Author: [AUTHOR] Published on 2/1/2024 12:00:00 AM

Brian Cicali, PhD, Research Assistant Professor, University of Florida, Ocala, FL

What excites you about serving in your role as the Translational Informatics (TI) Community Vice Chair?
Getting to interact and collaborate with many people with diverse backgrounds, while also forwarding cutting-edge technology and science among the clinical pharmacology field!

Who has inspired you in your career?
I have been lucky to have multiple great mentors over the years. But two people have been the most inspirational to me and have guided me to where I am today. Dr. Jacques Turgeon and Dr. Stephan Schmidt have been instrumental in my career.

What has been the greatest challenge in your career?
Navigating multiple career path changes has certainly been one of the greatest challenges of my career. I started by transitioning from a PharmD to a BS in Pharmacology/Toxicology working in medicinal chemistry for 2 years. From there I returned to school for an MS in computer science, then worked as a PK research scientist/lead data analyst. I returned to school for a PhD in pharmaceutical sciences and now work in academia as a Research Assistant Professor at the UF Center for Pharmacometrics and Systems Pharmacology. My path was never straight or easy, but the challenges of pursuing my passions has been highly rewarding thus far.

What was your childhood dream job?
When I was a child, I wanted to be either a pediatrician or a geologist. Now some of my work focuses on optimizing drug therapies in pediatric populations using PBPK/PD and popPK/PD approaches, so in the end I stayed closer to my pediatric aspirations.

What's one thing people would be surprised to know about you?
One thing I think most people would be surprised to learn is that during my late teens and early twenties I was a semi-professional skateboarder, before trading in my skateboard for a pipet during the 3rd year of my undergraduate studies.

Dr. Cicali has been a member of ASCPT since 2016.