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Making a Difference EXCITING DISCOVERIES IN THE LAB MAY LEAD TO SAVING LIVES continuing to conduct experiments in off-hours, after classes are finished. She is also a member of a Touro research team that is collaborating with investigators at Columbia University’s Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science, working on a novel drug delivery device for COPD patients.
After graduating from Brooklyn College, P3 Irene Berger thought her future would be in clinical pharmacy. That was before she got started in TCOP’s unique Research Track, where she studied how to defeat a key pathogen that leads to Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)—a group of diseases that cause airflow blockage and breathing-related problems like emphysema and chronic bronchitis. COPD makes breathing difficult for the 16 million Americans who have it and is the third leading cause of death by disease in the United States and the world. In January 2021, Berger won second place at the school’s poster competition for the quality and creativity of her research and clarity of her presentation. She demonstrated that a natural compound inhibits the growth of a key pathogen implicated in serious COPD infections, and that the effects of the compound are greater depending on the dose and the timing. “We solidified the idea that the compound had the antimicrobial effects against the pathogen. We didn’t know that before and needed to really prove it,” said Berger, who is writing up her results to submit for publication while
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TOURO COLLEGE | DEAN’S UPDATE
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO WORK ON THIS PROJECT? I was attracted to the project because of the significant impact the research could have on patients, with COPD being the third leading cause of death in the U.S. and globally. Nearly 380 million people are diagnosed with COPD and approximately 3 million patients suffering from COPD die every year. The disease causes serious long-term disability and early death, triggered by serious infections caused by the respiratory bacteria I’ve been studying. The work could really help these patients and prevent mortality because once they have infections, without a viable treatment, it could lead to poor outcomes. WHAT ARE THE GOALS OF THE PROJECT? The overall goal of our research project is to find a new, effective way of inhibiting the growth of respiratory pathogens, which we know can lead to negative prognoses in patients with deadly respiratory diseases like COPD. Current treatment options for patients with these deadly diseases have various limitations. Most notable is the rising prevalence of antibiotic resistance, which renders most antibiotics ineffective in inhibiting the growth of bacteria. They also
