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 November 2025 Highlighted Trainee Authors.
Syed Anees Ahmed, PhD
The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
Syed Anees Ahmed, PhD, is a Postdoctoral Researcher at East Carolina University and has been an ASPET member since 2022. He was trained as a pharmacologist with an emphasis on cardiovascular pathophysiology, diabetes, and drug discovery/development. Over time, his interests converged on how hormonal signaling interfaces with circadian regulation and redox homeostasis to shape cardiac health. Ahmed’s career development and decisions were also influenced by his mentors who emphasized rigorous, mechanism-centered, and drug discovery-based experimentation and translational alignment.
In his published research, “Estrogen elicits ferroptosis-related myocardial oxidative stress and dysfunction in male rats,” Ahmed and team found that long-term estrogen administration can make male heart cells vulnerable to a specific type of cell death, ferroptosis, that damages cell membranes and weakens heart functioning. Understanding and blocking this process could help protect people whose medical treatments or conditions alter estrogen or perhaps other sex hormone levels.
The findings identify ferroptosis and oxidative stress as druggable axes in sex-specific effects of estrogen on heart health. Ahmed aims to prioritize ferroptosis-suppressing strategies (e.g., GPX4-supporting and iron-handling approaches), refine hormone-related cardiac risk assessment using mechanism-based biomarkers and functional readouts, and inform precision risk mitigation for individuals receiving hormonal therapy.
For Ahmed, “Publication in The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics affirms the mechanistic and translational rigor of my work and places it within a community that values quantitative physiology and therapeutic actionable insight. I have always valued JPET as a premier journal of pharmacology in general.”
Junlong Chen
Drug Metabolism and Disposition
Junlong Chen is a 4th year PhD candidate and Research Associate at the National Center for Child Health and Development. Chen first became interested in biological research because of Dolly, the cloned sheep. Later, during a university lecture on organoids, he became deeply fascinated by stem cell research. He decided to enter this field with the dream of one day creating organs. “I have successfully generated a small part of the human small intestine. These cells can be expanded and cryopreserved for long-term storage,” Chen explained his published research titled, “Stable and functional human intestinal epithelium derived from induced pluripotent stem cells.” In the future, he hopes to make this intestinal tissue available worldwide—and ultimately, create a fully functional small intestine. Additionally, he aims to establish a system that allows drugs to be tested in an environment closer to the human body. “Although my research represents only a small step, I believe it can contribute to achieving that goal.”
For Chen, the most exciting moment of his research comes when his hypotheses are validated by experiments. “In my case, it was when I succeeded in expanding small intestinal epithelial cells into 2D culture,” he shared. “I also find great fulfillment in meeting people, exchanging ideas, and collaborating on research. Through both research and communication, I feel that I am constantly growing as a scientist.”
When asked what it means to be published in Drug Metabolism and Disposition, Chen shared, “My research provides a fundamental technology, and its value lies in being used. ASPET journals are read by pharmacology experts around the world, making them an ideal venue for sharing these findings widely.” He hopes that his research will be applied and developed in the field of pharmacology.