Researcher receives AOA award

Dr. Nissar A. Darmani, chair of the College of Osteopathic Medicine

of the Pacific’s Basic Medical Sciences department, has recently been

selected to receive the 2005 Irvin M. Korr Award from the American

Osteopathic Association.

The award recognizes Dr. Darmani’s commitment to basic science

research in an osteopathic institution. The award was created in honor of

Dr. Irvin M. Korr, who was a noted researcher, professor and advocate of

osteopathic research. Dr. Darmani will receive his award at the

association’s 49th annual research conference in Orlando, Florida in

October.

Prior to coming to WesternU, Dr. Darmani was a member of the

pharmacology faculty at Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine (KCOM)

in Kirksville, Missouri.

Dr. Darmani is currently studying what the hippies of the 1960s and

1970s already knew — marijuana helps fight nausea and vomiting.

With funding from by the National Institutes of Health, his study

involves the role of delta-9-THC and synthetic cannabinoids on

chemotherapy- and radiotherapy-induced vomiting, symptoms that cancer

patients deal with during their treatment regimens.

Dr. Darmani’s laboratory was the first research center to

demonstrate the mechanisms of antiemetic actions of marijuana.