PHARMACEUTICS FACULTY
Rodrigo Cristofoletti, Ph.D.
Dr. Cristofoletti's pioneering work in pharmacometrics and microphysiological models advances drug development strategies and regulatory science on a global scale.
Dr. Cristofoletti is bridging the gap between in vitro systems and in vivo reality.
Dr. Cristofoletti is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmaceutics at the University of Florida College of Pharmacy. He joined the University of Florida in 2019 as research assistant professor in the Center for Pharmacometrics and Systems Pharmacology (Orlando) in the Department of Pharmaceutics. He received his B.S. in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil in 2004. Dr. Cristofoletti received his Ph.D. summa cum laude from the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University (Frankfurt am Main, Germany) under the supervision of Dr. Jennifer Dressman in 2017. He also holds an appointment with the Clinical Pharmacology & Biopharmaceutics Office of the Brazilian Drug Regulatory Agency (ANVISA). While there, his research on oral drug absorption has helped in building scientific foundations for generic policies within Brazilian jurisdiction.
Dr. Cristofoletti received the Simcyp Academic Most Informative and Scientific Report 2017 and 2020 Award for his research on translational modeling strategies establishing an in vitro-in vivo link. He serves as a member of the Special Interest Group on BCS and Biowaiver of the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) and a member of the Brazilian Pharmacopoeia.
Dr. Cristofoletti’s current research focuses on integrating in vitro systems and quantitative methods and modeling to inform drug discovery and drug product development with focus on: a) Mechanistic absorption models for IVIVC, IVIVE and virtual bioequivalence trials; b) Metabolic- and transport-mediated drug-drug interaction; and c) Disease-based models.
Dr. Cristofoletti’s lab has been applying stem cell technology, co-culture techniques and microfluidics to develop microphysiological systems to investigate drug- and disease-related mechanisms affecting membrane integrity and predict drug absorption/tissue disposition. A major emphasis has been on developing a segment-specific intestine-on-a-chip to investigate drug- and disease-related mechanisms affecting intestinal membrane integrity (leaky gut) as well as transport-mediated kinetics and drug-drug interactions. He is also interested in applying organ-on-a-chip technology to study drug penetration in brain parenchyma and cerebrospinal fluid.