The Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics has the unique responsibility within the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy to provide classroom and clinical instruction for pharmacy students in the practice of pharmacy and to train graduate and postgraduate scientists in the principles of translational research. We engage in innovative teaching and research, preparing our students to be professional and scientific leaders.
Our PhD program develops scientists who excel at conducting innovative and clinically relevant translational research that integrates biomedical and pharmaceutical sciences in a laboratory- and computer-based environments that leverage preclinical and clinical investigations.
We generate and disseminate new knowledge in pharmacotherapy and accelerate its application to improve patient care through:
The concentration area in pharmacotherapy and experimental therapeutics was developed with two curricular tracks based on previous experience of the applicant:
These are applied to therapeutic areas, including:
Graduates from both tracks have enjoyed an outstanding employment rate in both academia and the pharmaceutical industry.
Join Dr. Carter Cao and current graduate students on Thursday October 26, 2023 at 7:30pm EST for a DPET Graduate Program informational webinar and Q&A session.
Webinar Registration BrochureOur faculty include clinical practitioners who bring insights from the patient-care setting to their teaching, translational research, and professional service activities. Many of our faculty hold joint appointments in the UNC School of Medicine, the Department of Pharmacy at the UNC Medical Center, and other allied health schools. They lend their expertise through speaking engagements and memberships on advisory panels and committees, and play important roles in local, state, national, and international organizations.
Derek Bartlett, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics of the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. His research focuses on the combination of quantitative systems pharmacology modeling and microfluidic perfusion systems as an animal-alternative approach for the systematic interrogation of drug pharmacokinetic (PK)-pharmacodynamic (PD) relationships.
Robert (Bob) Blouin, Pharm.D., is the Bryson Distinguished Professor in the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. Dr. Blouin’s academic interests are in the areas of pharmacokinetics, drug metabolism, and the effect of disease and altered physiologic states on the disposition of drugs.
Kim L.R. Brouwer, Pharm.D., Ph.D., is the William R. Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professor in the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics of the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, associate dean for research and graduate education, and a professor in the curriculum in toxicology.
Yanguang Cao, Ph.D., joined the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy initially as an assistant professor and then promoted as an associate professor in the division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics. Prior to joining the School, Cao served as a research assistant professor at SUNY Buffalo for two years after completing a postdoctoral training program at SUNY, Buffalo.
Amber.Cipriani@unchealth.unc.edu
Amber Cipriani, Pharm.D., joined the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy as a clinical assistant professor in the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapy. Cipriani’s appointment is cofunded by UNC Hospitals, where she serves as a clinical oncology specialist in thoracic oncology.
Amanda Corbett, Pharm.D., is an associate professor in the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics and the Global Pharmacology Coordinator for the UNC Institute of Global Health and Infectious Diseases. Her expertise are in HIV, antiviral, and opportunistic infection clinical pharmacy and ethnopharmacology. She has extensive experience in developing countries and more recently in integrative medicine practices.
Mackenzie Cottrell, Pharm.D., M.S. is an assistant professor in the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics. Her research focuses on describing pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic relationships in mucosal tissues for antiretrovirals being used in HIV prevention and cure interventions.
Daniel Crona, Pharm.D., Ph.D., joined the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy in 2015. His translational research program focuses on how genetic variations can lead to differences in the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of therapeutic treatments used in oncology, and how inter-individual differences in clinical pharmacology measures can affect survival and drug toxicity phenotypes.
Julie Dumond, Pharm.D., M.S., is an associate professor in the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics. Her primary research interest is the pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics of antiretrovirals. She is currently conducting a clinical study in aging, HIV-infected subjects to explore the effects of cellular aging and frailty on antiretroviral toxicity and efficacy.
Robert Dupuis, PharmD, FCCO, is a clinical professor and vice department chair within the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics. Dr. Dupuis is also the division’s director of fellowship programs. In this role, he advises postdoctoral fellows on clinical research in the areas of regulatory affairs, medical affairs, clinical development, and pharmacometrics. Dr. Dupuis has expertise in clinical pharmacology, drug metabolism, drug disposition, pharmacogenomics, adverse effects, outcomes and enhancement of care.
Amber Frick, Pharm.D., Ph.D., is an assistant professor with the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics. Her main responsibilities at the School are to develop an expertise in the implementation and assessment of new approaches to and best practices in teaching while also taking part in collaborative teaching activities.
The Heinzen Lab focuses on the genetic and genomic basis of epilepsy disorders, including analyses of the role of germline mutations, somatic mutations, and how regulation of the cellular transcriptome influences the risk and presentation of seizures. In collaboration with a number of investigators in neurology, neuropathology, and neurosurgery, my group is to studies the role of somatic mutations in epilepsy and other neurological diseases.
Ian B. Hollis, PharmD, FCCP, BCCP is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics. Ian coordinates a course in the Integrative Pharmacotherapy series and teaches in several PharmD courses. His practice and research interests include the medication management of patients with heart failure, and those status post cardiac surgery, left ventricular assist devices (LVAD) placement, and/or heart transplantation.
Klarissa Jackson joined the faculty at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy as an assistant professor in the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics. Jackson obtained her B.S. in chemistry from Jackson State University and her Ph.D. in pharmacology from Vanderbilt University. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Washington School of Pharmacy in the Department of Medicinal Chemistry under the mentorship of Drs. Allan Rettie and Sidney Nelson. Prior to joining the faculty at UNC, Jackson was as an assistant professor at Lipscomb University College of Pharmacy in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Pharmacology at Vanderbilt University.
Dr. Kashuba’s research focuses on the clinical pharmacology of drugs used in the treatment, prevention, and cure of HIV infection. She is working on optimizing dosing strategies for HIV prevention including the role of sex and ethnicity, characterizing drug distribution in putative viral reservoirs using mass spectrometry imaging, determining predictors of drug tissue distribution, and developing in vitro models for optimizing combination therapy for HIV cure.
Dr. Lai is a research assistant professor in the Heinzen Lab. She focuses on modeling SLC35A2 epilepsy in hiPSC-derived neuronal models.
Craig Lee, Pharm.D, Ph.D. is a professor and the chair of the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics. His research focuses on cytochrome P450 metabolism, cardiovascular experimental therapeutics, and precision medicine/pharmacogenomics.
Benyam Muluneh, Pharm.D., is an assistant professor in the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics. Muluneh coordinates a course in the integrative pharmacotherapy series and teaches in several PharmD courses. His research interests include optimization of pharmacotherapy in leukemias through the precision dosing initiative and a multidimensional approach to understanding and improving adherence to oral oncolytics. Muluneh also leads the school’s collaborations with Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia with a focus on hematology/oncology including serving as a GPS preceptor.
Adam Persky is a professor in the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics. He teaches physiology and pharmacokinetics. His research focuses on translating the science of learning and memory into practical application in the classroom and experiential settings.
Jo Ellen Rodgers, Pharm.D., is a professor in the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics and serves as director of postdoctoral programs for the Eshelman School of Pharmacy. Rodgers’ primary research interest is in the care of heart failure patients.
Dr. Rosen’s research focuses on the development of methods to measure intracellular distribution of therapeutics and their metabolites in a variety of biological matrices using mass spectrometry imaging. He is currently quantifying the penetration of drugs relevant to HIV treatment and eradication into putative viral reservoirs, and combining this approach with traditional imaging modalities to evaluate efficacy of experimental treatment regimens.
Dr. Song’s research is focused on developing safer and more efficient AAV vectors for liver-target gene therapy. He is working on the evaluation of hepatotoxicity risks in 3D spheroids models for AAV gene therapy.
Deborah Sturpe, PharmD, MA, BCPS is a clinical associate professor in the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics. Her primary responsibilities in the Eshelman School of Pharmacy include didactic teaching, ambulatory care practice, and investigating how to best teach and assess students. In particular, she is interested in PharmD curricular revision and curricular/program assessment planning as well as best practices in competency education and performance-based assessment. Dr. Sturpe also serves as Associate Editor for Manuscript Quality for the journal Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning.
Patricia Termini, M.S., RAC, is an associate professor in the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics as well as the director of the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy’s Master of Professional Science (MPS) in Regulatory Science program.
Jacqueline B. Tiley, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics. Her research interest is on disease- and drug-mediated alterations in hepatic and placental transport proteins and its impact on drug disposition and toxicity. Her overall goal is to improve the safety of medications used during pregnancy and breastfeeding, as well as advance precision medicine strategies.
Paul Watkins, M.D., is director of the the Watkins Lab for Drug Safety Sciences at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy and the Howard Q. Ferguson Distinguished Professor in the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics.
Dennis Williams, Pharm.D., is an associate professor and the vice chair for professional education and practice for the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics.
Tim Wiltshire, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics and Director of the UNC Center for Pharmacogenomics and Individualized Therapy. The major focus of his laboratory and CPIT is to take the pharmacogenetic knowledge we already have and develop approaches for that information to be used effectively in clinical practice.
William Zamboni, Pharm.D., Ph.D., is a professor in the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics and UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. He is the director of the UNC Advanced Translational Pharmacology and Analytical Chemistry (ATPAC) Lab and Recharge Center in the Eshelman School of Pharmacy, the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center (LCCC), and the Carolina Institute of Nanomedicine. His research interests focus on the application of pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic, and pharmacogenetic principles in the optimization of the chemotherapeutic treatment of cancer.
Hugh A. Barton, PhD
Barton currently works as a consultant for Barton Systems Pharmacology and Toxicology. His area of expertise includes translational modeling and simulation, pharmacokinetics, and dynamics and metabolism.
Daniel K. Benjamin, Jr., MD, PhD, MPH
Benjamin is a recognized specialist, mentor and advisor in pediatric infectious diseases. He is a faculty associate director and Kiser-Arena Distinguished Professor of Pediatrics at Duke Clinical Research Institute.
William Brock, PhD
Brock is the founder of Brock Scientific Consulting LLC which provides expert-led toxicology services to the pharmaceutical, consumer product, food, medical device, and chemical industries.
Gilbert Burckart, PharmD
Burkhart is the associate director of pediatrics in the office of clinical pharmacology at the US Food and Drug Administration.
Scott Clark, PhD
Clark, of SCSClark Networks, specializes in pharmacogenomics.
Michael Cohen-Wolkowiez, MD, PhD
Cohen-Wolkowiez is a professor of pediatrics at the Duke University School of Medicine and a member of the Duke Clinical Research Institute. He specializes in pediatric pharmacology and clinical trials.
Austin Combest, PharmD
Combest is the senior director of information and clinical science in global product development for PPD.
Eric C. Faulkner
Faulkner is a global lead for real-world evidence (RWE) activities and serves as an integrated market access executive team member for Novartis Gene Therapies portfolio of products.
Mona Fiuzat, PharmD, FACC, FHFA, FHFSA
Fiuzat is an associate professor of medicine at Duke University, a senior scientific advisor at the FDA, an executive editor of JACC: Heart Failure, and a former senior scientific advisor to the FDA commissioner.
Ronald Fleming, PharmD
Fleming’s research area is oncology and provides expertise in the pharmaceutical industry.
Giulia Ghibellini, PhD
Ghibellini is the director of clinical pharmacology at Teva Pharmaceuticals. Her research expertise is in the fields of pharmacokinetics and clinical pharmacology.
Roberto Gomeni, PhD
Gomeni is the president and founder of PharmacoMetrica France, a company offering global consulting services in Pharmacometrics.
Daniel Gonzalez, PharmD, PhD
Gonzalez is a faculty member at the Duke Clinical Research Institute/Duke University School of Medicine.
Alan Higgins, PhD
Higgins, of Baskerville Consulting, is an expert in the field of preclinical drug development.
Lawrence Lesko, PhD, FCP
Matthew Loop, PhD
Loop is an assistant professor focusing on health outcomes research and policy at Auburn University, Harrison College of Pharmacy.
Carmella Moody, PhD
Moody is currently the Director for Regulatory Affairs at Research Triangle Institute (RTI).
Merrie Mosedale, PhD
Mosedale is a regulatory science lead for UCB Biosciences.
Alison A. Motsinger-Reif, PhD
Motsinger-Reif’s research at the North Carolina State University is focused on pharmacogenetics and bioinformatics.
Prem Narang, PhD, FCP
Narang is a strategic regulatory & drug development innovation advisor and president of P.K. Narang Strategic Consulting, LLC.
Kouros Owzar, PhD
Owzar is a professor of biostatistics and bioinformatics at Duke University. He specializes in cancer pharmacogenomics, drug-induced neuropathy, neutropenia and hypertension, statistical genetics, statistical methods for high-dimensional data, copulas, survival analysis, and statistical computing.
Jai Narendra Patel, PharmD
At the Carolina HealthCare System’s Levine Cancer Institute, Patel is involved in preclinical drug development research.
Nita Patel
Patel is a senior research advisor in drug disposition at Eli Lilly and Company. She focuses on drug development.
Kenneth Phares, PhD
Phares has extensive experience in the pharmaceutical industry, specifically in the areas of preformulation, formulation development, and bioanalytical method development.
Matthew Tyler Pletcher, PhD
Pletcher is the head of Rare Disease Discovery at Roche. His research is focused on genetics and pharmacogenomics.
Bob Powell, PharmD
Powell is a clinical pharmacologist who is interested in developing better dosing strategies in emerging markets with the goal of making drugs safer and more effective.
Gauri Rao, PharmD, MS
Rao is an associate professor of clinical pharmacy at the Titus Family Department of Clinical Pharmacy at the University of Southern California.
Virginia Schmith, PhD, FCP
Schmith has extensive research experience in clinical pharmacology and pharmacometrics.
Diane Severynse-Stevens
Severynse-Stevens has expertise in pharmaceutical product development and regulatory affairs.
Frank Sistare, PhD
Sistare is a retired scientific associate vice president of safety assessment & laboratory animal resources preclinical development at Merck Research Laboratories.
Russell Thomas, PhD
Thomas is the director for the EPA’s National Center for Computational Toxicology. His research is focused on genomic biology and bioinformatics.
Robert Voyksner, PhD
Voyksner teaches courses and directs student research in mass spectrometry.
Jian Wang, PhD, MSRS, FCP
Wang is the the global head of translational, oncology regulatory science, strategy and excellence for AstraZeneca.
Daniel Weiner, PhD
Weiner’s expertise is in the field of pharmacometrics and pharmaceutical biostatistics.
Maciej Jan Zamek-Gilszczynski, PhD
Zamek-Gilszczynski is a scientific director at GlaxoSmithKline. His research focuses on preclinical drug development.
Darryl Zeldin, MD
Zeldin is a senior investigator in the Immunity, Inflammation, and Disease Laboratory / Environmental Cardiopulmonary Disease Group at the NIEHS.
Zhiynag Zhao, PhD
Zhao is the chief scientific officer at Alliance Pharma. His area of research is pharmacokinetics and drug metabolism.
Issam Zineh, PharmD, MPH
Zineh is a director at the US FDA Office of Clinical Pharmacology.
J. Heyward Hull is a professor emeritus in the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics.
Herb Patterson, Pharm.D., is a is a professor emeritus in the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics.
Wayne Pittman is a professor emeritus in the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics.
Kim Brouwer
Mackenzie Cottrell
Daniel Crona
Julie Dumond
Erin Heinzen
Klarissa Jackson
Craig Lee
Benyam Muluneh
Paul Watkins
William Zamboni
