December 2010 Dr. Croyle is nominated to the Pharmaceutical Sciences Electoral Committee in the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
November 19, 2010 The Longhorn School Bus makes a stop at the Croyle lab!
Dr. Croyle and her group welcomed the sixth grade class of Zavala Elementary School in Austin to the College of Pharmacy by giving them and their teachers a tour of her laboratory. Students looked at cells in the microscope and learned about viruses and vaccines. The Longhorn bus program was sponsored by Pharmacy Council in collaboration with UT Senate to provide students with an idea of what it is like to be a pharmacy student.
November 11, 2010 Wenwen Shen joins the Croyle lab.
Wenwen received a bachelor's degree in microbiology from Huazhong Agricultural University (HZAU) in Wuhan, China and was a high school biology teacher before coming to the United States where she received a Master's degree in Veterinary and Biomedical Science from the University of Nebraska.
November, 1, 2010 Dr. Croyle Discusses what it Takes to Make a Vaccine with Beta Beta Beta Biology Honors Society at UT.
Dr. Croyle spent the evening sharing her experiences while developing a vaccine for Ebola with students in the College of Natural Sciences considering a career in academic research.
October 2010 Jin Huk Choi passes qualifying exam and presents work at National Keystone Research Conference in Seattle, Washington.
Jin Huk Choi, Pharmaceutics graduate student, presented preliminary data and a plan for completing his research project titled "Evaluation of the Oral Mucosa as a Site for Protective Immunization Against Ebola Zaire with an Adenovirus Serotype 5-Based Vaccine" to his committee members which they agreed was quite novel and would provide significant insight into vaccine development for Ebola and other pathogens. That same day, he left for the Immunological Mechanisms of Vaccination meeting and presented his work on a sublingual vaccine for Ebola to international experts in the field the following day.
October 2010 Dr. Croyle Travels to the National Institutes of Health to Serve on Several Study Sections.
Dr. Croyle provided expertise in the area of drug and vaccine development and the design of in vivo studies to a scientific panel at the NIH in an effort to evaluate research proposals for funding.
September 20, 2010 Dr. Croyle Travels to the Public Health Agency of Canada to Celebrate Completion of Collaborative Nasal Vaccine Project with Drs. Gary Kobinger and Amine Kamen.
Dr. Croyle presented her work on the formulation and characterization of a nasal vaccine for Ebola to officials from the Canadian Chemical, Biological, Radiological-Nuclear and Explosives (CBRNE) Research and Technology Initiative (CRTI). Dr. Kobinger discussed work from his group in characterizing the immune response and potency of the formulated vaccine. Dr. Kamen then discussed the efforts of his group to develop an efficient large-scale production method for the vaccine. Overall, the project was considered to be a success and a proposal for clinical testing of the vaccine in Canada will be submitted in early 2011.
July 23, 2010 The Croyle Lab Participates in the University of Texas Honors Colloquium.
Dr. Croyle met with approximately 40 honors students from high schools throughout the state of Texas to discuss her work on an Ebola vaccine. Stephen Schafer, and Jin Huk Choi then conducted a lab tour. Students were shown first hand how the vaccine was made in cell culture and the various assays that must be performed on the preparation before it can be used in scientific studies.
July 23, 2010 Piyanuch Wonganan defends her thesis!
After 5 years of hard work, Piyanuch Wonganan defended her Ph.D thesis titled "A Mechanistic Study of How Adenovirus Infection Alters the Expression and Function of Cytochrome P450 3A". After graduation, Piyanuch plans to return to her home in Thailand and assume a faculty position after completing a postdoctoral research fellowship in the United States.
June 22-23, 2010 Dr. Croyle attends International Filovirus Medical Countermeasures Workshop.
Dr. Croyle participated in a joint meeting of the scientific community involved with the development of therapeutics for filovirus infection, the department of defense and other funding agencies that support their work. The purpose of the meeting was to identify current hurdles that prevent research in this area from progressing.
June, 2010 Stephen Schafer wins UT College of Pharmacy Staff Merit Award.
Mr. Schafer was recognized for his dedication, service, and outstanding job performance at the annual College of Pharmacy Staff luncheon held at the Broken Spoke Saloon where attendees were treated to a traditional Texas meal, took part in country-western dance lessons, and enjoyed the music of Gary P. Nunn. Later that month, Stephen was promoted from Laboratory Technical Services Supervisor to Program Coordinator for the Croyle lab for all his hard work.
April 27, 2010 Dr. Croyle travels to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to Review Grant Proposals for the National Academy of Finalnd.
Dr. Croyle provided expert advice in the areas of gene and cell therapy to the scientific counsel of Finland and assisted with evaluation of grant proposals submitted to this agency for funding research projects in Finland.
Front row (L to R) Deepak Jain, Ph.D. (Tengion, Inc.), Fouad Atouf, Ph.D. (USP Scientific Liaison), William Tente (Chair of Committee), Anthony A. G. Ridgway, Ph.D. (Health Canada) Middle Row: Darin J. Weber, Ph.D. (The Biologics Consulting Group), Maria Croyle (The University of Texas at Austin), Joseph Gallelli, Ph.D. (Biotechnology Development at the National Institutes of Health), Beth M. Hutchins, Ph.D. (Schering Plough Biopharma), Nicole Provost, Ph.D. (Dendreon Corporation) Back Row: Nancy H. Collins, Ph.D. (University of Toledo), Scott R. Burger, M.D. (Advanced Cell & Gene Therapy, LLC), Elizabeth J. Read, M.D. (Cell and Tissue Therapies, Blood Systems Research Institute), Ann A. Jakubowski, M.D., Ph.D. (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center), Gary C. duMoulin, Ph.D. (Genzyme Biosurgery)
March 9, 2010 Dr. Croyle travels to the United States Pharmacopeia and ends 5 year term serving on the Biologics and Biotherapeutics Cell, Gene and Tissue Therapies Council of Experts.
During her time on this committee Dr. Croyle worked with national and international scientists from academic, government and industrial settings to evaluate and establish standards for several therapeutic products. During her tenure on this committee, she also made significant contributions to two general chapters of the current USP/NF: <1047> Gene Therapy Products and <1098> Validation of Research Test Kits.
March 1, 2010 Albert Pai and Samaneh Poureli receive University of Texas Undergraduate Research Fellowships to support their work in the Croyle lab!
Albert Pai (College of Natural Sciences) received an award for his work on developing novel methods to modify virus capsids to shield them from the immune system. Albert will graduate Spring 2011 with a BS degree in biochemistry and plans to attend medical school. Samaneh (College of Pharmacy) received an award for her work on developing novel formulations for a buccal vaccine. Samaneh will graduate in the Spring of 2012 with a Doctor of Pharmacy degree.
February 22, 2010 Dr. Croyle presents Research on an Oral form of an Ebola Vaccine at the National Biodefense and Emerging Diseases Research Meeting in Baltimore, M.D.
Dr. Croyle discussed data generated by her research group to develop an oral vaccine for Ebola. At this meeting Dr. Croyle presented data to national and international scientists and government officials that demonstrated for the first time that administration of the vaccine to the sublingual mucosa could be an easy and effective way to vaccinate against Ebola. The meeting was sponsored by the American Society for Microbiology.
January 12, 2010 Dr. Croyle travels to Washington D.C. to discuss progress of Ebola Vaccine at the National Institutes of Health.
Dr. Croyle met with scientists and clinicians in the Vaccine Research Center of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Disease to discuss results generated by her laboratory in their quest for a vaccine against Ebola that is easy to administer. Her talk was well received and there was much interest from the clinical staff about the timeline that the project would follow.