Author: [AUTHOR] Published on 6/1/2021 12:00:00 AM
Sumit Basu, PhD, Merck Pharmaceuticals, Harleysville, Pennsylvania
Who has inspired you in your career?
My parents encouraged me to pursue Pharmacy as my undergraduate degree because my father worked as a pharmacist in India for a brief time. During my undergraduate days, I became fascinated by the drug development area and decided to pursue higher studies in the United States. During my PhD program in 2014, I got an opportunity to attend one symposium where Dr. Larry Lesko was delivering a lecture about quantitative clinical pharmacology. So, I decided to join Dr. Stephan Schmidt’s group at the University of Florida’s Center for Pharmacometrics & Systems Pharmacology. I was fortunate to learn and hone my modeling skills as well as “soft skills,” such and leadership skills, critical thinking, teamwork, decision making, and communication. Dr. Schmidt and Dr. Lesko also allowed me to work on various collaborative projects with industry and the FDA, which helped me understand how to solve real world problems with modeling and simulation. I believe my training experience at UF—especially under the guidance of Dr. Schmidt—expanded my skills and allowed me to realize my full potential.
What is your favorite Society memory?
In 2017, I attended the ASCPT Annual Meeting and presented my post-doctoral work, for which I received a travel grant. I had the opportunity to showcase my work on the opening day of the meeting. During that meeting, I interacted face-to-face with leaders from academia, industry, and regulatory. All of them gave me career advice and suggested numerous tools to address research questions. That experience encouraged me to work as a clinical pharmacologist in an industry setting.
When you aren’t working, how do you spend your free time?
I like to read fiction and watch soccer in my free time. Bayern-Munchen and Liverpool are my two favorite soccer clubs.
What’s one thing people would be surprised to know about you?
I am a quiz buff. I won my first state-level award in my middle school. I participate in trivia quiz contests whenever I get the chance.
Dr. Basu has been a member of ASCPT since 2016.
