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WSU Health Sciences Spokane Extra WSU College of Pharmacy

New WSU technology to improve delivery of anti-inflammatory drugs

Portrait image of Zhenjia Wang, associate professor in the WSU College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
Pharmaceutical scientist Zhenjia Wang was awarded a $1.3M NIH grant to advance his research

A researcher at Washington State University Health Sciences Spokane has developed a new technology that harnesses the immune system to deliver drugs directly to infection sites within the body.

“Most diseases develop in local tissues within the body,” said Zhenjia Wang, an associate professor in the WSU College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. “That makes drug delivery challenging, because many drugs don’t have targeting properties—they simply go wherever they go. By delivering drugs to the disease site specifically, we can improve treatment while dramatically decreasing side effects.”

Wang’s technology uses neutrophils—a type of white blood cells that play a key role in the body’s natural immune response—to deliver drugs directly to diseased tissue. Neutrophils make up as much as 70 percent of the white blood cells that travel through the bloodstream to help fight off bacteria, viruses, or other pathogens that invade the body and cause inflammation in affected tissue. » More …

Dare to Dream Academy brings migrant students to WSU Health Sciences Spokane

Dare to Dream Students

Dare to Dream Students
When one thinks about “summer camp,” they might think of children heading to the woods, sleeping in cabins and paddling in a canoe. At WSU Health Sciences Spokane, summer camps take on a different meaning—one where high school students of different backgrounds are given the opportunity to explore careers in the health sciences.

One of those opportunities was the Dare to Dream Health Sciences Academy.

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Native American, Alaska Native high school students explore careers in health sciences

Na-ha-shnee student

Na-ha-shnee student

Na-ha-shnee Summer Institute at WSU Health Sciences Spokane, June 16-28

Seventeen Native American and Alaska Native high school students from multiple states will attend the 24th annual Na-ha-shnee Summer Institute at WSU Health Sciences Spokane, June 16 – 28. Attendees are heading into their sophomore, junior or senior years of high school and plan to pursue careers in the health sciences.

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Student finds pharmacy and loses shyness

Students on Campus Series: Thanh Thai

student entertainment board member thanh thai

Throughout most of her life until last year, Thanh Thai was a shy student who sat in the back of the classroom by herself. Something happened to her last year during her first year of pharmacy school on this campus, and now she is on the campus Student Entertainment Board and responsible for coordinating the stress-relieving activities for the student body during finals week.

Her story starts when she finished the fourth grade in her hometown in Vietnam and then her parents moved her and her younger brother to Mill Creek, Wash. Her father had his own business as a tailor in Vietnam but her parents wanted their children to have the career opportunities offered in the United States. When they relocated to America, no one in the family of four could speak English.
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Student moves from India for Ph.D. program in Spokane

Students on Campus Series: Tarana Arman
pharmaceutical sciences student Tarana Arman

It was 9:45 p.m. at Tarana Arman’s home in northern India and she was extremely nervous. She had been chasing entrance to a Ph.D. program at universities all over the world for a few months now, and this Skype interview with Washington State University was her first interview, and her first interview via Skype.

She was at home with her parents and siblings and seated at her laptop. Her younger brother placed a whiteboard just behind the laptop and had written these words on it: “You Can Do It!”

It was after 9 a.m. in Spokane where the three professors in the College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences had assembled to interview Arman. Their questions probed at how well she understood the research she had done. When it was over she didn’t think she had done very well and went to bed feeling unsettled.

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Iraqi health sciences students visit WSU Spokane

Iraqi students

Iraqi students

Learning how other cultures and countries educate their citizens is always enlightening.

Twenty-three health sciences students from Iraq got great insight into how WSU Health Sciences Spokane educates its students, and WSU staff and faculty learned how the Iraqi students are educated.

It was all part of a visit through WSU’s international programs and the World Learning Iraqi Young Leaders Exchange Program.

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Research: New study reveals how shift work disrupts metabolism

Study author Elena Skornyakov loads a blood sample into the cold centrifuge at the sleep laboratory at WSU Health Sciences Spokane

Working night shifts or other nonstandard work schedules increases your risk of becoming obese and developing diabetes and other metabolic disorders, which ultimately also raises your risk of heart disease, stroke and cancer.

Exactly why this happens has been unclear, but a new study conducted at Washington State University has brought scientists closer to finding the answer. » More …

Simulation prepares health care workforce, aids researchers

Simulation

Simulation

(This story appears in the latest edition of the WSU Spokane Magazine)

By Kevin Dudley

A nursing student talks to her patient. The patient coughs and says he is having chest pains. Soon, he’ll stop breathing and the student will start CPR.

Pharmacy students are providing a patient with his medications at the pharmacy when he suddenly becomes agitated. After discovering he is experiencing low blood sugar levels, the students give him something to help.

A Spokane police officer lays his hand on the gun in his holster. He’s commanding an individual to show his hands and to settle down. The individual then pulls out a gun of his own.

A truck driver is driving on just four hours of sleep. He’s driving in a forested area at high speeds. His truck is deviating from its lane, creating a dangerous situation for him and others on the road.

These scenes are from various simulation programs on campus and are used for clinical instruction, research or both.

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