The Division for Translational and Clinical Pharmacology (TCP) invites you to attend their annual luncheon for trainees entitled, “Population Diversity and Optimizing Drug Response: Job Skills Needed for Individualizing Therapeutics” led by Jeffrey Paul, PhD. Dr. Paul has held senior positions at various pharmaceutical companies, focusing on clinical pharmacology, translation, and early drug development. Currently, he is adjunct faculty at Drexel University School of Medicine, Philadelphia.

He will discuss how population diversity leads to varied drug responses and how drug developers, along with FDA, are now embracing individualized patient approaches. Individualized medicines are characterized by giving the “right drug to the right patient at the right dose”. On the other hand, a traditional approach is characterized by “one size fits all.” How does one develop such individualized therapies? Does the individualized therapy construct apply to all drugs? We’ve recently seen good success with this approach in oncology, using genomic signatures (aka precision medicine).

Dr. Paul will discuss the key attributes of the drug and the patient to make the pairing individualized. In this new way of thinking, one recognizes the influence of biology (sex, race/ethnicity, genetics, age, receptor heterogeneity) and environment (gender, economics, microbiome, concomitant medications, environmental toxicities, etc.) which impact the drug development process and labeling of new medications. Examples will be given of the different careers and skill sets that are instrumental in applying individualized therapy, labeling, and optimizing health outcomes process.

RSVP required.