Graduate student Yuma Ortiz awarded grant supplement

Yuma Ortiz, a graduate student in the University of Florida College of Pharmacy’s department of pharmacodynamics, has been awarded a nearly $73,000 grant supplement to study kratom. The award is connected to a UH3 grant led by Lance McMahon, Ph.D., M.S., chair and professor of pharmacodynamics.

Yuma OrtizOrtiz’s project tests the ability of the kratom alkaloid mitragynine to alleviate withdrawal from prescription opioids. The research is part of a multiple-principal investigator project and department collaboration featuring Chris McCurdy, Ph.D., a professor of medicinal chemistry, and Abhisheak Sharma, Ph.D., a research assistant professor of pharmaceutics, in the UF College of Pharmacy.