Certara Professional Courses and Certifications

Sept-October 2026 Cost - $300 (Academia $150, Africa/India $75) - 6 Sessions (2-hrs each) Course Description This course is a rare opportunity to learn directly from Professor Stephen Duffull, a globally recognized pharmacometrician with over 30 years of experience. While he is widely known for his deep expertise in NONMEM and population PK/PD modeling, in this course Professor Duffull brings that same rigor, quantitative insight, and modeling discipline to RsNLME — making his instruction especially valuable for learners who are adopting RsNLME and have some prior familiarity with NONMEM. Introduction Phoenix is a comprehensive data analysis platform supporting population PK and PKPD modeling, among many other pharmacometrics approaches. For population analysis, Phoenix uses the NLME engine with the Phoenix Model Language (PML). The NLME engine can be accessed through multiple interfaces, including the Phoenix graphical user interface and R, where it is known as RsNLME. Importantly, PML code written in Phoenix runs seamlessly in R, and vice versa. PML models can be written directly in Phoenix or authored in any text editor — much like working with NONMEM control files, often by adapting an existing library model.   Scope This course covers the full modeling workflow in RsNLME: Writing PML code as text and saving it as a .MDL model file Reading NONMEM-formatted datasets into R Configuring pre-optimization settings (e.g., estimation method) Fitting the model using the NLME engine Generating goodness-of-fit (GOF) and individual plots Creating VPC and pcVPC plots Simulating from the model, bootstrap, and stepwise covariate modelling    Step 1 is performed using a text editor; steps 2–7 are performed in R. Throughout the course, PML model files are compared and contrasted with standard NONMEM control files (.MOD / .CTL). Models will be built both through a Shiny app and by directly editing existing files, using a focused set of examples that illustrate how PML model files are structured.   Learning Objectives By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to edit and adapt existing PML model files and execute them within R   Prerequisites This is a hands-on, applied course — not a theoretical one. Prior experience with a population modeling approach is required (e.g., Certara University Course 124-OD-CERT, 124-LIVE-CERT, or 207-LIVE). Some experience with NONMEM is helpful given the compare-and-contrast elements of the material, but is not mandatory.   Location Virtual Live on line via Zoom.  This short course will be taught in 3 weeks with two 2hr sessions a week.  Attendees should plan on attending live but sessions will be recorded. Format & Schedule Virtual Live Online — taught over 3 weeks with two 2-hour sessions per week. Participants are encouraged to attend live; all sessions will be recorded. Access: Recordings available for 3 months post-course Week Dates Time (EST) Week 1 Sept 28 & 30 1:00 – 3:00 PM Week 2 Oct 5 & 7 1:00 – 3:00 PM Week 3 Oct 19 & 21 1:00 – 3:00 PM   Requirements Familiarity with basic R usage Prior experience with a population modeling approach Some NONMEM experience preferred RsNLME temporary licenses will be provided.  Academic participants will receive a free RsNLME license to keep.   Certification Exam Structure: Two parts - Part 1 - Multiple Choice (2 attempts) - Part 2:  Submit the results of a Hands-on Exercise (Graded manually)   Time Commitment Estimated 4 hours/week for live sessions which includes Hands-on-exercises.  An additional 6 hours for the certification exam   Instructors Stephen Duffull is a Senior Scientific Advisor at Certara and Professor at the Universities of Otago and Queensland.  He has been working in the area of pharmacometrics and PKPD for more than 30 years during which time he has been active in research, model informed drug development, leadership roles and training. Ana Henry is an Executive Director of Training at Certara, where she leads Certara University and oversees e-learning content development. With over 20 years in the pharmaceutical industry, she has deep expertise in PK/PD software. She is also a regular guest speaker in the graduate PK/PD course at the University of Colorado Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.​                                                                         Read more

Cost - $150 for Academics (free with purchase of RsNLME, $150 for Africa/India) Course Description This course is free for all who purchase RsNLME or Phoenix NLME.  If you have paid for RsNLME or Phoenix NLME, you can get this course for free, so contact us for a coupon code that will make the course free.  (Because RsNLME is free for academics, academic users will need to purchase this course for $150.) This course is intended for R Speaks NLME (RsNLME) users who need to know how to encode models in the Pharmacometrics Modeling Language (PML) used in Phoenix and RsNLME.  It provides a solid foundation and a structured approach to model building, to create your own PK and PK/PD models.  This highly practical course gives an accelerated introduction to writing PML models.  It assumes that you have ideas for PK and/or PK/PD models that you want to construct, and you mainly need to know how to implement them in PML.  The course includes a basic introduction to PK/PD modeling and population PK modeling. If you are an academic user, please contact us so we can update your account profile to give you access to academic pricing.  Note that you must register with an email address that is associated with an academic institution to get academic pricing. If you are located in Africa or India, please contact us so we can so we can update your account profile to give you access to the Africa/India pricing.  You will need to provide proof that you are physically located in India to get the pricing. There are about 1.5 hours of video in the course, plus interactive exercises.  You should expect to spend about 6 hours of work to finish.  You will have access to this course for a period of 3 years after purchase. Prerequisites Learners who take our introductory compartmental modeling course, which is offered in both live online and e-learning formats: (123-LIVE-CERT) Phoenix WinNonlin (Part 2) PK/PD Modeling Certification Course (Live Online) (123-OD-CERT) Phoenix WinNonlin (Part 2) PK/PD Modeling Certification Course (e-Learning) (If you took your training before these courses were launched, it could have a different course number:  100-CL, 100-OD, 123-LO, 123-LIVE) Alternatively, learners should have knowledge/skills in the following areas: Knowledge of basic concepts of PK models Using PK Models (in Phoenix or other modeling platform) Obtaining initial estimates for PK models (using NCA or other methods) Evaluating the fit of PK models Read more

Certara Workshop at ACoP 2026 - AI Assisted Pharmacometrics Price: $150 (Academic $75) - Lunch Included For academic pricing, contact info@certarauniversity.com. Be prepared to offer some evidence (such as an academic email address or a student ID) that you are eligible for the discount. Course Description Population PK/PD modeling is the foundation of pharmacometrics. Yet the workflows behind it are slow, technically demanding, and hard to scale. What if the tools got out of the way and let you focus on the science? In this 3-hour hands-on workshop, Certara's Phoenix experts introduce two new tools that reimagine how population models are built and run.  Both tools rely on the trusted, industry-standard Phoenix NLME engine. Introduction First, you'll work with Model Designer, a browser-based pharmacometrics modeling tool built for scientists, not software engineers. With no installation and a guided, visual interface, you'll browse a curated model library, configure structural and statistical model features through intuitive options or author PML directly, and simulate and visualize results in real time. Then go further with our workflow agent, which brings the AI assistants you already use  (e.g., Cursor, Claude, and Codex) into the command-line interface for the versatile Phoenix Modeling Language. Describe your goal in plain language, and the assistant executes a complete RsNLME workflow: exploratory data analysis, base model development, stepwise covariate modeling, goodness-of-fit diagnostics, VPCs, and a reproducible, shareable report. You remain in control at each iteration and decision point. Scope This workshop covers: How to build, configure, and simulate population PK/PD models visually in Model Designer — no installation or coding required How agentic AI, powered by RsNLME's MCP server, can execute end-to-end modeling workflows from plain-language prompts How Model Designer and the workflow agent connect into one reproducible workflow, backed by the Phoenix NLME engine Objectives By the end of this workshop, it is anticipated that participants will be able to accomplish the items listed under Scope above using Model Designer and the Phoenix workflow agent. Style Join us for a hands-on session and a catered lunch at noon for a first look at where modeling is heading. Audience Proficiency with model specification and parameterization (coding skills not required) Location Chesapeake H., 2nd Floor of the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland (official industry workshop of ACoP2026) Date and Time Saturday, October 10, 2026 | 9am to noon, followed by lunch from noon to 1pm Requirements Your own laptop [Optional] - If you'd like to run the workflow agent we'll demonstrate in real time, you will need an active subscription to Cursor, Claude, or Codex. However, this is not required. Instructors James Craig, MS:  Staff Software Engineer with over 10 years of experience building scientific applications and leading cross-functional teams. He earned a Master’s in data science and analytics from the Claremont Colleges and is a maintainer of multiple R packages supporting Non-Linear Mixed Effects Modeling and pharmacometric workflows. Skilled in R, Shiny, Python, and diverse data-driven technologies. Passionate about bridging software, data science, and drug development. Samer Mouksassi, PhD is Senior Director, Application Scientist at Certara, recently returned after research at the UCSF Savic Lab. With 20+ years in model-informed drug development, 100+ projects spanning startups to global pharma, and 60+ peer-reviewed publications, he has contributed to regulatory approvals across FDA, EMA, PMDA, and beyond. A longtime advocate for accessible pharmacometrics tooling, Samer holds a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the Université de Montréal. Mark Sale, MD:  Dr. Sale has extensive experience conducting advanced pharmacometrics analyses across diverse therapeutic areas and developing novel machine learning methods to accelerate drug development. He received his M.D. from The Ohio State University and an M.A. in Biostatistics from Georgetown University. Dr. Sale completed a fellowship in clinical pharmacology at Stanford University and was an assistant professor of medicine and pharmacology at Georgetown University.  Dr. Sale is currently the Vice President of Product Management at Certara as well as a scientific advisor at RxStudio. Read more