Hosted by the Department of Pharmacy at Uppsala University, UPSS is an annual two-week program for Ph.D. students. The program includes modeling sessions, lectures, and opportunities to network with peers and experts in model-informed drug development. This provides high value for doctoral students deciding on their next career steps and further developing their practical skill sets.
While the program is free to attend, participants must cover their own housing and travel expenses. To enable global talent to partake and to promote equal access to education, Pharmetheus offers a dedicated travel grant.
Presenting at Pharmetheus Uppsala office
This year’s grant recipient from Pharmetheus is Dr. Manojkumar Venkatesan, a Pharm.D graduate and doctoral research scholar in pharmacometrics at COMPASS (Centre of Machine Learning, Pharmacometrics, Analytics and Simulation Solutions), JSS College of Pharmacy, Ooty (JSS AHER), in India.
As part of his grant, Dr. Venkatesan was invited to present at the Pharmetheus Uppsala office during the weekly Competence Development Meeting. At this event, the company gathers to learn and exchange experience. He shared insights from his doctoral research on personalizing osimertinib dosing in Indian patients with EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Lectures and inspiring Ph.D. students
The two-week program includes lectures, hands-on sessions, group work, and student presentations on covariate model building and PKPD modeling in NONMEM 7.
Dr. Elodie Plan, Chief Business Development Officer at Pharmetheus, gave one of the lectures, including a description of how Pharmetheus started at Uppsala University, in hopes of inspiring the UPSS participants.
Networking with global talent
Teamwork, collaboration, and community are essential components of UPSS. To foster these connections, the summer school offers several social events, such as a complimentary boat trip to Skokloster Castle. The well-attended event brings together summer school participants, lecturers, and employees from both Uppsala University and Pharmetheus.
This year, when asked how many had taken the trip before, most attendees raised their hands. Among them was Dr. Anaïs Glatard, Senior Director and MIDD Consultant at Pharmetheus, who first made the trip ten years ago as a Ph.D. student. The networking and skills she gained during her time at UPSS still stay with her today.
“I’m so happy to be part of this cruise,” Anaïs says. “I was also on this boat exactly 10 years ago as a student. I have very nice memories of the good atmosphere among people, the great food, and the beautiful ride on the river. Two people who were also on this boat 10 years ago are now my colleagues, demonstrating that UPSS has been an incredibly important networking experience for my career.”
Links
Uppsala University, Department of Pharmacy website
