Talk Title: “The UPR School of Pharmacy Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences Program: high-quality interdisciplinary research and education to promote scientific knowledge.”
Abstract: This presentation will summarize the most relevant aspects of the new Ph.D. Program in Pharmaceutical Sciences at the UPR School of Pharmacy, emphasizing the goals, mission, and scope of the program and its three established tracks. The mentor-driven nature of the program, a highly-qualified faculty staff, admission requirements, and a well-designed interdisciplinary educational curriculum to advance scientific knowledge will be discussed. The success of the program during its first two years of academic offering will be illustrated with examples and relevant data collected.
Biography: Dr. Jorge Duconge, PhD, MSc, BS Pharm, is a Professor of Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacogenomics and the Assistant Dean for Research and Graduate Programs at the University of Puerto Rico School of Pharmacy. He earned his BS in Pharmacy in 1995 and his Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences in 1999, from the University of Havana. He completed a Residency Program on Advanced PK/PD Modeling at Cambridge University, England, and a Pharmacogenomics Certificate from the Precision Medicine Program for Pharmacists, at the University of Florida (UF) and has received extensive training in genetics, molecular biology, pharmacometrics, clinical research, and big data analysis. He is the Key Activity Leader of the RCMI Center for Genomics in Health Disparities and Rare Diseases. Dr. Duconge is also a founder member of the Pharmacogenomics Global Research Network (PGRN) and holds active membership in different professional societies and consortiums (e.g., ASHG, ASCPT, AHA, AACP, CPIC, PharmVar, RIBEF, RedIF). He is the author of over 100 scientific publications including reviews, book chapters, and research articles in peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Duconge’s laboratory main research focus is on clinical and translational pan-omics with a particular interest in the pharmacogenomics of cardiovascular drugs in admixed Caribbean Hispanics to identify novel biomarkers of clinical relevance for decision-making. As the PI of five NIH-funded grants, Dr. Duconge has laid the groundwork for pharmacogenomics research in Caribbean Hispanics by performing measures of admixture, genetic structure, association studies of drug response at genome-wide level and by developing new pharmacogenetic algorithms for dose predictions in this population as well as developing clinically useful polygenic models and decision-support tools that predict risks for adverse drug reactions and non-response prior to therapy. More information about Dr. Duconge and his lab can be found online at http://pgx-lab.rcm.upr.edu/.