Press Release
8/18/2023
For more information:
Rebecca Stauffer
AAPS Communications Manager
[email protected]
AAPS Elevates Eight Members to Fellow Status
Fellows Program Recognizes Leadership in the Pharmaceutical Field
Arlington, VA—AAPS is pleased to announce that eight members have been selected for elevation to Fellow status in recognition of their professional excellence and sustained superior impact in fields relevant to AAPS’ mission: advancing the capacity of pharmaceutical scientists to develop products and therapies that improve global health.
The new Fellows will be formally inducted before the membership at PharmSci 360 on Sunday, October 22.
AAPS Fellows are nominated by AAPS members. The status of Fellow denotes professional excellence and a sustained, positive impact on global health and the AAPS community.
“I am very proud to present the Class of 2023 AAPS Fellows who were selected based on well-defined criteria for outstanding scientific accomplishments, significant and sustained impact in the pharmaceutical sciences, and exceptional service to the AAPS community,” AAPS 2023 Fellows Committee Chair Mandip Singh Sachdeva, Ph.D., FAAPS, Ph.D., said. “I also specially thank the Fellows committee who worked diligently to select such distinguished scientists. I look forward to honoring our new Fellows at PharmSci 360.”
The following AAPS members have been elevated to Fellow.
Shaukat Ali, Ph.D., FAAPS
Shaukat Ali has had a long career firmly grounded in pharmaceutical science. His career highlights include 53 publications, a book chapter, and nine trade journal articles. His article, “Combining HME & Solubilization: Soluplus® – The Solid Solution,” which appeared in Drug Delivery Technology in 2010, is so significant it has been cited more than 100 times despite appearing in trade media. He is also the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Analytical and Pharmaceutical Research. He has a total of 32 patents and patent applications. Dr. Ali is the recipient of IPEC Foundation’s 2020 Henk de Jong Industrial Research Award for his significant contributions in the field of excipient technologies. He is a member of the USP Council of Experts and a co-chair of the Excipient Test Methods Expert Committee. He is also a co-chair of the AAPS Lipid Community.
Ben Boyd, Ph.D., FAAPS
Ben Boyd is recognized as an established scholar at the intersection of drug delivery and colloid science, focusing on lipid and lipid self-assembly and the development of new methods to study these topics. He has published more than 300 papers, attracting more than 16,000 citations, and is a past President and Fellow of the Controlled Release Society as well as past President of the Australasian Colloid and Interface Society. He currently serves as co-editor of Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, was Editor for Asia for Drug Delivery and Translational Research and sits on numerous editorial advisory boards. Dr. Boyd has mentored 42 Ph.D. students. His research has attracted significant national and international funding, including multiple grants from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and prestigious fellowships from the Australian Research Council and the Novo Nordisk Foundation, the latter of which he is currently undertaking at the University of Copenhagen.
Maria Croyle, Ph.D., FAAPS
Maria Croyle is advanced to Fellow status for her extraordinary work in vaccines and gene therapies. Leading an international team to develop a needle-free Ebola vaccine, she patented a method to deliver and store vaccines without refrigeration. She published landmark papers on formulation and delivery of viruses that have been used in several gene therapy products. Dr. Croyle has mentored more than 100 students who attained positions in industry, regulatory agencies, and academia. She has brought pharmaceutical science to mainstream audiences in a National Geographic episode on pandemics. She served on the USP Council of Experts where she wrote several chapters on cell and gene therapies and characterized adenovirus and IL-4 standards. Her service on panels at the Texas capital during the 2014 Ebola outbreak, the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Health during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, and the U.S. Senate during the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrate the impact of her scientific leadership.
Otilia Koo, Ph.D., FAAPS
Otilia Koo is a recognized leader in the pharmaceutical sciences who has bridged small molecules, biologics, and cell therapies. Dr. Koo’s position in the pharmaceutical sciences is demonstrated by her role as an Executive Director in Global Product Development and Supply Program Management at Bristol Myers Squibb. While at BMS, she has been an integral part of developing and launching Evotaz® and Ximency™. She invented, obtained proof of concept in pivotal clinical studies, and scaled up these two products that were important for the treatment of HIV/AIDs and Hepatitis C. Dr. Koo also led the development of 20 or more BMS small molecules and biologics for oncology, immunology, and virology. She contributed to the successful approval and launch of two cell therapy products at BMS, where she is one of the rare pharmaceutical scientists who lead programs in the areas of small molecules, biologics, and cell therapies. Dr. Koo has served on the USP Council of Experts, which further demonstrates the community’s recognition of her scientific leadership.
Xiuling Lu, Ph.D., FAAPS
Xiuling Lu is advanced to Fellow status based on her consistent, excellent, innovative research, and its impact on patients with unmet needs. Dr. Lu is an acknowledged leader in nanoparticle-based therapeutics and their product development. Her lab at the University of Connecticut has developed novel image-guided therapeutic nanoparticle systems to overcome significant challenges in cancer therapy. She has also made tremendous contributions to enhancing the fundamental understanding of delivery/treatment barriers of therapeutic agents. Dr. Lu has been active in both translating potential therapeutics to the clinic and commercializing nanomedicines. Her contributions to science and service to the community have won her multiple local and national awards. Dr. Lu served as the Chair of the Faculty at the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Technology and Education. She is currently the Associate Director of the Center for Pharmaceutical Processing Research and an AAPS Nanotechnology Community leader.
Viera Lukacova, Ph.D., FAAPS
Viera Lukacova spearheaded important advancements in physiologically-based pharmacokinetics modeling (PBPK), improving the way medications are understood, designed, and optimized. Her leadership has contributed to the adoption of PBPK modeling in the drug development process, bridging the gap between scientific exploration and practical application. Her innovative methodologies have found their place in software packages like GastroPlus and provided critical insights into how drugs interact within the human body. They have become a tool that scientists routinely use to predict drug behavior, optimize dosing regimens, and ensure safer therapeutic outcomes. Dr. Lukacova's collaborations with both industry and regulatory bodies showcase her commitment to collective progress. As a principal investigator or co-investigator, she has guided collaborative projects, pushing the boundaries of PBPK modeling methodologies and delivering transformative results. Her advocacy extends beyond research, actively promoting the adoption of PBPK modeling in drug development through publications, presentations, and hands-on workshops.
Wellington Pham, Ph.D., FAAPS
Wellington Pham, Professor of Radiology from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, is a leader in imaging chemistry. He pioneered the integration of medicinal chemistry with biomarker imaging for the early detection of diseases. His laboratory develops targeted pharmaceuticals for multimodal imaging of cancer and Alzheimer’s disease using positron emission tomography, magnetic resonance, and optical imaging modalities. Dr. Pham has also made seminal and substantial contributions to molecular probe research, interfacing between basic and preclinical applications. He has published more than 160 publications, including peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, conference abstracts and proceedings, editorials, and patents on these subjects. He is a recipient of the 2019 Distinguished Investigator Award from the Academy for Radiology and Biomedical Imaging Research. He is the author of the textbook, Principles of Molecular Probe Design and Applications, and an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Royal Society of Chemistry.
Patrick Ronaldson, Ph.D., FAAPS
Patrick Ronaldson is a Professor in the Department of Pharmacology and the Chair of the Graduate Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience at the University of Arizona. His research achievements in blood-brain barrier physiology, transporter pharmacology, drug delivery technologies, and pharmacokinetics are internationally recognized. A highlight of Dr. Ronaldson’s work in the pharmaceutical sciences is the novel observation that transporters are essential determinants of brain drug uptake and efficacy in diseases where blood-brain barrier integrity is known to be compromised such as ischemic stroke. Additionally, his laboratory has an outstanding reputation for scientific collaboration and mentorship. This has resulted in Dr. Ronaldson’s development of a training environment for the next generation of blood-brain barrier and transporter scientists. Dr. Ronaldson has served as chair of multiple peer review committees at the National Institutes of Health, is a member of the Academy of Medical Education Scholars and is a well-respected volunteer leader in AAPS.
These new AAPS Fellows will be recognized at the 2023 PharmSci 360 in Orlando, FL, on Oct. 22, at the Orange County Convention Center. For more information about this event or to register, visit www.aaps.org/pharmsci360.
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American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit association of more than 7,000 scientists and professionals employed in academia, industry, regulatory, and other research related to the pharmaceutical sciences worldwide. Its mission is to advance the capacity of pharmaceutical scientists to develop products and therapies that improve global health, which members pursue through four peer-reviewed journals and a variety of events in person and online.