David Rogers, PharmD, Ph.D., chair of the St. Jude Department of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
P. David Rogers, Pharm.D., Ph.D., chair of the Department of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, has been selected by the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) to receive two major accolades for his research. The Russell R. Miller Award, the AACP’s most prestigious scholarly recognition, honors significant contributions to the clinical pharmacy literature. The Therapeutics Frontiers Lecture Award recognizes an internationally renowned scientist whose research is extending pharmacotherapy into new domains. It is highly unusual for these awards to be presented to the same individual in the same year.
Rogers’ research specializes in defining the mechanisms of resistance of pathogenic fungi to antifungal drugs. Such resistance can pose grave risks to children with compromised immune systems. His research has focused on improving antifungal pharmacotherapy and using molecular, genetic and genomic tools in the study of antifungal agents.
Rogers joined St. Jude in 2020 with a long record of high-level collaborative science.
“Since the time of his fellowship training, Dr. Rogers has demonstrated an interest in and aptitude for research in the infectious diseases arena,” wrote former ACCP president John Bosso, Pharm.D., in support of Rogers’ nomination for the Russell R. Miller Award. “His efforts in antifungal drug resistance have done much to advance our knowledge in this important area, and he is rightfully recognized as a leader both nationally and internationally.”
The ACCP also selected Rogers for the 2021 Therapeutics Frontiers Lecture Award in recognition of his international leadership in exploring the molecular and genetic basis of antifungal resistance and mycology. He will deliver this year’s lecture, “The Emerging Threat of Multidrug-Resistant Fungi,” to the ACCP membership in October.
Rogers joined St. Jude following a distinguished 18-year tenure on the faculty of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Pharmacy. He was elected a fellow of ACCP in 2005 and served on the ACCP Research Institute’s Board of Trustees from 2010–12.
He holds master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Mississippi Medical Center and a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from UTHSC College of Pharmacy. He has authored more than 330 publications and scientific abstracts; has received funding from foundations, industry and the National Institutes of Health; and currently serves as principal investigator for three NIH R01 grants.
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.