Seminar Title: “Cancer Immunotherapy Toxicities: Lessons from Patients and Humanized Mice”
PBB 229
Monday, March 30th, 2026, from 12:20 pm – 1:10 pm
Lauren Aleksunes,
PharmD, PhD, DABT
Professor, Graduate Director, CTSA Workforce Development Lead
Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, EOHSI,
Rutgers University
Dr. Lauren Aleksunes is a Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology at Rutgers University, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy. She has been awarded the 2023 SOT Undergraduate Educator Award in recognition of her teaching and mentoring of undergraduate pharmacy students and her significant contributions to the development of new curricula and instructional approaches to attract, educate, and retain students in the field. In 2019, she received the Outstanding Young Investigator Award from the Society of Toxicology Women in Toxicology and the Richard Okita Early Career Award in Drug Metabolism and Disposition from the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. Dr. Aleksunes is an expert in mechanisms of toxicity with a focus on how membrane transporters influence cellular responses to drugs and environmental chemicals. Her research addresses the impact of variation in transporter expression and function, due to life stage, genetics/epigenetics, diet, environment, and pre-existing disease, on susceptibility to chemical toxicity. Current areas of research for her laboratory include:
- Placental transporters: ABC/SLC-mediated transport and toxicity of xenobiotics and dietary contaminants
- New approach methodologies: In vitro assays and machine learning to predict drug toxicities
- Oncology drug toxicities: Novel biomarkers and mechanisms of drug-induced toxicity in cancer patients
- Mycoestrogen and microcystin toxicities: Impact of toxins on maternal-child health
This research spans the translational spectrum as she collaborates with a wide array of scientists with expertise in environmental epidemiology, exposure science, analytical chemistry, computational biology, proteomics, and organs-on-a-chip. She oversees projects that utilize transgenic animals, human biospecimen collections, a randomized controlled trial, and longitudinal cohort studies with cancer patients.
Education & Training
· PhD
University of Connecticut
· PharmD
University of Connecticut
For more information, contact: Reena Bokria at rjb07003@uconn.edu