Dr. Podany named director of mentored scholars program

When he was a young researcher at UNMC, Anthony Podany, PharmD, PhD, joined the mentored scholars program that UNMC has built to help develop junior faculty into independent researchers.

He has gone on to develop his research focus at UNMC in HIV pharmacology and works as part of a team with three other med center researchers, all independently grant funded.

Now Dr. Podany will expand his responsibilities in the UNMC research community – becoming the new director of the Clinical and Translational Research Mentored Scholars Program.

Having finished the program himself in 2022, Dr. Podany said he hopes to grow the community of researchers at UNMC through the CTR-MSP – recruiting early career faculty and developing them as researchers, serving as a mentor, connecting junior researchers to other mentors and sharing his experiences.

“There’s only so much you can learn in the classroom,” Dr. Podany said. “The things that were key for me in my career were my mentors – and having mentors that had real world experience in these issues.”

Dr. Podany joined the UNMC faculty in 2014 – and his time at UNMC goes back to 2008. He started as a pharmacy student in 2008, completing his Doctor of Pharmacy degree in 2012; he then became a clinical pharmacology fellow from 2012 through 2014.

Early on as a faculty member, Dr. Podany entered the CTR-MSP. He completed his doctorate in clinical and translational research in 2022, and he called it a great complement to his pharmacy training and day-to-day activities as a clinical researcher.

Today, Dr. Podany is an associate professor in the UNMC College of Pharmacy’s Department of Pharmacy Practice and Science. He is a member of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Panel on Guidelines for the Prevention and Treatment of Opportunistic Infections in Adults and Adolescents with HIV and is actively involved in HIV/AIDS clinical trials through the Advancing Clinical Therapeutics Globally (ACTG) trials network.

He added his new role with the CTR-MSP as of Jan. 1

Said Ken Bayles, PhD, UNMC vice chancellor for research, “With his experience as a Mentored Scholars Program scholar, and his success in research after graduating from this program, I cannot think of anyone more qualified to lead this program moving forward.”

UNMC’s mentored scholars program dates to 2007, and 76 scholars have either completed the program or are currently enrolled.

Dr. Podany succeeds Lani “Chi Chi” Zimmerman, PhD, as permanent director of the program. Dr. Zimmerman had led the program since 2012 before stepping down last year.

Having established and overseen the program over the years, Jennifer Larsen, MD, Louise and Morton Degen Professor of Internal Medicine, served as interim director until Dr. Podany became director.

“I’d like to thank Dr. Larsen for her work as interim director of this program while we worked to find a permanent director,” Dr. Bayles said. “Her hands-on approach is a major reason why this program has been so successful over the years.”

Dr. Podany commended Dr. Larsen and Dr. Zimmerman for doing a fantastic job in leading the program to where it is today. He also praised UNMC’s overall environment for conducting interdisciplinary and collaborative research.

“Whether it’s basic science research or clinical research, the people and the facilities here on campus are fantastic,” he said. “And our research support services are great, as well.”