College of Pharmacy Publication Spotlight

Congratulations to College of Pharmacy faculty members Mate Soric,Pharm.D., BCPS, and Petrea Cober, Pharm.D., BCNSP, BCPPS, FASPEN, on their recent publications. Fourth-year pharmacy student, Kaitlyn Myk-Kish, had the pleasure of interviewing the faculty members about their recent accomplishments.

Dr. Soric’s co-authored research, titled “Prevalence and Predictors of Non-Benzodiazepine Use in Patients with Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome in United States Emergency Departments – A Cross-sectional Study” was published in the INNOVATIONS in Pharmacy journal in 2024.

This is an annual project that he helps facilitate as an advisor for the NEOMED Student College of Clinical Pharmacy (SCCP) chapter. Participating students are given monthly tasks to complete after each meeting to further develop the research. The project is centered on student involvement and the initial topic ideas are generated from student interests. This project stemmed from a student's interest in the use of gabapentin for alcohol withdrawal, which presented a challenge. They quickly had to pivot to a broader patient population by expanding their scope to include more medications, since gabapentin use alone led to a very small sample size. From there, the students completed data collection and started writing a manuscript. They were able to present a poster at ASHP Midyear on their study in December 2023.

When asked what advice he would give to prospective researchers pursuing similar projects, Dr. Soric said, “To not be afraid to poke holes in your ideas and challenge yourself to think outside the box. Also, to start the investigation as a blank slate without any inherent biases or thoughts on whether it will produce a certain result or not since that will stop you from finding something that's actually significant or meaningful that you may not have been looking for."

Dr. Soric also co-authored the 5th edition of a textbook, titled ACCP Ambulatory Care Pharmacist’s Survival Guide in 2024.

He is an active member of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy’s (ACCP) Ambulatory Care Practice and Research Network (PRN), which unites teams of pharmacists and fosters career development.

“The textbook is pretty much a resource for currently practicing ambulatory care pharmacists," Dr. Soric explained. "It includes things like templates, standard operating procedures, disease states, different specialties, education and training to become an ambulatory care pharmacist and how sites can participate in educating incoming students.”  

He was responsible for crafting the training and education section of the textbook, which details how pharmacists can get APPE students and residents at their site and the training for ambulatory care pharmacists. It also discusses different activities that ambulatory care pharmacists, residents, and students are doing that are successful. This "was fun, since (he) asked local ambulatory care pharmacists at NEOMED for their input on this, as well.” He feels that this topic is important because “when I first became a pharmacist, there were only a sprinkle of ambulatory care pharmacists and very few were billing for their services. The field has grown a lot compared to then, and there are now so many opportunities and different specialties, such as the management of maternal and fetal medicine, substance use disorders, hepatitis C virus (HCV), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and diabetes mellitus."

Dr. Cober’s research, titled “A White Paper From the Pediatric Pharmacy Association,” was published in The Journal of Pediatric Pharmacology and Therapeutics in 2024.

The goal of this project was to emphasize the ability of pharmacists to provide pediatric vaccines, as most vaccinations are received during infancy and pediatric immunization rates have overall decreased since the COVID-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, pharmacists were the primary provider of immunizations and demonstrated the importance of their role in healthcare as the most accessible healthcare provider. The paper also supports pharmacists staying up to date on pediatric immunization practices by participating in continuing education programs that are specific to this patient population. She feels this is especially important to be addressed at this time since the recent measles outbreak, which has now reached Ashtabula, Ohio. She thinks it’s important “to be an advocate for vaccinations and pediatric patients in general” and that “even premature infants stay on the CDC recommended vaccine schedule, since they are even more vulnerable.” She recommends “keying in on what we can do as a pharmacist. That doesn't mean you can't have some stretch goals, but you must think about what you can control and advocate for.”

The biggest challenge that she faced while working on this publication was that she “likes an article with applicability” and this project implemented that by creating a table with all the states and their current pharmacist immunization rules and regulations. She said that this table was difficult to keep up to date since some states would change their practices during the writing phase of the publication.  

Dr. Cober also co-authored a chapter of a textbook, titled "Neonatal Considerations,” in A Pocket Guide to Micronutrients in 2024.

She was invited by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics to co-write the “Neonatal Considerations” chapter alongside a dietitian. The chapter is meant to be a resource for dietitians working with an array of patients experiencing vitamin and mineral deficiencies. The chapter that she was responsible for specifically assessed the literature on micronutrient, trace element assessments, and amount of calcium and phosphorus for enteral and parenteral nutrition for premature infants. Calcium and phosphorus “are the most important to assess for premature infants (especially if they are born before the third trimester) because you miss out on the largest accumulation of calcium in life” since a large amount is passed from the mother to the baby during the third trimester and the parathyroid gland is also underdeveloped.

The biggest challenges that she faced while working on this project were that most of the literature regarding this topic is European and is based on very small studies, since testing levels necessitates drawing blood, and premature infants have limited blood volume. She also said that this was a challenging publication because it was a multi-year project and “sometimes when you take things on you have a different time availability than when it is due to be edited” and that managing your time is important.

 In terms of advice for prospective researchers, she suggests “starting out small and finding something you're interested in” and “you don't have to publish your first article in a crazy big journal with a high impact factor.” She also recommends for new practitioners to join an organization and get involved with committees, because “you’ll eventually be presented with opportunities to help people with projects in various interdisciplinary settings.” And finally, “write review articles on things that you spoke about as a presentation, especially since you already have all the information and resources.”  

In terms of publication opportunities, her main advice was that “you'll find there will always be lulls, but they’ll come around.”

-  Authored by Kaitlyn Myk-Kish, PharmD Candidate 2025, Danielle Taylor, Pharm.D. (Preceptor)