PhRMA Foundation

#PhF25 awardee Dr. Elizabeth Brunk at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is pioneering a novel strategy to target adaptations in extrachromosomal DNA (ecDNA), which plays a key role in #cancer. She is integrating artificial intelligence #AI with single cell imaging and multi-omics sequencing to analyze ecDNA’s influence on drug response. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/ei23AMAE

#PhF25 predoctoral awardee Jingyu Zhao of the UNC School of Medicine is researching a novel in vivo approach for CAR T therapy that uses an advanced lentiviral system to generate CAR T cells directly in the patient, offering a more accessible, cost-effective #cancer therapy. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eEhv3KXN

#PhF25 predoctoral awardee Alan Wong of Harvard Medical School identified copper metabolism as a potential therapeutic target for acute lymphoblastic #leukemia (ALL). He is studying the cytotoxic mechanism of copper depletion in leukemia cells & assessing its efficacy against ALL. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eAJdf9cW

#PhF25 predoctoral awardee Bernardo Aguzzoli Heberle of the University of Kentucky is studying the role of RNA in #Alzheimers disease (AD). He will use long-read RNA sequencing on brain tissue to identify and quantify RNA isoforms and their association with AD, with a goal of finding novel molecular targets for treatment. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gE4i2zWV

#PhF25 awardee Dr. Noor Momin of the University of Pennsylvania has designed a first-generation therapy that alleviates atrial fibrillation (Afib) in a clinically relevant mouse model. She is now testing the #Afib treatment in human cells and optimizing it to enable rapid clinical translation. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eBr-Zmzw

#PhF25 predoctoral awardee Wei (Adelyn) Tsai of the Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences is studying a gene linked to resilience against late-onset #Alzheimers disease to better understand the role of cell specific mitochondrial mechanisms and molecules in disease resilience. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eb3r5wKu

Attention early-career researchers! PhRMA Foundation and The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (JPET) are teaming up on a Challenge Award competition that will award trainees for outstanding papers addressing the hashtag #pharmacology of next generation hashtag #therapeutics. Prizes include: 🏆 $5000 (for first authors) 🏆 Open-access publishing fees paid 🏆 Publication in a JPET special collection Don't miss your chance to earn recognition and contribute to advancements in pharmacology! 📅 Submit by: July 1, 2025 🔗Learn more and apply: https://lnkd.in/eEmUfAjK

#PhF25 predoctoral awardee Bernardo Aguzzoli Heberle of the University of Kentucky College of Medicine is studying the role of RNA in #Alzheimers disease (AD) to find novel therapeutic targets. His research will use long-read RNA sequencing on brain tissue to identify and quantify RNA isoforms — alternative forms of RNA from the same gene — and understand their association with AD. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gE4i2zWV

#PhF25 postdoctoral awardee Dr. Allison Siegenfeld of Harvard Medical School seeks to understand the response of acute myeloid #leukemia (AML) cells when inhibiting an enzyme called METTL3 to better inform the therapeutic use of METTL3 inhibitors. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gvyKyP_H

#PhF25 predoctoral awardee Te-xia Loh of Sanford Burnham Prebys is working to validate a new therapeutic target for small cell lung cancer (SCLC). She developed a novel method to degrade enzymes called helicases that play an important role in cancer. This approach is then combined with targeted cancer drugs to slow SCLC growth. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eBvMGJKQ