Alexander (Sander) A. Vinks, PharmD, PhD, FCP
Implementation of Model-based Precision Dosing
Alexander (Sander) A. Vinks, PharmD, PhD, FCP, is developing systems for precision dosing of several different medications to allow the tailoring of dose to individual needs in real time. With the support of an Innovation Fund Award, he and his team have developed an innovative prototype systems pharmacology platform for individualized morphine treatment in neonates. The study involved a multidisciplinary team including Joshua Euteneuer, MD, a neonatology fellow who participates in the T32 Pediatric Clinical Pharmacology Training Program. The study, conducted in parallel with the Perinatal Institute’s Pilot and Feasibility Program grant, developed a rapid bedside test for the measurement of morphine in blood led by Dr. Vinks. This cloud-based technology will help clinicians decide how much morphine to give to newborn babies. The platform, which integrates with the electronic health record, uses genetic markers, demographic data, clinical data and lab results to suggest individualized dosing.
Chie Emoto, PhD
Physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) models for precision dosing in neonates
Chie Emoto, PhD, developed an innovative physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model of morphine for neonates and small infants using data obtained from ongoing clinical studies in pediatric patients after tonsillectomy (PI: Senthilkumar Sadhasivam, MD). This predictive computer model helps physicians fine-tune doses to maintain target morphine concentrations in neonates based on patients’ physiological parameters. This study was accepted for publication in CPT Pharmacometrics Systems Pharmacology, which is an official journal of the American Society of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics.
Tsuyoshi Fukuda, PhD
Eculizumab treatment optimization for children with severe thrombotic microangiopathy
Tsuyoshi Fukuda, PhD, in collaboration with members of the Division of Bone Marrow Transplantation and Immune Deficiency led a population pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics analysis of eculizumab in patients with hematopoietic stem cell transplant-associated thrombotic microangiopathy (HSCT-TMA). The developed PK/PD model will form the basis for an Eculizumab (Soliris) individualized dosing strategy for children with severe thrombotic microangiopathy. The first results were published in the journal Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation the official journal of the American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation.
During the 2016 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, one of our research fellows, for whom Drs. Fukuda and Vinks, serve as mentors, received the President's Trainee Award for this work.