Kristiana Avad, PharmD, a graduate student in Dr. Kirk Hevener’s lab, for being awarded the prestigious Research in Emerging Areas Critical to Human Health Loan Repayment (LRP) award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)!
The LRP program is designed to help retain highly qualified healthcare professionals in research. The program offers to help pay up to $50,000 per year towards educational debt in return for conducting biomedical and biobehavioral research that aligns with the NIH’s research mission.
“I am very grateful to receive this award for the second time because it eases the financial burden that often comes with pursuing advanced degrees,” says Kristiana. “Thanks to the NIH LRP, I can fully focus on developing my research skills and conducting meaningful work that continues to advance the field of pharmaceutical science. Pursuing a dual PharmD/PhD presents many challenges, but having one less worry makes a huge difference.”
Kristiana’s research focuses on identifying narrow-spectrum antibacterial agents that target Porphyromonas gingivalis (Pg) and Fusobacterium nucleatum (Fn) , which could serve as valuable adjuncts to debridement in treating periodontal disease. Such agents could help reduce inflammation and restore a more balanced microbial environment, which is conducive to the colonization of healthy oral species. She studies the isoenzyme FabK as a potential drug target. FabK, an enoyl-ACP reductase (ENR) present in both Pg and Fn, plays a critical role in the bacterial type II fatty acid synthesis pathway (FAS-II), which is essential for membrane formation and virulence factor production.
Notably, Kristiana is a participant in the College’s dual PharmD/PhD pathway, which enables highly qualified students to pursue a unique, integrated dual-degree program combining a PharmD and a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences.
Find out more about the program here.