Dr. Schurdak`s research focus is in two main areas: 1) the qualification of our liver acinus microphysiological (LAMPS) and vascularized LAMPS (vLAMPS) as drug development tools (DDT) with the FDA; and 2) the application of quantitative systems pharmacology (QSP) to understand the mechanisms of neurodegenerative disease progression and identify therapeutic strategies for traumatic brain injury (TBI), Huntington’s disease (HD), and Alzheimer’s disease (AD).  Their Translational Center for Microphysiological Systems (Pitt-TraCe) is qualifying the LAMPS as a DTT for two contexts of use (CoU) to: 1) establish hepatic clearance of drug candidates in patients with metabolic dysfunction- associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) to assist in the determination of drug candidate dosing in clinical trials when patients with MASLD are included; and 2) establish the hepatotoxicity of drug candidates in patients with MASLD to assist in the determination of drug candidate dosing in clinical trials when patients with MASLD are included.  They are also qualifying the vLAMPS as a DDT for two CoUs to: 1) provide data on the anticipated efficacy of drug candidates to support advancement to clinical trials and aid in the determination of drug candidate dosing in MASLD clinical trials; and 2) predict the responsiveness of individual patients to drug candidates for their inclusion in clinical trials.  In a collaboration with Shaun Carlson in the Department of Neurological Surgery I am applying QSP to generate a dynamic network map of TBI progression induced by Controlled Cortical Impact (CCI) to examine the role of CME in TBI disease progression.