Namandjé Bumpus facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Namandjé Bumpus
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| Born | February 7, 1981 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
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| Alma mater | Occidental College (BA 2003) University of Michigan (PhD 2007) |
| Known for | research on cytochrome P450s, antiviral drug metabolism |
| Awards | Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers John J. Abel Award |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | pharmacology; drug metabolism; toxicology; pharmacogenetics; pharmacokinetics |
| Institutions | Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine |
| Doctoral advisor | Paul F. Hollenberg |
Namandjé N. Bumpus is an American scientist who studies how medicines work in the body. This field is called pharmacology. She is currently a top leader at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA is a government group that makes sure our food and medicines are safe.
Before joining the FDA, Dr. Bumpus was a professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She is well-known for her research on medicines that fight viruses, especially those used to treat HIV-1. She studies how our bodies use these medicines and how our genes can change how well they work. In 2016, she received a special award from the President of the United States for her scientific work.
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Early Life and School
Namandjé Bumpus was born in Philadelphia and grew up in Massachusetts. She became interested in chemistry when she was very young. She even wrote to the American Chemical Society in elementary school to ask about jobs for chemists!
She went to Occidental College in California and earned a degree in Biology in 2003. There, she learned about different types of science. She then got a chance to do research at the University of Michigan. She liked it so much that she decided to go back to Michigan for her advanced degree.
In 2007, she earned her Ph.D. in pharmacology from the University of Michigan. Her research looked at how special body chemicals, called cytochrome P450 enzymes, process medicines. After her Ph.D., she continued her research at the Scripps Research Institute in California. She studied how the body controls fats and how stress affects these processes.
Her Career
Working at Universities
Dr. Bumpus started her own lab at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 2010. She moved up from Assistant Professor to full Professor by 2020.
At Johns Hopkins, she also helped other scientists. She worked to connect basic science (finding out how things work) with "translational research." This kind of research tries to use new discoveries to help people, like developing new treatments.
Dr. Bumpus also worked to make sure everyone had a fair chance at Johns Hopkins. She created programs to help students and researchers get the support they needed. In 2020, she became the director of a science department at Johns Hopkins. She was the first African-American woman to lead any department there.
She has also worked with other important science groups. She helps lead a study section for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). She also helps edit a science journal called Drug Metabolism and Disposition. She has been very involved with the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET), a group for scientists who study medicines.
Working for the Government
In August 2022, Dr. Bumpus became the Chief Scientist at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This means she helps guide the scientific work of the FDA. In February 2024, she was promoted to Principal Deputy Commissioner, becoming a very senior leader at the agency.
Her Research Discoveries
A big part of Dr. Bumpus's research focuses on how the body processes medicines used to treat HIV-1. She studies how our genes can change how well these medicines work.
One important medicine for HIV is called tenofovir. This medicine stops the HIV virus from making copies of itself. Dr. Bumpus and her team found out how the body changes tenofovir into its active form. They learned that different parts of the body process the medicine in different ways. They also found that some people have small differences in their genes. These differences can change how well the medicine works for them. Her work has helped understand how tenofovir can be used to prevent HIV infection.
Dr. Bumpus has also studied other HIV medicines. Her lab was the first to show how the body breaks down medicines like rilpivirine and etravirine. She also studied dapivirine and maraviroc. She found that genetic differences can affect how quickly the body gets rid of these medicines.
Her lab also discovered something interesting about a medicine called valproic acid, which is used for epilepsy. They found that this medicine can help with problems like fatty liver disease and high blood sugar in mice.
Personal Life
Outside of her science work, Dr. Bumpus enjoys sports like running and playing basketball. She also helps her community in Washington, D.C. She volunteers to provide meals to people who are very sick. She has also helped people living in areas with limited access to fresh food get to farmers markets.
Awards and Recognitions
Dr. Bumpus has received many important awards for her work.
- In 2016, President Obama gave her the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. This is the highest honor for young scientists and engineers in the U.S.
- She was chosen to give special lectures, like the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) Director's Early-Career Investigator Lecture in 2017.
- In 2021, she became a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
- In 2022, she was elected to the National Academy of Medicine.
Other awards she has received include:
- Tanabe Young Investigator Award (2014)
- Division for Drug Metabolism Early Career Achievement Award (2015)
- The International Society for the Study of Xenobiotics (ISSX) North American New Investigator Award (2017)
- The Daily Record Leading Women Award (2017)
- Leon I. Goldberg Young Investigator Award (2017)
- John J. Abel Award in Pharmacology (2019)
