PhRMA Foundation Awards 4 Trainees for Papers on the Pharmacology of Next Generation Therapeutics

The PhRMA Foundation and the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET) announced today that four papers will receive Trainee Challenge Awards as part of a Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics’ special collection on “The Pharmacology of Next Generation Therapeutics.”

Four trainee first authors will receive a $5,000 prize from the PhRMA Foundation, a 60-year-old nonprofit that supports early career researchers through grants and fellowships. The Challenge Award competition encourages promising scientists to publish on critical research topics and amplifies their voices.

“The PhRMA Foundation congratulates these authors on their creative, rigorous manuscripts tackling rapidly emerging areas in drug discovery research,” said Foundation President Amy M. Miller, PhD. “We are confident that their contributions to the field will be impactful.”

The four awarded papers are available in the December 2025 issue of JPET:

• Emerging pharmacology of targeted protein degraders, Samir H. Barghout, Mohamed A. Eldeeb
• Pharmacological considerations for next-generation protein therapeutics in cardiovascular disease, Emily Lin, Noor Momin
• Next-Generation T-Cell Engagers in Oncology: Pharmacologic Evolution from Bispecific to Trispecific Antibodies, Tarek Nahle, Viraj Shah, Sami Abi Farraj, Ali Atoui
• Kidney-specific Delivery of an MMP-2 Inhibitory Peptide Fused to Elastin Like Polypeptide Reduces Proteinuria and Renal Fibrosis in a Model of Salt-sensitive Hypertension, Adesanya A. Akinleye, Heather M. Chapman, Richard J. Roman, Gene L. Bidwell

“We are delighted that the PhRMA Foundation has recognized these outstanding early-career scientists with the Challenge Award,” said JPET editor-in-chief Beverley Greenwood-Van Meerveld, PhD, FASPET. “These awards are evidence of ASPET’s commitment to providing opportunities for junior researchers and to publishing the highest-quality pharmacology research in JPET and its other journals. This support from the PhRMA Foundation is deeply appreciated.”

Read about why these papers were chosen in the issue’s editorial.

About the PhRMA Foundation

The PhRMA Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that fosters biopharmaceutical innovation and value-driven health care by investing in the frontiers of research. The Foundation catalyzes the careers of promising researchers through competitive, peer-reviewed grants and fellowships in the fields of drug delivery, drug discovery, translational medicine, and value assessment and health outcomes research.

About ASPET

The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET) is a 4,000-member scientific society whose members conduct basic and clinical pharmacological research and work for academia, government, pharmaceutical companies, biotech companies and non-profit organizations.

About JPET

A leading research journal in the field of pharmacology, JPET provides broad coverage of all aspects of the interactions of chemicals with biological systems, including autonomic, behavioral, cardiovascular, cellular, clinical, developmental, gastrointestinal, immuno-, neuro-, pulmonary, and renal pharmacology, as well as analgesics, drug abuse, metabolism and disposition, chemotherapy, and toxicology.