In 2015, Dr. Kyle Burghardt had just completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Michigan and was in his first year as an assistant professor of pharmacy practice at Wayne State University. He applied for an ACCP Futures Grant to fund acquisition of pilot data for his larger project that he had previously developed in the ACCP Focused Investigator Training (FIT) program. He was studying insulin resistance induced by antipsychotic medication in the absence of obesity, specifically the impact of DNA methylation and lipids in the skeletal muscle. Burghardt commented on why he applied for the Futures Grant in 2015:

It was a new opportunity, specifically for pharmacists. I was looking for junior-level grants that could make my larger grant (application) more successful.

He then went on to credit the Futures Grant as a major contributor to the success of his career as a researcher and tenured associate professor.

Now Burghardt is a tenured associate professor of pharmacy practice at Wayne State University Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. His research focuses on psychopharmacology and pharmacogenetics. He has received multiple awards for original research and highly cited manuscripts, including the ACCP New Investigator Award in 2020. He continues to contribute to ACCP and ACCP Foundation initiatives, primarily focused on mentoring and training researcher pharmacists. He is also an active member of the American Association of Psychiatric Pharmacists and the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy.

Burghardt earned a Pharm.D. degree with distinction from the University of Michigan College of Pharmacy in 2011. He then completed a postdoctoral research fellowship with the Pharmacogenomics Lab at the University of Michigan under the mentorship of Dr. Vicki Ellingrod. During his fellowship, he attended the ACCP FIT program, and his project was ultimately funded by a grant from the NIH. Burghardt has received over $1 million in grant funding and conducted 2 NIH-funded studies on the mechanisms of antipsychotic medication–induced insulin resistance.

Futures Grants are supported through donations to the ACCP Foundation. Donate here to help the ACCP Foundation continue supporting the development of research skills among student, trainee, and early-career ACCP members.