.jpg "Abelardo D. Montalvo, BS, PharmD photo")
University of Florida College of Pharmacy
Abelardo D. Montalvo, PharmD is a 3rd year PhD student and Program for Applied Research and Development in Genomic Medicine (PARADIGM) post-doctoral fellow at the University of Florida College of Pharmacy in the Department of Pharmacotherapy and Translational Research. Currently he is involved in the identification and characterization of functional regulatory variants of CYP2C9 in African Americans but has expanded to other genes such as UGT1A1. The end goal is to be able to use the identified functional regulatory variants for personalized drug therapy in genotype guided panels. Since the start of his undergraduate studies at Miami Dade Honors College (MDC) to the University of Miami (UM) and obtaining his PharmD degree at the University of Florida College of Pharmacy (UF COP) he has always been involved in research. As an undergraduate student at MDC and UM he got the opportunity to conduct research at the Diabetes Research Institute Miller School of Medicine, involved in searching for an alternate source of insulin producing structures with the end goal to be able to use them for transplantation for the treatment of type 1 diabetes. Other research he has been involved with includes the synthesis of E3 ligands of proteolysis-targeting chimeras, background research with Puerto Rico Prosthetics and involvement with the All for One Study at the University of Florida Diabetes Institute while pursuing his PharmD degree at UF COP. On the clinical side as a licensed pharmacist, he is involved with the Pharmacogenomics Consult Clinic by inputting clinical notes in the electronic healthcare record of patients providing drug therapy options based on genotype of a subset of drugs. Dr. Montalvo's passion for translational research is exemplified by his unwavering commitment to bridging the gap between scientific discoveries and practical applications.