Lou Cortina
About Joga Gobburu, PhD, MBA, MSc
Gobburu, professor, Department of Practice, Sciences, and Health Outcomes Research, and director, Center for Translational Medicine (CMT), University of Maryland School of Pharmacy (UMSOP), is a world-renowned scientist known for transforming the field of translational medicine, which integrates knowledge across experiments and clinical trials to lay the groundwork for strategic decisions on drug regulation and/or drug development and precision medicine. He has co-founded two companies, PumasAI, Inc., and VivPro Corporation. PumasAI provides pharmaceutical scientists, health care providers, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, and regulatory agencies with a data analytics suite, clinical decision support system, and strategic and scientific consulting. VivPro offers a bio-intelligence software platform and innovative services to help clients make evidence-based clinical, regulatory, and business decisions. Gobburu joined UMSOP in 2011, creating a top-notch research and education program in pharmacometrics and introducing the first 100 percent online Master in Pharmacometrics program. He also founded CMT, which uses quantitative medicine to analyze data from experiments and clinical trials to help reduce the time it takes to bring a drug to market.
Impact
Gobburu has been published prolifically in peer-reviewed journals, and his more than 170 publications and book chapters have been cited in more than 5,000 other publications. The MS in Pharmacometrics program has graduated more than 200 students who are contributing to the pharmaceutical industry and regulatory agencies globally. In 2023, he received the Sheiner Lecturer Award from the International Society of Pharmacometrics for his long-standing contributions to the field of pharmacometrics. In 2019, he was named the Sheiner-Beal Award winner by the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, which honors outstanding achievements at the forefront of research or leadership in pharmacometrics.
Quotes
For academic inventions to reach widespread utility, they need to be developed further to be commercially viable. That was the motivation for starting these companies. Commercial success also leads to the ability to give back to society. For example, Pumas software is free for academic research and training.” — Gobburu
Dr. Gobburu’s research has directly impacted clinical practice by improving drug efficacy and safety evaluations, thereby enhancing patient care. His quantitative disease models have become essential tools for health care professionals, enabling more precise and informed decision-making. His work has not only influenced academic scholarship, but it also has transformed clinical practice and public policy, demonstrating a profound impact on health care outcomes.” — Sarah L.J. Michel, PhD, dean, UMSOP
