• PRC eNews

Dr. Gene Morse was invited to atttend the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Research Development Diversity Program on May 19, 2008 in Silver Springs, Maryland.  This meeting was comprised of faculty and trainees who have been supported by NIDA's Diversity Supplement Program, Minority Institutions Drug Abuse Research Program, Summer Research with NIDA, and other programs that address health disparity research needs.

Ms. Toni-Shay Chandon,  an undergraduate student in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, in the UB School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences, is conducting research in the UB Pharmacotherapy Research Center's Core Analytical Laboratory and the Pharmaceutical Genetics Laboratory. PRC Investigators Drs Qing Ma, Daniel Brazeau and Gene D. Morse are providing mentoring for her research project. Ms. Chandon is sponsored by CSTEP, the Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program.

Congratulations to PRC Research Student Ms. Mehwish Ghauri on receiving an Undergraduate Research Award from the UB Center for Undergraduate Research & Creative Activities (CURCA) for her project, "Development Of Disulfiram And Its Major Metabolite(s) In Human Plasma." Ms. Ghauri is being mentored by Dr Gene D Morse and with members of the UB Pharmacotherapy Research Center Core Analytical Laboratory. CURCA serves as a starting point for UB students and faculty who aspire to collaborate in research and creative projects.

Ms. Ann M. Augberger presented, “Analysis of Metabolized Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors through Capillary Electrophoresis Using Field-Amplified Sample Stacking.” Auberger, AM; Colón, LA; Hochreiter, JS; DiFrancesco, R; Morse, GD. Ms. Augberger’s research is part of an ongoing collaboration with the UB Pharmacotherapy Research Center and Dr Luis Colon in the UB Department of Chemistry examining intracellular pharmacokinetics of antiretrovirals.

Tongai Chizanga, an NIH Fogarty International Center trainee from Zimbabwe, is  currently training at the UB PRC CAL. He presented, “Method Development for the Analysis of Stavudine, Lamivudine and Nevirapine in Human Plasma Using HPLC with UV Detection.”  Mr. Chizanga is a pharmacist and a graduate research and teaching assistant at the University of Zimbabwe.

Ms. Robin DiFrancesco presented, “Technology Transfer: Transferring chromatography methods from WNY to Zimbabwe, Africa,” at the Spring 2008 Northeast Regional Chromatography Discussion Group meeting.

Campbell, Ann M; Dunkle, Melissa N; Colon, Luis A; Hochreiter, Jill S; Morse, Gene D. “Analysis of Metabolized Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors through Ion-Exchange HPLC.”  Presented at the 59^th Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy.

Congratulations to Dr Rustin Crutchley, PharmD, on receiving an award for best overall presentation at the UB School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Resident Research Presentation Day, held April 18^th, 2008. The presentation was titled, “Intrapatient variability of atazanavir plasma trough concentrations in HIV-1 patients.” Dr Crutchley is completing his specialty residency in HIV/Infectious Disease at the Erie County Medical Center.

Mr. Frank Acheampong, received an Outstanding Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creativity Award at the 4^th Annual UB Celebration of Academic Excellence for his poster presentation, “The influence of CYP3A5 Polymorphism on Trough Concentrations of HIV-1 Protease Inhibitors.”  Mr. Acheampong,  an undergraduate student in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, in the UB School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences.  His research is being conducted in the UB Pharmacotherapy Research Center, Core Analytical Laboratory and the Pharmaceutical Genetics Laboratory. PRC Investigators Drs Qing Ma, Daniel Brazeau and Gene D. Morse have provided mentoring for his research project. Mr. Acheampong is sponsored by CSTEP, the Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program.

Pharmacotherapy Research Center investigators (GD Morse, JS Hochreiter) have received a subcontract from the Department of Neurology at the University of Rochester through the National Institute of Mental Health entitled “Targeted Neuroprotection of HIV-1 Associated Neurologic Diseases.” As Co-investigators, the PRC will contribute to protocol design, novel drug assay development, pharmacology study coordination and pharmacokinetic analysis.

PRC Investigators Dr Patty Havard and Dr Qing Ma recently visited Shanghai Public Health Center Fudan University in Shanghai, China upon the invitation of Prof. Hongzhou Lu, the Center's Executive Director. During their six-day visit,  Drs Havard and Ma exchanged information on HIV pharmacothearpy, learned about the Center's research capacity and explored potential collaborations between the Fudan University and the Pharmacotherapy Research Center, University at Buffalo .  Drs Havard and Ma delivered seminars to the Center's staff, including physicians, pharmacy directors, basic and clinical researchers. Both Dr Ma and Dr Havard were awarded Visiting Professorships by the Center at Fudan University in conclusion of their visit.

Dr Qing Ma is one of 50 candidates selected from across the nation to attend a special course on Genetics and Epigenetics of Addiction at the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Haas D, Ribaudo H, Mostsinger A, Schackman B, Gulick R, Acosta E, Schwab M, Schaeffeler E, Morse G, Robbins G and The AIDS Clinical Trials Group. "Pharmacogenetics of Plasma Drug Exposure and Treatment Outcomes with Efavirenz-Containing Regimens: An AIDS Clinical Trials Group Study," presented at the 14th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections.

Robert DiCenzo, Pharm.D., presented "Effects of Minocycline (MC) and Valproic Acid (VA) Coadministration on Atazanavir Plasma Concentrations" at the 14th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections.

Tongai Chizanga, RPh and MPhil candidate, arrives March 12 from the University of Zimbabwe as the second trainee in the International Center for HIV/AIDS Pharmacotherapy Research & Training (ICHAPRT) program. Mr. Chizanga will complete a 10 week laboratory training module, which involves multiple aspects of pharmacology laboratory operations from protocol planning and sample management to method development and validation.

Mr. Chizanga will be supervised by Dr. Gene D. Morse, and will study under several mentors to maximize his learning experiences. Mr. Chizanga’s learning experiences will support work on his MPhil research project titled, “Population Pharmacokinetics of Nevirapine and Efavirenz in HIV-Infected Adults: The Impact of Concurrent Chronic Use with Hypoxis Hemerocallidea and Allium sativum.”

Damir Begic (UB/Novartis Fellow) and Marina Wu (Research Track Pharm.D. Candidate) presented a brief research seminar titled, "Pharmacodynamic Implications for Optimal Antimicrobial Therapy against Staphylococcal Small Colony Variants" Friday, February 22, 2008. Dr Begic and Ms. Wu are mentored by PRC Investigator and Clinical Assistant Professor Dr. Brian T. Tsuji, PharmD.

Dr. Gene D. Morse has been appointed to Chair the Hepatitis Function Working Group of the Hepatitis Research Committee for the NIH/NIAID AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG). This committee is one of four committees that develops and prioritizes the global research agenda for the ACTG in the area of hepatitis co-infection.

The UB Pharmacology Support Laboratory has joined the AIDS Clinical Trials Group A5235 protocol team for a study titled, "Phase II, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Double-Blind Study of Minocycline in the Treatment of HIV-Associated Cognitive Impairment."  The UB PSL will provide real-time atazanavir therapeutic drug monitoring to assist the team in examining whether minocycline decreases the plasma concentration of atazanavir .

An article authored by PRC Investigators Dr. Valerie Frerichs, Robin DiFrancesco and Dr. Gene Morse has been awarded as one of the "Top 50 most cited articles" in the Journal of Chromatography B from 2002 to 2007. The article, "Determination of protease inhibitors using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry," was published in the Journal of Chromatography B: Analytical Technologies in the Biomedical and Life Sciences, Volume 787, Issue 2 (2003), Pages 393-403.  

Results of a 5-yr, national therapeutic drug monitoring trial conducted by the NIH AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG) were presented at the 15th Annual Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections held in Boston on February 4^th 2008. 

The study was developed and conducted by the ACTG Protocol 5146 Study Team and was entitled, “A Phase II Randomized Controlled Trial Evaluating the Impact of Therapeutic Drug Monitoring (TDM) on Virologic Response to a Salvage Regimen in Subjects with a Normalized Inhibitory Quotient (NIQ) <= 1 to One or More Protease Inhibitors”.

The UB SPPS PRC Core Analytical Laboratory was the central pharmacology laboratory for the trial and provided therapeutic drug monitoring results for dose-escalation during this pivotal national study.  Dr. Gene Morse and Dr. Robert DiCenzo, PRC Investigators, were clinical pharmacologists on the study team.  Robin DiFrancesco, PRC CAL laboratory Manager, served as the Laboratory Technologist.

Dr Gene D. Morse, Pharm.D., and Dr Qing Ma, Ph.D., presented Intercontinental Training Initiatives at the January 2008 PRC Research Forum. To date, the UB PRC has been proud to host trainees from Africa (Zimbabwe) and Asia (Thailand, China). The UB PRC has plans to develop training initiatives with a number of other countries including India and South Africa.

Dr. Linda Catanzaro provided a case-based presentation entitled "Drug Interactions Involving Drug Transport Proteins - Focus on HIV Antiviral Therapy," which was complimentary to Dr. Deanna Kroetz's didactic presentation entitled, "Drug Interactions Involving Drug Transport Proteins: Mechanisms and Inter-relationships with Metabolic Enzymes."

Dr. Kathleen Tornatore, UB Associate Professor of Pharmacy and Medicine and PRC Investigator, co-chaired the 3 day Curricular Track: "Approach to Complex Drug Interactions:  Clinical and Research Applications" with Peggy Carver from the University of Michigan at the American College of Clinical Pharmacy annual meeting.

Dr. Linda Catanzaro, a PRC Investigator and UB Clinical Assistant Professor, provided a case-based presentation entitled "Drug Interactions Involving Drug Transport Proteins - Focus on HIV Antiviral Therapy" that intertwined with Dr. Deanna Kroetz's didactic presentation entitled "Drug Interactions Involving Drug Transport Proteins: Mechanisms and Inter-relationships with Metabolic Enzymes."

Patty Havard, Pharm.D., was featured in UB's Buffalo Physician magazine for her work in establishing a regional HIV-in-Women Research Network.

Donnelly, J; Vannozzi, S; DiFrancesco, R; Tornatore, K; Comparison of Cyclosporine concentrations in Renal Transplant Recipients (RTR) during Pharmacokinetic Evaluation using two Assays TurboFlow Technology versus Enzyme Multiplied Immunoassay Technique. Ms. Donnelly presented the poster at the 2007 AACC meeting in San Diego, CA.

Dr Yun He, a graduate of Zhengzhou University Medical College, is completing her training at the ECMC Immunodeficiency Services Clinic through the UB PRC Research Scholar Training Program. Dr Chiu-Bin Hsiao has been mentoring Dr He in the area of clinical applications of pharmacology. Dr QIng Ma provided Dr He with orientation to the PRC. The program provided support for Dr He to attend the 47th annual Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy meeting to learn more about PK/PD of HIV medications as part of her Clinical Pharmacology training.

Dr. Rustin Crutchley, currently a UB HIV specialty resident at the Erie County Medical Center, recently visited South Africa to conduct meetings with HIV researchers and caregivers in Cape Town and Johannesburg. Dr Crutchely discussed potential clinical and translational research collaborations that can be developed between UB and HIV/AIDS treatment and research centers at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg and the Centre for Proteomic & Genomic Research in Cape Town.

McCabe S, Forrest A, Ma Q, DiCenzo R, Zingman B, Reichman R, Fischl M, Gripshover B, Morse GD.  An Appropriate Structural and Population Pharmacokinetic (PK) Model for Atazanavir (ATV).  Presented at the September 2007 ICAAC in Chicago, Illinois.

Ma Q, Forrest A, McCabe S, Brazeau D, Zingman B, Reichman R, Fischl M, Gripshover B, DiFrancesco R, Morse GD and the NIDA HIV Drug Interactions & TDM Team. MDR1 Single Nucleotide Ploymorphisms in HIV-Infected Substance Users and Nonusers during Therapeutic Drug Monitoring.  Presented at the September 2007 ICAAC in Chicago, Illinois.
 

Dr. Gene D. Morse has been elected a 2-year term on the Hepatitis Committee of the NIH/NIAID AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG). This committee is one of four committees that develops and prioritizes the global research agenda for the ACTG in the area of hepatitis co-infection.

Maponga C., Chizanga T., Morse GD. Traditional Medicine Use in HIV-infected Patients in Harare.

Maponga C., DiFrancesco R., Tooley K., Lliguicota F., Morse GD. International Technology Transfer for Establishing Antiretroviral Pharmacology Laboratories in Developing Countries.

Ann Campbell, a Ph.D. Candidate in Chemistry, is continuing the development of a novel ion exchange chromatography method to assay intracellular levels of Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors. This project is part of an ongoing collaboration with the Pharmacotherapy Research Center and Dr Luis Colon in the Department of Chemistry.

McCabe SM, Ma Q, Slish JC, Catanzaro LM, Sheth N, Dicenzo R, Morse GD. Antiretroviral therapy: Pharmacokinetic considerations in patients with renal or hepatic impairment. Clin Pharmacokinet. 2008;47(3):153-72.

Demeter L, Mukherjee AL, DiFrancesco R, Jiang H, DiCenzo R, Bastow B, Rinehart A, Morse G, Albrecht M. The Design and Implementation of A5146, a Prospective Trial Assessing the Utility of Therapeutic Drug Monitoring Using an Inhibitory Quotient in Antiretroviral-Experienced HIV-Infected Patients. HIV Clinical Trials 2008;9(1);61-72.

DiFrancesco R, Frerichs V, Donnelly J, Hagler C, Hochreiter J Tornatore KM. Simultaneous Determination of Cortisol, Dexamethasone, Methylprednisolone, Prednisone, Prednisolone, Mycophenolic Acid and Mycophenolic Acid Glucuronide in Human Plasma Utilizing Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry. Journal of Chromatography B 2007; 859(1): 42-51.

Ma Q, Forrest A, Rosenkranz SL, Para MF, Yarasheski KE, Reichman RC, Morse GD; ACTG A5043 Protocol Team, DAIDS NIH. Pharmacokinetic interaction between efavirenz and dual protease inhibitirs in healthy volunteers. Biopharm Drug Dispos 2007 Nov 27;29(2).

Higgins N, Zingman BS, Slish J, Reichman RC, Fischl MA, Gripshover B, Tooley K, Boston N, Forrest A, Brazeau D, Catanzaro LM, Difrancesco R, Lliguicota F, Ma Q, Morse GD. Factors associated with altered pharmacokinetics in substance users and non-substance users receiving lopinavir and atazanavir. American Journal on Addictions 2007 Nov-Dec;16(6):488-94.

Ma Q, Brazeau D, Zingman B, Reichman R, Fischl M, Gripshover B, Venuto C, Slish J, DiFrancesco R, Forrest A, Morse GD. Multidrug resistance 1 polymorphisms and trough concentrations of atazanavir and lopinavir in patients with HIV. Pharmacogenomics 2007; 8(3):227-235.

Slish J, Ma Q, Zingman BS, Reichman RC, Fischl MA, Gripshover B, Forrest A, Brazeau D, Boston NS, Catanzaro L, DiFrancesco R, Morse GD. Assessing the impact of substance use and hepatitis coinfection on atazanavir and lopinavir trough concentrations in HIV-infected patients during therapeutic drug monitoring. Therapeutic Drug Monitoring 2007 Oct;29(5):560-5.

Ma Q, Brazeau D, Forrest A, Morse GD. Advances in pharmacogenomics of antiretrovirals: an update. Pharmacogenomics 2007 Sep;8(9):1169-78.

Difrancesco R, Dicenzo R, Vicente G, Donnelly J, Martin TM, Colon LA, Schifito G, Morse GD. Determination of lopinavir cerebral spinal fluid and plasma ultrafiltrate concentrations by liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry. J Pharm Biomed Anal. 2007 Sep 3;44(5):1139-46.

McCance-Katz EF, Moody DE, Morse GD, Ma Q, DiFrancesco R, Friedland G, Pade P, Rainey PM. Interaction between buprenorphine and atazanavir or atazanavir/ritonavir. Drug and Alcohol Dependence 2007 Dec 1;91(2-3):269-78. Epub 2007 Jul 23.

Susan L. Rosenkranz, Kevin E. Yarasheski, Michael F. Para, Richard C. Reichman, Gene D. Morse. Antiretroviral Drug Levels and Interactions Affect Lipid, Lipoprotein, and Glucose Metabolism in HIV-1 Seronegative Subjects: A Pharmacokinetic-Pharmacodynamic Analysis.   Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders. Jun 2007, Vol. 5, No. 2: 163-173.

Maponga CC, Slish JC, Ma, Q, Morse GD. HIV Pharmacotherapy Issues, Challenges, and Priorities in Sub-Saharan African Countries. Topics in HIV Medicine 2007, June/July; 15(3).

DiFrancesco R, Fischl MA, Donnelly J, Zingman BS, McCance-Katz EF, Moody DE, Reichman RC, Gripshover B, Morse GD. Buprenorphine assay and plasma concentration monitoring in HIV-infected substance users. J Pharm Biomed Anal. 2007 May 9;44(1):188-95.

Okusanya O, Forrest A, DiFrancesco R, Bilic S, Rosenkranz S, Para MF, Adams E, Yarasheski KE, Reichman RC, Morse GD, ACTG 5043 Protocol Team.  Compartmental pharmacokinetic anaylsis of oral amprenavir with secondary peaks.  Antimicrob Agents Chemother 2007, May; 51(5):1822-6

Duik Hur, Robin DiFrancesco, Jill Hochreiter, Qing Ma, Judianne Slish, Chiedza C. Maponga, Gene D. Morse. Review of HIV-1 protease Inhibitor Assay Methods. Current Pharmaceutical Analysis, April 2007, Vol. 3, No.3: 180-185.

Sudchada P, Dole K, Zack J, Leca N, Gundroo A, Venuto RC, Tornatore KM.  Influence of Race and Steriod Use on Mycophenoic Acid Pharmacokinetics Post-Renal Transplant.  Clin Pharmacol Ther 2007; 81(s1). (Abstract # PII-105).

Keil K, Hochreiter J, DiFrancesco R, Zingman BS, Reichman RC, Fischl MA, Gripshover B, Morse GD. Integration of atazanavir into an existing liquid chromatography UV method for protease inhibitors:  validation and application. Threrapeutic Drug Monitoring 2007-02; 29(1); 103-109.

The Pharmacotherapy Research Center's Office of International Pharmacotherapy Education and Research's most recent review article on HIV pharmacotherapy issues, challenges, and priorities in sub-Saharan African countries has been published by the International AIDS Society the widely read journal, Topics in HIV Medicine.

Pharmacotherapy issues, challenges, and priorities in sub-Saharan African countries.  Top HIV Med 07; 15: 104-110.

The ICHAPRT (International Center for HIV/AIDS Pharmacotherapy Research and Training) Day of Recognition was held on August 9, 2007. The Vice Provost for International Education, Dr. Stephen Dunnett, as well as Dr. Wayne K. Anderson, Dr. Gene D. Morse and Dr. Chiedza Maponga, spoke in support of the program. Dr. Maponga, the ICHAPRT program director, was recently interviewed on Voice of America: http://www.voanews.com/english/Africa/Zimbabwe/2007-08-09-voa61.cfm.

ICHAPRT is an international collaboration project of the Pharmacotherapy Research Center Office of International Pharmacotherapy Education and Research. ICHAPRTis an initiative from the UB School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (SoPPS) in collaboration with the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) School of Pharmacy.  ICHAPRT seeks to identify methods that have been successful at UB, and through formalized training and education activities, transfer these approaches to developing countries.