Jean Terrier has an MD-PhD training (Swiss National Foundation Federal grant) with a strong background in basic research. He is now working as a junior consultant in internal medicine and clinical pharmacology at Geneva University Hospitals. Of importance, he also holds a degree in Pharmacy. His current area of interest is drug optimization using physiologically-based pharmacokinetic modeling.Inaugural IUPHAR Early Career (EC) Researchers Subcommittee was selected by the IUPHAR Executive Committee from nominations received from IUPHAR member societies.
Current Members of Early Career Researchers Subcommittee | ||
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Dr. Vanessa Minervini – Chair – (American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics) |
Dr. Minervini currently is an Assistant Professor in the department of Psychological Science at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, USA. Dr. Minervini earned her PhD in psychology at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, USA and then completed a postdoctoral fellowship in pharmacology at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, Texas, USA. Her research evaluates therapeutic (analgesic) and adverse effects of opioid drugs alone and in mixtures. In her free time Dr. Minervini enjoys hiking, traveling, and training her Australian Shepard. |
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Dr. Pravin Prasad – Committee Member – |
Dr. Pravin Prasad is a young medical doctor who received his medical degree (MBBS) in 2013 and Doctor in Medicine (MD) in Clinical Pharmacology in 2018 from Tribhuvan University, Nepal. He is presently working as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Maharajgunj Medical Campus, Institute of Medicine, Tribhuvan University. He is presently involved in two funded research projects related to liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry as principal investigator. He is also involved in two international vaccine trials developed for COVID-19 under Vaccine Trial Project, Institute of Medicine Tribhuvan University. He has authored ten papers in peer-reviewed journals. He is involved as a reviewer in different medical journals and is also a proposal reviewer for the ethical review board of the Nepal Health Research Council. |
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Dr. Marc Labriffe – Committee Member – |
Dr. Marc Labriffe is a medical doctor in Clinical Pharmacology at the University of Limoges. Prior to this, he completed his residency in clinical biology at Limoges and received a Master degree in Clinical Pharmacology and Epidemiology at Nantes. His research focuses in Therapeutic Drug Monitoring, especially the field of Transplantation and Antimicrobials. He has a special interest in Machine Learning methods to improve follow-up of patients. He currently is an Assistant Professor in the department of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmacovigilance at the University Hospital of Limoges. |
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Dr. Belkis Palacio – Committee Member – |
Dr. Belkis Palacio is an epidemiologist with master’s degree in toxicology and candidate to pharmacology doctorate in environmental toxicology at the University of Cartagena, Colombia. She is currently the coordinator of an research center where clinical trials are carried out. Participates as a guest teacher of the Master of Toxicology and Pharmacology at the University of Cartagena. Actively takes part of the Colombian Pharmacology Association ASOCOLFARMA. She has special interest in drugs toxicity and other xenobiotics and the use of predictive models of in-vitro toxicity. |
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Dr. Xiaocong Pang – Committee Member – |
Xiaocong Pang obtained her PhD in Pharmacology from Peking Union Medical College in 2018. She currently works as an assistant professor in Institute of Clinical Pharmacology and Department of Pharmacy, Peking University First Hospital. Her research interests are the mechanism study of anti-tumor drug resistance and tumor metastasis, and discovery of new anti-tumor drugs for unmeet medical needs. She also has a research interest in integrin-related function and signaling pathways. She was granted Science Award for Young Talents of China Association for Science and Technology. She hopes to work with young pharmacologists around the world and contribute to fostering pharmacology together. |
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Dr. Liz Johnstone – Committee Member – |
Liz Johnstone obtained her PhD in Pharmacology from the University of Western Australia (UWA) in 2016. Since then she has been working as a researcher at the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research/UWA Centre for Medical Research where she studies the molecular pharmacology of receptors. In 2017, she spent a year working part time as Senior Project Officer for Accelerating Australia, a consortium dedicated to promoting biomedical innovation and entrepreneurship. In 2021 she was appointed as a Pharmacology Lecturer in the UWA School of Biomedical Sciences, while she continues her research at the Harry Perkins Institute. |
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Dr. Scarpa – Committee Member – |
Dr. Scarpa is a Postdoctoral fellow at Karolinska Institutet (Sweden), investigating novel PET tracers for the detection of biomarkers of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, progressive supranuclear palsy and corticobasal degeneration. She completed her PhD in Translational Pharmacology in 2022 at the University of Glasgow (U.K.), where her research focused on understanding the disease-modifying potential of the M1 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor for the treatment of neurodegeneration, employing a mouse model of prion disease. Dr Scarpa has been an active member of the British Pharmacological Society (BPS) since 2017, where she has served as ECR of the Honours & Fellows Panel since 2019. In 2022, Dr Scarpa was awarded the Vogt Prize by BPS for outstanding achievement during postgraduate studies, and the “Italy made me” award by the Embassy of Italy in London and the Association of Italian Scientists in the United Kingdom (AISUK) that recognizes the work of Italian scientists in the U.K. |
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Dr. Samuel Arnold – Committee Member – |
Dr. Samuel Arnold received a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from the University of Colorado in 2009 and obtained a PhD from the University of Washington in 2015. He trained with Dr. Wesley Van Voorhis in the Division of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the University of Washington, and Dr. Arnold joined the Department of Medicine as an Acting Assistant Professor in 2019. Dr. Arnold currently is an Assistant Professor in the department of Pharmaceutics at the University of Washington in Seattle, WA. Dr. Arnold’s research applies principles from drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics (DMPK) and pharmacology to preclinical and clinical drug development for enteric infectious diseases. |
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Dr. Thomas Velenosi – Committee Member – |
Dr. Velenosi received his PhD in pharmacology and toxicology from Western University, Canada. He is currently an Assistant Professor in the University of British Columbia Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences. His research is focused at the intersection of pharmacology and metabolomics, using pharmacometabolomics to deepen our understanding of drug treatment response and toxicity during cancer therapy. Dr. Velenosi is also the chair of the Canadian Society of Pharmacology and Therapeutics Scientific Programming Committee. |
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Dr. Iftekhar Hossain Chowdhury – Committee Member – |
Dr. Iftekhar Hossain Chowdhury is a medical doctor who received his medical degree (MBBS) in 2009 and Doctor of Medicine (MD) in Pharmacology in 2023 from Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Bangladesh.He is presently working as an medical officer at Director General of Heath Service, Bangladesh. He has special interest in drug repurposing and its toxicological implications in cancer anorexia cachexia patients.Iftekhar is currently a member of Bangladesh Society of Pharmacology. |
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Dr. Celia MJ Matayanga – Committee Member – |
Celia MJ Matyanga is a pharmacist, completed her MSc Clinical Pharmacology at the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) in 2012. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Clinical Pharmacokinetics, investigating the interactions between antiretrovirals and traditional medicines in people living with HIV/ AIDS. She works as a lecturer in the Department of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, UZ. Her research interests are in pharmacokinetics and traditional medicines. As a pharmacist, she is passionate about improving the practice of pharmacy to optimize drug therapy. She is an awardee of the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science and various awards stated here: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9799-136X She hopes to collaborate with and mentor young pharmacologists from around the world to enhance pharmaceutical care. |
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Dr. Hong Yong – Committee Member – |
Hong Yong received his PhD in Medicine (immuno-pharmacology) from National University of Singapore in 2017. He completed his Postdoctoral Fellowship at Harvard Medical School in 2022, and is currently an Instructor at Harvard Medical School and Investigator at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (USA). He has a co-appointment as a Senior Tutor in the Department of Pharmacology at Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine (Singapore). His research interests are developing pre-clinical animal models, the resolution of inflammation, and investigating the use of specialized pro-resolving mediators, vitamin E tocotrienols, and natural products as potential therapies in asthma, COPD, lung injury and wound healing on the skin. Pharmacology is a critical field required in tackling current medical needs, and he wishes to inspire young pharmacologists, as well as promoting the field of pharmacology. |
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Dr. Ahmet Altun – Committee Member – |
Ahmet Altun received his medical degree in 2005 and started his Pharmacology residency at the Sivas Cumhuriyet University Medical School, Turkey. He received his medical specialty degree in Pharmacology in 2010. He is currently a full professor in the Department of the Sivas Cumhuriyet University Medical School and runs a cancer research laboratory. He is also Vice Dean of the Medical Faculty. He has authored 54 papers in peer-reviewed international journals, along with 17 articles published in national peer-reviewed journals. He is currently an active member of the executive committee of the Turkish Pharmacological Society. |
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Dr. Andrea Kliewer – Committee Member – |
Dr. Andrea Kliewer is a biologist/pharmacologist and a young research group leader in neuropharmacology at the University Hospital Jena in Germany. In her group she is focusing on opioids and cannabinoids on the molecular and behavior level. Furthermore, she holds a Master’s degree in Personal, Business and Research Coaching and Consulting. Since 2016 she is active as consultant on issues of good scientific practice and research integrity. |
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Dr. Gilda Angela Neves – Committee Member – |
Dr. Neves is an Associated Professor of Pharmacology at the Institute of Biomedical Sciences of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and a Master’s and Ph.D. advisor in the Graduate Program of Pharmacology and Medicinal Chemistry at the same University in Brazil. Dr. Neves is a pharmacist with a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. She completed a two-year post-doctoral period in Neurosciences and Neuropharmacology at the University of Pittsburgh, USA. Her research studies risk factors for developing neuropsychiatric disorders (Schizophrenia and Depression) in animal models, searching for novel therapeutical targets. In her free time, Dr. Neves plays the flute in a group of Brazilian Popular Music (Choro), enjoys running, reading science fiction novels, and traveling. |
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Dr. Jean Terrier – Committee Member – |
Jean Terrier has an MD-PhD training (Swiss National Foundation Federal grant) with a strong background in basic research. He is now working as a junior consultant in internal medicine and clinical pharmacology at Geneva University Hospitals. Of importance, he also holds a degree in Pharmacy. His current area of interest is drug optimization using physiologically-based pharmacokinetic modeling. |