University of Florida College of Pharmacy graduate student Richard Marrero, Pharm.D. and postdoctoral associate Vivek Shastri, Ph.D., were selected as poster award winners at the UF Health Cancer Center Virtual Research Symposium, held Dec. 7-8.

Marrero was one of five award winners across the university honored in the graduate student category. His poster was titled, “Impact of SAMHD1 Pharmacogenetics on Clinical Outcome in Pediatric AML.” The research examines an enzyme encoded by a gene called SAM domain and HD domain 1, or SAMHD1, and could lead to personalizing targeted therapies for acute myeloid leukemia.
Shastri was one of two poster winners in the postdoctoral trainee category. His poster was titled, “A polygenic DNA damage repair pharmacogenomics (DDR_PGx8) score predicts GO response in AML: A calicheamicin pathway analysis from COG-AAML03P1 and COG-AAML0531 trials.” The research focuses on identifying pharmacogenomic predictors of outcomes in response to the addition of gemtuzumab ozogamicin to standard chemotherapy in acute myeloid leukemia.
Marrero and Shastri are mentored by Jatinder Lamba, Ph.D., M.Sc., a professor of pharmacotherapy and translational research in the UF College of Pharmacy.