P. David Rogers, Pharm.D., Ph.D., is the new chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
P. David Rogers, Pharm.D., Ph.D., has been named chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Rogers specializes in defining the mechanisms of resistance in pathogenic fungi to antifungal drugs, which greatly hinder treatment. Pediatric cancer patients are very susceptible to secondary infections due to compromised immune systems, so drug resistance in fungal infections can be a matter of life or death. Rogers’ focus on the pharmacologic angles in cancer therapy will be a major component of his work at St. Jude.
A native Memphian, Rogers has been a faculty member at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center since 2001. He has served as the First Tennessee Endowed Chair of Excellence in Clinical Pharmacy and Pediatrics; professor of Clinical Pharmacy and Translational Science; director of Clinical and Experimental Therapeutics; and director of the UTHSC Center of Excellence for Pediatric Experimental Therapeutics.
“The Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has a long-standing history of improving the safety and efficacy of drug therapy, translating scientific discoveries into clinical practice and providing the most advanced pharmaceutical services and clinical care in the world,” Rogers said. “It is a privilege to lead this exciting and innovative department.”
Rogers’ primary role at St. Jude will be to maintain the department’s strengths in pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and pharmacogenomics of cancer therapeutics, while expanding into anti-infective therapeutics and drug resistance.
“We will continue to lead the way in the clinical practice of pharmacy in the pediatric oncology population,” he said.
With nearly 70 peer-reviewed primary manuscripts, 20 reviews, 3,900 citations of his work and nearly 30 book chapters to his credit, Rogers has a strong record of high-level collaborative science.
“We are happy to welcome Dr. Rogers to our St. Jude family,” said James R. Downing, M.D., St. Jude president and CEO. “Our Pharmaceutical Sciences Department is world-renowned for its groundbreaking work in pharmacogenomics and pharmacokinetics, and I know his leadership will perpetuate and strengthen that legacy. Distinguished researchers like Dr. Rogers are helping us accelerate progress toward our mission of finding cures and saving children.”
Rogers holds doctoral and master’s degrees from the University of Mississippi Medical Center, a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from University of Tennessee Health Science Center, and completed his undergraduate work at the University of Memphis.
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is leading the way the world understands, treats and cures childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. It is the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted solely to children. Treatments developed at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20% to 80% since the hospital opened more than 50 years ago. St. Jude freely shares the breakthroughs it makes, and every child saved at St. Jude means doctors and scientists worldwide can use that knowledge to save thousands more children. Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing and food — because all a family should worry about is helping their child live. To learn more, visit stjude.org or follow St. Jude on social media at @stjuderesearch.