Dr. Steven Stodghill of the Department of Pharmaceutical, Social & Administrative Sciences and his team have had three abstracts accepted for the American Association of Pharmaceutical Sciences annual meeting in November.

• Development of a Sustained-Release Donepezil Hydrochloride Formulation by Hot Melt Extrusion This study demonstrates the sustained release of highly water-soluble drugs such as donepezil hydrochloride can be formulated by continuous processing using twin-screw extrusion employing Compritol® 888 ATO as a hydrophobic matrix.
• Effect of polymer molecular weight on Hot Melt Extrusion processing and dissolution of Clotrimazole The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of different Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) molecular weights on the extrudability and dissolution of clotrimazole by hot melt extrusion techniques. PVPs polymers are water-soluble and used routinely as a carrier to enhance the solubility for an API. Two different drug loads were used to investigate their effects.
• Application of Solid Crystal Suspensions using Hot Melt Extrusion for Enhancement of Solubility and Stability of Efavirenz The formulation of crystal suspensions by Hot Melt Extrusion significantly increased the solubility and stability of Efavirenz. This technique/process provided an alternative approach for enhancing solubility of poorly water-soluble compounds using xylitol as a primary matrix carrier.

Adjunct professor Amy Smith recently had her article entitled “Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co.:  Radical Revision or Original Intent of the Alien Tort Statute” accepted for publication in the Southern Law Journal.  The Southern Law Journal is listed in Cabell’s Directory, with an 18% acceptance rating. Smith teaches business law in the College of Business Administration and has taught at Belmont in various colleges since 2001.

Several Belmont pharmacy faculty participated in the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy annual meeting from July 13 through 17 in Chicago, Ill.  The meeting is the primary source of innovations in teaching in colleges and schools of pharmacy, offers a large selection of faculty development opportunities and provides a merging of academia and accreditation issues.

Belmont faculty learned new techniques in the areas of student recruitment, student remediation, the scholarship of teaching and practice innovations as well as learned new standards of accreditation, new CAPE competencies and software products.

Marilyn E. Thompson Odom presented at a round table session on Assessment of Student Learning and Level of Empathy Through Use of Creative Expression. Elisa Greene, Ashton Beggs, Mark Chirico, Alisa Spinelli, Condit Steil, Kristina Wood and Phil Johnston–presented Integration, Innovation and Collaboration at Belmont University College of Pharmacy at the poster session. Leigh Ann Bynum, Hope Campbell and Lindsay Hahn presented Making Cross-Linkages Work Between Clinical and Management Classes in the College of Pharmacy at the refereed poster session. Andrew Webster and Angela Hagan served as administrative representative and faculty representative, respectively, in the House of Delegates.  Phil  Johnston served on the Council of Deans.

Media Studies Associate Professor Sybril Bennett has published Innovate: Lessons from the Underground Railroad, a book written to demonstrate how the Underground Railroad is among the most effective, disruptive and innovative networks in the history of America. She compares the Underground Railroad and the Internet to illustrate how the past and the present virtually collide creating the future in real time. Click here to listen to the book on ETPcast, “What Entrepreneurship, the Internet and the Underground Railroad All Have in Common.”

Dr. Michael Voight, professor of physical therapy in the College of Health Sciences at Belmont,  recently presented at the annual meeting of the National Athletic Trainers Association in Las Vegas, Nev. His presentation, attended by over 400 conference delegates, was on assessing and developing rotational speed in athletes. Voight shared his work in assessing fundamental movement and in turn correcting the impairments discovered. Examples were given utilizing several of the PGA tour players with whom he works.

Can three simple words really crumble an empire? “Yes, of course.”

Belmont University’s Dr. Kevin S. Trowbridge, assistant professor of public relations, was the featured speaker during the July 10 professional development luncheon for the Memphis chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA).

Around 100 public relations and communication professionals gathered at the University Club to hear Trowbridge analyze and discuss the communication strategies used by celebrity chef Paula Deen. Trowbridge analyzed the Southern chef’s public relations crisis that resulted from Deen’s three-word admission to having used a racial slur that ignited a public firestorm.

Trowbridge’s presentation was titled, “When the Kitchen Gets Too Hot: Public Relations Lessons from Paula Deen’s Crisis Cookbook.” He reminded attendees of the power of local new media and that social media have empowered individual consumers as important participants in the court of public opinion. Further, he concluded that the principles of public relations remain steadfast and more important than ever during times of crisis.

Trowbridge advises Tower Creative Consultants, the student-run public relations firm of Belmont’s award-winning chapter of Public Relations Student Society of America. He is the chair-elect for the PRSA Southeast District.