CAPhO Connections Podcast: From Print to Patient Transforming Cancer Care Through 3D Printing
This episode explores into how 3D printing is rapidly reshaping oncology care, transforming how cancer medications may be designed, manufactured, and delivered to patients. It walks through the full journey from digital drug design to patient-ready therapy, while unpacking real-world considerations like formulation challenges, quality assurance, and clinical readiness. We also explore its promise in tackling oncology drug shortages and enabling truly individualized treatment approaches, especially for pediatric and other complex-to-treat populations. Looking forward, the discussion highlights key factors to scaling this innovation across health systems and what emerging clinical research suggests about its future. At its core, this episode reimagines oncology pharmacists as evolving professionals who bridge clinician, scientist, engineer, and manufacturer roles. Tune in and don’t miss how this could redefine the future of cancer care!
Learning Objectives
After this episode, listeners will be able to:
- Understand the science behind 3D printing in oncology care and how a digital drug design becomes a real, patient-ready cancer medication.
- Explore what is realistically possible today with 3D printed drug formulations, including how they are developed, tested, and quality assured before reaching patients.
- Examine where 3D printing could first be integrated into oncology pharmacy practice, including its potential role in addressing drug shortages and improving access to critical therapies.
- Discover how 3D printing could transform individualized cancer treatment, especially for pediatric patients and other complex groups requiring highly tailored dosing, formulations, or access solutions.
- Evaluate the future of oncology pharmacy and cancer care delivery, including clinical readiness, scalability, funding models, regulatory challenges, and the path toward truly personalized, on-demand cancer therapy.
About the Presenter: Brooke Bernhardt
Dr. Brooke Bernhardt is a board-certified pediatric and oncology pharmacist with experience in clinical pharmacy practice, pharmacoepidemiology, clinical trials, and clinical pharmaceutics. She completed her Doctor of Pharmacy at the University of Georgia, and masters at the University of Houston. Dr. Bernhardt is an Associate Member in the St. Jude Department of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and the St. Jude Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. As the Division Director of Pharmaceutical Services and Chief Pharmacy Officer, Dr. Bernhardt strives to ensure St. Jude delivers the highest level of pharmaceutical care to patients. In her laboratory work, Bernhardt works collaboratively to research the influence of pharmacogenomics in clinical outcomes across populations of children with cancer and discover new ways to deliver more suitable, pediatric-friendly finished dosage forms through 3D printing and advanced compounding techniques.

Resources Referenced:
- Developing an innovative 3D printing platform for production of personalised medicines in a hospital for the OPERA clinical trial - PubMed
- A risk-based, QTPP-driven framework for semi-solid extrusion 3d printing of personalized medicines: Integrating hospital compounding and clinical trial regulation - PubMed
- Automated 3D Printing-Based Non-Sterile Compounding Technology for Pediatric Corticosteroid Dosage Forms in a Health System Pharmacy Setting - PubMed