Med School will study gene-drug interactions

The Penn School of Medicine was awarded a $595,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health to further the study of gene-drug interactions by creating a new interdisciplinary field.

The money will be used to establish the field of human pharmacogenomic epidemiology, bringing together the fields of a number of medical specialties, from genetics to the statistical study of diseases and disease control.

"The basic idea," Director of Cardiovascular Epidemiology Stephen Kimmel said, "is that there are thousands of medications out there used all the time, but only about one-third of people get the desired response." One-third get no response, and about one-tenth have serious side effects.

"It's the 'one size fits all' approach, but the same pill works differently on you versus me. One reason is the genetic difference."

This will be "one of many efforts aimed at increasing interdisciplinary research at Penn," Kimmel said, adding that this will be the first time the University will try to "blend epidemiology and statistics with pharmacology, genetics and bioethics."

"The grant we're being funded is to set up a multidisciplinary field to bring expertise together," said Timothy Rebbeck, associate professor of Epidemiology.

While the purpose is to design the new discipline, Rebbeck said, the interaction with individuals of other backgrounds will be an asset to each person's individual research.

If successful, this program will lead to significant progress in research by moving beyond what is carried out in parallel studies and bringing them together in the interdisciplinary structure.

"The kinds of problems are very complex," Rebbeck said. There are a lot "of different areas connected to how people respond and react to drugs, and no single discipline covers all of this."

"Being more comprehensive and global in our thinking will help us to solve these problems," Rebbeck said. "This will be a [new] paradigm for disease in general."

"Right now, the purpose of the grant is to plan how this field will develop," Kimmel said. "The hope is that we can bridge the gap between what people are doing in the laboratory and what happens in terms of medications and patients."

"Having a more global paradigm for doing research is going to be critical in understanding common disease, causes, treatments and prevention," Rebbeck said.

According to Kimmel, interdisciplinary research is one of the big emphases of the "NIH Roadmap" -- the newly designed focus of the organization that government officials hope will streamline and improve the program.

The human pharmacogenomic epidemiology team will plan strategies and develop new methods of research. Researchers can then apply for larger grants that focus on specific research.

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