Interns & Research
Unlike our peer institutions, the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy conducts a wide range of advanced research that aligns with five phases of the drug discovery, development and delivery cycle. Each phase is represented by one of five division within the School.
Faculty and graduate students alike are encouraged to work with their peers within the School and the University to further realize research goals in discovery, preclinical and clinical development of therapeutic agents, optimum delivery of drug therapy, evaluation of health and therapeutic outcomes of novel drug therapies and technologies, as well as regulatory policies.
Corbin Bryan
Northern High School
Liquid Phase Short Peptide Synthesis
Faculty Mentor: Albert Bowers, Ph.D.
Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry
Alexander Kyu
Raleigh Charter High School
RVV-X, RVV-V and Drug Delivery
Faculty Mentor: Jian Liu, Ph.D.
Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry
Anthony Kyu
Raleigh Charter High School
Russell’s Viper Venom Coagulation and Stability
Faculty Mentor: Jian Liu, Ph.D.
Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry
Jonathan Stepp
Trinity School of Durham and Chapel Hill
Faculty Mentor: Andrew Lee, Ph.D.
Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry
Ponni Theetharappan
Enloe High School
Splicing Kinase Data Analysis and QSAR Modeling
Faculty Mentor: Alex Tropsha, Ph.D.
Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry
Benjamin Wu
Trinity School of Durham and Chapel Hill
Oct4 Locus Activation: Synthetic Recruitment of Transcriptional Activators
Faculty Mentor: Nate Hathaway, Ph.D.
Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry
Josie Cranfill
Trinity School of Durham and Chapel Hill
Faculty Mentor: Sam Lai, Ph.D.
Division of Pharmacoengineering and Molecular Pharmaceutics
Luke Garges
Trinity School of Durham and Chapel Hill
Stem Cells: The Oncologist’s Friend
Faculty Mentor: Shawn Hingtgen, Ph.D.
Division of Pharmacoengineering and Molecular Pharmaceutics
William Mangum
Northern High School
Acetylated Dextran and Targeted Drug Delivery
Faculty Mentor: Kristy Ainslie, Ph.D.
Division of Pharmacoengineering and Molecular Pharmaceutics
Acelynn Barefoot
Northern High School
Faculty Mentor: Dhiren Thakker, Ph.D.
Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics
Caroline Blythe
Woods Charter School
Both Sides of the Cancer Equation
Faculty Mentor: Bill Zamboni, Pharm.D., Ph.D.
Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics
Hunter Hughes
Woods Charter School
Development of a Polysaccharide Polymer-based Product for Chemotherapy Spills
Faculty Mentor: Bill Zamboni, Pharm.D., Ph.D.
Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics
Lindsey Kirby
Trinity School of Durham and Chapel Hill
Preemptive Genotyping & Pharmacogenomics
Faculty Mentor: Tim Wiltshire, Ph.D.
Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics
Mallory Storrie
Northwood High School
Pharmacokinetic Studies of a Novel Nanoparticle Formulation of Cisplatin in Mice
Faculty Mentor: Bill Zamboni, Pharm.D., Ph.D.
Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics
Salem Williams
Northwood High School
The Effect of Clinical Trial Studies on the Outcome of Patient Treatment and Care
Faculty Mentor: Bill Zamboni, Pharm.D., Ph.D.
Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics
Meenakshi Immaneni
STEM Early College at NC A&T
Development of a Fluorescence-based Assay for a Methyl-lysine Reader Chromodomain
Faculty Mentor: Stephen Frye, Ph.D.
Center for Integrative Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery
Lena Cohen
Chapel Hill High School
Faculty Mentor: Elena Batrakova, Ph.D.
Center for Nanotechnology in Drug Delivery
Dalal Azzam
Green Hope High School
Synthesis of Cephalosporin Analogues Through Amide Coupling for Evaluation of Activity Against Mycobacterium Tuberculosis
Faculty Mentor: Jeff Aubé, Ph.D.
Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry
Erin Blanding
Sun Valley High School
Site-specific Histone Ubiquitylation to Study Chromatin Signaling
Faculty Mentor: Robert McGinty, Ph.D.
Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry
Tyler Deegan
Woods Charter School
Liposome Composition Effects on Phospholipase Activity
Faculty Mentor: Qisheng Zhang, Ph.D.
Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry
Michael McGirt
Hillside High School
The Discovery of Anti-Chikungunya Targets and Drugs using Text-Mining
Faculty Mentor: Alex Tropsha, Ph.D.
Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry
Hannah Myatt
Home School
Effect of HPLC Conditions on Low Molecular Weight Heparin Analysis
Faculty Mentor: Jian Liu, Ph.D.
Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry
Clara To
East Chapel Hill High School
IL10 Trap Expression, Purification, and Characterization
Faculty Mentor: Rihe Liu, Ph.D.
Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry
Elijah Whitfield
First Flight High School
Phage Display for Discovery of Tool Peptide Inhibitors for Cancer Targets KRAS and CIB1
Faculty Mentor: Kenneth Pearce, Ph.D.
Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry
Alexander DeWalle
Raleigh Charter High School
Determining the Optimal PEG Length in Order to Limit Immune Complex Formation in a Vaccinated Mouse Model
Faculty Mentor: Sam Lai, Ph.D.
Division of Pharmacoengineering and Molecular Pharmaceutics
Michael Marand
Panther Creek High School
The Use of Modified Neural Stem Cells as a Therapeutic Carrier to Treat Brain Tumors
Faculty Mentor: Shawn Hingtgen, Ph.D.
Division of Pharmacoengineering and Molecular Pharmaceutics
Olivia Osborne
Woods Charter School
Gene Editing of Vaginal Bacteria Using Engineered Bacteriophage
Faculty Mentor: Sam Lai, Ph.D.
Division of Pharmacoengineering and Molecular Pharmaceutics
Alexandra Simpson
Hillside High School
Novel Formulations of HIV Prevention Drugs
Faculty Mentor: Rahima Benhabbour, Ph.D.
Division of Pharmacoengineering and Molecular Pharmaceutics
Sara Eve
Northwood High School
Evaluating the Efficiencies and Deficiencies of Nanoparticle Tumor Delivery and Disposition
Faculty Mentor: Bill Zamboni, Pharm.D., Ph.D.
Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics
Megan Kanaby
Cardinal Gibbons High School
Evaluating the Efficiencies and Deficiencies of Nanoparticle Delivery and Distribution in Tumors
Faculty Mentor: Bill Zamboni, Pharm.D., Ph.D.
Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics
Ryan Kemper
Green Hope High School
Determining if MATE 1 in Endometrial Cancer Cells is a Factor in the Efficacy of Cancer Treatments in Conjunction with the Drug Metformin
Faculty Mentor: Dhiren Thakker, Ph.D.
Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics
Malaika Kimmons
Apex Friendship High School
Imaging of Monoclonal Antibodies Using Bioluminescence Resonance Energy Transfer (BRET)
Faculty Mentor: Yanguang Cao, Ph.D.
Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics
Daniel Mangum
Trinity School of Durham & Chapel Hill
Analyzing A sequence of Events: PGX Education in Future Pharmacists
Faculty Mentor: Amber Frick, Pharm.D., Ph.D.
Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics
Zoe Miller
Chapel Hill High School
Polycystic Kidney Disease Alters Protein Expression of Drug Transporters in the Liver
Faculty Mentor: Kim Brouwer, Pharm.D., Ph.D.
Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics
Coleman Mitchell
Cary Academy
Applications and Importance of Pharmacogenomics/Pharmacogenetics and Precision Medicine
Faculty Mentor: Tim Wiltshire, Ph.D.
Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics
William Jones
Charles B. Aycock High School
Rural Healthcare and It’s Influence on Access, and Substance Abuse
Faculty Mentor: Jon Easter, R.Ph.
Division of Practice Advancement and Clinical Education
Lucy Rexrode
Chapel Hill High School
Healthcare Advance Learning Technologies
Faculty Mentor: Robert Hubal, Ph.D.
Division of Practice Advancement and Clinical Education
Paul South
Panther Creek High School
The Virtual Physiological Human that will Revolutionize Medicine
Faculty Mentor: Jerry Heneghan, M.B.A.
Division of Practice Advancement and Clinical Education
Noah Ross
Carrboro High School
The Study of High School Students’ Opinions on Opioids Through Focus Groups
Faculty Mentor: Delesha Carpenter, Ph.D.
Division of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy
Emily Spero
North Carolina School of Science & Math
Measuring the Geospatial Concentration of Pharmacies
Faculty Mentor: Gang Fang, Pharm.D., Ph.D.
Division of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy
Kristina Cala
Top Sail High School
New Chemical Epigenetic Recruitment Platform
Faculty Mentor: Nate Hathaway, Ph.D.
Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry
Zayn Imran
Central Cabarrus High School
Kinase Inhibitors: The Road Ahead
Faculty Mentor: Alexander Tropsha, Ph.D.
Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry
Seth Kodikara
Piedmont High School
Assay Development for the CBX Family of Proteins
Faculty Mentor: Kenneth Pearce, Pd.D.
Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry
Haley Leversedge
Durham Academy
Using Halogens to Increase Potency at the Kappa Opioid Receptor
Faculty Mentor: Jeff Aubé, Ph.D.
Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry
Rebecca Ssengonzi
Green Hope High School
Examining Factor Xa Activities in Various Concentrations of Heparin
Faculty Mentor: Jian Liu, Ph.D.
Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry
Jerry Cai
Chapel Hill High School
Phage Engineering Vaginal Commensal Bacteria
Faculty Mentor: Sam Lai, Ph.D.
Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry
Robert Perna
Panther Creek High School
Improving Topical Ocular Drug Delivery through Bispecific Antibodies
Faculty Mentor: Sam Lai, Ph.D.
Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry
Aman Singh
Green Hope High School
Single Factor Neural Stem Cell Migration and Scaffold Fabrication/Seeding Efficiency
Faculty Mentor: Shawn Hingtgen, Ph.D.
Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry
Angel Wagner
East Wake Academy
Determination of Metal Binding Constants with an Orally Available Chelating Agent
Faculty Mentor: Michael Jay, Ph.D.
Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry
Rahul Narvekar
Panther Creek High School
nXhuman Process of Learning
Faculty Mentor: Robert Hubal, Ph.D.
Center for Innovation in Pharmacy Simulation
Emily Ruiz Escobar
Randolph Early College High School
Telepharmacy: Addressing Barriers to Medication Access in Rural Areas
Faculty Mentor: Carrie Martin Blanchard, Pharm.D., M.P.H.
Center for Medication Optimization
Jacob Gerlach
Green Hope High School
Observing Fluid Flow Through Micropillar Arrays
Faculty Mentor: Richard Superfine, Ph.D.
Department of Applied Physical Science
Faizan Mian
David W Butler High School
Programming Multicellular Interactions for Regenerative Medicine
Faculty Mentor: Ronit Freeman, Ph.D.
Department of Applied Physical Science
Aryani Pallerla
Green Hope High School
In-Situ Forming Implant for HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP)
Faculty Mentor: Rahima Benhabbour, Ph.D.
Department of Biomedical Engineering
Claire Liang
Raleigh Charter High School
Abstracting PSA Values to Determine Prostate Cancer Recurrence
Faculty Mentor: Ronald Chen, M.D., M.P.H.
Department of Radiation Oncology
Sarah Connor
North Henderson High School
Developing a Droplet PCR Based Assay to Detect Viral DNA in Plasma of Head and Neck Cancer Patients
Faculty Mentor: Gaorav Gupta, M.D., Ph.D.
Department of Radiation Oncology
UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center
Arunangshu Chakrabarty
Carrboro High School
Identifying Crucial Amino Acid Residues in OSTα/β-Mediated Transport
Faculty Mentor: Kim Brouwer, Pharm.D., Ph.D.
Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics
Herjot Cheema
Green Hope High School
Evaluating the Effect of Meropenem and Polymyxin B Against Multi-Drug Resistant Klebsiella Pneumoniae
Faculty Mentor: Gauri Rao, Pharm.D., M.S.
Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics
Fiona Gable
Franklinton High School
PK/PD Modeling and the Use of NanoBRET Technology in Cancer Research
Faculty Mentor: Yanguang Cao, Ph.D.
Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics
Cecilia Lee
East Chapel High School
Genotyping Kidney Transplant Patients’ DNA for Precision Medicine
Faculty Mentor: Tim Wiltshire, Ph.D.
Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics
Suleman Qamar
Panther Creek High School
Analyzing and Simulating Drug Compounds Through the Human Body
Faculty Mentor: Angela Kashuba, Pharm.D.
Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics
Bryan Yam
Chapel Hill High School
Imaging Drug Concentrations in Hair as a Marker of Adherence: The Effect of Hair Treatments on Drug Concentrations
Faculty Mentor: Angela Kashuba, Pharm.D.
Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics
Bianca Garcia
Vernon Malone College and Career Academy
Increasing Biosimilar Use to Save Healthcare Costs
Faculty Mentor: Roy Zwahlen, J.D.
Eshelman Institute for Innovation
Avital Politi
Chapel Hill High School
Searching for Polymer Solutions to Mimic the Behavior Of Mucus
Faculty Mentor: Brian Button, Ph.D.
Marsico Lung Institute
Skylar Naderer
Chapel Hill High School
Productivity in Clinical Pharmacy
Faculty Mentor: Kayla Waldron, Pharm.D., M.S.
UNC Healthcare Department of Pharmacy
Amira Sarder
Apex High School
Productivity in Clinical Pharmacy
Faculty Mentor: Kayla Waldron, Pharm.D., M.S.
UNC Healthcare Department of Pharmacy
Areeba Khokhar
Nanoengineered Chitosan-based Hydrogel with Tunable Physical Properties as an Injectable Material for Tissue Regeneration Applications
Faculty Mentor: Rahima Benhabbour, Ph.D.
Department of Biomedical Engineering
Sai Harshith Rachakonda
Examining the Properties of Airway Mucins to Gain Insight into Cystic Fibrosis
Faculty Mentor: Camille Ehre, Ph.D.
Marsico Lung Institute Cystic Fibrosis Center, UNC School of Medicine
Evan Chan
Innovative 3D Printed Intravaginal Rings: Reengineering Multipurpose Intravaginal Rings for Prevention of HIV and Unintended Pregnancy
Faculty Mentor: Rahima Benhabbour, Ph.D.
Department of Biomedical Engineering
Cordelia Hume
Gender Representation in Pharmaceutical Doctoral Degrees Conferred and Pharmacy Faculty
Faculty Mentor: Jacqui McLaughlin, Ph.D.
Center for Innovative Pharmacy Education & Research (CIPhER)
Corinne Drabenstott
Engineering scFv Targeting Chemokine Receptor CXCR4 to Suppress Tumor Growth and Modulate Macrophage Polarization
Faculty Mentor: Juliane Nguyen, Ph.D.
Pharmacoengineering and Molecular Pharmaceutics (DPMP)
Halle Kahlenberg
Social Determinants of Health and Medication Adherence
Faculty Mentor: Carrie Blanchard, MPH, PharmD
Practice Advancement and Clinical Education (PACE)
Kaitlin Donovan
Study of Best Clinical Practices Involving Pediatric Patients
Faculty Mentor: Robert Hubal, Ph.D.
Practice Advancement and Clinical Education (PACE)
Lauren Sidelinger
Genetic Polymorphisms Associated with Salt Sensitivity and Blood Pressure
Faculty Mentor: Tim Wiltshire, Ph.D.
Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics (DPET)
Ciara Darden
Delivering a Neutralizing IgM to Prevent Hematogenous Spread of Vaginally Inoculated ZIKV in Mice
Faculty Mentor: Helen Lazear, Ph.D.
Microbiology and Immunology
Bar Caspin
In Silico Alternatives to Animal Testing: A Case Study On Phototoxicity
Faculty Mentor: Alexander Tropsha, Ph.D.
Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry (CBMC)
Marielle Rath
Modeling and Quantifying Anti-PEG Antibody-Mediated Clearance of PEGylated Drugs
Faculty Mentor: Sam Lai, Ph.D.
Pharmacoengineering and Molecular Pharmaceutics (DPMP)
Sheel Patel
Using Magnetic Microspheres to Measure and Manipulate Adhesions in lectin-mucin-glycan Interactions
Faculty Mentor: Richard Superfine, Ph.D.
Department of Physics and Astronomy
Daniel Zhong
Senescence Biomarker and Pathway Investigation Using Serine Hydrolase Probes
Faculty Mentor: Michael Jarstfer, Ph.D.
Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry (CBMC)
Nicole Bell
Use of Phage Display for Discovery of Peptide Inhibitors for 53BP1
Faculty Mentor: Kenneth Pearce, Jr., Ph.D.
Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry (CBMC)
Jennifer Spores
Evaluation of the Relationship between the Mononuclear Phagocyte System (MPS) and the Pharmacokinetics (PK) and Pharmacodynamics (PD) of a PEG-Liposomal Formulation of Docetaxel Prodrug (MM-310) in Patients
Faculty Mentor: Bill Zamboni, Pharm.D., Ph.D.
Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics (DPET)
Sabarish Srinivasan
Ultrasensitive Digital PCR Assay to Quantify Plasma Circulating HPV16 DNA in Oropharyngeal Cancer
Faculty Mentor: Gaorav Gupta, M.D., Ph.D.
Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center
Department of Radiation Oncology
Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics
Olivia Andrews
Bacteriophage Engineering for Targeted Bacterial Population Editing
Faculty Mentor: Sam Lai, Ph.D.
Pharmacoengineering and Molecular Pharmaceutics (DPMP)
Justin Zhao
Modeling and Simulation for Emicizumab Dose Optimization
Faculty Mentor: Carter Cao, Ph.D.
Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics (DPET)
Isaiah McLeod
The Impact of Blockchain
Faculty Mentor: Roy Zwahlen, J.D.
Eshelman Institute for Innovation (EII)
Patrick Deegan