PERSONNEL

Ryan M. Smith, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator

Dr. Smith earned both his B.A. (Psychology) and Ph.D. (Neuroscience) at The Ohio State University, and continued his training in pharmacogenomics as a postdoctoral scientist and research faculty in the Department of Pharmacology at OSU. Prior to joining the faculty in the College of Pharmacy at the University of Iowa in 2017, Dr. Smith was a scientist in the patient tailoring and neuroscience divisions of Eli Lilly and Company where he both served on and lead strategic efforts in genomics, patient tailoring, and drug discovery in chronic pain.

Aswini Gnanasekaran, Ph.D.
Assistant Research Scientist
Dr. Gnanasekaran earned her Ph.D. at SISSA (International School of Advanced studies), in Trieste, Italy, where she studied molecular mechanisms of migraine. She brings strong molecular expertise to the Smith laboratory, where she is working on an array of genomics projects to identify new drug targets for synaptic modulation and pain/migraine.

Aysheh Alrfooh, B.S.
Graduate Teaching Assistant
Aysheh earned her Bachelors degree in Pharmacy at the University of Jordan, in Amman, Jordan, prior to joining the University of Iowa as a graduate student. She brings clinical experience to the Smith laboratory, having previously researched patients with diabetes and depression.

Jovana Majstorovic, B.S.
Pharm.D. Student Researcher
Jovana earned her B.S. in Biology here at the University of Iowa and joined the Pharm.D. program in 2017. Jovana is working on a project to identify functional genetic variants in the serotonin 5A receptor gene -- a potential drug target for psychiatric disorders.

Matthew Busalacchi, B.S.
Pharm.D. Student Researcher

Matt earned his B.S. in Genetics at the University of Wisconsin and joined the Pharm.D. program at the University of Iowa in 2016. Matt is working on a project to identify new drug targets for neuropathic pain using gene expression data and electronic medical records.