FAMU Researchers Developing Life Saving Drug Theraphy

FAMU Pharmacy Professor Dr. Donald Palm and a team of five graduate students are working on research that could one day lead to a life-saving drug therapy for stroke victims.

For over 12 years, the 42-year-old, Dr. Palm has been working to understand the intricacies of dying brain cells after a stroke.

According to Dr. Palm, “Once the brain is injured, the mechanism on how it recovers or how it degenerates is unknown. Really understanding those mechanisms is a wide-open field.”

What is known is that once the brain is deprived of oxygen and stroke occurs, the cells don’t die instantly. They die off gradually, even after oxygen is restored.

According to the American Stroke Association, stroke affects upwards of 700,000 Americans a year and is the third leading cause of death in the U.S. Strokes are also a leading cause of disability.

African Americans are particularly prone to strokes and are twice as likely as whites to suffer from one.

Researchers in the FAMU Health Sciences Center ---which includes the College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceuticals Sciences, Institute of Public Health, School of Allied Health Sciences, School of Nursing, and Environmental Sciences Institute--- have a special interest in fighting disease which affect African Americans and minorities, including diabetes, stroke, and HIV/AIDS. Over the years, the FAMU College of Pharmacy has earned a national reputation and several patents for its groundbreaking research.

Dr. Palm became interested strokes after his mother and grandmother were stricken.

The Pennsylvania native was recruited to FAMU by former University President and now Regents Professor Frederick Humphries, the two had a chance meeting at a conference and the rest, as they say, is history.

To learn more about Dr. Palm go here ---> Donald E. Palm