January 28, 2022
UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy’s Klarissa Jackson, Ph.D. has been awarded an ASPET 2022 Division for Translational and Clinical Pharmacology Early Career Award.
These awards recognize excellence in translational and clinical pharmacology research that comes from early career scientists.
Jackson received this award in recognition of her translational research in drug metabolism/toxicology, focused specifically on individual variations in cytochrome P450 enzymes, that aims to elucidate the mechanisms of and risk factors for adverse drug reactions.
“I thank God for this opportunity, and I feel incredibly blessed to have worked with outstanding mentors, colleagues, and students who have helped me get to this point,” Jackson said. “I also thank the ASPET Division for Translational and Clinical Pharmacology for selecting me to receive this award.”
Jackson, an assistant professor in the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy’s Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics, received her Ph.D. in Pharmacology at Vanderbilt University and completed her postdoctoral training at the University of Washington.
She joined the faculty at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy as an assistant professor in the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics in 2019. Her research interests focus on drug metabolism and toxicology to better understand the mechanisms of and risk factors for adverse drug reactions and improve drug safety.
Her laboratory is currently investigating the roles of cytochrome P450 and non-P450 enzymes in the metabolism and toxicity of small molecule drugs used in targeted cancer therapy. She said she is interested in understanding the impact of variability in drug metabolism and disposition on individual risk for drug toxicity. The long-term goals of this research are to better predict and prevent serious adverse drug reactions and optimize drug therapy in diverse patient populations.
The early career award will be presented by the Division for Translational and Clinical Pharmacology at the ASPET Annual Meeting at EB 2022 in Philadelphia on April 4. There, Jackson will deliver a lecture on her research titled Studies on the Role of Metabolic Activation in Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor-Dependent Hepatotoxicity.
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