pharmacology
Student/Postdoctoral Poster Competition
In the undergraduate category, prizes were awarded to Sarah Mott (1st place) from the University of South Carolina School of Medicine and Francesca Asmus (2nd place) from the University of New England.
In the postbaccalaureate/graduate student category, prizes were awarded to Brittany Pope (1st place) from the Wake Forest School of Medicine, Dalal Alkhelb (2nd place) from the Center of Drug Discovery, Northeastern University, and Carolina Caban Rivera (3rd place) from the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University. Postdoctoral Showcase (Oral Sessions)
The winner of the Division for Behavioral Pharmacology Postdoctoral Showcase was Briana Mason from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.
Division for Cancer Pharmacology
Student/Postdoctoral Poster Competition
In the postbaccalaureate/graduate student category, prizes were awarded to Nicole Ramos Solis (1st place) from Indiana University, School of Medicine, Arthur Chow (2nd place) from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Pravita Balijepalli (3rd place) from the Washington State University. Young Investigators Symposium (Oral Sessions)
In the postdoctoral category, “finalist” prizes were awarded to Jeffrey Rappaport from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Dayn Godinez from Texas A&M University, Tinslee Dilday from the Indiana University School of Medicine, and Lishu He from the Medical College of Wisconsin.
Division for Cardiovascular Pharmacology
Student/Postdoctoral Poster Competition
In the undergraduate category, the top prize was awarded to Alec Horton (1st place) from Tulane University, School of Medicine.
In the postbaccalaureate/graduate student category, prizes were awarded to Robert Valencia (1st place) from the University of Alberta, and Norton Cheng (2nd place) from the University of California, San Diego.
In the postdoctoral category, the top prize was awarded to Zdravka Daneva (1st place) from the University of Virginia. CVP Trainee Showcase (Oral Sessions)
In the graduate student category, prizes were awarded to Ama Okyere (1st place) from Temple University and Kimberly Ferrero (2nd place) from Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University. In the postdoctoral category, prizes were awarded to
Gustavo Oliveira de Paula (1st place) from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Ahmed Alarabi (2nd place) from Texas A&M University.
Division for Drug Discovery and Development
Student/Postdoctoral Poster Competition
In the undergraduate student category, prizes were awarded to Irene Corona-Avila (1st place) from Albion College and Mary Fiala (2nd place) from the University of Nebraska at Kearney.
In the postbaccalaureate/graduate student category, prizes were awarded to Caitlin Risener (1st place) from the Emory University School of Medicine, Lea Stitzlein (2nd place) from Anderson Cancer Center, and Kathryn Braden (3rd place) from Saint Louis University.
Division for Drug Metabolism and Disposition
Student/Postdoctoral Poster Competition
In the postbaccalaureate/graduate student category, prizes were awarded to Colten Eberhard (1st place) from Johns Hopkins University, Austin Sun (2nd place) from the University of Washington, and Eric Mosher (3rd place) from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
In the postdoctoral category, prizes were awarded to Ryan Seguin (1st place) from the University of Washington, Jonghwa Lee (2nd place) from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Eshelman School of Pharmacy, and Patrick Connick (3rd place) from the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center.
Division for Molecular Pharmacology
Student/Postdoctoral Poster Competition
In the undergraduate student category, prizes were awarded to Chloe Hicks (1st place) from Duke University and Kennedy Outlaw (2nd place) from Purdue University.
In the postbaccalaureate/graduate student category, prizes were awarded to Blair Willette (1st place) from Duke University, Clara Posner (2nd place) from the University of California, San Diego, and Khairunnisa Semesta (3rd place) from Duke University.
In the postdoctoral category, prizes were awarded to Francesco De Pascali (1st place) from Thomas Jefferson University, Omar Hamed (2nd place) from the Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, and Tomoka Gose (3rd place) from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Postdoctoral Scientist Award Competition (Oral Sessions)
In the postdoctoral category, prizes were awarded to Isaac Fisher (1st place) from Purdue University, Yu-Chen Yen (2nd place) from Purdue University, and Dipak Patil (3rd place) from the Scripps Research Institute.
Division for Neuropharmacology
Student/Postdoctoral Poster Competition
In the undergraduate student category, prizes were awarded to Suzannah De Almeida (1st place) from the University of Connecticut and Taylor Quintana (2nd place) from California State University, East Bay.
In the postbaccalaureate/graduate student category, prizes were awarded to Jason Wickman (1st place) from Drexel University, Leah Salinsky (2nd place) from the University of Texas Medical Branch, and Kimberly Thibeault (3rd place) from Vanderbilt University.
In the postdoctoral category, prizes were awarded to Akila Ram (1st place) from Utah State University, Dino Luethi (2nd place) from the University of Basel, and Deborah Rudin (3rd place) from the University Hospital Basel. Postdoctoral Scientist Award Competition (Oral Sessions)
In the Postdoctoral category, prizes were awarded to Stephanie Matt (1st place) from Uniformed Services University, Karan Muchala (2nd place) from the University of Cincinnati, Deborah Luessen (3rd place) from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, and Shalini Dogra (honorable mention) from Vanderbilt University.
Division for Pharmacology Education
In the undergraduate student category, the top prize was awarded to Andrea Mosquera (1st place) from Rutgers University.
In the postbaccalaureate/graduate student category, prizes were awarded to Nicholas Conway (1st place) from the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, Florida International University and Yasmin Elsobky (2nd place) from Alexandria University.
Division for Toxicology
Student/Postdoctoral Poster Competition
In the postdoctoral category, prizes were awarded to Emily Stevenson (1st place) from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Yuting Yuan (2nd place) from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and Ashley Cox (3rd place) from the Marshall University School of Medicine.
Student/Postdoctoral Poster Competition
In the postbaccalaureate/graduate student category, the top prize was awarded to Sushrut Shah (1st place) from Thomas Jefferson University. Young Investigator Awards Platform (Oral Sessions)
In the graduate student category, prizes were given to Manisha Pradhan from Johns Hopkins University, Shubham Soni from the University of Alberta, and Piyush Padhi from the University of Georgia. In the postdoctoral category, prizes were given to Jia Nong from the University of Pennsylvania and Shanshan Wang from the University of California, San Diego.
