[Source: Daily Wildcat, Adam Curtis] - The UA College of Pharmacy has just added another notch on its post of faculty with distinguished honors, with the election of its associate dean of academic and professional affairs, Dr. John Murphy, as president of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy.
As president of the ACCP, Murphy will lead an organization of approximately 10,000 clinical pharmacists while also continuing his work with the UA.
Murphy said although the position will require him to work more, "The opportunity to work with dedicated individuals in an attempt to improve the lives and conditions of others truly provides great returns."
"The extra work yields so much that it is hardly noticed," Murphy said.
"(Murphy) is helping to promote the profession at a time when we desperately need more pharmacists," said Karin Lorentzen, communications coordinator for the College of Pharmacy.
Lyle Bootman, the college's dean, said that because of Arizona's aging population, the demand for pharmacists is high.
"There is … an extreme shortage of pharmacists, especially in a fast-growing state like Arizona," Bootman said.
Murphy said there is a high burden on writing prescriptions, both due to the fact that "baby boomers are reaching the point of high medication use" and that there are a lot of new drugs being discovered and promoted.
Writing prescriptions is not the only concern, however. "There are many opportunities to serve patients better, but we don't have time," Murphy said.
Murphy said he is working to "pursue payment for direct patient care services" not only for dispensing medication but also rendering services like counseling, medication monitoring and preventative care, Murphy said.
He is also working to promote pharmacogenomics, a branch of pharmacology that focuses on prescribing personalized medication, Murphy said. This enables pharmacists to find "who (the medication) works best for" with the fewest adverse effects, he said.
Murphy's election to the ACCP is an "indicator that the college is among the highest ranked in the world," Bootman said. "For the past 20 years, someone (from the College of Pharmacy) has been an officer of a national or international professional health-related association."
Health care is one of the top three priorities of President-elect Barack Obama's administration, and "they will be looking to the John Murphys for guidance," Bootman said.
"(Murphy) is a highly developed problem-solver and innovator," but students are always the first thing on his mind, Bootman said. "He serves as a role model for students" who want to serve their profession by becoming leaders in their profession, he said.
"I think it is invaluable for students to realize that their faculty serves the public, so students learn to serve as well," Murphy said.
Showing posts with label pharmacogenomics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pharmacogenomics. Show all posts
Monday, December 8, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
UA Pharmacy Researcher To Study the Adverse Effects of Street Drug 'Ecstasy'
[Source : Karin Lorentzen, UA School of Pharmacy] - The National Institute on Drug Abuse has awarded a researcher at The University of Arizona College of Pharmacy $1.7 million for a nearly five-year study of the long-term adverse effects of the street drug ecstasy, also known as the “hug drug.
Terrence J. Monks, PhD, head of the college’s Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology and a BIO5 member, is a specialist in the study of drug toxicology, or the “bad” effects of drugs. He will be the principal investigator on the ecstasy project.
“Most research on ecstasy focuses on the pharmacological, or nontoxic effects of the drug,” says Monks. “My interest lies in learning how the drug negatively affects the brain.”
Classified as a Schedule I substance, ecstasy has been controlled in the United States since 1985. Ecstasy (also known as MDMA, or methylenedioxymethamphetamine) is a synthetic, psychoactive drug that is chemically similar to the stimulant methamphetamine. It produces an energizing effect as well as feelings of euphoria, emotional warmth, and distortions in time perception and tactile experiences.
These effects of MDMA have contributed to its popularity as a “party drug” among adolescents and young adults who frequent weekend-long “raves” or “techo-parties.” However, the drug has a serious down side.
“A number of adverse effects are associated with the use of MDMA,” says Monks. “MDMA use and abuse therefore has the potential to give rise to a major public health problem.”
According to the U.S. Department of State, the short-term negative effects of ecstasy can be nausea, dilated pupils, dry mouth and throat, and lower jaw tension. Use of the drug often leads to dramatic increases in body temperature exceeding 100 degrees Fahrenheit, which in turn can lead to muscle breakdown and kidney and cardiovascular system failure. This hyperthermic response can therefore result in fatal blood clotting, heart attacks and strokes.
Scientific studies have found that ecstasy use also produces long-term damage to the brain’s ability to release serotonin, which regulates mood, body temperature and memory.
“Ecstasy may be the only amphetamine-based drug that attacks the serotonin system,” says Monks. “There is little doubt that it has the potential to be toxic to the human nervous system. The question is how.”
Monks’ research will focus on the process by which ecstasy is metabolized by the body. When the drug enters the body orally in pill form (the manner in which it is usually taken), enzymes in the body convert it either to harmless metabolites or into toxic metabolites. Predicting which people process ecstasy into toxic metabolites more readily than other people is the challenge.
“Individuals metabolize ecstasy differently,” says Monks. “If 100 people take ecstasy, perhaps five will metabolize the drug very efficiently, whereas five others will metabolize the drug poorly. Since metabolism of ecstasy is required for it to produce neurotoxicity, the individual who efficiently metabolizes the drug will likely be more susceptible to the long-term adverse effects.”
The UA professor is believed to be the only researcher in the U.S. studying the role of metabolism in the neurotoxicity of the drug.
The results of Monks’ research will help people understand which individuals are more likely to suffer long-term negative effects of ecstasy.
“The multitude of adverse effects resulting from the misuse of ecstasy necessitates a complete understanding of the neuropharmacology and neurotoxicology of this unusual amphetamine derivative,” says Monks. “We hope to help define important factors that contribute to individual susceptibility to the long-term adverse effects of this drug.”
Terrence J. Monks, PhD, head of the college’s Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology and a BIO5 member, is a specialist in the study of drug toxicology, or the “bad” effects of drugs. He will be the principal investigator on the ecstasy project.
“Most research on ecstasy focuses on the pharmacological, or nontoxic effects of the drug,” says Monks. “My interest lies in learning how the drug negatively affects the brain.”
Classified as a Schedule I substance, ecstasy has been controlled in the United States since 1985. Ecstasy (also known as MDMA, or methylenedioxymethamphetamine) is a synthetic, psychoactive drug that is chemically similar to the stimulant methamphetamine. It produces an energizing effect as well as feelings of euphoria, emotional warmth, and distortions in time perception and tactile experiences.
These effects of MDMA have contributed to its popularity as a “party drug” among adolescents and young adults who frequent weekend-long “raves” or “techo-parties.” However, the drug has a serious down side.
“A number of adverse effects are associated with the use of MDMA,” says Monks. “MDMA use and abuse therefore has the potential to give rise to a major public health problem.”
According to the U.S. Department of State, the short-term negative effects of ecstasy can be nausea, dilated pupils, dry mouth and throat, and lower jaw tension. Use of the drug often leads to dramatic increases in body temperature exceeding 100 degrees Fahrenheit, which in turn can lead to muscle breakdown and kidney and cardiovascular system failure. This hyperthermic response can therefore result in fatal blood clotting, heart attacks and strokes.
Scientific studies have found that ecstasy use also produces long-term damage to the brain’s ability to release serotonin, which regulates mood, body temperature and memory.
“Ecstasy may be the only amphetamine-based drug that attacks the serotonin system,” says Monks. “There is little doubt that it has the potential to be toxic to the human nervous system. The question is how.”
Monks’ research will focus on the process by which ecstasy is metabolized by the body. When the drug enters the body orally in pill form (the manner in which it is usually taken), enzymes in the body convert it either to harmless metabolites or into toxic metabolites. Predicting which people process ecstasy into toxic metabolites more readily than other people is the challenge.
“Individuals metabolize ecstasy differently,” says Monks. “If 100 people take ecstasy, perhaps five will metabolize the drug very efficiently, whereas five others will metabolize the drug poorly. Since metabolism of ecstasy is required for it to produce neurotoxicity, the individual who efficiently metabolizes the drug will likely be more susceptible to the long-term adverse effects.”
The UA professor is believed to be the only researcher in the U.S. studying the role of metabolism in the neurotoxicity of the drug.
The results of Monks’ research will help people understand which individuals are more likely to suffer long-term negative effects of ecstasy.
“The multitude of adverse effects resulting from the misuse of ecstasy necessitates a complete understanding of the neuropharmacology and neurotoxicology of this unusual amphetamine derivative,” says Monks. “We hope to help define important factors that contribute to individual susceptibility to the long-term adverse effects of this drug.”
Monday, October 27, 2008
Answering the Question: ‘Which Drug Therapy Is Right for Me?’
[Source: Karin Lorentzen, AHSC Office of Public Affairs] - In the world of pharmaceutical science, the question of why two very similar individuals can react differently to a drug is the subject of intense interest.
At The University of Arizona College of Pharmacy, researchers are striving to find answers to seemingly simple questions asked by patients, such as, "Why did I have to try three different high blood pressure medications before my doctor found one that worked for me?" and "Why did my cancer stay in remission with drug treatment, but my friend who had the same treatment was not so fortunate?"
At the basis of the answers to these questions is a field of study called pharmacogenomics, the analysis of how the expression of the human genome, the DNA code that instructs the making of the machinery of a cell, is key to the body's response to drugs.
"Importantly," said Walt Klimecki, assistant professor at UA College of Pharmacy, "pharmacogenomics helps us understand why two apparently similar individuals could have very different responses to the same drug. It holds the promise that drugs might one day be tailor-made for individuals and adapted to each person's own particular makeup."
In his lab at the UA's BIO5 Institute, Klimecki and Alicia Bolt, a graduate student in pharmacology and toxicology, are conducting pharmacogenomic research on a collection of white blood cells taken from about 200 healthy individuals from diverse global populations in the United States, China and Africa. The cells have been manipulated experimentally so that they can easily be grown in a plastic flask with growth media. Klimecki stores stocks of these individuals' cells in a lab freezer at the BIO5 Institute – a "town in a tube," he said.
This system allows Klimecki and Bolt to explore the diversity of individual variation in drug response in a much more controlled way than could be possible with the short-lived samples taken directly from human study participants.
In the lab, Klimecki and Bolt expose the white blood cells to arsenic trioxide, a relatively recent addition to the cancer-treatment arsenal in the United States, to measure how different expression patterns of the genome can predict response to this anti-cancer drug.
To measure differences in drug response, they use a technology called microarrays, a highly miniaturized analysis technology that allows scientists to measure the levels of each and every product contained in the master recipe book that is the human genome. For example, on one typical microscope slide, 44,000 such products can be measured four separate times.
Bolt reported he results of the research this month at the Mountain West Society of Toxicology meeting. In her abstract, Bolt states that a frequent observation in humans is the scenario of a relatively uniform toxicant exposure that is associated with a variable response. "The results are exciting," said Bolt. "Our observations suggest that this cell line model reproduces the inter-individual variation seen in arsenic-induced cell-killing observed in humans."
"Our research to date is encouraging," Klimecki said, "but these are complicated problems to solve. We need to study the effects of both genetics and the environment. The long-term solutions to these complex problems are going to involve multidisciplinary teams that include pharmacist-scientists, pharmacologists, toxicologists, chemists and computational/statistical scientists. But the results will be worth the work. These approaches and tools are an important part of the movement away from ‘trial-and-error' drug selection to the more individually targeted drug choices that are on the horizon."
At The University of Arizona College of Pharmacy, researchers are striving to find answers to seemingly simple questions asked by patients, such as, "Why did I have to try three different high blood pressure medications before my doctor found one that worked for me?" and "Why did my cancer stay in remission with drug treatment, but my friend who had the same treatment was not so fortunate?"
At the basis of the answers to these questions is a field of study called pharmacogenomics, the analysis of how the expression of the human genome, the DNA code that instructs the making of the machinery of a cell, is key to the body's response to drugs.
"Importantly," said Walt Klimecki, assistant professor at UA College of Pharmacy, "pharmacogenomics helps us understand why two apparently similar individuals could have very different responses to the same drug. It holds the promise that drugs might one day be tailor-made for individuals and adapted to each person's own particular makeup."
In his lab at the UA's BIO5 Institute, Klimecki and Alicia Bolt, a graduate student in pharmacology and toxicology, are conducting pharmacogenomic research on a collection of white blood cells taken from about 200 healthy individuals from diverse global populations in the United States, China and Africa. The cells have been manipulated experimentally so that they can easily be grown in a plastic flask with growth media. Klimecki stores stocks of these individuals' cells in a lab freezer at the BIO5 Institute – a "town in a tube," he said.
This system allows Klimecki and Bolt to explore the diversity of individual variation in drug response in a much more controlled way than could be possible with the short-lived samples taken directly from human study participants.
In the lab, Klimecki and Bolt expose the white blood cells to arsenic trioxide, a relatively recent addition to the cancer-treatment arsenal in the United States, to measure how different expression patterns of the genome can predict response to this anti-cancer drug.
To measure differences in drug response, they use a technology called microarrays, a highly miniaturized analysis technology that allows scientists to measure the levels of each and every product contained in the master recipe book that is the human genome. For example, on one typical microscope slide, 44,000 such products can be measured four separate times.
Bolt reported he results of the research this month at the Mountain West Society of Toxicology meeting. In her abstract, Bolt states that a frequent observation in humans is the scenario of a relatively uniform toxicant exposure that is associated with a variable response. "The results are exciting," said Bolt. "Our observations suggest that this cell line model reproduces the inter-individual variation seen in arsenic-induced cell-killing observed in humans."
"Our research to date is encouraging," Klimecki said, "but these are complicated problems to solve. We need to study the effects of both genetics and the environment. The long-term solutions to these complex problems are going to involve multidisciplinary teams that include pharmacist-scientists, pharmacologists, toxicologists, chemists and computational/statistical scientists. But the results will be worth the work. These approaches and tools are an important part of the movement away from ‘trial-and-error' drug selection to the more individually targeted drug choices that are on the horizon."
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