Student pharmacists get hands-on lesson in cancer research

Drs. Ruben Torrenegra and Dr. Victoria Palau work with a pair of student pharmacists. 

A top natural products research scientist from Colombia visited East Tennessee State University Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy recently to meet with student pharmacists and help demonstrate the drug discovery process.

Dr. Ruben Torrenegra, who was recognized in 2018 by the government of Colombia as one of its top scientists, has helped progress the college’s drug discovery program since 2008 when he partnered with Dr. Victoria Palau, professor emerita of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Palau started her cancer research with plants when she came to ETSU in 2007.  

In that time, Torrenegra helped train dozens of ETSU student pharmacists in cancer research.

Torrenegra has spent years collecting plant material from the Andean region of Colombia, which he takes to a botanical garden in the nation’s capital of Bogota to be identified. Through this work, he has partnered with Palau to test the impact of plant-derived compounds on different types of cancer. Torrenegra helps show the students how to use chromatographic techniques to separate and purify the different novel compounds.

After the material is purified and identified, Palau and her student researchers study changes in cell signaling, or communication, pathways in the cancer cells to explain the mechanism of action of these compounds. Torrenegra showed the students how to turn that plant material into potential new drugs for the prevention and treatment of cancer.  

Hands-on learning is at the core of ETSU’s approach to education, with a goal of helping students seamlessly move from the classroom to employment. From discoveries entirely new to science to books about little-known maladies, dozens of ETSU faculty are generating cutting-edge research, like Palau.

“Cancer research is urgent,” said Palau. “All of us, in some way, have been touched by cancer. We all know someone who has fought cancer or is going through that fight right now. Putting a little piece of information out there that might make a difference — that is really important to me. There are thousands of people working on cancer all around the world. As long as we keep working on it, we’re bound to make strides.”

To learn more about the ETSU Gatton College of Pharmacy, visit etsu.edu/pharmacy/.   

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East Tennessee State University was founded in 1911 with a singular mission: to improve the quality of life for people in the region and beyond. Through its world-class health sciences programs and interprofessional approach to health care education, ETSU is a highly respected leader in rural health research and practices. The university also boasts nationally ranked programs in the arts, technology, computing, and media studies. ETSU serves approximately 14,000 students each year and is ranked among the top 10 percent of colleges in the nation for students graduating with the least amount of debt.