Souzan Yanni
SOUZAN YANNI
Souzan Yanni obtained her BS in Chemistry from Cairo University, Egypt, and MS in Biochemistry from Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado. Subsequently, she worked at Johns Hopkins university medical school and Duke University medical school for four years. Over the next 16 years, she worked for several pharmaceutical companies - Glaxo Inc., Merck and Co, and Eli Lilly - in the area of drug metabolism and absorption. Currently, she works in Dr. Thakker's group as a member of the NIH-funded North Carolina Collaborative Pediatric Pharmacology Research Unit (NCC-PPRU). Her role in this program is to develop and maintain a pediatric and adult tissue bank, and utilize in vitro models to elucidate the role of transporters and drug metabolizing enzymes in the disposition of therapeutic agents in pediatric population. These studies will support the overall NCC-PPRU goal of developing a better understanding of the differences in drug disposition between children and adults and thus improving the safety and efficacy of medications in children. In 2007, Souzan has joined the Ph.D. program in Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Leuven, Belgium, under the joint direction of Drs. Thakker (UNC-Chapel Hill), Annaert and Augustijns (U. Leuven, Belgium). Her research project focuses on elucidation of metabolic and transport processes that contribute to differences clearance of several antifungal agents in pediatric vs. adult populations.