Two UF College of Pharmacy trainees from the Orlando campus received awards during the 15th annual American Conference on Pharmacometrics, or ACoP, held Nov. 10-13, 2024, in Phoenix. Xuefen Yin, M.S., was one of three recipients of this year’s ACoP Trainee Awards, and Parsshava Mehta, Pharm.D., received a Statistics and Pharmacometrics Trainee Abstract Award.
Yin is a third-year Ph.D. student mentored by Stephan Schmidt, Ph.D., F.C.P., the Certara Endowed Professor and director of the Center for Pharmacometrics and Systems Pharmacology, or CPSP. She said receiving this recognition from ACoP both validates the importance of her research and opens the door to valuable connections with leading researchers in her field. Yin’s research studies exposure-response relationships, focusing on how the amount of a drug in a patient’s body contributes to both beneficial and adverse effects.
“I’m driven by curiosity in pharmacometrics and learning how different models work. Currently, I’m exploring both statistical and pharmacometric models used in drug development,” Yin said. “I enjoy learning how each method works, comparing their pros and cons, and applying the best model based on the data and specific questions.”
Mehta is a graduate student mentored by Valvanera Vozmediano Esteban, Ph.D., a courtesy assistant professor of pharmaceutics at the Center of Pharmacometrics and System Pharmacology. Receiving recognition from the ACoP for his abstract, “The Influence of Systematic and Technical Errors on Population Pharmacokinetic/Pharmacodynamic Model Parameters: Nonlinear Mixed-Effect Approach,” motivates Mehta to continue striving for excellence in his work examining how errors during drug development affect the accuracy of drug dosage predictions.
“At the heart of great scientific research is a patient in need, and this serves as my primary motivation every day as I work toward advancing precision medicine through pharmacometric approaches,” Mehta said. “The chance to innovate and collaborate with experts across diverse fields not only fuels my passion, but offers continual learning and growth. Despite the challenges, the journey is fulfilling, because each step brings me closer to making a tangible impact on patient care and outcomes, reinforcing my commitment to the field.”