UF: A Destination for New Faculty
Sixty-eight new clinical and tenure-track faculty members have joined the college since August 1, 2013.
n unprecedented faculty recruitment effort has brought many of the best and brightest minds in pharmacy and science to the UF College of Pharmacy. Sixty-eight new clinical and tenure-track faculty members have joined the college since August 1, 2013. Attracting top talent to teach, lead and inspire is key to the college’s mission of shaping the future of pharmacy.
Among the new recruits are some of the nation’s most respected researchers, clinicians and educators — the best equipped to train the next generation of pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists. Behind every new faculty member is a story why they joined the pursuit of greatness at the UF College of Pharmacy.
Joshua Brown, Pharm.D., Ph.D., M.S.
Assistant Professor of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy
Joshua Brown, Pharm.D., Ph.D., M.S., credits the visionary leadership and supportive environment for junior faculty as reasons for joining UF.
Matt Splett
Upon completing his Ph.D. program at the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy, Joshua Brown was not inherently interested in working in academia. He mainly searched for positions in the pharmaceutical industry and managed care — interviewing at only one pharmacy college: the UF College of Pharmacy. “What changed my mind was truly the amazing leadership of the college and department and how supportive the environment is for young faculty,” Brown said. “The college’s reputation in pharmacy is stellar and continues to grow as the faculty has expanded in number and also in expertise and specialization.”
The college’s five departments offer researchers the opportunity to collaborate with colleagues from diverse backgrounds. As an assistant professor in the department of pharmaceutical outcomes and policy, Brown has collaborated with his colleagues in the departments of pharmaceutics and pharmacotherapy and translational research. Having these disciplines set up in distinct departments was a big draw for Brown. “This creates a lot of synergy, as each department is able to self-govern and, for research purposes, the lines for conducting collaborative and translational research are clear,” he said. “I think having those demarcated lines of expertise help reviewers and outside collaborators see the contributions of each.”
Lina Cui, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Medicinal Chemistry
Lina Cui, Ph.D., appreciates the world-class research programs and collaborative work environment for faculty at UF.
Jesse Jones
Interdisciplinary research with organic chemists, biochemists, biologists, engineers and translational researchers brought Lina Cui to UF. Since her arrival in 2018, she has been developing molecular probes to study the function of protein targets implicated in various physiological conditions. “UF’s cutting-edge instrumentation and facilities are at the forefront of research,” she said. “This is the utmost importance for the interdisciplinary research program I have been building.” Her department’s Center for Natural Products, Drug Discovery and Development, or CNPD3, is particularly important to Cui’s work. CNPD3 is equipped for high-throughput drug screening, which will assist her in finding the lead drug molecules to inhibit the activity of her proteins of interest.
This work is leading her to explore collaborations with researchers at UF Health’s academic colleges, the UF Health Cancer Center, the UF Institute on Aging and the McKnight Brain Institute, among others. “I was attracted to UF by the world-class research programs in various disciplines, the very open and collaborative research environment, and most importantly the strong medicinal chemistry and pharmaceutical programs within the UF College of Pharmacy,” Cui said.
UF is fully equipped to carry out all of the studies she wants to run: chemically synthesize probe molecules for target proteins, study the biological function of these proteins under different physiological conditions, and develop diagnostic and therapeutic drug molecules for various diseases.
Daohong Zhou, M.D.
Professor of Pharmacodynamics and Radiation Oncology and the Henry E. Innes Professorship of Cancer
Daohong Zhou, M.D., right, works closely with Guangrong Zheng, Ph.D., in studying a protein that promotes cancer growth.
Donovan Baltich
Laboratory productivity has greatly increased since pharmacodynamics professor Daohong Zhou, M.D., and his closest collaborator, medicinal chemist Guangrong Zheng, Ph.D., relocated to the University of Florida from Arkansas in 2018. Located in two separate buildings at their previous university, they now work hand in hand, developing and testing compounds almost as one lab. “Now that we are in one space, in one lab, the work is more seamless and there is more synergy,” Zhou said.
Zhou has a unique drug discovery perspective, as he works in both the College of Pharmacy, as a pharmacodynamics professor, and the College of Medicine, as a professor of radiation oncology. I enjoy working in both environments because it allows me to bridge drug discovery to clinical application, he said.” I am able to know the clinical needs and learn how to address them.”
Some of his current research looks into the study of B-cell lymphoma-extra large, or Bcl-xL, a protein that promotes cancer growth, but is also essential for blood platelet survival. For years, researchers have tried targeting this protein to kill cancer cells, but inhibiting it also kills platelets, leading to thrombocytopenia, which can potentially cause hemorrhaging. Zhou and Zheng, along with their student researchers, are developing and testing compounds and planning a strategy to overcome this hurdle. “Our lab has taken advantage of the large and high-quality student body here, which was another reason I was attracted to UF,” Zhou said. “But more than anything, the vision and diversity of the college pushing us to be Top 5 makes you feel so excited to work at such a fast-moving place.”
WHY WE CHOSE UF
Shauna Buring, Pharm.D.
Associate Professor, Pharmacotherapy and Translational Research
“I was attracted to the UF College of Pharmacy based upon the prestige of the college. During the interview process, I could immediately tell I would be joining an elite program with high expectations.”
Guillaume de Lartigue, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Pharmacodynamics
“I’m excited to be working alongside several faculty members with whom I have had a longstanding collaboration and share my research interests. We have the potential to generate high-impact science.”
David DeRemer, Pharm.D.
Clinical Associate Professor, Pharmacotherapy and Translational Research
“The opportunity to make significant strides in attracting and enrolling cancer patients into therapeutic/interventional-based clinical trials drew me to UF.”
Wei-Hsuan “Jenny” Lo-Ciganic, Ph.D., M.S., M.S.Pharm.
Assistant Professor, Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy
“In the field of pharmacoepidemiology and drug safety research, the department of pharmaceutical outcomes and policy at the UF College of Pharmacy is one of the nation’s largest, well-reputed and recognized
Ph.D. programs in the country.”
