November 9, 2009
Howard McLeod, PharmD, Fred Eshelman Distinguish Professor and director of the Institute for Pharmacogenomics and Individiualized Therapy, is featured in the first television commercial produced as part of the University’s privately funded One campaign. The ad has been running at football and basketball games and on television during the games. Its purpose is to show how just one person at UNC can improve the lives of hundreds or thousands of other people.
McLeod’s specialty is pharmacogenomics, the science of matching medicines to the unique genetic makeup of a patient, or as McLeod say, “getting the right drug to the right person at the right time.” The ad focuses on his work with breast cancer patients and the drug tamoxifen, which kills cancer cells. Oncologists were calling McLeod and asking him why the regular dose of tamoxifen wasn’t having a positive effect on their patients. In studying the women’s genes, McLeod and his team discovered that approximately half of breast cancer patients do not respond to the typical dose. This group needs a dose specialized just for them. McLeod’s work led to the FDA changing dosing recommendations for the drug.
You can read more stories like this at one.unc.edu. You can view the TV spot featuring McLeod by clicking on the video below.
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