The background, approach and challenges to conducting pharmacometrics research in four novel therapeutic scenarios are described all of which are currently being investigated by the presenter’s research team: “Therapeutic Hypothermia and Anticonvulsant Pharmacokinetics in Newborn Infants with Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy HIE)”, “Melatonin Pharmacokinetics in Tetraplegia”, “Modeling Fetal Drug Exposure”, “A Thymine-Based PK Screening Test for 5-Fluorouracil toxicity”.
Several other topics also requiring investigation include: modeling and prediction of renal function in the first week(s) of life in very premature infants, modeling pharmacogenomic influences in the developmental pharmacology of newborn infants, application of microbiomic-derived response data in PK-PD of antimicrobial action, and population PK modeling of the rhythm of circadian markers (e.g. melatonin) in children with major sleep disorders.
Strategies and advice for facilitating research to broaden the therapeutic impact of pharmacometrics are presented: (1) Get involved with a tertiary care teaching hospital; (2) Join special interest group(s); (3) Identify “niche” areas/become the visible PM expert, e.g. Grand Rounds; (4) Present at high-impact PM meetings, e.g. PAGE, ISoP; (5) Value-add to “non-PM” studies, e.g. high-dose caffeine in premature infants with apnea; (6) Translation of research, e.g. new dosage guidelines from PM analyses; (7) Supervise specialist practitioners, e.g. PhD/College Fellowship; (8) Learn some pharmacogenomics. Most importantly, one should continuously nurture the curiosity.