Episode 2 - Excelling at Pharmacy Calculations and Pharmaceutical Research with Dr. Ashana Puri

Dr. Ashana Puri, Assistant Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences at ETSU Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy, talks with Dan and Michele about her fascinating research into transdermal drug delivery systems and keys to success in her Pharmacy Calculations course.

Transcript:

Michele Williams
Welcome to White Coat Radio, a podcast from East Tennessee State University Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy, in Johnson City, Tennessee. Each episode, we cover a wide range of topics about the pharmacy school experience, from study tips to deep dives with faculty and student pharmacists. We are your hosts, Doctor Michele Williams.

Dan Vanzant
And I’m Dan Vanzant. And in this episode, we'll be talking with Doctor Ashana Puri, assistant professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy. Doctor Puri teaches pharmacy calculations and conducts research involving topical and transdermal drug delivery systems. Welcome to White Coat Radio, Doctor Puri.

Ashana Puri
Thank you. Michele, and Dan.

Dan Vanzant
To start us off, could you share a little of your background with us? How did you come to be interested in the pharmaceutical sciences?

Ashana Puri
Sure. So I am originally from India. I did my bachelor's and master's in pharmacy from India. I always wanted to stay connected to the healthcare field. I came to know about pharmacy, and I was pretty interested in that. And when I was doing my master's, I was working on a project where I had developed a product, a topical product, and I was testing the anti-cancer activity of that, drug.

And when I saw that the product that I had developed was actually able to, prove the progression of skin cancer, I was like, wow, this is rewarding. And that made me fall in love with the research. And that's when I came to the US to do my PhD in pharmaceutical sciences. Particularly in topical and transdermal systems.

That's where my educational background ended. And after that, I worked as an associate scientist for one year at Teva Pharmaceuticals. But I always wanted to end up in academics because I love teaching and research. And that's how I came to the Gatton College of Pharmacy.

Michele Williams
That's great. And it's very lucky for us, too.

Ashana Puri
Thank you.

Michele Williams
You're the course coordinator and instructor of pharmacy calculations, which is an incredibly important course in the pharmacy school curriculum. Why is having a strong mastery of pharmacy calculation so important?

Ashana Puri
Yes, Michele. That's absolutely right. Pharmacy calculations is a very important and integral part of the pharmacy profession. So, I would say no matter where the students end up, you know, working. Be it as, be it a compounding pharmacy where they are supposed to compound prescriptions, they would have to do calculations to, you know, make the recipe as per the prescription.

Or if they end up, you know, working in the community pharmacy where they have to fill capsules and take care of the dose that needs to be dispensed, or the more critically, you know, important environment of a hospital where they're dealing with patients and they have to take into consideration, let's say, just the body weight of the patient or other pharmacokinetic parameters.

It's it's really important for them to, you know, be able to do the right calculations and give the right dose. And as I, as you would imagine, with math, if, you know, one decimal goes here and there, what is going to happen? We all know that. So if it's going to be ten fold less, it's going to be under dosing.

And you might not see the effect of the drug if it's ten times higher. It's overdosing. And as you can imagine it can be so fatal.

Michele Williams
Yeah.

Ashana Puri
So that's where we want all the pharmacists to understand their importance in calculations. Miscalculation can actually result in medication errors. And that can be very, very fatal. And so that's that's you know pretty much it like how calculations are so, so important. Just to add a little bit, let's say you're working in the kitchen. You have a recipe you're trying to make.

And cook something. What happens if you miss something or you don't end up, you know, adding the salt as per what was required. It's just going to ruin your dinner or your taste buds are not going to like it. But what if you're preparing a formulation and you mess up the ingredients in a medicine that can be very, very fatal.

So, we need to understand the importance of calculations there. And that's where we would emphasize on all these aspects. Teaching the students what they really need to do the calculations correctly. And, and that's that's pretty much it. Calculations is really, really important.

Michele Williams
Absolutely. It sounds like it's literally a matter of life and death. If you get the you need to get those calculations correct. Exactly. That's that's amazing. If a student wants to be successful in your course, and I'm assuming all students who start your course want to be successful in your course, what kinds of things do they need to do?

Ashana Puri
Sure. So since I'm talking about calculations, as you all know, math is all about practice. So of course I'm going to be there to give them instruction, but it really depends on the students to practice. So the first key to success is going to be practice. The course has been structured in a way where they will be given instruction.

They will be, asked to participate actively in the class. They'll be given a lot of questions through quizzes, practice quizzes. They'll be allowed to like, work on questions in my presence and of course, outside class as well. So the second thing is to follow the structure as closely as possible. What I have set for them is it's possible for them to practice regularly, because that's the key to success if they solve questions every day.

That is going to result in their success. Also, I know that students love to study in a group. You know, they love to be with people when they're practicing. But one thing that I've noticed is that students should develop the habit of being able to solve a question independently, all by themselves. Oh yeah. Even though the group helps you to kind of solve the question and understand the concept.

My advice to students is always to develop the capability of solving the question independently when no one is around you, because that is going to determine your success in an assessment, in an exam. And if you can solve questions with an open book or with a friend at your side, just make sure you can solve questions with closed book and no friend at your side as well, because that is something that I've seen has impacted the success of students.

So, practice, follow the structure and be able to solve questions independently. And don't be shy and never hesitate to reach out to me or the student tutors for help. That's you're going to be really successful if you do all these things.

Michele Williams
That's great. That sounds like great advice.

Dan Vanzant
And so you touched on this a little bit, but could you tell us more about, what students can expect regarding the expectations or structure of your course in the classroom, in the classroom, and outside of the classroom?

Ashana Puri
Sure. So, for this coming semester, what I'm planning is students will have an opportunity to review the material before class. So it's not going to be a lot. It's going to be like a 30 minute review where you just go through the concept that, you know, doctor is going to talk about this in the class. So I'll just take a look at it and come to class.

In the class you will be given instruction by me. We're going to solve some questions together. And I'm going to use quizzes for gaming in the class. So I'm going to have questions through the quiz that they have to answer. And they will get a participation credit for that as well. So that's going to be the instruction mostly on Tuesdays.

When I have a lecture or a two hour lecture. They'll go back home, they'll have a quiz to work on, which is going to be a graded quiz. So, they'll have three days to complete the quiz based on the questions that we have discussed in the class. When they come back to class on Friday, they're going to have a low stakes in-class quiz.

In my presence, it's going to be open book. They can get help from friends. They can get help from me. All I want for them is to actively solve questions in my presence. Determine their weaknesses and know the areas where they have to work. They go back home. They have additional questions to practice, but they're not going to be graded.

So like I said, the course has been structured in a way where you get a lot of practice in class and you go back home and you get a lot of practice as well. So my expectation from students is to actively participate in the class and also sincerely work on their homework each day, every day. And that's going to determine their success.

Michele Williams
That so there's there's doesn't sound like there's any magic to it. It's really a matter of completing the practice that you have built into the course. They don't have to find their own material to practice with. They can use what you've given them. And another thing I really like about what you just said is that it sort of disrupts what's called the forgetting curve.

So, within hours after the first, you know, exposure to material, you already start forgetting that material. So if you have the opportunity right after class or as soon as you can after class to go over that material again, or to do it within a day's time, it's going to further encode that material into your long term memory.

And, and I think what a lot of students miss is that opportunity to practice in that frequent exposure that they'll get if they engage in the materials in your course, it's going to make the time they spend studying for an exam, not as intensive, so they don't have to drop everything in their lives and only do calculations for hours at a time right before the exam, because they've been studying steadily all along.

And, I think it's great that your course gives them that opportunity to do that. So, I hope students will take advantage of that, because it does sound like the really the key to success in calculations.

Ashana Puri
Yeah, I hope so too. And, I would just like to add that, you know, the assessment of the exams, they're all going to be cumulative because the material and calculations build upon what is taught each week. So, I want to challenge students to connect the dots and, you know, question me. How are the two chapters related?

You know, how am I going to apply all this? So we start with the basics, and students will discover how they're going to actually apply those basics and all the clinical calculations that get along the way in the in the further chapters. So it's all cumulative. They will not have a chance to forget anything. And that's why the course has been structured in a way that they get practice in.

Like you, you mentioned retention is so, so important. So that was actually my goal when I, you know, decided how to structure this course.

Michele Williams
Yeah, it sounds very intentional. And they're going to be thanking you later when they take the NAPLEX. And they remember all those calculations.

Ashana Puri
I hope so.

Michele Williams
So, if a student doesn't consider themselves a math person, can they still be successful in in your class? And what would you recommend those students do?

Ashana Puri
Absolutely. So, the good thing is that we are not doing any high level math here. Okay, so it's not calculus or anything that should scare students. So what the students themselves will discover in the way is pharmacy calculations is more about word problems.

For them to be able to read the question properly. Most of the times the question is going to be like seven lines or eight lines or a paragraph, and you know, that should not scare them off.

So the first thing is that the students should know how to read the question and interpret it correctly. So if you understand that situation, you're able to understand what the question is exactly asking you. Then it should not be a problem. So that's the first thing they should know how to do.

The second thing is the kind of calculations that we do is very basic algebra. So if you know how to cross multiply, if you know how to set up a ratio and proportion, if you know how to do dimensional analysis. Trust me, those students are going to do well and they're going to love the course. You know, if they develop the habit of reading the question. Right, and just applying the basic, you know, those math concepts, like I said, it's not really calculus.

However, if the student, you know, feels that they're weak in math and that is something that scares them off. I would say early on in the course, they should just work on the basics and kind of strengthen just just the ones like I mentioned. And once they do that, they should be fine all throughout. And of course they're going to be formulas and equations and those are not too bad.

It's all about memorization and just applying the concept correctly. So and also, you know, like in the second, third year, they actually see these situations and they apply these calculations. So definitely it's going to just help them reinforce and they, they're going to be fine. And they can always reach out to me for help.

Michele Williams
That's good to know.

Dan Vanzant
Okay. Are there are there any apps or programs that you would recommend for those students who need extra help or want to practice outside of class? Apps that you know, you recommend for students in your class or that you're going to use in class on regular basis.

Ashana Puri
So I do not really have an additional app as such or program. Like I said, in the class, we're going to do, a quizzes kind of a game. Rest of it is just going to be the D2L platform for all the quizzes. So the additional practice that they would want to do, I would recommend to, you know, use the book that I'm going to refer to for additional practice.

But other than that, I don't really have an app or a program that I would ask them to use for this course.

Dan Vanzant
So we've talked a little bit about, what students can expect in the classroom. Can you tell us more about your research? What do topical and transdermal delivery systems involve?

Ashana Puri
Sure. So, like I said, I do research. I have a research background with, topical and transdermal drug delivery systems. And I do have an independent lab now, working in the same area. Having one PhD student and then some pharmacy students working with me. So basically, I develop the products that can be applied on skin for a local effect of the drug on skin.

Or it could be the drug actually going into the body transdermal. So also my research is all about skin, and I work with therapeutics and drugs, of course, but I do work on cosmetics as well. So, if there's a project that involves the use of natural products that have, let's say, anti-cancer activity on the skin or something, I would love to develop a product for those kind of, phytochemical, products as well.

So, topicals and was, let's say formulation of gels or creams or ointments or some of those fancy nanoparticles, micro emulsions and those kind of systems. If someone is familiar about this field, they would have heard about these terms. Transdermal. I work on transdermal patches, as you would see in a pharmacy. And also I work on some fancy active technologies like micro needles or kind of devices, which is like using electric current to push the drug through the skin.

Or using lasers for drug delivery. So, so like I said, transdermal, it's more of pushing the drug into the system, into the blood. To help, you know, cure any of the diseases in the body. So, so that is that is mostly what I do in the lab. And students get to actually develop these products and then test them on, skin.

And just, you know, kind of work on those kind of projects.

Michele Williams
So when you say, a transdermal patch, for example, with micro needles on it to, to someone who doesn't have a background in, in pharmaceuticals, that sounds terrifying.

So can you, can you tell us a little bit more about what that involves? A micro needle on a on a transdermal patch, and what kind of medication might be delivered in that in that form?

Ashana Puri
Sure. I totally understand how micro needles might sound to someone who doesn't know about it, but let me tell you that micro needles are actually available on Amazon as well. They are, they're more for cosmetic tools, so they're actually used for wrinkle rejuvenation.

And so you so if you check like, you know, the services offered by a cosmetic clinic, you're going to see Microneedling there as well.

So it's a cosmetic tool which is now being, heavily involved for drug delivery. And that's what we do. What I do in the lab. So, while there are needles, there are micron size needles. So they are, like, really tiny needles. And let's say there's a patch that has 100 micron sized needles on it. So it's very tiny.

It's not going to not going to reach your nerve endings. That means you're not going to feel the pain, but they are actually going to help make pores on the skin. So, you know, the difficult drugs that cannot cross the skin will get a channel to cross the skin.

So that's why we use micro needles mostly for like puncturing the skin deliberately to get our drugs across the skin.

So that's, that's how I use it for drug delivery, but it depends on the length of the needle if you're going to experience pain or not. But usually we don't go with the long needles that can make someone experience pain. So, yeah. So because it's cosmetic and people use it at home as well. So trust me, it's not painful.

Michele Williams
So, when, when pharmacy students work with you on your research, what can they expect from that experience?

Ashana Puri
Sure. So, like I mentioned, all the delivery systems that I work on be topical or transdermal. The students would get an experience formulating and developing those products by themselves, so they would get an understanding of how to make the product what is in the product, how would they select the ingredients and that specific composition. So understanding the development of those products will actually help them, you know, when it comes to the pharmacy in their dispensing a product that gives them a better understanding of the ingredients, their role, and you know how they can better counsel the patients?

So let's say if they're making the transdermal patch and, you know, they ask the patient to not cut the patch, but when they actually make the patch, they would understand how cutting a patch can actually result in overdosing and could be harmful for a patient.

So, you know, just getting more details about how the product is formulated is going to give them a better idea of how it works. And then, they can be better at patient counseling. So that's one part of product development.

Like I said, we would test these products on skin to see how the drug will move. So they will have an opportunity to actually work with pig ears because pig ears are ears.

Michele Williams
Yeah. Interesting.

Ashana Puri
Yeah, they are, very close stimulator of human skin. So the skin barrier that we have resembles, the pigs’ as well. So in the lab, we have these special cells that we work with. So we mount the pig skin on it, and we can test, the permeation of our drugs across the skin, and we can make predictions about how it's going to actually behave in humans as well.

So they get experience working with pig ears, testing their formulation for drug permeation. Pretty much I do more of like, in‑vitro stuff. So they don't actually test it in animals or humans. They would start from like those basic cells and skin studies. And, they will get an idea of how their formulation is going to behave in the body.

Other than the students who have worked in my lab so far, they have all, received an opportunity to be co‑authors on a publication. They have presented several posters. So be it regional conferences or national. I try my best to send them out so that they can present as well. And, you know, they can add a lot of value to their CV, and get some good experience from my lab.

Michele Williams
So you have a student who will be presenting at AACP, in the coming week?

Ashana Puri
Yes, yes. Yeah. So Dakshita Ban, she's, before now, she has worked with me ever since, I think, the one year, really, where she volunteered for research with me and, she's been part of a very important project in my lab where I am developing microneedle for naloxone delivery. For opioid overdose treatment. Well, we've had some interesting data that she's going to go out and present at the AACP.

And she did at the regional conference. And she won a prize as well. So I'm I'm really, really proud of her.

Michele Williams
Yeah, I bet you are. That's terrific.

Ashana Puri
Yes.

Michele Williams
And it sounds like really fascinating research and a great opportunity for a student to learn more about a particular topic. And I'm, I'm guessing also, looks great on on someone's CV when they're going out, once they're ready to, to look for jobs. That's terrific. That's so interesting. Well, Doctor Puri, thank you so much for for joining us today.

Michele Williams
We really appreciate it. And for talking about calculations and about your research.

Ashana Puri
You're. Oh, my pleasure. Thank you. Michele, and Dan.