Faculty Spotlight

Stephan Schmidt

PHARMACEUTICS FACULTY

Stephan Schmidt Ph.D., F.C.P.

A trailblazer in pharmacometrics, Dr. Schmidt harnesses multidisciplinary expertise to advance drug development and empower future generations of scientists at the University of Florida.

“At the end of the day, it is about the students and trainees and how well you can prepare them for their careers, not about individual faculty accolades. I deeply care about what I do and who I work with.”

Dr. Schmidt is an endowed Professor in the Department of Pharmaceutics and Director of the Center for Pharmacometrics and Systems Pharmacology at the University of Florida College of Pharmacy.

He received his B.S. in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the Friedrich-Alexander University in Erlangen, Germany in 2003 and his Ph.D. from the University of Florida under the supervision of Dr. Hartmut Derendorf in 2008.

“I first got to know about the discipline of pharmacometrics during an internship in Professor Derendorf’s lab at the University of Florida,” Dr. Schmidt said.

“I was inspired by Dr. Derendorf’s passion for the field in general and his students and trainees in particular. Having him as a mentor changed my life forever, both on a professional and a personal level.”

Dr. Schmidt then traveled to the Netherlands to complete a 3-year postdoctoral fellowship before returning to the University of Florida to focus on research and teaching.

“The knowledge gained in the Online Pharmaceutics program will equip students and trainees with the theoretical concepts as well as hands-on modeling applications and their use in drug development and regulatory evaluation.”

Dr. Schmidt has received several teaching awards from the University of Florida, including the Clinical Translational Science Institute Junior Faculty Pilot Program Award in 2012, the Excellence Award for Assistant Professors in 2013, and was named International Educator of the Year by the UF College of Pharmacy in 2014.

“At the end of the day, it is about the students and trainees and how well you can prepare them for their careers, not about individual faculty accolades,” Dr. Schmidt said.

“I deeply care about what I do and who I work with.”

Dr. Schmidt’s current work focuses partly on establishing a multidisciplinary framework to study the impact of drug-drug interactions on the efficacy and safety of hormonal contraceptives. The findings of this research will support the development of long-acting injectable hormonal contraceptives which will help women around the globe with family planning.