Spiked rods of uric acid crystals from synovial fluid photographed under a microscope with polarized light. In patients with gout, such crystals can accumulate in the joints, causing pain and inflammation.
Allopurinol, the first-choice medication for treating gout—an excruciatingly painful condition that is the most common form of inflammatory arthritis, afflicts more than eight million Americans, and is on the rise worldwide—is not fully effective in more than half of patients.
My research seeks to understand the contribution of genetic variation to drug toxicity, to identify genetic biomarkers that can be used to guide effective use of drugs in the treatment of cancer and HIV, and to use genetics to unravel the molecular basis of drug-induced toxicity.
My research focuses on membrane transporters, which are of great importance to drug disposition and response. I am particularly interested in genetic variants in membrane transporters that are determinants of drug response and in harnessing transporters to enhance drug targeting.
