AAPS Announces Annual Awards, Names 2009 Fellows

The American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) recognized researchers at the organization’s 2009 Annual Meeting and Exposition in Los Angeles this week. AAPS President Patrick P. DeLuca, PhD, presented the following researchers with awards honoring their contributions to the pharmaceutical sciences:
 
AAPS Distinguished Pharmaceutical Scientist Award – Sponsored by AstraZeneca
Michael J. Pikal, PhD, is a professor and the distinguished chair in pharmaceutical technology at the University of Connecticut. His current research activities include solid-state chemistry of pharmaceuticals, particularly the stability of amorphous materials, characterization of solids by calorimetry, and the science and technology of freeze drying with a focus on optimization of formulation and process for labile proteins. He is an AAPS Fellow, and received the AAPS Research Achievement Award in Pharmaceutical Technologies in 2001, and the Criofarma award in Freeze Drying in 2006.
    
AAPS Research Achievement Award in Clinical Pharmacology and Translational Research – Sponsored by Cetero Research
Mark J. Ratain, PhD, is Leon O. Jacobson Professor of Medicine, chairman of the committee on clinical pharmacology and pharmacogenomics, and associate director for clinical sciences, Cancer Research Center, at The University of Chicago. Ratain’s research focuses on the development of new oncology drugs and diagnostics, and he is an international leader in Phase I clinical trials, pharmacogenetics, and clinical-trial methodology.
 
David J. W. Grant Research Award in Physical Pharmacy – Sponsored by Abbott
Stephen R. Byrn, PhD, is Charles B. Jordan Professor of Medicinal Chemistry in the department of industrial and physical pharmacy at Purdue University, as well as chief science officer and president of Improved Pharma, a company dedicated to accelerating drugs to proof of concept. He has received several awards for his research and entrepreneurial activities, and is an AAPS Fellow. He founded Purdue’s graduate programs in regulatory and quality compliance, he cofounded the Purdue-Kilimanjaro School of Pharmacy graduate certificate program in industrial pharmacy and manufacturing in Moshi, Tanzania, co-founded SSCI, Inc. (Solid State Chemical Information), a CGMP research and information company now part of Aptuit, and is technical founder of Andara, now owned by Neurometrix, Inc. 
 
AAPS Research Achievement Award in Manufacturing, Science and Engineering – Sponsored by Pfizer
Dale Eric Wurster, PhD, has been on the faculty at the University of Iowa since 1982, and has been the senior associate dean for academic affairs at the University of Iowa Graduate College since 2002. He is an AAPS Fellow whose research interests include adsorption-desorption thermodynamics, determination of adsorbent surface composition, isoperibol and isothermal solution calorimetry, and compression calorimetry. He is the author and co-author of more than 170 peer-reviewed abstracts and research articles, and he has served as major professor for 27 PhD graduates. 
 
Dr. Rainer Hoffman Product through Science Award – Sponsored by Lohmann Therapie-Systeme AG
Eugene R. Cooper, PhD, has spent more than a decade at Procter and Gamble conducting research on the delivery of chemicals and drugs into and across the skin. He developed an understanding of the pathways for skin transport, a unique (and safe) enhancer system for rendering skin more permeable, a model for predicting maximum skin transport based on molecular properties, and he established the thermodynamic principles for guaranteeing maximum delivery of drugs across the skin. In 1994, Cooper was asked to lead the research and development for a new venture, NanoSystems, to develop and commercialize the nanotechnology, which is currently employed in a number of important drug products.
 
New Investigator Grant Award in Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Technologies – Sponsored by Pfizer
Yoon Yeo, PhD is assistant professor of industrial and physical pharmacy at Purdue University. Her research focuses on the development of novel dosage forms and biocompatible materials for delivery of macromolecular therapeutics. Her group develops polymeric nanoparticles for intracellular drug/gene delivery, inhalable microparticles for local therapy of pulmonary diseases, and in-situ crosslinkable hydrogels for tissue engineering applications. She has published 30 peer-reviewed articles, four book chapters, and six US patents (pending and awarded).
 
AAPS New Investigator Grant in Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics, and Drug Metabolism – Sponsored by Biogen Idec
Swati Nagar, PhD, is assistant professor at Temple University. Her research focuses predominantly on Phase II xenobiotic conjugation; colorectal cancer chemoprevention is a key research area in her laboratory. She is also interested in metabolic drug-drug interactions in gastroparesis patients. Her laboratory evaluates interactions among co-administered drugs in patients with diabetic as well as nondiabetic gastroparesis.

Information on additional researchers recognized by AAPS can be found in the organization’s press release.

AAPS graduate student awards
In addition, AAPS presented awards to student researchers for their work in the pharmaceutical sciences. Among the award winners were Robert T. Berendt (University of Kansas), Louise Ho (University of Otago, New Zealand), Kumar A. Shah (Virginia Commonwealth University), Diana M. Sperger (University of Kansas) for the AAPS Graduate Student Symposium Award in Analysis and Pharmaceutical Quality; and Sumith A. Kularatne (Purdue University), Komal Shahani (Wayne State University), Sheena Hailin Wang (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), Lin Zhu (University of Tennessee at Memphis) for the AAPS Graduate Student Symposium Award in Biotechnology. Read more about additional student winners in the AAPS press release.

2009 AAPS Fellows announced
The organization also announced this week 2009 AAPS Fellows. An individual is named an AAPS Fellow after making sustained remarkable scholarly and research contributions to the pharmaceutical sciences such as original articles, scientific presentations at AAPS Annual Meetings, and/or patents.
 
Lawrence H. Block, PhD, is professor of pharmaceutics at Duquesne University. His research interests lie in the transport properties of solutions of the macromolecular and polymeric materials employed as excipients in pharmaceutical and cosmetic formulations. Seventy-eight presentations at regional, national, and international scientific meetings, 24 publications, two patents, and 24 of his graduate students’ theses and dissertations have been based on research in his lab on various excipients as part of his effort to characterize these materials, their functionality, and potential applicability to pharmaceutical formulations. 

Ubaldo Conte, PharmD, is full professor at the University of Pavia (Italy). His research interests regarding the development of solid dosage forms (Geomatrix) and drug-release systems, made him renowned among the pharmaceutical sciences community. Other interests focus on the physics of powder compression, powder and tablet technology, disintegration mechanisms of solid dosage forms, suspension technology, and solid-phase drug interactions. His scientific production is provided through roughly 200 publications and 57 patents.
 
Robert W. Curley, Jr., PhD, is professor of medicinal chemistry at The Ohio State University College of Pharmacy. He has spent nearly 30 years researching the chemistry and biochemistry of vitamin A derivatives (retinoids). His specific interests include developing stable analogs of unstable metabolites of retinoids in order to improve their breast cancer chemopreventive and therapeutic activity and reduce their toxicity.
 
David Z. D'Argenio, PhD, is professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Southern California and holder of the Chonette Chair of Biomedical Technology. His research has included the development of modeling methodologies for pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic systems analysis including the development of the ADAPT software that is designed to facilitate the discovery, exploration, and application of the underlying pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of drugs.
 
Ping Gao, PhD, is director of global pharmaceutical and analytical sciences at Abbott Laboratories, and has made significant technical contributions to four marketed new-chemical-entity drug products. He has 36 patents and patent applications, and has made significant contributions in the areas of characterization of drug-release kinetics and mechanism, developing and applying novel in vitro biorelevant drug release tests, developing proprietary lipid-based drug-delivery systems, and applying enabling drug-delivery technologies for drug-product development. He has published 47 scientific manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals and book chapters and delivered over 70 presentations on pharmaceutical technology related topics.
 
Stephen W. Hoag, PhD, is assistant professor at the University of Maryland. He has published on the thermodynamics of tablet compaction, principles of powder behavior, excipient functionality, drug stability, and folic acid dissolution from prenatal vitamins. His research has increased understanding of pharmaceutical systems, which will give a clearer insight into how to make better delivery systems and provide a rational basis for formulation development, manufacturing and regulatory policy. 
 
Ken-ichi Hosoya, PhD, is professor and chair of the department of pharmaceutics at the Graduate School of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Toyama (Japan). His research expertise is in transporter-based drug delivery/targeting the eye and brain. He has published 94 peer-reviewed articles and written 33 book chapters/reviews.
 
Bhaskara R. Jasti, PhD, is professor and chairman of the department of pharmaceutics and medicinal chemistry at University of the Pacific. His laboratory is studying the influence of ionic species, predictive models in oral mucosal drug delivery, and he is designing micelles with cell-adhesion receptors (integrin ligands) for the targeted delivery of chemotherapeutic agents. He is a founding member and has served as Chair of the AAPS Bay Area Discussion Group, and has published over 80 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and co-edited two books. 
 
Rajesh Krishna, PhD, FCP, is head of quantitative clinical pharmacology at Merck. He is a leader in quantitative clinical pharmacology, specifically as it relates to model-based prediction of benefit and risk using decision analysis, dose optimization, and innovation in clinical trial designs. He has authored more than 115 original research articles, invited reviews, book chapters, and oral/poster presentations, and edited three books, in addition to serving as a reviewer for numerous journals in the field. 
 
Tamara Minko, PhD, is professor and chair of the department of pharmaceutics at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Her current research interests include drug delivery, biopharmaceutics, nanotechnology for cancer detection and treatment, molecular targeting, mechanisms of multidrug resistance, and bioimaging use of macromolecules for drug delivery.

Russell J. Mumper, PhD, is distinguished professor and director of the Center for Nanotechnology in Drug Delivery at the University of North Carolina’s Eshelman School of Pharmacy. He has made contributions to the creation of drug, gene, and vaccine-delivery systems leading to several first-in-human studies over the past 20 years. His current research focuses on nanoparticle-based systems to overcome resistance in cancer, and their use as vaccine-delivery systems to co-deliver protein antigens and adjuvants. Over the past 10 years, he has led seven university-based product development efforts resulting in first-in-human clinical trials. 

Eric J.  Munson, PhD, is professor of pharmaceutical chemistry at the University of Kansas. His research program is focused on the characterization of pharmaceutical solids using a variety of analytical techniques, with an emphasis on solid-state Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy.  He is a recipient of a National Science Foundation CAREER award and a McKnight Land-Grant Professorship.
 
Yihong Qiu, PhD, is a Volwiler Research Fellow at Abbott Laboratories. His contributions to the fields of modified-release drug delivery, science-based product development, improvement of dissolution, bioavailability, and in vitro–in vivo correlation (IVIVC) are reflected by the publication of 43 original papers and books, 30 patents, as well as 42 oral and 26 poster presentations that have been widely cited. He is a recognized expert of oral product design and development who has successfully brought delivery technology and blockbuster drug products from research and development to commercialization and made pioneering achievements in drug release and IVIVC since the early 1990s.
 
Indra K. Reddy, PhD, is professor and founding dean of the Texas A&M Health Science Center, Irma Lerma Rangel College of Pharmacy. He has been recognized for his innovative contributions in the areas of design of novel ocular drugs and delivery systems, preformulation and evaluation of targeted and site-specific chemical delivery systems, and the development of in vitro models as alternatives to animal testing. He has authored/co-authored six textbooks; written 13 book chapters; edited two reference books; and published over 100 research and review articles. 
 
Robert A. Reed, PhD, is currently executive director, chemistry manufacturing and controls and technical operations at Celsion in Columbia, Maryland. He has been a major contributor to the successful commercialization of 25 products. His research interests include understanding unexpected pharmaceutical product photochemistry through identification of critical quality relationships, serving to guide effective control strategies, and the role of excipients in chemical and photochemical stability of pharmaceutical products.
 
A. David Rodrigues, PhD, is an executive with Bristol-Myers Squibb in Princeton, New Jersey. During the last 20 years, he has devoted a major part of his career to the study of how drugs interact with biologic systems. In particular, he has focused on the development of tools, models, and techniques to predict drug-drug and drug-protein interactions in humans, so that drug combinations are safer and more effective. He has published approximately 100 manuscripts, sits on the editorial review boards of three scientific journals, has edited a successful book, and has presented at numerous national and international conferences.
 
Clinton Fields Stewart, PharmD, is a full member in the department of pharmaceutical sciences at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Professor of Pediatrics and Clinical Pharmacy at the University of Tennessee at Memphis. His research efforts are focused on addressing clinically relevant problems of cancer therapeutics in children. As Co-chair of the Pharmacology Committee of the Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium, Dr. Stewart has an active research program focused on developing a better understanding of the Central Nervous System penetration of anti-cancer drugs. He has authored or co-authored more than 190 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters.
 
Hiroshi Suzuki, PhD, is professor and chairman of the department of pharmacy at The University of Tokyo Hospital. He has been working to clarify the role of drug transporters in drug disposition. Recently, he has started working on clinical systems-biology, in order to establish methods to predict the pharmacodynamic/toxicodynamic effects from in vitro data and/or biomarkers. His method is already used in clinical situations and will have an impact from the regulatory aspects of human clinical trials during the drug development. 
 
Peter W. Swaan, PhD, is professor of pharmaceutical sciences and director of the Center for Nanomedicine and Cellular Delivery at the University of Maryland’s School of Pharmacy in Baltimore. He has published over 80 original research articles focusing on all aspects of transport proteins in drug targeting and delivery, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. His major contributions to this research area involve the application of transporters as targets for prodrugs. He holds several US patents and serves as editor-in-chief for Pharmaceutical Research.
 
Yoshinobu Takakura, PhD, is professor at the University of Kyoto (Japan). He has conducted a series of studies in macromolecular drug delivery in the field of biopharmaceutics. Recent research interests include nucleic-acid drug delivery for the optimization of gene therapy, DNA vaccination and RNAi-based therapies. Takakura has published 228 peer reviewed original research articles, 30 review articles, and 18 book chapters.
 
Cheryl L. Zimmerman, PhD, is professor and director of graduate studies in pharmaceutics at the University of Minnesota. Her research efforts center on a detailed delineation of the absorption and disposition of drugs and prodrugs with a particular emphasis on intestinal metabolism and activation, as well as the pulmonary metabolism of the carcinogens tobacco-specific nitrosamines and their role in transforming healthy cells into cancer cells (carcinogenesis). She has trained 10 PhD and five MS students over her 25 years in academia, is a past Chair of the Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics and Drug Metabolism section of AAPS, and served as a Member-at-Large on the AAPS Executive Council from 2004-2006.