The Wayne State University School of Medicine’s Department of Pharmacology celebrated five decades of improving medicine, determining the underlying human structure to do so, and training generations of pharmacology experts with a daylong 50th anniversary celebration July 26.

The event drew retired faculty members, student alumni and former department chairs.

“You have much to celebrate today, including 50 years of excellence,” Wayne State University President Kimberly Andrews Espy said during the celebration’s opening in the Margherio Family Conference Center. “Your work is the reflective bedrock of inclusive excellence, an example of the second pillar of our Prosperity Agenda of empowering the health of our communities, and you are developing next generation of scientists who will continue to stretch the boundaries of medicine.”

“Pharmacology is a truly stellar department for the medical school and the university,” Dean Wael Sakr, M.D., told the assembled faculty and students. “You also have been a leading example of productive collaboration with numerous schools, centers and leading investigators across our university campus and beyond.”

Calling Dr. Todi one of the most energetic and innovative leaders in our school and university,” Dean Sakr also noted that in the last 18 months the department has added two new faculty members representing segments considered underrepresented in medicine, a key component of the School of Medicine’s strategic plan. The department also secured a coveted position in the 2023 Wayne State University Pathway to Faculty Hiring Initiative to recruit a new pre-faculty member, which will help further diversify the faculty.

“Here’s to the next fifty years of continued success, innovation and making a profound difference in the world,” Dean Sakr said.

“We are very proud to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Department of Pharmacology,” Department Chair Sokol Todi, Ph.D., said. “Our department has made great achievements in our mission to educate students, train scientists and to generate original and impactful knowledge in basic and medical sciences.

Presentations included the Neuropharmacology Perspective by Professor Rodrigo Andrade, Ph.D. and Assistant Professor Joongkyu Park, Ph.D.; the Cancer Pharmacology Perspective by Professor Izabela Podgorski, Ph.D., and Assistant Professor Heather Gibson, Ph.D.; and the Toxicology Perspective by Professor Emeritus John Reiners, Ph.D., and Assistant Professor Mike Petriello, Ph.D.

A brief film on the history of the department was narrated by Professor Emeritus David Kessel, Ph.D.

Student research talks included:

Matt Prifti, “Exploring dentatorubral-pallidoluysian atrophy in a new drosophila model of disease

Michael Flynn, “Role of the cell-surface serine protease matriptase in corneal epithelial homeostasis and repair”

Laimar Garmo, ”Dysregulation of bone homeostasis through exposure to PFAS”

Kyle Siegel, “In vitro endocrine and cardiometabolic toxicity of artificial turf materials”

Manisha Agarwal, “Mitigation of polychlorinated biphenyl 126 (PCB 126)-induced oxidative stress in mouse liver through deletion of flavin-containing monooxygenase 3 (FMO3)

Presentations by post-doctoral students included:

Seoyoung Son, “Role of clustered protocadherins in retinal ganglion cell axon morphology”

Demi Nuga, “Linear ubiquitin chains remodel the proteome and influence the levels of hundreds of regulators in drosophila”

Kristin Richardson, “Modeling and exploring spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy in drosophila”

Roxane Berube, “Investigating a complex mixture of PPARg-activating chemicals on metabolic health outcomes in human mesenchymal stem cells and developmentally-exposed zebrafish”

Anna Gretzinger, CJ Talton, Shane Kowalski, Bedri Ranxhi, Rima Rana, Kyle Siegel, Laimar Garmo and Samantha Heldman served as the day’s masters of ceremony.

Professor Kamiar Moin, Ph.D., presented an in memoriam for Distinguished Professor Bonnie Sloane, Ph.D., a longtime member and former chair of the department, who died in December 2023.

A trivia session with $100 prizes for the first-, second- and third-place winners added a bit of levity to the event.

The day was capped by awards of $1,000 for first and second place among post-doctoral presentations, and $500 for first and second place among student presentations, with the funding provided by a commitment from Dr. Sloane, and a department dinner at Hopcat in Detroit.

See more photos here.