The digital age has transformed how we learn, network and connect with colleagues and collaborators around the world. The Annual MPRINT (Maternal Pediatric Precision in Therapeutics Hub) 2025 conference, that took place from the 13th of May 2025 to the 25th of May 2025, demonstrated how powerful virtual collaboration can be. Hosted virtually by the MPRINT team, participants came from all over the globe. The team from the Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI), led by Prof. Catriona Waitt (Principal Investigator, MILK-PBPK) and two PhD scholars – Davies Otieno and Joshua Kiptoo logged in from Kampala, Uganda and the 7-hour time difference did not deter us from participating in this important event.
The virtual conference was officially kicked off by a statement by Prof. Sara K. Quinney, who, apart from setting the tone for the rest of the conference, introduced an innovative way for participants to interact as the conference went on: a shared google document where we could add comments, questions and interact as the speakers shared insights on various topics revolving around fetomaternal therapeutics.
A key take-home message from the first day emphasized the importance of predicting medication exposure to the infant—rather than waiting to measure actual drug concentrations—especially when long-term effects are not known. Proactively modeling exposure helps identify risks before irreversible harm occurs, enabling timely adjustments to maternal dosing or neonatal monitoring protocols. This approach could safeguard vulnerable infants in cases where delayed measurement could mean missing a window to mitigate metabolic disruptions, as demonstrated by altered infant gut microbiome after medication intake.
The second day of the conference took a unique approach. The first session brought together key opinion leaders and researchers in fetomaternal therapeutics for an open-table discussion on some of the issues affecting the field. This was not the usual academic discourse but an open and vulnerable session where funding, collaborations, setbacks and obstacles were discussed with potential solutions proposed.
It was quite refreshing to hear key researchers in the field candidly discuss issues, providing an investigator’s and mentor’s perspective on how, for instance, funding priorities could affect how we undertake research. Their advice to mentees was to balance pragmatism and curiosity, and additionally, focus on collaborations and interactions with policymakers to align our research agendas with that of public health focus areas. Another big highlight on day two was the trainee presentations. They were really well done—great mix of topics, smooth delivery, and solid content. A special mention to the winner of this session was Nina Zhao, who delivered a talk on “Mapping pharmaceutical exposures in human milk”.
The last session of the second day capped an enlightening day, where experienced researchers and mentees engaged in open discussion sessions in break-out rooms with the intent of drawing lessons learnt throughout the conference. The break-out rooms provided a one-on-one interaction with panelists, including Prof. Robert Bies, who delivers a lecture on “Population Pharmacokinetic Models’ on the NIH Principles of Clinical Pharmacology course, a reference we often used as we learnt the role of modelling and simulation in drug development. This happened to be a nice coincidence as one of mentees in the session inquired on how to get started on a career in clinical pharmacology, where Davies Otieno gladly shared his journey. Throughout the conference, it was fascinating to interact with panelists and fellow attendees through a live collaborative google document. It was such a novel and powerful approach to conveniently document conference proceedings and coordinate session questions using accessible tools.
The Annual MPRINT 2025 Conference was a testament to the power of virtual spaces to unite, inspire and educate. Though this does not take away from in-person engagements, we want to sincerely thank the organizers for providing an online accessibility option for the MILK team in Kampala.