Mohammed Gbadamosi, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow in the University of Florida College of Pharmacy, has secured an Early Independence Award from the National Institutes of Health, or NIH, to launch his independent research career. The award allows exceptional junior scientists to skip the traditional postdoctoral training and move immediately into an independent research position.
The NIH award will provide Gbadamosi with up to $1.25 million over five years to establish his research program. He intends to build a multidisciplinary research team focused on optimizing and developing treatment strategies combining chemotherapy and immunotherapy drugs to combat triple-negative breast cancer and other cancers impacted by health disparities. Applying artificial intelligence, his lab will construct computer models for personalizing combined treatment strategies using chemotherapy and immunotherapy based on a patient’s genetic profile.
“With this award, I look forward to conducting excellent science and investing in the next generation of trainees, as others have invested in me,” Gbadamosi said. “The gratitude I have for receiving this award cannot be put into words, and I’m incredibly grateful to God, my mentors, colleagues, family and everyone who helped me realize this achievement.”
NIH’s Early Independence Award is one of four Director’s Awards given to scientists proposing exceptionally creative, high-risk, high-impact research at all career stages. Gbadamosi received one of 85 awards issued by the NIH Common Fund’s High-Risk, High-Reward program. Investigators seeking program support are encouraged to think beyond traditional bounds and to pursue trailblazing ideas in any area of research relevant to the NIH’s mission to advance knowledge and enhance health.
Gbadamosi will begin an appointment as an assistant professor of pharmacotherapy and translational research in the UF College of Pharmacy in November. He earned his Ph.D. from the UF College of Pharmacy in 2021 and currently serves as a fellow in the UF Program for Applied Research and Development in Genomic Medicine.