The growing interest in model-informed drug development was on display in Orlando, Jan. 26-30, where nearly 30 participants gathered for the 2026 Florida Winter School. Hosted at the University of Florida Research and Academic Center, the weeklong program reflected the event’s expanding influence across the drug development community.
While the first two editions of the Florida Winter School primarily drew students, trainees and academic researchers, this year’s cohort included industry professionals from leading pharmaceutical companies such as Eli Lilly & Company, AbbVie and Quanta Therapeutics. The program’s global reach was also evident, with attendees traveling from four continents — including the countries of Brazil, France, South Korea and Trinidad and Tobago — to join colleagues from across the United States for the intensive training.
Florida Winter School focuses on physiologically based pharmacokinetic, population pharmacokinetic and quantitative systems pharmacology modeling, using real-world case studies to demonstrate how modeling informs dosing strategies and drug development decisions for complex patient populations.
“It’s encouraging to see Florida Winter School expanding its reach to industry professionals who are eager to learn new modeling approaches and software tools to support drug development,” said Stephan Schmidt, Ph.D., chair of pharmaceutics and the Certara Endowed Professor in the University of Florida College of Pharmacy and the director of the Center for Pharmacometrics and Systems Pharmacology. “Successful drug development depends on selecting the right model to answer the right question. When time and resources are limited, informed decision-making becomes essential.”
Among the participants was Dave Rominger, senior director of nonclinical development at Quanta Therapeutics, who brought more than 30 years of industry experience to the program. During his career, he has contributed to a wide range of drug discovery efforts at several pharmaceutical and biotech companies, leading to 13 drug candidates entering human trials.
Rominger attended the Florida Winter School to expand his knowledge of model-informed drug development, physiologically based pharmacokinetic modeling and the PK-SIM software platform. A key goal was to enhance his understanding of how modeling informs human dose projection and drug–drug interaction assessment. He found the curriculum provided practical insights he can readily apply in his role.
“The program at Florida Winter School was well structured, with strong instruction and relevant real-world examples,” Rominger said. “It provided practical technical detail and strategic context that can be directly applied to data interpretation and decision-making.”
Schmidt said the success of the Florida Winter School depends heavily on its faculty, who use a team-based teaching model. A dozen instructors and guest lecturers led multiple sessions across the five-day event, which was hosted by the UF Center for Pharmacometrics and Systems Pharmacology
The Florida Winter School would like to thank Genetech for its sponsorship of the event.
Jan. 26-30 in Orlando
Florida Winter School Photos
