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Cedarville Magazine
Pharmacy With a Difference
by Carol Lee ’96
You may think of pharmaceutical science as a clinical world of
lab coats, data, and microscopes. But it’s personal for Dr. Samson
Amos, the newest faculty member to join Cedarville’s School of
Pharmacy. It’s personal because of the loved ones in his past who
implored him to help others, the career he has forged in cancer
research, and the people who will one day benefit fromhis findings.
Pharmaceutical science is personal to Samson Amos because,
as a young man in Nigeria, he had a personal encounter with
Christ, and he pledged to give his life completely to God’s service.
His path to Cedarville began when he was a young boy, curious
about the medicine shop near his village. He would go inside and
ask questions: “How can such a small pill alleviate pain? How does
medicine work? What area of study is this?” He learned that to
become a pharmacist, he would need to concentrate on physics,
biology, chemistry, and math — already his academic strengths.
He was sold.
When Amos was a high school senior, a guest speaker came
to his boarding school with a message that would change his life.
Although he had been raised in a Christian family, attended church,
and had heard the Gospel many times, the message had never
broken through the way it did that day.
“He spoke about God’s love and His desire to have fellowship
with man,” Amos recalled. “After the fall, God sent His son, Jesus,
to dwell among us. He paid the supreme sacrifice and restored the
broken relationship. I understood that He gave His life for me. At
the alter call, I stood and accepted Christ as my Savior.”
Although his parents were supportive, they were not able to
help him pay for college — he knew it would take diligence, hard
work, and God’s grace to earn the opportunity to continue his
studies. He worked very hard, and God was very gracious. Amos
progressed through bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral programs
in pharmacology, with a particular interest in neuroscience
and the effects of medicine on brain systems. He soon began
teaching and became a Senior Research Fellow at the prestigious
National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development
in Abuja, Nigeria.
In 2003, he was accepted for a postdoctoral fellowship at the
University of Virginia. Over the next 10 years, his research there
focused on cancerous brain tumors, and he received a Farrow
Fellowship grant to study how therapeutic drugs could reduce
their growth.
According to Amos, invasive brain tumors are resistant to
chemotherapy and radiation, leaving patients with a life expectancy
of 12–13 months. If the size of a tumor can be reduced, surgeons
can more effectively remove it, but learning how to do that has
not been easy. “There are few medications that can penetrate the
brain,” he said. “There is a tight blood-brain barrier that inhibits
drugs and other substances from penetrating the brain. This is
how God created us; it is for our protection.”
Amos published his findings in the
Journal of Cancer Research
,
and the study has expanded to other labs in hopes that the research
will lead to an application in humans.
Amos’ academic and professional success grew fromhis passion
to help people in need, a perspective informed by the realities of life
in aThirdWorld country. He watched a close friend struggle with
hypertension for years and clearly remembers taking him to the
hospital. At the end of the man’s life, he asked Amos to continue
helping others. That humble request motivated him to work hard
in school and pursue “pharmacy with a difference.”
Now in his first year at Cedarville, Amos is continuing his
research and teaching students in the Pharm.D. program. His
personal mission of “pharmacy with a difference” is what drew him
to Cedarville’s School of Pharmacy and what continues to draw
him to students, whether in the classroom or over a cup of coffee.
“They are hardworking and determined to truly make a difference
in their careers,” he said. “I see myself in them.”
Samson Amos
is an Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences
in Cedarville’s School of Pharmacy. He received his B.Pharm. from
Ahmadu Bello University, his M.S. from the University of Jos, and
his Ph.D. in pharmacology from the University of Nigeria. He has
served at Cedarville since August 2013. You may contact him at
Carol Lee ’96
is the Managing Editor of
Cedarville Magazine
and
Senior Communication Specialist in Marketing. You may contact her
at
If you would like to contribute to Dr. Amos’ research, please contact
Cedarville Advancement at 1-800-766-1115 or
