With an eye for detail and a passion for education, Dr. Dan Kennedy has been pioneering the way for researchers (and students) to think about how they can make a difference.

Dr. Daniel R. Kennedy is meticulous, in all the best ways. In his office, magazines are stacked neatly, in evenly matched piles. No stray papers clutter his desk. Pens are lined up, standing at attention in a precise row. It appears nothing escapes Kennedy’s piercing gaze.

That attention to detail serves him well as a researcher, an instructor, and chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical and Administrative Sciences at Western New England University (WNE).

Kennedy - who completed his master’s degree at Emory University, his PhD at the State University of New York at Buffalo, and his post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School - is a founding faculty member within the University’s College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. He has taught more than 14 different courses within the College since the program’s inception. Now, he typically teaches a couple of courses per semester in pathophysiology and pharmacology.

Ever the teacher, Kennedy ensures to explain the terminology of pathophysiology.

“Physiology is the function of the body - how it works,” he explains. “Pathophysiology is when something in the body is not working right. Physiology will talk about blood pressure and how blood pressure is controlled. Pathophysiology talks about why someone would have high blood pressure.”

He has kept a focus on research throughout his career and at the moment, is working on a project that, if successful, will help people live longer, healthier lives. It involves zafirlukast, a drug that has already received FDA-approval and has been used for years to treat asthma. Through their research, Kennedy and his team have found this drug also works for cancer and thrombotic disease - blood clots that can lead to heart attacks, strokes, and pulmonary embolisms.

“It’s been pretty cool,” said Kennedy. “We discovered this drug, which was already out there in the market, that had these possibilities to do other things. We applied for, and were awarded, a grant from the National Cancer Institute, which allowed us to do preclinical work in collaboration with Dr. Jeffrey Zwicker, a clinician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, as a clinical trial in cancer patients. It worked out well and now we are looking to take it further, so we have another grant application to the National Cancer Institute with Baystate Health to see if we can start a new clinical trial here. We are hopeful that it gets funded.”

Doing this kind of high-level research is a team effort. Kennedy points out he is only one part of that team. He also works hard to make sure his students can participate in the process, learning invaluable lessons along the way.

For instance, Cameron Vrabel, a second-year student in the PharmD program, wanted to get involved in the work being done around zafirlukast and a similar drug, pranlukast.

“Cameron worked on this project for a few months, and we took him to the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy conference in Boston, where he won the poster competition for best research project,” Kennedy stated. “People from all over the country were there, and Cameron pulled it off.”

“Right now, WNE is two-for-two at that conference,” Kennedy added. “Last time, in 2019, another student from our group, Dr. Christina Verbetsky ’19/PharmD’21 won that same award. Our students are doing really well - they are able to experience some amazing opportunities. They really thrive when they go up against other students and colleges in these types of competitions.”

Vrabel isn’t the only student tackling innovative, groundbreaking work under Kennedy’s leadership. He has mentored or co-mentored over 60 students in research projects since he started at WNE, most of which have presented a poster or even published a paper. However, Kennedy is careful to note that students must take the initiative and be self-motivated to see it through.

“One of the main criteria we look for when it comes to students participating in this kind of research is interest and dedication,” said Kennedy. “Doing the research isn’t for everybody.”

But Kennedy highlighted that Vrabel is a great example of how this partnership between faculty and students can work well when it comes to research.

“This is a project that is important to him,” Kennedy emphasized. “It’s not my main thing, but I’ll put into it what they put into it. The students must take ownership of the project because I’m not going to be following up with them every week. If you want it done, put the effort in and I’ll make sure you have everything you need to be successful.”

For the first five years of the University’s pharmacy program, Kennedy published papers or other research projects with about 10 percent of each graduating class. But keeping up that pace proved difficult as his own research became more intense and more focused. Not to mention the demands of his time when he was promoted to the chair position within the department.

That being said, Kennedy is quick to credit the 17 other faculty members of the Department of Pharmaceutical and Administrative Sciences who find ways to get students involved, helping them make their own impact on the world. That impact is a big reason Kennedy has chosen to dedicate his own life to research and further others through education.

“The part to me that was always interesting is the ‘so what’ question,” Kennedy began. “‘My drug does this…’ Ok, big deal. So what? How can it make people’s lives better?”

Kennedy’s PhD was focused on the mechanisms of what potential drugs could do. He did this work throughout his PhD, as well as his post-doctoral fellowship, in a hospital which he said is uncommon for his field.

“You would go in there every day, walk through the hospital to get to your research lab and think about the patients,” he explained. “That’s why you’re there, right? It was a reminder of why you were there and what you were trying to accomplish.”

This brings Kennedy back to zafirlukast, and its potential for new and important uses other than asthma treatment.

“I really like the idea of drug repurposing,” he said. “We are able to move things along much faster when we already know they are safe, and that they are FDA-approved. They’ve been out there for a long time, but they have a big effect.”

Zafirlukast is one of those drugs. Kennedy mentioned their work in this area attracted the interest of a Swiss pharmaceutical company, which licensed the patents the University held and awarded the institution a grant to continue its research with the promising drug.

“This company is doing clinical trials as well in a similar area,” he began. “We are hoping it all comes together nicely and results in a medication that makes a difference, because some of the results have been really exciting in the area of cancer and thrombosis.”

Kennedy shared that their latest paper showed that the drug reduced metastasis in mice, which is one of the major ways people succumb to cancer. And the second reason people die of cancer, Kennedy noted, is cancer-induced thrombosis.

“You are more likely to have a blood clot if you have cancer than if you don’t,” he shared. “And in fact, you’re even more likely to have a blood clot if you’re on certain cancer treatments, than if you don’t. We are hoping to add our drug, which is FDA-approved, to general cancer regimens to prevent blood clotting in patients. It has some anti-cancer effects, which never hurts, but it also seems to prevent some of the side effects which is uncommon in some of the approaches we’re taking.”

Like many science fields, the pharmaceutical world is always evolving. Part of that is reflected by how incoming students are approaching the program.

To accommodate and embrace these changes, the University recently started a distance learning program where students from around the U.S. can take courses within the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.

“We have a great variety of opportunities for students to do all sorts of things,” stated Kennedy. “One of the other parts that has been really great is the alumni we have who have been so successful as they get out into the world. We started a Pharmacy Advisory Board which includes alumni doing really great things. We started a Young Distinguished Alumni award a few years ago and we’ve brought those graduates back. The things they’ve been able to accomplish and the leadership positions they’ve had has been great to see.”

The college has been adding new majors and programs, while also providing a new home for some existing majors. For instance, neuroscience - a major that has been in place at the University for many years - officially joined the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences three years ago. Kennedy mentioned that program has been growing and offers an interesting dual BS/MS degree programs for its students.

“We also just started a Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Management degree, which is more the business side of the pharmaceutical industry. That program was covered in the College of Business but was moved over here.”

“We have expanded the opportunities we offer to our students, and I think research-wise, it’s really starting to take off. We have some exciting grants out there that hopefully the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will fund and if they do, I really think it will lead us to exciting opportunities.”

Kennedy emphasized his excitement to see the growth within the College and their department. “We have started three master’s programs in the past three years, a thesis-based M.S. in Pharmaceutical Sciences, a laboratory and clinical based M.S. in Pharmacogenomics and an academic based M.S. in Medical Sciences.” He went on to include, they were also recently awarded a grant from the State of Massachusetts to start a fourth M.S. degree in Pharmaceutical Engineering, which they are planning to launch in the fall of 2025.