School of Pharmacy Graduate Designs Medicines for Children

Rasha Elkanayati, a recent graduate of the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy, is now working on a solution at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital: printing the medicines in 3D.

“While working on my Ph.D., I became increasingly interested in moving beyond developing new manufacturing technologies simply because they are innovative,” Elkanayati said. “I wanted to ask how those technologies can solve actual problems in patient care.”

Elkanayati defended her dissertation and graduated in June, then began work in July as a postdoctoral research associate in pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences at St. Jude in Memphis, Tennessee. She expects to stay for two years or until her project is complete.

“I am very excited that Rasha is completing a postdoctoral fellowship at St. Jude, where she is using experience gained at Ole Miss to help develop 3D printed medications for children with catastrophic diseases,” said Walter Chambliss, professor emeritus of Pharmaceutics and Drug Delivery and research professor emeritus in the Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences. “Rasha excelled in our graduate program and is a great ambassador of the School of Pharmacy.”

At St. Jude, Elkanayati applies 3D printing to pharmaceutical compounding and patient-centered drug products. Her team’s projects are aimed at adapting medications not designed for children into dosage forms that are easy to swallow and administer. The doses can then be matched to a child’s age, weight and allergies.

“Pediatric patients are an especially important population because commercially available dosage forms and strengths do not always meet their needs,” Elkanayati said. “Our work is to help address that.”

Elkanayati earned a bachelor’s degree in pharmaceutical sciences from Cairo University and worked in the quality departments of the Egyptian Drug Authority. There, she gained experience in pharmaceutical quality systems, laboratory auditing and quality assessment of finished drug products.

Arriving at Ole Miss as a Fulbright scholar, Elkanayati pursued graduate studies in pharmaceutics and drug delivery. After earning her master’s degree, she continued into the School of Pharmacy’s Ph.D. program.

“During the five years I mentored Rasha at the University of Mississippi, she distinguished herself as one of the most creative, capable and driven doctoral students I have had the privilege to work with,” said Michael Repka, director of the PII Center for Pharmaceutical Technology and distinguished professor of Pharmaceutics and Drug Delivery and Research Professor in the Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences. “She brings an exceptional combination of scientific rigor and practical problem-solving to her research, particularly in advancing 3D printing technologies for drug delivery.”

Elkanayati chose Ole Miss for the strength of its program and the chance to work with Repka, a pioneer in pharmaceutical hot-melt extrusion technology. The program also combined fundamental pharmaceutics courses with advanced manufacturing technologies and regulatory science.

“Ole Miss provides a strong foundation for understanding pharmaceutical development, from formulation through manufacturing and regulatory considerations,” Elkanayati said. “The school also offers significant investment in graduate students through research resources, conference participation, professional development and networking.”

Elkanayati’s doctoral research focused on hot-melt extrusion and pharmaceutical 3D printing. Hot-melt extrusion can be used to create extended-release products that provide longer symptom relief, as well as ocular and topical products and implants. She also studied polymer-based amorphous solid dispersions, an approach to improving the performance of poorly water-soluble drugs.

“These technologies allow us to think differently about how medicines are designed and manufactured,” Elkanayati said. “They provide much greater flexibility in dose, formulation, geometry and drug-release profiles.”

Elkanayati’s experience at Ole Miss extended beyond the lab. She presented at national conferences and took part in the annual Hands-On Course in Tablet Technology at the Department of Pharmaceutics, first as a student and later as an instructor. She also served as president of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists Student Chapter and sat on several School of Pharmacy search committees.

Now at St. Jude, Elkanayati is building on the formulation and 3D-printing expertise she developed during her time at the School of Pharmacy.

“At Ole Miss, I gained expertise in how to develop a drug and manufacture it,” Elkanayati said. “At St. Jude, it’s the clinical application of that, and moving forward to give it to children. I’m glad to contribute.”