Category: Center for Pharmacogenomics and Individualized Therapy
UNC Awarded $2.4 Million to Study Genetic Variation in Diabetics
May 3, 2012Scientists at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy and the UNC School of Medicine have received a $2.4 million grant to study genetic variations in people with diabetes. The goal of the study is to identify genetic variations that may help predict the response to various treatment options for type 2 diabetes to reduce cardiovascular disease. Michael Wagner, PhD, and John Buse, MD, are coprincipal investigators on the grant. Wagner is a research professor in the School’s Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics and a member of the Institute for Pharmacogenomics and Individualized Therapy. Buse is director of the Diabetes … Read more
Roederer Named Section Adviser for APhA Newsletter
February 6, 2012The American Pharmacists Association has tapped Mary Roederer, PharmD, as the section adviser for the new “Pharmacogenomics Corner,” a new section of the APhA DrugInfoLine newsletter. “Pharmacogenomics Corner” will provide practicing pharmacists with interpretative summaries of newly published clinical articles in the field of pharmacogenomics and pharmacogenetics. With the Drug Interactions Corner, the Pharmacogenomics Corner is accessed through the Personalized Care button on the ADIL website, aphadruginfoline.com, and Apple app. As a section adviser, Roederer will suggest topics for coverage, review articles for accuracy and relevance, provide feedback and advice about the APhA DrugInfoLine, and serve as an ambassador for the … Read more
Associate Professor Wiltshire Receives Tenure
December 19, 2011Associate professor Tim Wiltshire, PhD, has received tenure at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. Wiltshire joined the School’s Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics in 2007. He serves as the associate director of the UNC Institute for Pharmacogenomics and Individualized Therapy. He also holds adjunct faculty positions in the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and in theDepartment of Genetics at the UNC School of Medicine. In addition, he is actively involved in several collaborations with the Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences. Before coming to UNC, Wiltshire was a senior research investigator at the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research … Read more
Better Genetic Data Can Improve Malaria Treatment, UNC Scientists Say
November 16, 2011Malaria treatment in African nations could be more effective and less expensive if drug-policy makers paid more attention to how genetics affect a patient’s response to malaria treatments, say researchers at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. The researchers looked at how malaria is normally treated in malaria-endemic countries and then checked to see whether there was genetic information available that suggested that a different drug be used. The researchers’ recommendations were published in a commentary in the January issue of the Bulletin of the World Health Organization. “As part of the Pharmacogenetics in Every Nation Initiative, we looked at … Read more
IPIT Study Links Chemotherapy Response to Heritable Factors
October 26, 2011A new study from the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy’s Institute for Pharmacogenomics and Individualized Therapy and UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center evaluated twenty-nine commonly used cancer chemotherapy drugs in the laboratory and found that how patients’ genes influence their response to chemotherapy varies widely between different drugs and different classes of drugs. The study was published online in the October issue of the journal Pharmacogenomics. “We know that chemotherapy works to kill cancer cells, but the problem is that we don’t know exactly why it works better for some patients than for others,” said project researcher Kristy Richards, MD, PhD, … Read more
It’s Time Formularies Paid Attention to Genetics, UNC Researchers Say
May 19, 2011The science of pharmacogenomics—how individual genetics affects a person’s response to medicines—has matured enough that the creators of formularies need to start taking genetic data into consideration even though resources for doing so can be hard to find, according to researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Lindsey Poppe, PharmD, and Mary Roederer, PharmD, conducted a review of health databases to determine to what extent genetic information is being used to develop formularies. Formularies are drug policies established by health-care organizations to govern the use of medicines by hospitals, insurance companies, government programs, and other groups that … Read more
Greece Joins UNC Personalized Medicine Initiative
March 31, 2011Greece is the latest nation to join the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Pharmacogenomics for Every Nation Initiative, an effort that seeks to help more than 100 countries make better medication choices based on the unique characteristics of their people. The Golden Helix Institute of Biomedical Research in Athens will work with the UNC Institute for Pharmacogenomics and Individualized Therapy to expand PGENI efforts in the eastern part of Europe. PGENI works to integrate genetic risk data for an individual country and World Health Organization essential-medicine recommendations into public-health decision making without placing an extra burden on health-care … Read more
Cancer Expert Joins UNC’s Personalized Medicine Team
March 3, 2011Federico Innocenti, MD, PhD, has been appointed associate professor of pharmacy in the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. He will serve as associate director of the School’s Center for Pharmacogenomics and Individualized Therapy and as a member of UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. “Federico Innocenti is an internationally regarded expert in cancer pharmacogenomics and known for his formidable ability to translate novel laboratory findings into clinical use,” said Robert Blouin, PharmD, dean of the School. “His blend of clinical training and pharmacology expertise will complement and advance our individualized therapy program.” Innocenti elucidated the role of the enzyme UGT1A1 in … Read more
St. Jude’s Relling to Receive UNC IPIT Clinical Service Award
October 29, 2010Mary V. Relling, PharmD, the chair of pharmaceutical sciences at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, is this year’s recipient of the Award for Clinical Service from the Institute for Pharmacogenomics and Individualized Therapy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Relling’s research is based on the need to improve drug therapy of childhood leukemia by better understanding the underlying mechanisms of how each individual patient responds to the medications used to treat acute lymphoblastic leukemia. “While currently available medications can cure the great majority of children with ALL, all of the medications may be associated with adverse effects,” … Read more
CDC’s Khoury to Receive IPIT Patient Service Award
October 6, 2010Muin J. Khoury, MD, PhD, founding director of the CDC’s Office of Public Health Genomics, is this year’s recipient of the Award for Patient Service from the Institute for Pharmacogenomics and Individualized Therapy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Khoury founded the office in 1997 with the vision of using genomic knowledge to prevent disease and improve health across the all stages of life. “While the Human Genome Project boasts genomic discoveries, scientists have not been able to replicate many of them,” Khoury says. “In the next ten years, one of our goals is to engage, educate, … Read more