Staff Profiles

Master of Pharmacy degree, University of Bradford, UK

MSc Pharmacology, University of Aston, UK

PhD in Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, University of Bradford, UK

Dr Florah Tshepo Moshapa is a lecturer and a researcher at the University of Botswana in the School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Health Science. She obtained her Master of Pharmacy degree at the University of Bradford, UK in 2012. She worked at Princes Marina Hospital as a pharmacist before she joined University of Botswana. In 2016, she graduated with distinction in MSc Pharmacology at the University of Aston, UK. Her work during this time focused on demonstrating the ex-vivo and in-vivo pharmacological actions of potential drug molecules on selected drug targets. She progressed to do PhD in Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics at the University of Bradford. This gave her essential training not only in various cell culture techniques but also in writing articles, establishing collaboration and peer assisted learning. She was awarded Vice Chancellor's Award for Outstanding Achievements (Peer Assited Learning) - Commendation in 1st May 2019.

Her main area of interest is cell signaling and its regulation to treat cardiovascular disease. Her skills and expertise are in primacy cell culture and cell line culture, cell migration, cell proliferation, immunofluorescence and cell signal transduction (western blot, PCR and co-immunoprecipitation, RNA interference, ubiquitylation) techniques. She also did lentivirus mediated cell transduction and transfection. Dr Moshapa is an Vice Secretary of NAPRECA Botswana and serve in several other committee in and outside UB.

Pharmacology

Pharmacotherapeutics

Special Topics in Pharmacy (Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacovigilance)

Her main research interest is to identify the molecular mechanisms responsible for diseases (cell signaling) and its regulation, and development of new therapeutic targets that may help to counteract the disease. Her work during PhD was identifying molecular mechanisms responsible for cardiovascular disease in diabetes mellitus patients and using a protein called suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 to inhibit vascular dysfunction (EC and SMC cell dysfunction) causing bypass graft failure.

Identification of new targeted drug therapies for the better management of cardiovascular diseases using cell culture, ex-vivo and in-vivo pharmacological techniques.

1. Bitra, V.R., Moshapa, F., Adiukwu, P.C., Rapaka, D. Nrf2-Mediated Signaling as a Therapeutic Target in Alzheimer’s Disease. Open Neurol J, 2024; 18: e1874205X319474.
2. Tebogo,M.O., Monkgogi, T., Moshapa, F., Rapaka, D., Bitra, V.R., Adiukwu, P.C. Liquid Chromatography-Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry Analysis of Quil-A: an Aqueous Extract from the Bark of Quillaja saponaria Molina. Tropical Journal of Natural Product Research., 2023, 7(1), pp. 2285–2291. 
3. Moshapa, F.T., Riches-Suman, K., Palmer, T.M. Therapeutic Targeting of the Proinflammatory IL-6-JAK/STAT Signalling Pathways Responsible for Vascular Restenosis in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. Cardiology Research and Practice., Volume 2019, Article ID 9846312.