CET Program Connects Research With Clinical Practice Setting

One of the College’s hidden gems is the Clinical and Experimental Therapeutics (CET) program housed at the extended campus in Augusta. Utilizing the combined resources of UGA and Augusta University, the program provides graduate training in therapeutics and drug development research that directly connects the basic science laboratory with the clinical practice setting. Somanath Shenoy, Ph.D., FAHA, serves as director of the CET program, and faculty members include S. Priya Narayanan, Ph.D.; Andrea Sikora, Pharm.D., BCPS; and Duo Zhang, Ph.D.

CET faculty members, along with graduate students, have a plethora of recent accomplishments worthy of note. The following information outlines these achievements.

Publications

McGee RE, Blumberg HM, Ziegler TR, Ofotokun I, Bhatti PT, Paulsen DF, Quarshie A, Somanath PR, Comeau DL. Mentor training for junior faculty: a brief evaluation report from the Georgia Clinical and Translational Science Alliance. J Investig Med. 2023 Apr 21: 10815589231168601.
Han Y, Zhu Y, Almuntashiri S, Wang X, Somanath PR, Owen CA, Zhang D. Extracellular vesicle-encapsulated CC16 as novel nanotherapeutics for treatment of acute lung injury. Mol Ther. 2023 Jan 11:S1525-0016(23)00009-6.
Shan S, Liu F, Ford E, Caldwell RB, Narayanan SP, Somanath PR. Triciribine attenuates pathological neovascularization and vascular permeability in a mouse model of proliferative retinopathy. Biomed Pharmacother. 2023 Apr 18;162: 114714.
Han Y, Zhu Y, Dutta S, Almuntashiri S, Wang X, Zhang D. A proinflammatory long noncoding RNA Lncenc1 regulates inflammasome activation in macrophage. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol. 2023 May 1;324(5):L584-L595.
Rojas-Quintero J, Laucho-Contreras ME, Wang X, Fucci QA, Burkett PR, Kim SJ, Zhang D, Tesfaigzi Y, Li Y, Bhashyam AR, Li Z, Khamas H, Celli B, Pilon AL, Polverino F, Owen CA. CC16 augmentation reduces exaggerated COPD-like disease in Cc16-deficient mice. JCI Insight. 2023 Mar 22;8(6):e130771.
Almuntashiri S, Chase A, Sikora A, Zhang D. Validation of Prognostic Club Cell Secretory Protein (CC16) Cut-point in an Independent ALTA Cohort. Biomark Insights. 2023 Feb 17;18:11772719231156308.
Dutta S, Zhu Y, Han Y, Almuntashiri S, Wang X, Zhang D. Long Noncoding RNA: A Novel Insight into the Pathogenesis of Acute Lung Injury. J Clin Med. 2023 Jan 11;12(2):604.
Somanath PR, Chernoff J, Cummings BS, Prasad SM, Homan HD. Targeting P21-Activated Kinase-1 for Metastatic Prostate Cancer.Cancers. 2023; 15(8):2236.

Awards/Recognitions

Shenoy was named the College’s Undergraduate, Graduate, and Certificate Teacher of the Year and appointed the Kenneth L. Waters Pharmacy Professorship.
Narayanan received tenure status at the College.

Student Presentation Awards

Several CET students presented research posters at the 2023 Southeast Regional Clinical and Translational Science Conference and the Augusta University Graduate Research Day. The following CET students won awards for their presentations:

Moaddey Alfarhan, a recent graduate student in Dr. Priya Narayanan’s lab, received “Best Pre-clinical Research Poster Award”
Yin Zhu, a graduate student in Dr. Duo Zhang’s lab, received “Best CET Research Poster Award”

Student Conference Presentations at the Association for Research in Vision Ophthalmology (ARVO) International Conference, New Orleans, LA

Shengshuai Shan, Fang Liu, P.R. Somanath Shenoy, S. Priya Narayanan. Triciribine Attenuates Pathological Neovascularization and Vascular Permeability in a Mouse Model of Proliferative Retinopathy.
Moaddey Alfarhan, Fang Liu, Yini Liao, P.R. Somanath Shenoy, S. Priya Narayanan. Long-term Treatment with MDL 72527 Reduced Retinal Neuro-glial Injury and Improved Visual Acuity, Contrast Sensitivity, and Inner Retinal Function in Diabetic Mice.
Madhuri Rudraraju, Shengshuai Shan, Fang Liu, S. Priya Narayanan, P.R. Somanath Shenoy. Pharmacological modulation of cytoplasmic β-catenin strengthens cell junctions and alleviates pathological vascular permeability and inflammation in an experimental model of uveitis.