Dr. Aka has completed her Pharm.D. at the age of 26 years from Howard University College of Pharmacy in Washington, DC, and is completing her postdoctoral studies as a Health Outcomes Research Fellow at Howard University. She has published abstracts, oral, and poster presentations at various conferences in disease management and innovative delivery of care sevices. Jennifer has traveled to Pretoria, South Africa to deliver research in infectious disease and has an interest in enhancing care for the underserved and minority population. Her current interest is in diabetes care management and to improve both national and international healthcare.

The American Diabetes Association recognizes that elevated hemoglobin A1c directly correlates with increased diabetes-related complications and mortality. Pharmacist-led medication therapy management has proven effectiveness in controlling hemoglobin A1c, and achieving both positive clinical and economic outcomes. However, there is a scarcity of research on medication therapy management in the Medicaid population. Studies have demonstrated that the Medicaid population has the highest risk of developing diabetes-related complications and disease-related death. The objective of this study is to determine the clinical and economic outcomes of implementing a pharmacist-led medication therapy management diabetes program to enhance care for high-risk Medicaid beneficiaries. Methods Participants that will be included in this quasi-experimental study are members of a DC Medicaid Health Plan. The Medicaid health plan members will be followed for a period of 12 months at the health plan's wellness center. The participants will be managed in a collaborative fashion by an interdisciplinary health care team. The pharmacist will integrate appointment-based medication therapy management services (this includes comprehensive medication review, medication counseling, and blood glucose meter teaching) to each participant. The inclusion criteria will include at the point of recruitment: ages 18-75; or diagnosis of type 1 or 2 diabetes with hemoglobin A1c >9; or utilizers of 4 or more prescriptions; or have had a recent 30-day readmission to the hospital. The data collected will be electronic medical records, and both prescription and hospital visit claims data. Descriptive statistics will be used to describe the population. The statistical analysis used will be the difference-in- differences approach with a multivariate regression analysis to evaluate the impact of the pharmacist intervention on the primary outcomes, after adjusting for other covariates. The primary outcomes will be the effect on 1) hemoglobin A1c, 2) hospital readmission rate, and 3) total health care utilization.

Sarika Reghunadh has completed her PhD at the age of 28 years from Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, India and postdoctoral studies from university of Utah, USA. She has published more than 12 papers in reputed journals. Research interests includes polymeric nanomaterials and microspheres for drug delivery applications and polymer synthesis.

Curcumin is a natural hydrophobic polyphenol obtained from rhizome of the plant Curcuma longa or root turmeric. Curcumin possess anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial and anti-cancerous properties. Despite of its therapeutic efficacy and safety, curcumin has not been widely utilized for treatment owing to its less bioavailability. The reasons for reduced bioavailability of curcumin are poor absorption, rapid metabolism and fast elimination. In order to improve the therapeutic efficacy, bioavailability and to overcome the aforementioned shortcomings, curcumin should be protected from degradation and metabolism. In the present study, curcumin is conjugated to gum arabic, a highly water soluble polysaccharide to enhance the solubility and stability of curcumin. Gum arabic-curcumin (GA-Cur) conjugate is charcterised by 1H NMR, fluorescence and UV spectroscopy studies. GA-Cur conjugate self assembled to nano micelle owing the hydrophia-hydrophobic interactions in aqueous medium. Hydrodynamic diameter of the miceles were analysed by dynaminc light scattering. The micelles exhibits size of 270 ± 5 nm. Spherical morphology of the self assembled conjugateis evidenced by field emission scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The self assembly of the amphiphilic conjugate into micelle in aqueous medium significantly enhances the solubility and stability of curcumin in physiological pH. The anticanceractivity of the conjugate micelles is found to be higher in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2) cells than in human breast carcinoma (MCF-7) cells. The conjugate exhibits enhanced accumulation andtoxicity in HepG2 cells due to the targeting efficiency of the galactose groups present on gum arabic. This GA-Cur conjugate is a promising drug delivery system.

Will be updated soon

N.Raghavendra Naveen has completed his M.Pharm from R.G.U.H.S.Bangalore, Karnataka, India. Presently working as Senior research fellow in Annamacharya College of Pharmacy under J.N.T.U.Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh, India. He has published 12 papers in reputed journals and has been serving as an editorial board member for IJAPR.

The present inquisition endeavoured to show the applicability of extracted natural gum in scheming of Muco adhesive drug delivery system (MDDS). MDDS which utilizes the property of certain polymers which becomes adhesive on hydration and hence can be used to deliver the drugs for a prolonged period of time. Okra gum (OG) was extracted from fresh pods Abelmoschus esculents and preliminary tests were performed to confirm the nature of gum obtained. Toxicity studies were carried out according to the method of Knudsen and Curtis. Mucoadhesion force of isolated okra gum and synthetic polymers were determined by Rotating cylinder method, wilhelmy`s method, falling sphere method and modified physical balance method etc. The result shows that mucoadhesive property of okra gum were comparable to carbopol and chitosan but lesser Hydroxy propyl methyl cellulose (HPMC) and sodium alginate (SA) under the experimental conditions used in this study. An attempt was done to enhance the muco adhesion property of okra gum by thiolation. Thiolation of okra gum was achieved with esterification with thioglycolic acid. Thiolated okra gum (TOG) was characterized by FTIR, DSC, XRD and SEM analysis. TOG was determined to possess 0.70±0.04mmol of thiol groups/g of polymer by Ellman’s method. Comparative evaluation of mucoadhesive property of repaglinide tablets of OG and TOG by wash off test using goat intestinal mucosa revealed higher ex vivo bioadhesion time of TOG as compared to OG. Improved mucoadhesive property of TOG over the OG can be attributed to the formation of disulfide bond between mucus and thiolated pectin.

Nusaiba Al-nemrawi earned her PhD degree in pharmaceutical sciences from Long Island University (LIU), New York, USA. Before that she earned the Master and Bachelor degrees in Pharmacy from Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST), Irbid, Jordan. She received many awards and scholarships including Fulbright pre-doctoral scholarship (USA), NJPHAST award (USA) and graduate assistantship awards from both JUST and LIU. She is working now as assistant professor at JUST. She is focusing on the development of nanoparticles to sustain and control drug release, development of novel targeted nanoparticulate drug delivery systems to improve therapeutic outcomes of infectious diseases and design of novel polymeric nanoparticles for chemotherapy of cancers.

Statement of the Problem: Poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) have been used in preparing polymeric nanocapsules due to its excellent biocompatibility, biodegradability and the ability to control drug release [1] [2]. Moreover, PLGA has been approved by the FDA for use in pharmaceutical preparations. However, PLGA has poor mucoadhesive properties, which limits its effectiveness in targeting nasal route. Chitosan has been reported as a mucoadhesive polymer due to its amine groups (NH2) [3]. The current research intends to enhance the mucoadhesiveness of PLGA nanoparticles by coating with low molecular weight chitosan (LMWC). These nanoparticles were loaded with tobramycin as a model drug. Methodology: PLGA and LMWC-PLGA nanoparticles were fabricated using emulsion-solvent evaporation techniques with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as a stabilizer. The nanoparticles were characterized in terms of their particle size and zeta potential (ζ) by DLS. The physical morphology was characterized using SEM [4]. The mucoadhesive properties of LMWC-PLGA nanoparticles were evaluated by the changes of ζ when the nanoparticles interact with mucin [5]. Findings: Spherical nanoparticles were prepared with a size range of 268-467 nm. The size increased as the LMWC concentration increases. Coated formulations were positively charged (ζ 34-50 mV). Noncoated NPs were negatively charged (ζ-2.8). The DE in all formulas was above 90%. Mucoadhession test showed that LMWC-PLGA were able to interact with mucin due to ionic interaction Conclusion & Significance: A mucoadhesive nanoparticles loaded with tobramycin were prepared successfully. These preparations could be used to target bacterial infections caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. These nanoparticles are expected to extend drug action, improve patient compliance and minimize side effects.

Samer Jallad is a senior student at the Faculty of Pharmacy, Beirut Arab University (BAU). He joined the junior research team at the faculty where outstanding students with interest in research apply their knowledge in phytotherapy research..Samer attended several conferences in Lebanon and Berlin where he presented posters in collaboration with his colleagues of the junior research team..He had 2 internships at Astrazeneca® Pharmaceuticals in summer 2015 and 2016.He is also a member of the student activities committee and a member of the Quality Assurance Unit, Faculty of Pharmacy at BAU.

Mohammad Houri is a senior outstanding Undergraduate Pharmacy student at Beirut Arab University graduating in July 2017. He is willing to continue his Postgraduate studies in Pharmaceutical Sciences. Mr. Houri is a leader of a group in Junior Research team; moreover, he presented posters in several conferences about Diabetes disease and attended several conferences and recently is waiting for the approval for a review article done about Neuropathic Pain Management in Diabetes disease. Mr. Houri is a member in Quality Assurance Unit at Faculty of pharmacy at BAU and is the faculty representative since 2014. His current interest is in Diabetes care management and in improving healthcare and preventive measures worldwide.

Upon injury of the nerves, centrally or peripherally, neuropathic pain (NP) occurs. NP is a type of chronic pain a significant number of patients suffer from. Diagnosis of NP is usually presented as tingling, shooting, or burning sensation. Patients describe this pain agonizing and affecting their quality of life. Although poorly understood this syndrome accompanies a broad range of chronic malignancies. Therefore, it is essential to search for more evidence for precise diagnosis and optimum treatment. The purpose of this work is to summarize the results related to NP in terms of types, etiology, diagnosis, and current and future treatment prospective. Due to insufficient evidence, the current treatment is still under expectation. Phytotherapies provide low-risk options in NP patients and might be the future of NP management. Recently, neuropathic patients are increasingly relying on phytotherapy as a bright source of healthcare. Moreover, research on combination therapies involving pharmacotherapy with phytotherapy looks very promising. The aim of the combination therapy is to minimize toxicities while optimizing therapeutic effects for neuropathic patients to have better quality of life. Hence, health-care professionals should be routinely updated with NP phytotherapy, keeping in mind the risk to benefit profile of using natural plants in the treatment of neuropathic pain.