Jatinder Lamba, Ph.D., M.Sc., a professor of pharmacotherapy and translational research in the University of Florida College of Pharmacy, is one of 33 faculty members across the university to be named a 2020 UF Research Foundation Professor. The honor goes to faculty who have a distinguished current record of research and a strong research agenda that is likely to lead to continued distinction in their fields.
Lamba leads a productive, actively-funded and highly collaborative research program in the field of genomics driven precision medicine in oncology, with a special focus on acute myeloid leukemia, or AML, that has been funded by the National Cancer Institute since 2008. The ultimate objective of her research is to identify molecular markers predictive of outcome in AML and to integrate these with known prognostic factors to improve AML treatment outcomes. By taking systems biology-based multi-omic approaches, her research groups have developed prognostic scores that identify patients at higher risk of disease resistance or relapse; establish pathways of drug-resistance and identify agents with potential to overcome resistance to standard chemotherapy; and identification of novel therapeutic targets for drug development.
“I am honored to be named a UF Research Foundation Professor,” Lamba said. “It inspires me to further excel my research program to utilize biomarkers based treatment strategies to increase our accuracy in forecasting therapeutic outcomes in AML, allowing for tailored, risk-stratified treatment approaches — a major advancement over the current strategy for this deadly disease.”
Lamba joined the UF College of Pharmacy in 2014. In her career, she has authored more than 100 publications and earned more than $5.5 million in research funding. She is currently funded by the Live Like Bella Pediatric Cancer Research Initiative, the Leukemia Lymphoma Society, Children’s Hospital Orange County and a Cancer League Award with the University of California, San Francisco. She has served as principal investigator on multiple grants from National Institutes of Health, American Society of Hematology and the Children’s Oncology Group. Lamba’s accomplishments and peer recognition is also reflected by the fact that she has served as grant reviewer for several NIH study sections as well as international agencies and held leadership positions with national organizations such as the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy and the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists. Lamba is actively involved in teaching and mentoring trainees at all levels, as reflected by the nearly 50 students she has mentored in her career.