Press Releases

The ASCPT will honor Terrence F. Blaschke, MD, Professor, Stanford University School of Medicine as the 2007 Oscar B. Hunter Memorial Award in Therapeutics winner. The Oscar B. Hunter Memorial Award in Therapeutics honors individual scientists for outstanding contributions to clinical pharmacology and therapeutics. This award was originally given to Jonas E. Salk, MD in 1955 to honor his pioneering work in the development of the polio vaccine. Dr. Blaschke's is being recognized for his research in the area of clinical investigation, with a focus on the clinical pharmacology of drugs used in patients with HIV infection with an emphasis on modeling exposure-response relationships.

The ASCPT 2007 Rawls-Palmer Progress in Medicine Award winner is Lawrence J. Lesko, PhD, Director, Food and Drug Administration. Dr. Lesko is being recognized with the Rawls-Palmer Progress in Medicine Award for significant contributions he has made to drug investigation that incorporates the efforts of modern drug research in the care of patients. Dr. Lesko will receive this award based on his office's focus on the translational analysis of dose-response and PK-PD data for the purposes of optimizing dosing and the benefit/risk ratio of FDA-approved drugs.

Sebastian Schneeweiss, MD, ScD, Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School will receive the 2007 Leon I. Goldberg Young Investigator Award. The Leon I. Goldberg Young Investigator Award recognizes and encourages young scientists who are active in clinical pharmacology. Dr. Schneeweiss is being recognized for his work which focuses on the comparative effectiveness of pharmaceuticals and biotech products using large claims databases and the consequences of drug policies that are based on therapeutic substitution.

Mayo Clinic Associate Professor and Consultant Arshad Jahangir, MD is the recipient of the 2007 William B. Abrams Award in Geriatric Clinical Pharmacology. The William B. Abrams Award in Geriatric Clinical Pharmacology honors young investigators who are making outstanding contributions in the field of geriatric clinical pharmacology. Dr. Jahangir has made great contributions to the field through his research which is aimed at gaining insight into the cellular, molecular and genetic basis of cardiac derangement that occurs with normal aging and disease processes and to develop novel therapeutic strategies in the treatment of disabling cardiac disorders in the elderly.

Richard J. Hargreaves, PhD, Vice President, Merck has been selected by ASCPT to receive its 2007 Gary Neil Prize for Innovation in Drug Development. The Gary Neil Prize for Innovation in Drug Development aims to stimulate the application of innovative science to clinical drug development by recognizing outstanding individuals or teams who are leaders in this area. Dr. Hargreaves' established and led a worldwide imaging research strategy at Merck and has built a global multimodality imaging group that supports decision making in drug discovery and development across Merck's key therapeutic areas.

Jean Gray, MD, FRCPC Professor Emeritus - Medical Education, Medicine and Pharmacology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada has been selected by ASCPT to receive its 2007 Henry W. Elliott Distinguished Service Award. For over twenty years Dr. Gray has volunteered her time and talents to ASCPT and served as the society's president in 2001. Dr. Gray has a long and distinguished record of service to ASCPT highlighted by her significant and ongoing contributions to clinical pharmacology education.

The 2006 ASCPT Young Investigator Award winner is Ying-Jun Cao, MB, Research and Clinical Fellow, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. The Young Investigator Award supports a fellow in clinical pharmacology or related field who is engaged in clinical/translational research.Dr. Cao's research aims to improve utilization of therapeutic armamentarium associated with the prevention of progression and transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus. Support for this award was provided by Amgen in the form of an unrestricted education grant.

The American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (ASCPT) is the leading forum for the exchange, development, and integration of translational science into the drug development continuum from discovery to safe and effective medication use. Headquartered in Alexandria, VA, ASCPT was founded in 1900 and has over 2,100 members worldwide.