Institute of Personalized Medicine (IPM) faculty provide training opportunities to undergraduate students interested in pursuing biomedical science careers and pharmacy and medical students interested in learning how pharmacogenomics applies to practice and/or interested in translational or clinical research. Our faculty also provide many training opportunities for graduate education (MS and PhD) and postdoctoral education (e.g. postdoctoral fellowships, visiting professorships). Individuals interested in pursuing these training in pharmacogenomics should contact the faculty members directly.
Nasteho Abdi
Nasteho Abdi earned her Bachelor of Science in Chemistry and Human Biology from the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay. She is currently a third-year PharmD student at the University of Minnesota, pursuing a research emphasis in Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology. Her project focuses on evaluating PGx results to examine the outcomes of implementing pharmacogenomics in clinical practice and its influence on prescribing decisions.
Madeline (Lin) Boemer, BS
Madeline “Lin” Boemer is a PhD student in the Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology (ECP) program at the College of Pharmacy, University of Minnesota. They earned a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience, also from the University of Minnesota. Their research focuses on neuro-pharmacogenomics and biomarker-driven variability in treatment response for psychiatric disorders, particularly depressive disorders, with the goal of advancing precision medicine in mental health.
Aniruddha Chaudhari, MS
Aniruddha Chaudhari is a PhD candidate in the Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology program at the University of Minnesota. He graduated with a BPharm from the Institute of Chemical Technology and later completed an MS in Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University at Buffalo. His master’s research focused on the efficacy of combination therapy using proteasome inhibitors and HDAC6 inhibitors in multiple myeloma cells through experimental techniques, pharmacodynamic modeling, and Boolean network modeling. During his PhD, his research will focus on employing pharmacogenomics and pharmacometrics approaches to optimize therapy.
Robert Gruener, PhD
Dr. Robert Gruener is a postdoctoral researcher in the Huang Lab specializing in computational cancer biology. His work focuses on developing tools that link transcriptional heterogeneity to drug response vulnerabilities across bulk, single-cell, and spatial datasets. Trained in both wet-lab and computational approaches, he collaborates widely across cancer types and is committed to mentoring students. He aims for a future faculty position at a primarily undergraduate institution.
Lydia Hach
Lydia Hach is a PharmD research emphasis student in the Huang lab working on applying cell susceptibility data to predict side effects associated with oncology medications, focusing on model validation. She also works as a PGx intern at Minnesota Children’s with Dr. David Gregornik. She is excited about learning ways to advance precision medicine and apply pharmacogenomics clinically.
Dongho Lee
Moataz Mohamed
Moataz E. Mohamed is a final-year PhD candidate in the Pharmacogenomics and Personalized Medicine track at the Department of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology, College of Pharmacy, University of Minnesota, USA. He earned his Bachelor of Pharmaceutical Sciences with honors from the Faculty of Pharmacy, Helwan University, Egypt, where he graduated as valedictorian of the Class of 2014. In 2020, he completed his Master’s degree in Clinical Pharmacy from the Department of Pharmacy Practice at Helwan University. Moataz’s research focuses on understanding the roles of pharmacogenomics and pharmacomicrobiomics in the pharmacokinetics of immunosuppressants in kidney and bone marrow transplant recipients. His goal is to leverage these biomarkers to advance personalized medicine strategies and optimize therapeutic outcomes.
Amy Paulson MS, PhD
Dr. Paulson has built her career at the intersection of pharmacology, cancer biology, and precision medicine. Dr. Paulson completed her M.S. in pharmacology and Ph.D. in molecular pharmacology and therapeutics at the University of Minnesota under the mentorship of Dr. Stephanie Huang. Her work focuses on leveraging pharmacogenomics and pharmacogenetics to improve therapeutic decision-making, with a particular emphasis on understanding how selective nuclear export inhibitors influence triple-negative breast cancer.
Yuting Shan, PharmD
Dr. Yuting Shan is a PhD candidate in the Department of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology. She received her PharmD degree prior to entering the graduate program. Her research focuses on integrating genomics, transcriptomics, and microbiomics to inform precision medicine approaches in oncology.
Lilin Wang
Lilin Wang is a PhD student in the Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology (ECP) program at the College of Pharmacy, University of Minnesota. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from China Pharmaceutical University. Her research focuses on developing and applying computational approaches to investigate drug sensitivity, integrating computational predictions with experimental validation to advance precision oncology.
Lusi Zhang, PharmD
Lusi Zhang is a PhD candidate in the University of Minnesota Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology program. She graduated with a PharmD from the University of Minnesota. Her research focuses include psychiatric genetics, pharmacogenomics, and psychopharmacology.