Awards

Meindert Danhof Talent Award

Meindert Danhof is an emeritus professor at Leiden University and a recognized leader and mentor in the field of mechanism-based PKPD approaches. In honour of his legacy, the Meindert Danhof Talent Award has been established to acknowledge the research achievements of a leading scientist in the field of mechanism-based PKPD and QSP.

The inaugural recipient of the Meindert Danhof Talent Award (2026) is Dr. Gauri Rao, Associate Professor at the University of Southern California. Dr. Rao is a leading academic in mechanism-based PKPD and systems pharmacology. She has developed innovative methodologies that integrate state-of-the-art experimental and computational modelling approaches, enabling the design of translational strategies to advance the understanding of anti-infective drug action and optimize treatments. Her research has primarily focused on severe drug-resistant Gram-negative infections, an area of high unmet medical need. Her work incorporates insights into host–pathogen interactions, the design of antibacterial combination therapies, and the application of high-dimensional omics data. Dr. Rao is a frequent speaker at international conferences and a strong advocate for the education and training of the next generation of pharmaceutical scientists. She has demonstrated a clear commitment to mentorship by actively supporting early-career researchers and providing them with opportunities for further development.

The award ceremony will take place during the opening reception on Tuesday, April 7, where Dr. Rao will be honoured in the presence of Meindert Danhof. In addition, as the Meindert Danhof Talent Award recipient, she will participate as a panellist in the closing session, “Future of QSP,” on Friday, April 10.

QSPC LMIC travel grant

QSPC believes in supporting early career researchers residing in World Bank-classified Low-to-middle income country (LMIC) to attend the conference, present their science, exchange ideas with the global QSP community, and become ambassadors at their home institution.  

For QSPC 2026, the LMIC travel award has been awarded to Irma Wati binti Ngadimon, Ph.D, MSc (Pharmacy), B.Pharm (Hons), RPh. Dr. Ngadimon is a lecturer at the Department of Pharmaceutical Life Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Malaya, Malaysia.  

She is collaborating with clinicians and scientists across disciplines, integrating rich clinical and preclinical datasets to understand variability in antiseizure drug response beyond traditional pharmacokinetic factors. From participating in QSPC, she expects a unique environment for scientific exchange, fostering lasting collaborations and mentorship ties with the international QSP community, connections that are especially valuable given the limited local expertise in Malaysia and the broader Asian region. Upon returning, she will serve as an ambassador for QSP at her home institution by applying the knowledge gained to existing research datasets, promoting interdisciplinary integration of modelling approaches, and embedding QSP principles into postgraduate training.  

Dr. Ngadimon is presenting her poster abstract (II-29) entitled “Defining a Clinical Quantitative Systems Pharmacology Architecture for Antiseizure Medication Response: A Framework Development Stage” on Wednesday April 8 in the afternoon.