Dr. Jennifer Le, PharmD, MAS, FIDSA, FCCP, FCSHP

Pediatric Infectious Diseases and Clinical Pharmacology

Dr. Jennifer Le is Professor of Clinical Pharmacy at the University of California, San Diego Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.  She received her Bachelors of Science in Biology from University of California, Los Angeles in 1995; PharmD from University of California, San Francisco in 2000; and Masters in Clinical Research from University of California, San Diego in 2012.  As a board-certified pharmacotherapy specialist with added qualification in infectious diseases since 2007, Dr. Le has been involved in clinical pharmacy services in pediatric infectious diseases and patient-oriented research over 20 years.  She was an invited member of the federal advisory board for the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Antimicrobial Drugs Advisory Committee that makes official recommendations to FDA about safety and efficacy of antibiotics for use in the United States from 2018 to 2022.  She is currently an invited member of Healthcare Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Research Study Section for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI); expert panel member for Pediatric ECMO  Anticoagulation  CollaborativE (PEACE) Consensus Guidelines; an advisory board member of the Asian Pacific Health Foundation; has also been a member of an NIH Special Emphasis Panel and participates in Scientific Review Groups; is an invited editorial board member for Pediatric Pharmacotherapy, Pharmacotherapy Journal, Pediatric Medicine and Infectious Diseases and Therapy Journal; and invited program reviewer for the national board certification programs through the American College of Clinical Pharmacy, including Self-Assessment Programs in Pediatrics (PedSAP), Ambulatory Care (ACSAP), and Pharmacotherapy (PSAP).

Dr. Le’s primary research encompasses three domains: (1) the appropriate and safe use of antibiotics and antifungal agents, (2) clinical pharmacology, and (3) outcomes associated with resistant infections in pediatrics across the wide age spectrum from infancy (including critically-ill premature neonates) to adolescence.  She specializes in pharmacokinetics – the processes by which a drug is absorbed, distributed, metabolized and eliminated by the body – and pediatric clinical pharmacology research.  She has published over 135 articles in reputable medical and pharmacy journals and books, including Pediatrics, Journal of Pediatrics, and Merck Manuals and serves as the second author of the current vancomycin guidelines endorsed by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, Infectious Diseases Society of America, Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society and Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists.  Dr. Le was a past recipient of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy’s Investigator Development Award and the K23 Career Development Award from the National Institutes of Health for her research in pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic modeling of antibiotics in children.  She also serves as an investigator for pharmacokinetic studies through the RO1, U54 & T32/34 award mechanisms for developmental and translational pharmacology of pediatric antimicrobial therapy funded by the National Institutes of Health.  She was bestowed the honor of fellow of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, American College of Clinical Pharmacy and California Society of Health Systems Pharmacists; and received awards such as Sternfels Prize for Drug Safety Innovation and Outstanding Mentor at University of California, San Diego Faculty Mentor Program.  Dr. Le is most proud of her passion and continued effort to improve pediatric health and wellness extending globally through her humanitarian work in Vietnam, Taiwan and for Jordan over the past 15 years.