ICRE News

October 11, 2021

ICRE Alumna and Current CTS Fellow Awarded Early Career Leukemia/Lymphoma Research Grant

Pitt Pharmacy Research Scientist Katherine M. Eichinger, PharmD, PhD, MS, was recently awarded a Sponsored Early Career Leukemia/Lymphoma Research Grant from the Hematology/Oncology Pharmacy Association (HOPA) and supported by AcertaPharma, a member of the AstraZeneca Group. Dr. Eichinger will serve as Principal Investigator supported by faculty mentor and Pitt Pharmacy Associate Professor Christian A. Fernandez, PhD, and Pitt Pharmacy graduate student co-investigator Keito Hoshitsuki, PharmD.

Drs. Eichinger and Hoshitsuki are both alumni of various ICRE programs—Dr. Eichinger is an alumna of the Clinical and Translational Science Postdoctoral Fellowship (TL1) (‘20) as well as the CTS Doctoral Certificate (‘13), and Dr. Hoshitsuki is an alumnus of the ICRE’s CTS Doctoral Certificate (‘21) and a current TL1 Postdoctoral Fellow.

Dr. Eichinger’s funded proposal aims to improve acute lymphoblastic leukemia and other hematologic malignancy treatment outcomes by identifying strategies to thwart the adverse effects of the chemotherapy drug PEG-asparaginase. Moreover, the early career grant will support Dr. Eichinger’s path to becoming an independent investigator.