A letter from Thomas Schmittgen

"I hope that you have a productive meeting and offer my heartfelt thanks for your attendance and participation in this year’s event."

Dear Lake Nona Leadership Council Members and Attendees,

On behalf of the Department of Pharmaceutics, I’d like to welcome you to the annual meeting of the Lake Nona Leadership Council. The past year has been a challenge to everyone, both personally and professionally. Our faculty, staff, and students have risen to the occasion to modify not only the way we teach and perform research but also to assist in a number of COVID-19 related service activities. In 2020, we mourned the loss of Professor Hartmut Derendorf who left a lasting imprint on the Department, the Center, and the quantitative clinical pharmacology arena; his legacy will be felt for many years to come.

The Department of Pharmaceutics continues to thrive. This year we recruited three new tenure track faculty. Dr. Rodrigo Cristofoletti, previously with ANVISA, Dr. Mei He, most recently from the University of Kansas and Dr. Fan Zhang, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Institute. We have also recruited Dr. Mark Rogge as a faculty member. Dr. Rogge has had a distinguished career in the Pharmaceutical Industry and we welcome him to the Department and Center. We graduated six PhDs from Pharmaceutics this past year; all have gone on to accept full time positions within the pharmaceutical industry, academia or the FDA.

As we look to the future, we are recruiting two additional tenure track faculty in Pharmacokinetics/Pharmacometrics/Systems Pharmacology for the Lake Nona Campus. A new online certificate program in Model Informed Drug Development will launch Fall semester, 2021. We anticipate strong interest in this new program from employees of the FDA and pharmaceutical industry as well as students wishing to sharpen their skill set.

I would like to offer my gratitude to the members of the Lake Nona Leadership Council for your continued support and for providing valuable input and guidance to the Department and Center. I also would like to thank our industrial sponsors for your financial support. I hope that you have a productive meeting and offer my heartfelt thanks for your attendance and participation in this year’s event.

Best Regards,

Thomas D. Schmittgen, PhD

Professor and Chair of Pharmaceutics
College of Pharmacy
University of Florida

A letter from Stephan Schmidt

"I am looking forward to working with all of you over the course of the next year on furthering the CPSP’s mission."

Dear Colleagues,

On behalf of the Center for Pharmacometrics and Systems Pharmacology (CPSP), I would like to personally thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to participate in this year’s virtual Lake Nona Leadership Council meeting. Your active participation and feedback during the meeting are critically important and will help us refine the Center’s future direction and accelerate its growth.

Over the last 9 ½ years, I had the privilege to work with world-class faculty and key opinion leaders in the quantitative clinical pharmacology arena, such as yourself, to build and grow out the Center and see it flourish. I was also fortunate to work with many talented students and trainees, many of which have moved on to careers in pharmaceutical industry, regulatory agencies, and academia around the globe.  CPSP had an outstanding last year with 12 national and international student awards, including the Presidential Trainee, the Jason Morrow Trainee, and the Top Poster Ribbon Award from the American College of Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics (ASCPT), Simcyp’s Most Informative Scientific Report 2020 Award, the Colburn Memorial Award from the American College of Clinical Pharmacology (ACCP), and the Communications Challenge Award from the American Conference on Pharmacometrics (ACoP), in addition to 11 faculty awards. Please join me congratulating everyone on their achievements.

I would like to individually follow up with each of you to discuss opportunities on how you can get further engaged with the Center. I am looking forward to working with all of you over the course of the next year on furthering the CPSP’s mission and welcoming you back to the Lake Nona Leadership Council Meeting in 2022.

Stephan Schmidt, B.Pharm, Ph.D., F.C.P.

Associate Professor & Director CPSP
College of Pharmacy
University of Florida