University of the PACIFIC

Dr. Mamoun Alhamadsheh, Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmaceutics and Medicinal Chemistry, was awarded the 2011-2012 American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) New Investigator Award (NIA) for his research titled Harnessing Transthyretin to Inhibit Extracellular Receptor-Ligand Interactions. The award was funded in the amount of $10,000 with an additional $1,000 to cover his travel expenses to present his research findings at the 2013 AACP Annual Meeting in Chicago.

"I am excited to represent Pacific and to know that I have so much support from faculty members, the Dean, and School administrators," said Dr. Alhamadsheh. "It shows that as an institution, we value education and research, and although we are a smaller university there is a collaborative environment that is flexible and supportive of research," he added.

The NIA provides start-up funding for new pharmacy faculty's research programs and receives more than 200 applications a year. Dr. Alhamadsheh's proposal received one of 18 grants.

Dr. Alhamadsheh's research will focus on developing a new strategy for inhibiting protein-protein interactions, which can be used to target multiple diseases such as Alzheimer's and cancer. If successful, his research will provide a more stable, less toxic, and inexpensive alternative for targeting antibodies.

In August 2011, Dr. Alhamadsheh has his article Potent Kinetic Stabilizers That Prevent Transthyretin-Mediated Cardiomyocyte Proteotoxicity published and featured on the cover of Science Translational Medicine magazine. It was also mentioned in the Chemical & Engineering News published by the American Chemical Society and The Alzheimer's Research Forum. This article will serve as the foundation for his research.