University of Houston College of Pharmacy

A hearty dose of gratitude goes out to Cougar Sponsors Glenn Rogers and Liz Coyle Rogers.

It’s almost tee time, Coogs! The UHCOP Golf Classic ’26 is just a few days away, and we are excited to hit the course Monday, June 8, for a day of Cougar pride, friendly competition and support for our Pharm.D. students.

A big thank you to our sponsors, players and friends of UHCOP for helping us continue this tournament’s long-standing legacy. Because of your support, we’re driving opportunities forward for the next generation of pharmacy leaders.

See you on the green!

Save the Date: UHCOP's Alumni & Friends Reception during the Texas Pharmacy Association 2026 Conference & Expo will be 7:30-10 p.m. Friday, July 24, at The Goose's Acre Bistro & Irish Pub on The Woodlands Waterway just a few steps away from the conference center. Sláinte, Coogs!

Thank you to UHCOP Golf Classic mainstay and longtime co-chair Doug Eikenburg for returning as a Red & White Sponsor, prize sponsor, and sponsor of two teams at this year's event June 8 at TPC Houston!

Join us 12 - 1 p.m. Thursday, June 18, as UHCOP's own Abe Shremo Msdi, Pharm.D., BCIDP, presents "Developing Microbiome-Targeted Interventions to Restore Gut Function & Health" as part of the John and Aimee Mohr Clinical PPTR Seminar Series.

Location: Health 2, Room 3082 and via zoom at tinyurl.com/PPTR-Seminar-S26

Teeing up gratitude for friends of UHCOP, The Mitchener Family, for their support of this year’s annual Golf Classic with a Cougar Sponsorship.

Since 1979, this tournament has helped build a legacy of support for UHCOP Pharm.D. students, and that tradition continues Monday, June 8, at TPC Houston, formerly Sweetwater Golf Club, in Sugar Land.

Thank you for helping us drive student success forward, one swing at a time.

A UHCOP-led study is earning national recognition for its potential impact on patient care.

“Reduction of Vancomycin-Associated Acute Kidney Injury With Montelukast,” led by Nicholas S. Teran, Pharm.D., BCIDP, has been selected for the Infectious Diseases Pharmacotherapy Paper of the Year Award by the Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists. The study examined whether montelukast, an asthma medication, may help reduce kidney injury among patients receiving intravenous vancomycin, highlighting UHCOP’s commitment to translational research and safer treatment strategies.

Read more: https://www.uh.edu/pharmacy/news-and-events/news-releases-2026/june/sidp-paper-of-the-year.php

Two researchers from the laboratory of Associate Professor Sai Sudha Koka, Ph.D., FAHA, R.Ph., received recognitions at the American Society of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET) Annual Meeting May 17-20 in Minneapolis, Minn.
Researcher 1 Sindhura Pasham earned an ASPET Travel Award to present her poster, “Inhibition of Exosomes Release by GW4869 Attenuates TMAO-Induced Endothelial Dysfunction,” which will be published in an upcoming issue of The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. Postdoctoral Fellow Sriram Sandeep Inavolu, Ph.D., won second place in the Oral Presentation category for his project, “JC124 inhibits NLRP3 Inflammasome Activation and Preserves Tight Junction Integrity to Prevent TMAO-mediated Endothelial injury.”

Thank you to alumnus Julian Garza (Pharm.D. '23) for supporting your fellow Coogs with a Red & White Sponsorship at the 2026 UHCOP Golf Classic!

Congratulations to Pharm.D. students Nevin Mathew and Najat Abu-Hmidan who were selected to receive the $2,500 Walgreens Pharmacy Champion Award and Scholarships! Pictured are UHCOP Arash Bashirullah, Mathew, Walgreens District Pharmacy Supervisor Whitney Moulder, Pharm.D., and Abu-Hmidan.

Five UHCOP Ph.D. students presented at the 51st Annual MALTO Medicinal Chemistry Meeting-in-Miniature at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center May 20-22 in Memphis, Tenn.
Podium presenters were Charles Ansah ("Optimization of Plectin targeted peptide for cancer stem cells in lung cancer") and Mohamed Behery ("Allosteric Targeting of the Androgen Receptor BF-3 Pocket Drives Synergistic Inhibition with Enzalutamide in Prostate Cancer"). Poster presenters were Pooja Atpadkar ("Structure-activity relationship analysis and In vitro metabolic Profiling of COX-2 Inhibitors for Enterohepatic Recycling"), Thisari Diwakara ("Glucuronidation-enabled CDPK1 inhibitors for GI-targeted enterohepatic recycling for cryptosporidiosis"), and Netra Neupane ("Bryostatin-1 Mediated Binding and Activation of MUNC13-1 C1-C2b Domains").
Joining the students were Department Chair and Joseph P. & Shirley Shipman Buckley Endowed Professor of Drug Discovery Greg Cuny, Ph.D., Associate Professor Louis Williams, Ph.D., and Professor Emeritus and MALTO co-founder Thomas Lemke, Ph.D.