skip to main content
Graduate School
The University of Mississippi

Industrial Pharmacy: Expanding Opportunities For UM Students in Pharmaceutics

Rasha

Rasha Mahmoud Mahmoud Elkanayati

In 2019, the University of Mississippi’s Department of Pharmaceutics and Drug Delivery added an emphasis in industrial pharmacy within the master’s program in pharmaceutical sciences. The new emphasis complements the pharmaceutics emphasis. The industrial pharmacy emphasis provides professional development to support career readiness of graduates who will enter industry. This focus on industry means the new emphasis does not require a thesis as part of the program. Rather, pharmacy students with an emphasis in product development and management will complete projects based on their specialty, preparing for the pharmaceutical industry after school.

Students are already making developments in their respective fields. Rasha Mahmoud Mahmoud Elkanayati is a Fulbright student from Egypt. Elkanayati came to the University of Mississippi in the fall of 2019 to pursue her second master’s degree. The Fulbright program offers a chance for students to exchange different cultures with the respective nation, and the program is a way to perform individual research while also creating opportunities to further one’s education through a more professional setting.

Elkanayati had previous experience with pharmaceuticals before coming to the University of Mississippi. She received her undergraduate degree at Cairo University in the School of Pharmacy in 2004, and she received a master’s degree at the Arab Academy for Science and Technology in Egypt for quality management. Elkanayati then started her work in the quality assurance field, working in the Egyptian Drug Authority—equivalent to the FDA in the United States. Her time with the EDA led to her interest in expanding her education in the pharmaceutical field.

“It was something new to me as it was a completely different field that I was going through. After some time, I started to think how most of my colleagues had the same educational background as me,” said Elkanayati. “We would come to a point where we would not have enough information for something that was new to us.”

Elkanayati researched scholarship opportunities, and the Fulbright Program was one opportunity she found to develop more knowledge about industrial pharmaceuticals. She will be one of the first graduates of the new pharmacy master’s program with an emphasis in industrial pharmacy.

The series of courses offered in the program explore the concepts of product development and formulation development. Some notable courses are taught by Dr. Walter Chambliss and Dr. Eman Ashour on regulatory sciences and pharmaceutical manufacturing. Others include product development by Dr. Michael Repka, applied pharmacokinetics by Dr. Chalet Tan, research ethics, statistics, and lots of other well-designed courses. These courses are preparing pharmacy graduate students for future careers in regulatory sciences, research and development along with other work opportunities in the pharmaceutical industry.

Elkanayati is working on an applied research project under the supervision of Dr. Eman Ashour, Dr. Michael Repka, and Dr. Walter Chambliss. For the research project, the team is working to develop a product to prevent and treat dry mouth. Xerostomia (dry mouth) is a serious medical condition that can lead to health problems like tooth decay, fungal infections in the mouth, and trouble swallowing. Millions of Americans suffer from xerostomia and it is estimated to affect over 10% of the population.

“The project I am working on involves incorporating two advanced technologies, hot-melt extrusion and three-dimensional printing, for developing a mucoadhesive film that adheres to the buccal cavity and provides relief from xerostomia, which is characterized by decreased salivary secretion,” said Elkanayati. Xerostomia may occur as a side effect accompanying the intake of some drugs, or due to different diseases like Sjogren’s syndrome, diabetes, AIDS and [it] is very common in patients receiving chemotherapy and radiation for upper body cancer therapy.”

The formulation Elkanayati is working on now is intended for immediate release of the ingredients to stimulate the flow rate of saliva. There are existing products on the market that have shorter durations of action and require frequent administration. The goal for the product under development now is to have a treatment option that is longer lasting than the current pharmaceutical products.

“Our future goal is to develop a long-lasting 3D printed mucoadhesive film to prevent and/or treat dry mouth conditions,” said Elkanayati. “This condition (xerostomia) is serious and if left untreated can lead to tooth decay and infections in addition to patient discomfort during chewing, swallowing, and speaking.”

After the completion of “proof-of-concept studies” the plan is to transfer the technology to a commercial partner for commercial development. Proof of concept studies are early stages of clinical drug development.

After graduation from the master’s program this May, Elkanayati will pursue her doctorate with the University of Mississippi and continue to develop the film to help with xerostomia. With more developments, the drug is set to last hours while producing saliva to combat dry mouth.

The Graduate School wishes Elkanayati and her colleagues success as they continue to make innovative discoveries in the world of pharmaceuticals and wishes all involved in the new emphasis in industrial pharmacy well as it continues to provide valuable education to students.

 

More information about the industrial pharmacy emphasis, including directions to apply, can be found at https://pharmacy.olemiss.edu/pharmaceutics/professional-masters-programs/

 

Newsletter Spring/Summer 2021 Articles

   
X