UB Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences presents 25th Annual Gerhard Levy Lecture

The lectureship was established in 2000 by the UB Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences to honor Gerhard Levy, PharmD, UB distinguished professor emeritus of pharmaceutical sciences, for his contributions to the fields of pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics.

This year’s lecture was held Thursday, Oct. 16, in the Pharmacy Building on UB’s South Campus. Isoherranen presented, 'Impact of Intracellular Binding Proteins on Drug Distribution and Metabolism,' an exploration of how intracellular binding proteins influence drug metabolism and distribution. The lecture bridged fundamental biochemical mechanisms with predictive PK modeling, demonstrating how variability in drug response often extends beyond genetic factors, reinforcing the importance of understanding the nuanced layers of biological regulation. An evening dinner was also held in Isoherranen’s honor.

Isoherranen’s research focuses on vitamin A disposition and disease-retinoid interactions, pregnancy mediated changes in drug disposition and drug-drug interactions. Her ongoing research includes PK modeling and physiologically based PK model development relating to predictions of complex drug-drug and disease-drug interactions, and in developing models for renal clearance changes across physiological states.

Her laboratory has received continuous funding from the National Institutes of Health for the past 18 years. She has trained numerous undergraduate, graduate, postdoctoral and PharmD students and has published more than 170 peer-reviewed manuscripts, eight book chapters and holds three U.S. patents.

Isoherranen has held leadership roles in several professional societies, including serving as chair of the Drug Metabolism and Disposition Division of the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET), an ASPET council member (2022-2025), and a member of the science policy committees for both ASPET and the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology. She also served on the International Society for the Study of Xenobiotics (ISSX) Membership Affairs Committee (2015-2020) and ISSX Council (2019-2023). In 2024, she received the ISSX North American Scientific Achievement Award in Honor of Ronald W. Estabrook. She currently serves as an associate editor for the journals Drug Metabolism and Disposition and Pharmacology and Therapeutics.