EHS Seminar | Dr. Timothy Spicer: Building Florida’s Drug Discover Ecosystem: HTS & Translational Partnerships & Dr. Jatinder Lamba: Decoding AML: From Molecular Signatures to Precision Therapy

Timothy P. Spicer Ph.D. is a research professor and Senior Scientific Director in the Department of Molecular Medicine at The Wertheim UF Scripps Institute. He joined Scripps Research in Florida in 2005, became a faculty member in 2013 and now serves the University of Florida since April 2022. Tim has more than 36 years of experience in drug discovery, including 10 years at Bristol-Myers Squibb. Tim is currently the director of the Wertheim UF Scripps Screening center. He is part of the UF Health Cancer Institute leadership team where he co-leads the Cancer Targeting and Therapeutics Program (120 members) and is a permanent member of their Translational Research Council. He is known for innovation and HTS related efforts for which he has impacted on a worldwide scale. He delivered the world’s first fully automated uHTS platform, as well as the Beckman Echo acoustic dispenser and BioRAPTR micro solenoid dispenser technologies; all of which are used in his lab today. Tim serves on multiple boards including the Florida Center for Brain Tumor Research, Araceli Biosciences, ChemoSen3D, as well as ViQi AI. He is a past President and Chairman for the Society of Lab automation and Screening (>20K members) and is the Associate Editor of SLAS Discovery. He has authored >170 drug-discovery related publications, 11 patents, and has been instrumental in the discovery of multiple drugs that are now in man (ZEPOSIA, RUKOBIA, REYATAZ, SUSTIVA).

Jatinder Lamba, Ph.D., is Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Education and Professor in the Department of Pharmacotherapy and Translational Research at the University of Florida College of Pharmacy. Her research focuses on systems biology-based multi-omics approaches to advance precision oncology, with a particular emphasis on hematological malignancies, especially acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Her research program aims to elucidate the molecular landscape and mechanisms of drug resistance that have significant prognostic relevance in pediatric AML, using focused pharmacogenomic and broad systems biology approaches.The core objectives of her research include: (i) developing diagnostic, prognostic, and predictive models using multi-omics approaches—including genomics, epigenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics—augmented by machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) tools; (ii) elucidating drug resistance pathways and identifying novel therapeutic targets to support the development of new treatments for AML; and (iii) developing tools for rapid clinical integration to enable personalized and effective treatment regimens through clinical trials and improve outcomes in hematological malignancies.Dr. Lamba’s group developed ACS10, a multigene pharmacogenomic score that captures inherited variation relevant to AML chemotherapy response and has shown potential for informing treatment selection and understanding disparities in outcomes. Her laboratory has also pioneered studies of CD33 genetic variation.