Group Lead
Dr Tao You
Tao is a Reader in Pharmacology in the Depart of Pharmacology and Therapeutics. He is a mathematical modeller with over 10 years of industrial experience in drug discovery and development. His research focuses on translational PK/PD modelling and drug discovery. Modelling helps validate target, set target compound profile, design experiments, integrate pharmacodynamics across different scales, optimise combination treatments, qualify preclinical models, select clinical dosage and scheduling, and inform drug repurposing. Tao developed cancer treatments including osimertinib at AstraZeneca, led the PK/PD Modelling Laboratory at Boehringer Ingelheim and worked as a consultant for various companies as well as UK DHSC. He served as Lead PK/PD Modeller at UK COVID-19 Therapeutic Advisory Panel’s Due Diligence Team at MRC Head Office, where the insights arising from his rigorous and careful modelling work were a critical component of the assessments and pivotal to decision making.
Team members
Yugang Fu
Yugang Fu is a PhD student in the Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics. His background includes clinical medicine and statistics. Currently, Yugang is focused on pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic (PKPD) modelling and quantitative systems pharmacology, specifically targeting drug development for pancreatic cancer. He is dedicated to leveraging his clinical background and research skills to contribute to innovative therapeutic strategies in this challenging field.
Ivan Ibanda
Ivan holds a bachelor’s degree in biomedical sciences, a PGD in Clinical Trials and MSc in Pharmacology. His experiences are mainly in academic settings as a laboratory professional and teacher. He has conducted projects involving fungal, bacterial, and viral pathogens. Currently a PhD student, Ivan is investigating the systems biology of thioredoxin reductase inhibition, aiming to develop new antifungal therapies with minimal toxicity to mammalian cells, utilizing mathematical modelling to further this research.*
Zijin Lin
Zijin obtained a Master degree in Pharmacokinetics in 2024. During her degree, she focused on transporter alterations under disease conditions, aiming to reveal inner mechanisms of changes in pharmacokinetics and drug efficacy. She was also involved in several projects, including in vitro drug-drug interaction (DDI) and in vivo ADME research. Now, she is studying for her PhD, aiming to develop and validate a pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics (PK/PD) modelling with genomic markers and clinical information to optimise drug dosing regimen in multimorbid patients.
Nadda Muhamad
I am an Honorary Research Fellow (nominated by Dr. Tao You) in the Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics. I graduated from Srinakharinwirot University, Thailand, with a B.Pharm degree in 2012 and earned my Ph.D. in Bioclinical Sciences from Thammasat University, Thailand, in 2023. My previous research focused on the clinical pharmacokinetics and drug metabolism of herbal medicines. Currently, I am concentrating on mathematical modeling, specifically PBPK modeling of vitamin D, with the aim of determining the optimal dosage for both adult and pediatric populations.