Luna Prieto Garcia Honored for Outstanding Thesis in Pharmacokinetics

The Division for Pharmacokinetics and Drug Metabolism, within the Swedish Pharmaceutical Society, has awarded Luna Prieto Garcia the prestigious Rosenön Award for best thesis.

─ Receiving this award is a deeply meaningful acknowledgment of the years dedicated to my research. I am immensely honored and humbled by this recognition, says the awardee.

Luna Prieto Garcia’s interest in pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics began during her pharmacy degree and master’s studies.

─ I was captivated by the field’s potential applications in drug development, which ultimately led me to focus my research here.

Unfortunately, she was unable to attend the “17th Symposium on Pharmacokinetics and Drug Metabolism” in person to present her work, though she highly recommends attending such events to other researchers.

─ Participating in these meetings is essential for both personal and professional growth. They offer a chance to exchange ideas, initiate collaborations, and find inspiration among fellow researchers.

Valuable tools for drug discovery and development

When asked to briefly summarize the conclusions of her research and the significance of her work, Luna Prieto Garcia explained:

─ My PhD thesis centers on a comprehensive whole-body PBPK (Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic) modeling approach, focusing on translating in vivo pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics from in vitro data to predict clinical drug and gene interactions as well as outcomes in disease populations. This work provides valuable tools for drug discovery and development, especially in guiding dose adjustments in complex drug interactions and potentially serving as an alternative to traditional clinical trials.

Truly passionate

She currently works as a Preclinical and Translational PKPD Scientist at AstraZeneca in Gothenburg, Sweden, and offers the following advice to students considering a research career:

─ Pursue research in a field you are truly passionate about and find an environment that will support you to thrive as a researcher.

Award Motivation

Luna Prieto Garcia submitted a doctoral thesis of exceptional quality with high applicability. Dr. Prieto Garcia has in her thesis Mechanistic Based Pharmacokinetic-Pharmacodynamics models for Drug Interactions and Disease Population Predictions used a bottom-up approach to predict in vivo pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and complex interactions from in vitro data, thereby providing new tools and approaches for faster and safe drug development.

The Rosenön Award is presented with sponsorship from AstraZeneca, MetaSafe Sweden and Pharmetheus.