\n\tBy MARTY LEVINE<\/p>\n
\n\tAfter years of a career in chemical and pharmaceutical companies, Lisa Cencia Rohan\u2019s doctoral education at Pitt, and a postdoctoral fellowship in immunology, led her to adopt her current emphasis on creating pharmaceutical products to address the global health needs of women.<\/p>\n
\n\t\tCOMING NEXT<\/p>\n
\n\t\tThe next Staff Council Coffee and Conversation is scheduled for 11:30-noon, June 25, featuring Kevin Washo, senior vice chancellor for external relations, at 532 Alumni Hall.<\/p>\n
\n\tRohan \u2014 now a faculty member in the School of Pharmacy as well as the School of Medicine\u2019s Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences \u2014 told the latest Staff Council Coffee and Conversation on June 9: \u201cAt that point I really became aware of the gaps in the field. That really encouraged me to stay (at Pitt) and to start my pharmaceutics laboratory. \u2026 Our mission was to develop better products for women.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThe reason I became interested in women\u2019s health,\u201d Rohan explained, was realizing \u201cthe significant gaps in understanding for women\u2019s health products. I\u2019ve always really been interested in discovery and doing impactful work, but this really showed me that there was a real big deficit in that area.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI was at a point of my career where I really was interested in training the next generation of scientists,\u201d she added. \u201cTo be in an academic environment gave me the opportunity to not only develop impactful products but also to mentor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tShe also found, she said, that \u201cI learn more from my students and get challenged from my students every day. Part of the beauty of being here is working with the students, having them challenge you, challenging them back, and everything that they bring. They\u2019ve really helped me to grow so much.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tAsked what has been her most impactful research \u2014 considering that Rohan and her laboratory team have developed more than 50 pharmaceutical products, including 14 as a result of basic science translated to clinical use \u2014 Rohan named two: a vaginal polymeric film and a nasal spray.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe first product, used for birth control, has been particularly effective in HIV prevention, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, Rohan said, \u201cwhere women actually are disproportionately affected by the disease. The vaginal film is a meaningful product because it really intersects formulation science with user-designed product development. We\u2019ve been able to develop a product that can actually give women control and empower them to take that control over their healthcare. Women seem to like it quite a bit and they find it easy to use, so that acceptability, the portability, the discreteness of the product really gives it an advantage for women.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s also affordable, scalable and implementable in low-resource settings\u201d \u2014 among sub-Saharan African women, who \u201cactually are disproportionately affected by the disease and they\u2019re really in need of a product that they can control to protect themselves. We\u2019ve also applied it and other protective products for other STIs, as well as new products to protect from unintended pregnancy and other gynecological conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThe nasal spray, she said, \u201cis impactful in a different way,\u201d delivering an antiviral medication: \u201cIts antiviral activity is not only (against) HIV and herpes but also other respiratory viruses such as RSV flu, emerging diseases such as Ebola, hantavirus.\u201d For the nasal spray, Rohan\u2019s team has conducted three different clinical trials and is currently in the midst of a fourth study \u2014 a drug interaction trial which \u201chas been very promising,\u201d she said. \u201cIn that product what I see is a prospective consideration of what we may need in the future to control infectious disease and to help in global health and public health.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWe have much, much more work to do, lots to roll our sleeves up for, and we really need to understand more about women\u2019s health, more about biology, anatomy, some of the simple things that we think we would know, [but] we really don\u2019t understand completely.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tShe also pointed out that she and colleagues are working to get the new Center for Pharmaceutical Product Development in the School of Pharmacy up and running. \u201cWe developed this \u2026 as a mechanism to really help others to translate their discovery science into impactful healthcare solutions. Not only on from a research standpoint and a development standpoint but also from a training standpoint, we see that as something that can impact researchers here in the School of Pharmacy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tMarty Levine is a staff writer for the University Times. Reach him at martyl@pitt.edu<\/a> or 412-758-4859.<\/p>\n \n\t\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tHave a story idea or news to share? Share<\/a> it with the University Times.<\/p>\n