Researcher Stories

Get to know the PhRMA Foundation’s award recipients.

Building an Entrepreneurial Mindset in Drug Discovery

Yuanhuang “Harry” Chen, a PhD student at Rockefeller University, is studying how aging and cellular stress in the skin affect cancer-related signals in melanocytes, the pigment-producing cells found in the skin and the eye.

Harnessing Cancer’s Vulnerabilities to Develop New Therapies

Meredith Nix, a PhD student at Stanford University, is developing a new way to treat a hard-to-target form of lung cancer by turning a feature unique to cancer cells against them, triggering the cells to self-destruct while leaving healthy cells unharmed.

Finding Her Purpose in Developing Treatments for Brain Injuries

Prerna Tiwari, a PhD student at Creighton University aims to develop a drug could protect the brain from lasting damage after cardiac arrest by reducing harmful inflammation.

Developing a Cell Therapy to Fight Infection in Vulnerable Patients

An MD-PhD student at Brown University, Melanie Martinsen is researching a potential cell-based therapy for patients vulnerable to infection due to low levels of neutrophils, infection-fighting white blood cells.

Awardee Spotlight

Kijung Kwak

University of Maryland-College Park

“I am honored to receive the Predoctoral Fellowship in Drug Delivery from the PhRMA Foundation. This opportunity feels like a vote of confidence to pursue bold ideas and reaffirms my commitment to translating science from bench to bedside.”

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Rethinking How We Measure the Value of Obesity Treatments in the GLP-1 Era

Neeti Kulkarni, a PhD student at the University of Michigan, aims to measure how people value different obesity-related health outcomes and treatments, including GLP-1 medications.