Alumni

2024

Alyssa Lantz, PhD
Thesis: Host Modulators of Tenofovir Exposure and Efficacy in the Female Genital Tract
Employer: Post-Doc at Texas Biomedical Research Institute
 
Charul Avachat, PhD
Thesis: Pharmacokinetic Characterization of Antiseizure Medications at Different Stages of Life in Women with Epilepsy
Employer:  Bristol Myers Squibb
 
Morgan Bixby, PhD
Thesis: Investigation of Klebsiella pneumoniae inner colonies during fosfomycin susceptibility testing
Employer: APHL - CDC Fellow at Minnesota State Lab
 
Yingbo Huang, PhD
Thesis: Unveil Molecular Underlying Causes of Observed Sex Differences in Human Complex Traits and Cancer
Employer:  Post-Doc at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute at Harvard University
 
Boguang Sun, PhD
Thesis: Advancing Precision Medicine: Harnessing Data From Diverse Sources And Individuals To Predict Medication Efficacy And Safety
Employer: AbbVie
 
Mei-Chi Su, PhD
Thesis: Identifying Efficacious Therapies for High Glycolysis Metastatic Castration- Resistant Prostate Cancer
Employer: BioNTech

2023

Fan Wang, PhD
Thesis: Approaches to Understanding Antiretroviral Pharmacology in Difficult-to-access Tissues for HIV Treatment and Prevention
Employer: AbbVie

Rui Zhong, PhD
Thesis: Cerebral Vasculature as a Therapeutic Target to Combat Alzheimer’s Disease
Employment: Post-Doc Research Associate at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Ibrahim Abdelgawad, PhD
Thesis: Molecular Mechanisms and Cardiovascular Ramifications of Doxorubicin-induced Senescence 
Employer:  AbbVie

2022

Mutaz Jaber, PhD
Thesis: Evaluation of Pharmacostatistical Model Components Using a Nonlinear Mixed-effect Approach  
Employer: Gilead Sciences

Siddhee Sahasrabudhe, PhD
Thesis: Application of Clinical Pharmacology in Rare Diseases and Non-suicidal Self-injury
Employer: Pfizer

Abdelrahman Saqr, MS
Thesis: Precision Medicine Approaches to Immunosuppression Using Pharmacogenomics and the Microbiome

Takuto Takahashi, PhD
Thesis: Individualized Drug Use in Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation: Application of Pharmacometric and Pharmacogenomic Study
Employer: Boston Children's Hospital/Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Ya-Feng (Jay) Wen, PhD
Thesis: Toward Individualized Medicine in Understudied Populations using Personal Genome and Microbiome
Employer: Gilead Sciences

2021

Shen Cheng, PhD
Thesis: Understanding the Impact of Pharmacogenetic Differences in Drug-Drug Interactions (DDIs): A Model-Based Approach to Predict Differences in Drug Exposure
Employer: Metrum Research Group

Angela Jeong, PhD
Thesis: Protein prenylation in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s Disease and its therapeutic potential  
Employer: Postdoctoral Fellowship at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Sarah Kim, PhD 
Thesis: Improving Delivery of Therapeutics to Targeted Tissues in Lysosomal Diseases
Employer: US Food and Drug Administration

David Margraf, PhD
Thesis: Quantitative Methods for Evidence Building in Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research
Employer: Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, University of Minnesota

Joshua Mentzer, MS
Project: Using Machine Learning in High Throughput Drug Screening of In-Vitro Drug Response Data to predict In-Vivo Clinical Response for Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer
Student: Professional pharmacy program

2020

Ashwin Karanam, PhD  
Thesis: Quantitative Pharmacological Approaches for Characterizing Lamotrigine Pharmacokinetics in Special Populations of Pregnancy, Postpartum and Breastfeeding Infants to Prospectively Optimize Dosing  
Employer: Pfizer

Scott Luisi, MS

Thesis: Topiramate Induced Alteration in Frontal Lobe eLORETA-ICA Resting State Network Activity is Associated with Baseline Semantic Fluency Performance

Abhishek Sathe, PhD
Thesis: Clinical Pharmacology of First- and Second-Line Treatments of Convulsive Status Epilepticus
Employer: Gilead Sciences

 

2019

Samuel Callisto, PhD
Thesis: Linking Topiramate Exposure to Changes in Electrophysiological Activity  and Behavioral Deficits through Quantitative Pharmacological Modeling.
Employer: Metrum Research Group

Natalie Schmitz, PhD
Thesis: Orphan Drug Development: The Regulatory, Economic, and Scientific Aspects of Intravenous Baclofen
Employer: Assistant Professor, College of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Irene Vuu, PhD
Thesis: Development of Parenteral Drugs for the Treatment of Seizure Emergencies
Employer: Scientist, Clinical Pharmacology, Amgen

2018

Abeer Alharbi, MS
Thesis: Phase 1 Clinical Trials of Anticancer Agents
Student at Oxford University, England

Vaishnavi Soundararajan, MS
Thesis: Characterization of Simulated Lamotrigine Clearance during Pregnancy using Regression Analysis

2017

Ali Alhadab, PhD
Thesis: The Utility of Pharmacometrics in Drug Development and Pharmacotherapy of Antimicrobials
Employer: Pfizer

David Hottman, PhD
Thesis: The Role of High-Density Lipoproteins and Related Pathways in Alzheimer’s Disease
Employer: University of Minnesota

Taraswi Mitra Gosh, PhD
Thesis: Pharmacogenomics of Chemotherapeutic Agents: Carboplatin and Paclitaxel
Employer: University of Minnesota

Cristina Peterson, PhD
Thesis: Alleviation of Chronic Neuropathic Pain by Agmatine Requires the GluN2B Subunit of the NMDA Receptor
Employer: University of Minnesota

Youssef Roman, PhD
Thesis: Pharmacogenetic Investigations Using Community-Based Participatory Research to Address Health Disparities in Minnesota Hmong
Employer: United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

2016

Mariam Ahmed, PhD
Thesis: Application of Pharmacometrics to Rare Diseases
Employer: United States Food and Drug Administration

Chay Lim, PhD
Thesis: Application of Quantitative Pharmacological Modeling to Improve Drug Therapy in Older Adults
Employer: Pfizer

Kinjal Sanghavi, PhD
Thesis: Personalizing Therapy in Transplantation: Focus on Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics, and Pharmacogenomics of Drugs Used in Hematopoeitic Stem Cell and Kidney Transplant
Employer: Bristol-Myers Squibb

2015

Neha Bhise, PhD
Thesis: MicroRNAs As Predictors of Nucleoside Analog Sensitivity in Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Caroline Churchill, PhD
Thesis: The Impace of Gene Transfer of Arginine Decarboxylase to the Central Nervous System on Opioid Analgesic Tolerance
Employer: University of Minnesota

Aaron Gillman, PhD
Thesis: Vaccination and Host-Targeted Interventions for Staphylococcus aureus Exotoxin-Mediated Diseases.
Employer: Arctic University of Norway

Malek Okour, PhD
Thesis: The Pharmacokinetics of Enterohepatic Circulation
Employer: GlaxoSmithKline
Alumni Spotlight: Fall 2018 ECP Gazette

Krista Johnson, PhD
Thesis: Characterization of the Relationship Between Whole Blood and Plasma Topiramate Concentrations
Employer: Clinical Scientist, Abbott Laboratories

Harrison Tam, PhD
Thesis: The Effect of Obesity and High-Fat Diet on Cardiovascular Risk and Intestinal Drug Metabolism
Employer: University of Kentucky

2014

Mary Holmay, PhD
Thesis:N- acrtylcysteine: pharmacokinetics and effects in selected neuro degenerative disorders
Employer: Director, Medical Affairs, Greenwich Biosciences

Suresh Agarwal, PhD
Thesis: Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacometric Analyses of CNS Drugs Used in the Acute Management of Seizures and Spasticity
Employer: Principal Scientist, Amgen

Jie Zhou, PhD
Thesis: Mitigating Oxidative Stress in Childhood Cerebral Adrenoleukodystrophy – An Investigation of N-acetylcysteine Pharmacology
Employer: Director, Pharmacometrics, Nuventra Pharma Sciences

2013

Jia Kang, MS, PhD
Thesis: Pharmacometric Analyses of drug exposure and response data
Employer: Research Scientist, Pharmacometrics at Metrum Research Group LLC

Manoj Chiney, PhD
Thesis: Effect of obesity on hepatic drug metabolism
Employer: Research Investigator, Bristol-Myers Squibb

Gavin Bart, PhD
Thesis: Methadone Population Pharmacokinetics: Toward understanding the dose-response relationship in the treatment of opiate addition
Employer: Division Director of Addictive Medicine, Hennepin County Medical Center, Minneapolis, MN

2012

Chaitali Passey, PhD
Thesis: Application of pharmacometrics for covariate selection and dose optimization of tacrolimus in adult kidney transplant recipients
Employer: Research Investigator, Bristol Myer Squibb, Oncology/Immunology Division, New Jersey

Ghada F. Ahmed, PhD
Thesis: Pharmacometric Analyses of Anti-epileptic Drugs in Elderly Patients: Applications to Carbamazepine, Gabapentin and Topiramate
Employer: Senior Clinical Pharmacokineticist, Abbott Laboratories, No. Chicago, IL

Akshanth Polepally, PhD
Thesis: Pharmacometric Analyses of Lamotrigine in Special Populations: Application to Pregnant Women, Younger Adult and Elderly Epilepsy Patients
Employer: Senior Clinical Pharmacokineticist, AbbVie Inc., Chicago, IL

Azher Arafah, PhD
Thesis: Studies investigating the impact of select genotypes on the pharmacological effect of fenofibrate
Employer: Assistant Professor, Clinical Pharmacy Department, College of Pharmacy King Saud University, Saudi Arabia

Heather Vezina, PhD
Thesis: Application of Pharmacometric Methods to Studies of Antiviral Prophylaxis After Solid Organ Transplantation
Employer: Research Investigator, Bristol-Myers Squibb
Alumni Spotlight: Spring 2018 ECP Gazette

Pornpimol Kijsanayotin PhD
Thesis: Association of Genetic Variants in CYP ARCB1 and SCN1A and Non-Genetic Variant with Phenotoin Response Phenotype
Employer: Assistant Professor, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand

Katherine Needleman, PhD
Thesis: Exposure-Response Modeling of QT Prolongation for Clinical Studies
Employer: Director, Orphan Products Grants Program, FDA/OOPD

2011

Hyewon Kim, PhD
Thesis: Pharmacometric Modeling and Simulation of Ranitidine in Human Gastric Acid Secretion
Employer: Research Fellow, Federal Drug Administration

2010

Matthew Schaefers, PhD
Thesis: Staphylococcal Toxic Shock Syndrome Toxin-1 Interactions with Human Vaginal Epithelial Cells and Novel Therapeutics
Employer: Post-Doctoral Fellow, Boston Children's Hospital/ Harvard Medical School, Lab of Dr. Gregory Priebe

Kyle Baron, PhD
Thesis: Pharmacometrics, Pharmacodynamics and Dose Optimization of Fludarabine in Nonmyeloablative Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation
Employer: Senior Research Scientist, Metrum Research Group LLC

Lucy Hodge, PhD
Thesis: The Role of Equilibrative Nucleoside Transporters 1 and 2 in the Disposition of Gemcitabine in Cervical Cancer
Employer: Manager, Medical Information, PROSAR

Annie Clark, PhD
Thesis: Development of Intravenous Topiramate for Neuroprotection and Seizure Control in Neonates
Employer: Scientist, Biomarin

Vijay Ivaturi, PhD
Thesis: Intranasal and Rectal Diazepam for Rescue Therapy: Assessment of Pharmacokinetics and Tolerability
Employer: Research Assistant Professor, College of Pharmacy, University of Maryland

Amit Khatri, PhD
Thesis: Pharmacometric Modeling of Anti-Cancer Agents: Application to Gemcitabine, PQIP and Irinotecan
Employer: Associate Principle Pharmacokineticist, AbbVie, North Chicago, IL.

Ahmed Salem, PhD
Thesis: Demonstration of Pharmacometric Applications to Anti-infective Chemotherapy
Employer: Director, Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacometrics, AbbvieChicago, IL.
Alumni Spotlight: Spring 2019 ECP Gazette

2009

Ying Chi Lin, PhD
Thesis: Anti-Virulence Paradigm for Development of Staphylococcal Therapies
Employer: Assistant Professor, College of Pharmacy, Kaohsiung Medical University, Taiwan

Janel Long-Boyle, PhD
Thesis: Fludarabine and Clofarabine: A Tale of Two Purine Analogs in Allogeneic in Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation (HCT)
Employer: Assistant Professor, College of Pharmacy, Department of Clinical Pharmacy, University of California, San Francisco

Varun Goel, PhD
Thesis: Application of an Active Comparator-Based, Benefit-Risk Assessment in Evaluating Clinical Trial Design Features of a New Chemical Entity Using a Bayesian Decision-Theoretic Framework
Employer: Modeler, Novartis M&S, Novartis, Inc.

2008

Jiayin Huang, PhD
Thesis: Mycophenolate Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics in Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation
Employer: Senior Clinical Pharmacologist, Vertex, Inc, Cambridge, MA

Baralee Punyawudho (Prasittisopin), PhD
Thesis: Pharmacometrics of Antiepileptic Drugs: Modeling and Simulation-based Studies of Lamotrigine and Carbamazapine Pharmacokinetics
Employer: Assistant Professor, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand

Manisha Lamba, PhD
Thesis: Population Pharmacokinetics and Exposure-Response of Clobazam and Its Active Metabolite
Employer: Clinical Pharmacology Lead, Pfizer, Inc, Groton, CT

2007

Atul Kumar, PhD
Thesis: Impact of surgery and hemorrhagic shock on the pharmacokinetics of cytochrome P450 drug probes
Employer: University of Minnesota

Vikas Kumar, PhD
Thesis: Pharmacogenetics of CYP2C9 inhibition
Employer: Associate Director, Clinical Pharmacology, Pfizer, Inc, Groton, CT

Wonkyung Byon, PhD
Thesis: Population pharmacometric analyses in HIV-infected adults and children: application to zidovudine, lamivudine, indinavir, and efavirenz
Employer: Clinical Pharmacology Lead, Pfizer, Inc, Groton, CT

2006

Lian Wei, M.S.
Thesis: The effect of CYP2C9 genetic polymorphism on reaction coupling and uncoupling
Employer: Vertex, Inc. Cambridge, MA

Pamela Clemens, PhD
Thesis: Alternate routes of Antiepileptic drug administration: A clinical study of rectally administered Oxcarbazepine suspension
Employer: Sr. Director, Clinical Pharmacology, Medical Counter Measures,  Johnson and Johnson

Jae Eun Ahn, PhD
Thesis: Pharmacometric characterization of antiepileptic drugs in the elderly
Employer: Assistant Professor, College of Pharmacy, Kangwon National University, Korea

2005

Kathleen Green, M.S.
Thesis: Mycophenolate Mofetil Pharmacology and Bioavailability in Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation for Malignant Diseases
Employer: Fairview Southdale

2004

Matthew Hummel, PhD
Thesis: Assessment of Multiple Substrate Bending in CYP2C9
Employer: Mylan Laboratories

Nitin Kaila, PhD
Thesis: Pharmacometric issues in modeling and simulation: Metoprolol population pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics in healthy subjects
Employer: Associate Director, Pharmacometrician, Pfizer, Inc

Juki Ng, PhD
Thesis: Cyclophosphamide pharmacogenetics in breast cancer patients
Employer: Associate Director, Clinical Pharmcokinetics and Pharmacodynamics, Abbott Laboratories, Chicago, IL