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Simi Gunaseelan

Simi Gunaseelan
Simi Gunaseelan, PhD

Director of Assessment

Instructional Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Contact

Texas A&M Irma Lerma Rangel School of Pharmacy
1010 W. Ave. B
Kingsville, TX 78363
sgunaseelan@tamu.edu
Phone: 361.221.0708
Fax: 361.221.0790

Education and Training

  • Loma Linda University, School of Pharmacy, California, Post-doctoral fellowship, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2010 - 2012
  • Rutgers University, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, New Jersey, Post-doctoral fellowship, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2002 - 2009
  • North-Eastern Hill University, India , PhD in Chemistry, 2002
  • North-Eastern Hill University, India , Master of Science in Chemistry, 1996
  • North-Eastern Hill University, India , Bachelor of Science in Chemistry, 1994

Research Interests

  • Pharmacy Educational Research
  • Curricular Assessment
  • Programmatic Assessment
  • Curricular Innovation
  • Co-Curricular Innovation
  • Interprofessional Education & Research
  • Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
  • Team-based Learning
  • Transformational Learning
  • Antiretroviral-based Intravaginal Microbicide Delivery Technology for HIV Prevention
  • Targeted Intravenous Delivery of Antiretroviral Drugs for HIV Therapeutics
  • Targeted Intraductal and Intraperitoneal Delivery of Anticancer Drugs for Cancer Therapeutics

Teaching Interests

  • Pharmacology of Infectious Diseases
  • Pharmacology of HIV Medicines
  • Pharmacology of Cancer Medicines
  • Pharmaceutics
  • Biopharmaceutics
  • Basic Pharmacokinetics
  • Sterile Compounding
  • Non-Sterile Compounding
  • Pharmaceutical Calculations
  • Medicinal Chemistry
  • Biochemistry
  • Biotechnology
  • Advanced Drug Delivery Technologies
  • Nuclear Pharmacy
  • Interprofessional Education
  • Co-Curricular Education
  • Building ‘Affective Domain’
  • Best OSCE Practices
  • Importance of Pharmacy Curriculum Outcomes Assessment

Awards, Recognition and Service

  • Pharmacy Faculty Travel Award, National Sex and Gender Health Education Summit, Salt Lake City, Utah: 2018
  • University of Texas at Tyler College of Pharmacy Teacher of the Year: 2017
  • AACP (American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy) Teacher of the Year: 2017
  • University of Texas at Tyler “Crystal Talon Award”, Texas for Scholarly Accomplishments (Institution-wide): 2017
  • University of Texas at Tyler Research Award, Texas (Institution-wide): 2016-2017
  • Certificate of Recognition for Research Presentation (Podium) as an Invited Speaker, World Drug Delivery Summit, Houston, Texas: 2015
  • Merit Award for 3 consecutive years, Rutgers University, New Jersey: 2006-2009
  • State Research Fellowship, Meghalaya, India: 1998-2001
  • Recipient of Gold Medal for excellence for securing 1st class 1st position in M.Sc. Organic Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong, India: 1996
  • University Fellowship, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong, India: 1994-1996
  • National Scholarship, India: 1989-1991
  • Grant: [2018 – 2020] Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) Minority Health Research and Education Grant Program Award on “Aggie Student Pharmacists Initiative for Recruitment|Retention and Education (ASPIR2E)”, Grant Award $158,519. Elaine Demps (Principal Investigator and Project Director), Amanda Galindo (Co-Principal Investigator and Co-Project Director), Simi Gunaseelan (Co-Investigator and Program Evaluator), Amanda Galvan (Co-Investigator and Academic and Peer Mentor Coach).

Patents

  • Patrick J. Sinko, Stanley Stein, Hilliard Kutscher, Manjeet Deshmukh, Anupa Menjoge, Yashveer Singh, Simi Gunaseelan, “Nanocarrier and Nanogel Compositions”, United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) [Patent No.: US 9,517,201; Date of Patent: December 13, 2016].
  • Patrick J. Sinko, Stanley Stein, Simi Gunaseelan, Shahriar Pooyan, Matthew Palombo and Xiaoping Zhang, “Nanocarrier Compositions and Methods”, United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) [Patent No.: US 9,421,272; Date of Patent: August 23, 2016].
  • Patrick J. Sinko, Manjeet Deshmukh, Yashveer Singh, Simi Gunaseelan, “Degradable Hydrogel Compositions and Methods”, United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) [Patent No.: US 9,345,662; Date of Patent: May 24, 2016].
  • Patrick Sinko, Stanley Stein, Anupa Menjoge, Simi Gunaseelan, Siva Anumolu and Raghavangra Navath. "Dressing Compositions and Methods". United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) [Patent No.: US 9,211,358; Date of Patent: December 15, 2015].
  • Patrick J. Sinko, Stanley Stein, Simi Gunaseelan, Shahriar Pooyan, Li Wan and Xiaoping Zhang, “Drug- Polymer Conjugates Coupled To A Peptidic Carrier”, United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) [Patent No.: US 7,846,893; Date of Patent: December 7, 2010].

Memberships

  • Texas A&M University, Irma Lerma Rangel College of Pharmacy, Texas Director of Assessment, Office of the Dean, 7/2018 – Present
  • Texas A&M University, Irma Lerma Rangel College of Pharmacy, Texas Instructional Associate Professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 8/2017 – Present
  • University of Texas at Tyler, Ben and Maytee Fisch College of Pharmacy, Texas Assistant Professor (Founding Faculty), Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2014 – 8/2017
  • West Coast University, School of Pharmacy, California Assistant Professor (Founding Faculty), Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2012 - 2014

Representative Publications

Scientific Research Publications:

  1. Shih-Feng Chou, Simi Gunaseelan, Mhd Hussam Hijazi Kiellani, Venkata Vamsi Krishna Thottempudi, Pierre Neuenschwander and Huarong Nie. A review of injectable and implantable biomaterials for treatment and repair of soft tissues in wound healing. Journal of Nanotechnology, 2017; 1-15.
  2. Mahta Samizadeh, Xiaoping Zhang, Simi Gunaseelan, Antoinette Nelson, Matthew Palombo, Daniel Myers, Yashveer Singh, Usha Ganapathi, Zoltan Szekely and Patrick Sinko. Colorectal delivery and retention of PEG-Amprenavir-Bac7 nanoconjugates-proof of concept for HIV mucosal pre-exposure prophylaxis. Drug Delivery and Translational Research, 2016; 6, 1-16.
  3. Mohammed Islam, Robert Schmidt, Simi Gunaseelan, Anthony Sanchez. An Update on the Cardiovascular Effects of Quercetin, a Plant Flavonoid. Current Nutrition & Food Science, 2014; 10, 36-48.
  4. Simi Gunaseelan, Philippe Gallay, Michael Bobardt, Charlene S. Dezzutti, Timothy Esch and Richard Maskiewicz. Sustained local delivery of structurally diverse HIV-1 microbicides released from sublimation enthalpy controlled matrices. Pharmaceutical Research, 2012; 29, 3156-3168.
  5. Richard Maskiewicz, Michael Bobardt, Udayan Chatterji, Simi Gunaseelan, Charlene S. Dezzutti, Francois Penin and Philippe A. Gallay. Sublimable C5A delivery provides sustained and prolonged anti-HIV microbicidal activities. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 2012; 56, 3336-3343.
  6. Manjeet Deshmukh, Yashveer Singh, Simi Gunaseelan, Dayuan Gao, Stanley Stein, and Patrick J. Sinko. Biodegradable poly(ethylene glycol) hydrogels based on a self-elimination degradation mechanism. Biomaterials, 2010; 31, 6675-6684.
  7. Simi Gunaseelan, K. Gunaseelan, Manjeet Deshmukh, Xiaoping Zhang and Patrick J. Sinko. Surface modifications of nanocarriers for effective intracellular delivery of anti-HIV drugs. Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews, 2010; 62, 518-531.
  8. Simi Gunaseelan, Shahriar Pooyan, Peiming Chen, Mahta Samizadeh, Matthew S. Palombo, Stanley Stein, Xiaoping Zhang and Patrick J. Sinko. Multimeric peptide-based PEG nanocarriers with programmable elimination properties. Biomaterials, 2009; 30, 5649-5659.
  9. Xiaoping Zhang, Yongjiu Jin, Mark Plummer, Shahriar Pooyan, Simi Gunaseelan and Patrick J. Sinko. Endocytosis and membrane potential are required for HeLa cell uptake of R.I.-CKTat9, a retro inverso Tat cell penetrating peptide. Molecular Pharmaceutics, 2009; 6, 836-848.
  10. Li Wan, Xiaoping Zhang, Simi Gunaseelan, Shahriar Pooyan, Olivia Debrah, Michael J. Leibowitz, Arnold B. Rabson, Stanley Stein and Patrick J. Sinko. Novel multi-component nanopharmaceuticals derived from poly(ethylene) glycol, retro-inverso-Tat nonapeptide and saquinavir demonstrate combined anti-HIV effects, AIDS Research and Therapy, 2006; 3:12 (‘Highly accessed journal article’).
  11. Sonia S Dharap, Yang Wang, Pooja Chanda, Jayant J. Khandare, Bo Qiu, Simi Gunaseelan, Patrick J. Sinko, Stanley Stein, A. Farman Farmaian and Tamara Minko. Tumor-specific targeting of an anticancer drug delivery system by LHRH peptide, PNAS, 2005; 102; 12962-12967.
  12. Simi Gunaseelan, Olivia Debrah, Li Wan, Michael J. Leibowitz, Arnold B. Rabson, Stanley Stein and Patrick J. Sinko. Synthesis of poly(ethylene glycol)(PEG)- based saquinavir prodrug conjugates and assessment of release and anti-HIV-1 bioactivity using a novel protease inhibition assay, Bioconjugate Chemistry, 2004; 15; 1322-1333.

Pharmacy Educational Research Publications:

  1. Mohammed Islam, Seher Khan, Simi Gunaseelan and Rahmat Talukder. Physician Perceptions of Integrating Pharmacists into Healthcare in Bangladesh. Journal of Pharmacy Practice and Research, 2018, Volume 48, Issue 4, Pages 328-333.
  2. Mohammed Islam, Seher Khan, Simi Gunaseelan and Rahmat Talukder. Specialty Education for Student Pharmacists and PharmD Graduates in U.S. Colleges and Schools of Pharmacy. Currents in Pharmacy Teaching & Learning; 2016, Volume 8, Issue 2, Pages 184-190.
  3. Mohammed Islam, Simi Gunaseelan and Seher Khan. A Research Elective Course on Dietary Supplements to Engage PharmD Students in Primary Literature Evaluation and Scholarly Activity. Journal of Pharmacy Practice, 2015; 28, 577-584.
  4. Mohammed Islam, Simi Gunaseelan, Rahmat Talukder and Seher Khan. Current Challenges in Pharmacy Education in Bangladesh: A Roadmap for the Future. Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning, 2014; 6, 730-735.