» Alumni Spotlights

Bella Sharifi joined Chapman University School of Pharmacy January of 2018 as a Master student in Pharmaceutical Sciences. Since admission to the MSPS graduate program, Bella had demonstrated excellence in both academic and professional achievements.

With strong passion in research and courage to take challenges, Bella chose her study at Dr. Sun Yang’s laboratory focusing on the development of novel APE/Ref-1 inhibitors using a structure-aided approach and quickly made breakthrough progression. Her X-ray crystallographic study, for the first time, observed and confirmed the structural transformation of APE/Ref-1 under distinct conditions, which provides robust structural information to facilitate structure-aided drug development targeting APE/Ref-1 for cancer treatment.

During her study at Chapman, she received the Outstanding Research Award for her platform presentation at the 2^nd Chapman University School of Pharmacy Research Day and presented her research at the 8^th International Congress on Cancer Metastasis in San Francisco, CA, and the 2^nd Annual Skin Symposium at Irvine, CA.

Upon graduating from Chapman University, Bella was recruited by the Sartorius Group in Fremont CA, as Associate Research Scientist where she is currently working on assay and product development for the High Throughput Octet Platform and BLI technology.

“It is a nostalgic moment, parting ways from CUSP after five years, where I completed an MS followed by an intensive Ph.D. I am proud to say I was among the first students to get an MS. Also, among the few to continue along with a Ph.D. being pioneers, I daresay in this sense, I have even seen CUSP grow into the impressive institute it is today. One regret is that I will not be here to go along with all the future developments at CUSP.

“I consider my achievement as a testament to the support of a mentor, committee members, and the CUSP community.  I do not have enough words to convey my gratitude towards my mentor Dr. Nauli. As a student training to be involved in high-level research, the guidance provided by my committee members (Drs. Mehvar, Ostrom and Bisoffi) has been invaluable. Without them, I would not have been able to achieve the same level of accomplishments that I have. As I have understood from my time at CUSP, there should always be a drive to be better. Nothing is perfect but having the grit and determination to make the next day better is the way to success. Moving forward, I will be involved in NIH funded research of cardiac myocytes and human airway smooth muscle signaling in Dr. Robert Harvey’s lab. My deepest gratitude to CUSP and the wonderful people.”

Within five years at CUSP, Dr. Sherpa has published nine peer-reviewed articles and one invited book chapter.  Dr. Sherpa is the first or co-first author in 4 of the articles, published in Cells and Scientific Reports journals.  Immediately followed his successful defense, Dr. Sherpa received 4 offers from highly-regarded and respected laboratories around the country.

Romina Nabiee graduated from Chapman in 2017 with a Master’s of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences (M.S.P.S.) with focus on oncogenic metabolic pathways. Now a Ph.D. student in pharmaceutical sciences with a focus on KSHV Virus Immunology at Chapman. 

As an Alumni Advisory Board Member, Romina's focus is on the sense of connectivity and support we can offer as a community to newly graduating students.  She wants them to know they are not alone and done with Chapman once they put on their regalia - they can count on us to help advance their careers and to give back to the student community.

MSPS alumnus Soliel Doman is currently a Pathways Intern with U.S Food & Drug Administration (FDA) Office of Regulatory Affairs Pacific Southwest Medical Products Laboratory. Her internship was extended and she hopes to maintain her relationship with the agency while she continues her studies with the Chapman University School of Pharmacy Pharm.D. program.

Soliel says her experiences with the FDA have been great and she looks forward to full employment after completing her studies.

The premise of Hung’s work at the U.S. FDA is to educate industry professionals on the importance of ongoing quality improvement practices and to improve patient care – a constant drive to achieve excellence in healthcare. 

Hung’s career path has been unique, and he credits his Chapman experience for where he’s ended up. He encourages students to focus on what really wakes them up excited in the morning. Don’t do things to replicate them, make them big, or go public. Just focus on doing one thing exceptionally well. Focus on doing ordinary things, extraordinarily. That’s what makes all the difference.