Page 11 - Pharmacology Newsletter 2022

Pharmacology MATTERS
platelet aggregation. After moving to busi- ness development, I was responsible for licensing cardiovascular compounds for our European markets. I joined the busi- ness development team at Allegiance Healthcare (Cardinal Health) for two years before joining the pharmaceutical ad- vertising agency AbelsonTaylor. For the past 20 years, I have had the opportunity to work with biotech and pharmaceutical companies such as Lilly, Daiichi-Sankyo, Amgen, Takeda, Sunovion, and Neuro- crine. As a medical and scientific commu- nication agency, our job is to turn com- plicated scientific data into compelling information that helps healthcare profes- sionals make important clinical decisions for their patients. As an agency, we have helped launch drugs to treat cancer, bi- polar disorder, acute coronary syndrome, epilepsy, rheumatoid arthritis and many more diseases and health conditions. In fact, I can’t think of a therapeutic area where we haven’t been involved.
Favorite UMN memories: As a first-year student, the department student seminar series was particularly intimidating. Having to present someone else’s data was a great learning experience. One of the memories that stands out was playing softball on the department team and being warned by Norm Sladek not to wear shorts because “you won’t slide if you’re wearing shorts”. I think Tim Walseth was a postdoc and played shortstop. I also remember Gil Mannering asking me his famous “two brothers” question during my oral qualify- ing exams. It had to do with first-order vs zero-order kinetics in the metabolism of alcohol. Of course, we spent a lot of time at the Big Ten, the Village Wok and Vescio’s.
Daniel Lundberg
UMN training period: 2003 – 2008 (PhD)
UMN advisor: Stanley Thayer
Current position/title(s): Professor of Chemistry and Program Director for the Biology & Chemistry Program
Current institution: Gallaudet University, Washington, DC
✉ Email: jdaniel.lundberg@gallaudet.edu
Career overview: Two weeks after my PhD defense, I returned to my undergraduate alma mater as chemistry faculty in the tenure track teaching general chemistry, biochemistry, and pharmacology. Re- search at that time, collaborating with the National Cancer Institute, focused on bioengineering the C1 domain of RasGRP to better understand binding affinities of these proteins to phorbol esters and DAG. Several years later, my research interests broadened to limnology at the Brainerd Lakes Water Resources laboratory, where I worked with fellow limnologists, fresh- water biologists and chemists, and stu- dents to determine the water quality of lakes in north-central Minnesota during the summers. The best part of that project was when my deaf/hard-of-hearing interns presented our work with American Sign Language interpreters to lake associa- tions, represented by residents and inves- tors who want to know the health status of their lakes. Current research is a col- laboration with Gallaudet colleagues on another cancer signaling pathway that involves Plk1, using computational mod- eling to screen novel drug candidates to further test in a laboratory environment. I am also the Gallaudet representative in the DC consortium of colleges/universities for the NASA Space Grant; we received funds supporting internship stipends in
Gallaudet research laboratories and sup- plies for the TinkerLab where the Gallaudet community can engage with kids in STEAM activities.
Favorite UMN memories: Working in Dr. Thayer’s lab was a great experience – a good memory is that most of the folks in Stan’s lab learned basic American Sign Language to communicate with me; ev- eryone wrote on paper towels, the white- board, and typed on the computer to communicate with me when I had no in- terpreters. This was before smart phones with apps that can translate voice to text!
Bethany Neal-Beliveau
UMN training period: 1980 – 1987 (PhD)
UMN advisor: Sheldon Sparber
Current position/title(s): Associate Profes- sor of Psychology and Neuroscience; Director of Undergraduate Studies, Psychology
Current institution: Indiana University- Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)
✉ Email: bnealbe@iupui.edu
Career overview: Following in the foot- steps of Dr. George Spratto, my pharma- cology professor at Purdue, I came to the UMN graduate program in the fall of 1980, planning to focus on psychopharmacolo- gy. After required lab rotations, I chose Dr. Sheldon Sparber’s laboratory and drug abuse research, specifically the effects of opioids on development. Following graduation, I accepted a postdoctoral fellowship with the Neuropsychopharma- cology Training Program at the University of Pennsylvania, working with Dr. Jeffrey Joyce and Dr. Irwin Lucki to learn brain imaging techniques to couple with the strong behavioral training provided by
continued on page 12
The UMN graduate program in pharmacology provided me the opportunity to develop critical analytical thinking skills that served me well throughout my career.
—Jeff Berg
MED.UMN.EDU/PHARMACOLOGY 11