<strong>Department</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Medicine</strong>CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGYRobert A. Branch MD, FRCPDivision Chief/ Pr<strong>of</strong>essorDirector, Center for Clinical PharmacologyProgram Director, Montefiore-Clinical TranslationalResearch CenterFACULTYRobert A. Branch MDShama C. Buch PhDAlfred A. CecchettiRaghvendra K. Dubey PhDJohn R. Misage MDMatthew F. Muldoon MDTomoko Nukui PhDPetr Pancoska PhDMarjorie Romkes PhDNicolas A. Stewart PhDStevan P. T<strong>of</strong>ovic MDLefteris C. Zacharia PhDNathalie K. Zgheib MD14 Better medicine through research and education.
2007The Center for Clinical Pharmacology (CCP) is made up <strong>of</strong> a smallgroup <strong>of</strong> faculty, and the purpose <strong>of</strong> the group is pre-clinical andclinical translational research in the areas <strong>of</strong> drug developmentand the evaluation <strong>of</strong> pharmacotherapy and clinical pharmacologyeducation for both undergraduate and medical students. Futureopportunities for the Division <strong>of</strong> Clinical Pharmacology includeexpansion <strong>of</strong> the application <strong>of</strong> cutting-edge core laboratories inpharmacogenetics and metabolomics and expansion <strong>of</strong> informationtechnology and support <strong>of</strong> clinical research through the ClinicalInvestigation Core (CIC) to clinical translational researchers in the<strong>Department</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Medicine</strong> (<strong>DOM</strong>).CLINICAL AND CLINICAL RESEARCHThe newly-renovated UPMC Montefiore (MUH) Clinical TranslationalResearch Center (CTRC) remains fully funded ($2.2 million/year) aspart <strong>of</strong> a larger Clinical Translational Sciences Institute(CTSI) network<strong>of</strong> facilities ($16 million/year) by the National Center for ResearchResources (NCRR). It serves approximately 1,000 inpatient days and6,000 outpatient days <strong>of</strong> clinical translational science research peryear, mostly requiring extended, intensive research care. Areas <strong>of</strong>excellence include diabetes, bone metabolism, clinical pharmacology,oncology, rheumatology and pulmonary disease.TEACHINGClinical Pharmacology teaching is extensive. It includes theElective in Clinical Pharmacology (intensive one month coursefor fourth year medical students), which focuses on the principles<strong>of</strong> clinical pharmacology, rational drug prescribing, evidencebasedpharmacotherapy for multiple topics in medicine, extensiveinvolvement in the Clinical Research Training Program (CRTP)and experimental clinical research training at all levels. Otherteaching activities include lectures to second and first year medicalstudents, post graduate training for MDs, PhDs and PharmDs andthe introduction <strong>of</strong> 24 10th grade high school students to conceptsinvolved in clinical trials.Pharmacovigilence (Pv) Program and Information Technology/Biostatistics Core continues to be successful. The goal is to use andintegrate resources to improve the overall efficiency <strong>of</strong> drug use inhealthcare institutions so as to enhance efficacy, safety and cost, witha focus on drugs made newly available in the healthcare market. Thisclinical area provides clinical, outcome-based information technologyfor decision analysis <strong>of</strong> clinical drug use and provides IT support to labbased,clinical research collaborative projects and grants.“Areas <strong>of</strong> excellence include diabetes, bonemetabolism, clinical pharmacology, oncology,rheumatology and pulmonary disease.”PRE-CLINICAL AND CLINICAL TRANSLATIONALRESEARCHThis research area includes molecular and cellular pre-clinicalpharmacology, organ/tissue pre-clinical pharmacology, and wholeanimal pre-clinical pharmacology. Clinical Translational ResearchCenters related to the Pharmacogenomics program serve investigatorsin Specialized Programs <strong>of</strong> Research Excellence (SPORE) grants, inlung cancer, as well as in head and neck cancer, where it providesstrong research on pathways <strong>of</strong> DNA repair, drug transporters, andmediators <strong>of</strong> inflammation. Clinical Pharmacology conducts studieson the regulation <strong>of</strong> drug metabolizing enzymes in discrete projectsthat include drug interactions in young subjects, the influence <strong>of</strong> age(>70 yr), morbid obesity, chronic liver disease, hepatocellular cancer,bladder cancer and as part <strong>of</strong> a national network that studies theeffect <strong>of</strong> pregnancy on drug disposition.QUALITYClinical Pharmacology makes a major contribution to the quality <strong>of</strong>drug prescribing through the Pv technology described in Clinical andClinical Research Activities. This extends from UPMC PresbyterianShadyside to all UPMC-related facilities via the activities <strong>of</strong> the SystemwidePharmacy and Theraputics (P&T) Hospital Committee.15
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