Bhagwat Prasad Named Division Director of Translational and Clinical Pharmacology

Post Date: October 11, 2024 | Publish Date:

Bhagwat Prasad, PhD, has been selected as division director of Translational and Clinical Pharmacology and will join Cincinnati Children’s this upcoming spring 2025.

He comes from Washington State University (WSU), in Spokane, WA, where he has been professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences. He also currently serves as the director of WSU’s Industry Engagement and the Proteomics-based Research Initiative on Non-CYP Enzymes (PRINCE) and Industry Engagement for College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. He has held various academic positions, including associate professor at WSU and assistant professor at the University of Washington, in Seattle. His research is centered on developing non-invasive tools to ensure drug safety in underrepresented populations, particularly children, who are often excluded from clinical trials.

“We are very excited to welcome Dr. Prasad to Cincinnati Children’s,” says Tina Cheng, MD, MPH, chief medical officer, chair of Pediatrics and director of the Cincinnati Children’s Research Foundation. “His leadership will help us fulfill our vision of improving child health by being the leading center in the nation in translational and clinical pharmacology with new treatments, patient-centered treatment platforms, and drug discoveries.”

Tracy Glauser, MD, associate director of Cincinnati Children’s Research Foundation, has served as interim division director since January 2023.

“We want to express our deep appreciation for Dr. Glauser’s leadership over the past two years,” Cheng said.

When he begins his new role in spring 2025, Prasad will support an ambitious vision for pediatric translational and clinical pharmacology by expanding an extensive interdisciplinary network with other Cincinnati Children’s divisions and departments as well as outside academic centers and industry partners. He will lead efforts in drug development, pediatric clinical pharmacology, pharmacogenetics/genomics, pharmacometrics, and quantitative systems pharmacology. Additionally, he will oversee and advance the division’s educational mission of teaching, supervising and mentoring undergraduate and postgraduate fellows and students.

Prasad has received numerous awards and honors, including being elected as a member of the Washington State Academy of Sciences and receiving the Chancellor’s Excellence Award in Research as well as Service and Community Engagement from WSU Health Sciences.

He holds a PhD in Pharmaceutical Analysis from the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), S.A.S. Nagar, in Punjab, India, and a masters in Pharmaceutical Analysis from the same institution. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences from Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University, Srinagar Garhwal, Uttarakhand, India. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Pharmaceutics at the University of Washington, in Seattle.

“I am thrilled and eager to join Cincinnati Children’s, and the opportunity to contribute to an institution renowned for its excellence in pediatric care is truly inspiring,” Prasad said. “I look forward to advancing our research and enhancing our understanding of how drugs and environmental factors interact with child development, which will ultimately help us establish evidence-based guidance on the safer use of medications in children.”