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(Alexandria, VA)– Sean Hennessy, PharmD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology and Pharmacology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, has been selected by the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (ASCPT) to receive the 2008 Leon I. Goldberg Young Investigator Award. The Leon I. Goldberg Young Investigator Award recognizes and encourages young scientists who are active in clinical pharmacology. The award was named in honor of Leon I. Goldberg and his many contributions to ASCPT.

ASCPT will present the award to Dr. Hennessy on Thursday, April 3, 2008, at its Annual Meeting in Orlando, Florida. As the Leon I. Goldberg awardee, Dr. Hennessy will present a lecture entitled "Unraveling Drug Effects through Epidemiology."

Dr. Hennessy received his BS and PharmD from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science. He earned his MSCE as well as his PhD in Epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania. In 2003, he received Pfizer's Scholar Award for Faculty Development in Clinical Epidemiology. Dr. Hennessey is a past president of the International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology. He currently serves as a member of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee.

Dr. Hennessy's research is focused on pharmacoepidemiology. He led an international research collaboration examining a novel vaccine designed to protect against Japanese encephalitis, a mosquito-borne viral disease responsible for 15,000 childhood deaths in Asia each year. This research has been instrumental in efforts to make the candidate vaccine available in other parts of Asia outside of China. While pursuing his PhD, Dr. Hennessy studied the effectiveness of Medicaid-based retrospective drug utilization review (DUR) programs. DUR programs were initially intended for inclusion in the Medicare Modernization Act; however, they were not included in the Act as a result of Dr. Hennessy's research. Dr. Hennessy's research has been published in the New England Journal of Medicine and the Journal of the American Medical Association, as well as a number of other top-tier journals.

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 more than 2,100 members worldwide.