Research Program Membership

Affiliate Member

Research Interests

My specific area of interest is the pharmacogenetics of anticancer drugs in children. This involves the investigation of tumor response in children receiving specific chemotherapeutic agents and the varying degrees of sensitivity of these individuals to the toxic effects of the drugs. My desire is to study the clinical relevance of, and the relationships between, genotype and phenotype for a toxicity of widely used chemotherapeutic agents. One of two current projects is to investigate asparaginase, a backbone of therapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and is used in some acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) and non-Hodgkin??A?A?s lymphoma (NHL) protocols. I am examining the genetic differences in those children who do and do not develop pancreatitis following asparaginase therapy. The study we have designed has the potential to contribute significantly to the treatment of acute leukemia and may have impact in the outcomes of adult leukemia as asparaginase is gaining favor in this arena. The data derived from the research contained in this proposal will be of importance for thousands of patients treated with asparaginase annually. The second area of developing interest is the pharmacogenomics of anti-nausea and anti-emetic therapies in children with chemotherapy induced symptoms.

Publications

PubMed Listing »

Education

M.S. Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN 2005-2007

Fellowship James Whitcomb Riley Hospital for Children, Indianapolis, IN 2004-2007

Residency James Whitcomb Riley Hospital for Children, Indianapolis, IN 2002-2004

M.D. Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN 1997-2001