Each month, the editors of three of the ASPET journals choose their Highlighted Trainee Authors. These early-career scientists are recognized for their innovative research published in The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Drug Metabolism and Disposition, and Molecular Pharmacology. This feature showcases selected young scientists, demonstrates what drives them, and reveals why pharmacology is important to them. This month we are featuring the June 2026 Highlighted Trainee Authors.
Thomas Lamme
“I’ve always been fascinated by how the body works and the molecular mechanisms behind disease. As a kid, I thought I wanted to become a medical doctor until I realized that even a tiny drop of blood could make me pass out,” says Thomas Lamme, a PhD Candidate at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. He still decided to become a doctor, but a different one, and research was the perfect compromise. “I still get to investigate diseases, just without passing out in the process. What I especially enjoy about working in the lab is that no day is the same, there is always something new to discover, troubleshoot or learn.”
Lamme’s published research, “GPCR kinase 3 couples atypical chemokine receptor 4 independent of G proteins,” focuses on how immune cells are guided towards the gut through a chemical navigation system involving CCL25 and its receptors CCR9 and ACKR4. He and his team focus on the molecular mechanisms of how CCL25 signals through binding to CCR9 and ACKR4, and how this interaction is translated into the control of immune cell movement.
“When this system is disrupted, it can contribute to inflammatory bowel disease and may also play a role in cancer metastasis towards the colon. The goal is to understand these mechanisms in detail and explore how we might modulate the system in disease.” Lamme hopes that his research contributes to a better understanding of how proteins interact with each other and how these interactions can be modulated. And while Lamme’s current work focuses on chemokines and GPCRs, he hopes the general principles we discover can be applied more broadly across different protein systems.
At this current stage, Lamme is still exploring what will come at the end of his PhD. “What mainly drives me is curiosity and the opportunity to work on meaningful scientific questions. I’m keeping my options open whether that leads me to academia, government, or industry,” he shares. As a regular reader of Molecular Pharmacology, Lamme likes how it focuses on clear mechanistic insights that are broadly important for the field of pharmacology. “Having my work published there means my work is rigorous and mechanistically grounded.”
Ben Clements
The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
Ben Clements, PhD, is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Michigan Department of Pharmacology. As an undergraduate, Clements was interested in biology and chemistry and wanted to find a career path where he could apply these to provide direct benefits to people and their health. With the guidance of his undergraduate advisor, Dr. Dhiren Thakker, and his graduate advisors, Dr. Carolyn Fairbanks and Dr. George Wilcox, he chose to pursue neuropharmacology and pain research.
Clement’s research, “Pharmacokinetic and Pharmacological Characterization of Novel Agmatine-Based Anti-hyperalgesic Compounds,” focuses on the characterization of novel pain therapeutics, ranging from NMDA receptor antagonists to opioid receptor allosteric modulators. His work aims to create new ways to provide pain relief to patients, with the goal of making new medications for transition from the bench to patients.
“I hope my research will impact pharmacology by providing new molecules for investigation and continuing to probe the neuropharmacology of pain. In addition, I hope these molecules will provide proof-of-concept of new classes of therapeutics,” he shared.
Clement’s future goals are to establish an independent academic laboratory studying chronic pain and new treatments for pain, particularly using endogenous opioid systems to provide relief to patients. For Clements, the most exciting part of research is the ability to train new scientists, and see people develop the same passion he’s felt.
ASPET has long been an incredible resource for Clements, providing him with opportunities to teach, learn, and train with amazing scientists. Being published in The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics “is incredibly meaningful to publish in journals that have had an immense impact on pharmacology, both in the past and today.”
