February 22, 2023
The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapy (ASPET) Division for Drug Metabolism and Disposition has awarded Klarissa Jackson, Ph.D. the 2023 Richard Okita Early Career Award in Drug Metabolism and Disposition. ASPET awards are awarded to professionals who display excellence in the field of pharmacology.
Jackson is receiving this award in recognition of her translational research in drug metabolism and disposition focused on individual variations in cytochrome P450-mediated drug metabolism and adverse reactions in patients from understudied ethnic backgrounds.
“I am so grateful to receive this award,” said Jackson. “I thank God for this opportunity. I thank the ASPET Division for Drug Metabolism and Disposition for selecting me for this honor. I especially thank Dr. Kim Brouwer from the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy for leading my nomination for this award and the generous mentors who provided letters of support for my nomination. The Drug Metabolism and Disposition community is an incredible scientific community to be a part of, and I am very grateful to everyone who contributes great science in this field.”
Jackson’s research is focused on drug metabolism and toxicology with the goal of better understanding the mechanisms of and risk factors for adverse drug reactions, improving drug safety and optimizing drug therapy in understudied populations.
Jackson, an assistant professor in the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy’s Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics (DPET), 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 at DPET in 2019.
The award will be presented by the Division for Drug Metabolism and Disposition on Saturday, May 20, during the ASPET 2023 Annual Meeting in St. Louis, Missouri. While there, Jackson will present a lecture on her research titled “Drug Metabolism in Understudied Ethnic Populations.”
Click here for the full list of award recipients.