College of Pharmacy

PORTLAND, Ore. – A research collaboration including scientists from Oregon State University has developed a new technology to help surgeons know where a patient’s nerves are, lessening the chance of nerve damage.

The technology is based on hydrogels, three-dimensional networks of polymers that absorb and retain large amounts of water, and takes aim at a surgical complication that’s widespread and persistent.

Depending on the procedure, OSU’s Adam Alani says, a patient can face a double-digit percentage chance of sustaining a nerve injury.

PORTLAND, Ore. – Research by Oregon State University has uncovered a potential new therapy for pancreatic cancer, whose survival rate is among the lowest of all malignancies.

About one person in 64 will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, according to the American Cancer Society. The pancreas is an abdominal organ that regulates blood sugar and also helps with digestion.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Melanoma patients receiving therapy that helps their immune system kill cancer cells respond to treatment differently depending on the types of microbes in their gut, and new research suggests the microorganisms hindering therapy have more influence than the beneficial ones.

Findings by a collaboration that included researchers at Oregon State University, the National Cancer Institute, the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research and the University of Pittsburgh were published today in Nature Medicine.

PORTLAND, Ore. – Policies designed to prevent the misuse of opioids may have the unintended side effect of limiting access to the pain-relieving drugs by terminally ill patients nearing the end of their life, new research led by the Oregon State University College of Pharmacy suggests.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Statistical modeling developed by Oregon State University researchers has confirmed that changes to melanoma patients’ gut microbiome led them to respond to a type of treatment capable of providing long-term benefit.

Findings were published in Science.

The modeling technique invented by Andrey Morgun of the OSU College of Pharmacy and Natalia Shulzenko of Oregon State’s Carlson College of Veterinary Medicine is known as transkingdom network analysis.

PORTLAND, Ore. – Terminally ill patients referred to hospice care from a hospital setting tend to be on hospice for shorter periods than those who enter hospice while living at home or in a residential care facility.

The findings by Oregon State University College of Pharmacy researchers are an important step toward improving the care experiences of dying patients and their loved ones.

PORTLAND, Ore. — When dentists prescribe opioid painkillers to older patients who are already taking medication for depression or anxiety, the combination of drugs increases patients’ risk of landing in the emergency room and being hospitalized, according to a recent Oregon State University study.

Though electronic health records have improved in recent years, dentists are often still out of the loop when it comes to their patients’ full medication history, and patients may not remember every pill they’re taking.

PORTLAND, Ore. – Hospital patients discharged to skilled nursing facilities often bring a high-dose painkiller prescription with them, suggesting more attention should be paid to opioid safety for those patients, research from the Oregon State University College of Pharmacy shows.

The findings are important because they shed light on an understudied aspect of the opioid-fueled public health crisis that has gripped the United States for more than two decades.

PORTLAND, Ore. – Scientists have developed a precise, nanotechnology-based treatment to alleviate the pain and fertility problems associated with endometriosis, a common gynecological condition in women of childbearing age.

Research led by Oleh Taratula of the Oregon State University College of Pharmacy and Ov Slayden of the Oregon National Primate Research Center at Oregon Health & Science University used photo-responsive nanoparticles loaded with dye to find and remove the lesions associated with the disorder.

PORTLAND, Ore. – Gene-infused nanoparticles used for combating disease work better when they include plant-based relatives of cholesterol, new research shows.

That's because the shape and structure of the phytosterols help the genes get where they need to be inside cells.