Each month, the editors of three of the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutic’s (ASPET) journals choose who they call 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.
Remi Janicot
“During my early education, I had a fascination for science and enjoyed the challenge of understanding the complexity of how the human body worked,” explained Remi Janicot, a fourth-year PhD student. After receiving his bachelor’s degree in Neuroscience, he was torn about his next step. So, to gain a better understanding of life as a researcher, he joined the lab of Carl Stafstrom as a lab technician at John’s Hopkins Medical School researching the mechanisms underlying pediatric epilepsy.
“It is there that I made my first real scientific contributions and decided to pursue this path by joining the PhD program at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine,” Janicot said.
His interest in science was influenced by his father who has a PhD in Biochemistry and worked his entire career in the pharma and biotechnology industry. Janicot said he was never pushed to follow his father, but he’s “sure that overhearing his discussions about his work sparked some interest in science from an early age.”
He also credits Dr. Mikel Garcia-Marcos who encouraged him to attend scientific meetings (like the ASPET Annual Meeting) from an early stage in his PhD. Janicot considers his attendance as foundational experiences for his development as a scientist. Having attended multiple ASPET annual meetings, Janicot says that he’s fully aware of the quality of the work that this community delivers.
“The members that make up ASPET journals are all accomplished scientists with high standards, with deep ties to the pharmaceutical industry which plan to join,” Janicot said. “To get published in an ASPET journal and get this recognition is a great personal accomplishment, but also a testament to the quality of the work that goes on in the Garcia-Marcos lab and in the Biochemistry & Cell Biology Department at Boston University.” Janicot’s research article is now available in the September issue of Molecular Pharmacology.
Yu Wang
Yu Wang, PhD, received his doctorate degree in Pharmacokinetics at the College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University and will begin working as a postdoctoral researcher focusing on PK-related projects. Early in his career he’s been drawn to pharmaceutical sciences.
“Since my undergraduate studies, I have majored in pharmaceutical sciences,” Wang said. “I realized that pharmacology, particularly pharmacokinetics, plays a pivotal role in new drug development, drug dosage adjustment and safe usage of drugs in the clinic.” This realization led him to pursue graduate study under supervision of Prof. Zeng, a renowned expert in this field.
Although he was drawn into nanomedicines in a short period, “Prof. Zeng’s influence convinced me to continue focusing on PK and made me fascinated by it,” said Wang. Meanwhile, he aims to deepen his knowledge and skills in this area.
“ASPET publishes several esteemed journals that feature articles on pharmacology-related areas and presents them to the pharmacists or researchers actively engaged in the discipline. Publishing an article in the journal means that our work could contribute valuable research insight as well as experiences to this field, and it might also help to expand the corpus of knowledge in PK,” Wang explained.
In addition to having his work published in the September issue of Drug Metabolism and Disposition, Wang plans to be a teacher at university, teaching PK courses and exploring the alteration of pharmacokinetic properties of drugs in specific patients using molecular biology.