Researcher Stories
Get to know the PhRMA Foundation’s award recipients.
Empowering Older Adults with Diabetes to Discuss Deprescribing with Doctors
Nha Tran, a PhD student at the University of Michigan, is studying what motivates or stops older adults with diabetes from talking with their clinicians about taking fewer medications.
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Reprogramming CAR T Cells to Overcome Barriers in Treating Solid Tumor Cancers
Azlann Arnett, a PhD student at the Baylor College of Medicine, is working to make CAR T cell therapy effective for solid cancer tumors.
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Learning From Psychedelics to Create Better Drug Targets
Michael Hsiao, a PhD student at the University of California, Berkley, received a 2024 PhRMA Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship in Drug Discovery.
Read MoreUncovering Early Molecular Changes in Parkinson’s Disease
Daichi Shonai, a PhD student at Duke University, is investigating the early molecular changes that occur within nerve cells during Parkinson’s disease. He hopes to identify early warning signs of the disease.
Awardee Spotlight
Audrey Brown, PhD
- University of Virginia
“I am honored to have been chosen for the PhRMA Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship in Translational Medicine. Using this fellowship, I will dedicate years of research toward understanding how genetic polymorphisms affect pathogen susceptibility, thereby building the foundation for preventions and treatments of deadly infectious diseases. ”
Exploring a New Drug Target for Treatment-Resistant Prostate Cancer
Prostate cancer is one of the most frequently diagnosed cancers, and hormone therapy to reduce levels of male androgen hormones works well as a treatment for most patients. However, many will relapse with treatment-resistant prostate cancer, where tumor growth continues despite exceptionally low levels of androgens. Min-Yu Ko, a PhD student at Duke University, is studying how low levels of androgens facilitate activation of specific protein, resulting in increased tumor growth.