Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology Research

We have three overarching research themes for the Section:

1.  Precision Medicine

• Precision medicine considers individual variability in genes, environment, and lifestyle for each person. 
• Pharmacogenomics is the study of how genes affect a patient’s response to drugs. Pharmacogenomic testing seeks to identify patients who are at risk for clinically significant differences in their genome that can result in altered pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic, or immune responses to a medication.
• Specific research areas: Pharmacogenomics

2.  Care of the CPT Patient

• Our unique relationship with PADIS allows for collaborations on the diagnosis and management of acute and chronic poisonings. 
• PADIS receives over 45,000 calls a year from residents of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and the Northwest Territories, and well over 1 million calls since its inception in 1986. 
• The patient data from telephone calls and bedside consultations serves as a rich opportunity for research into the epidemiology, diagnosis, and management of the poisoned patient.
• Specific research areas: Acetaminophen, Toxic alcohols, Substance use, Poison Centres

3.  Prescription Medication Safety and Adverse Drug Events

• In Canada, adverse drug events to outpatient medications cause over two million emergency department visits, 700,000 admissions, and $1 billion in healthcare costs annually. 
• Specific research areas: Recognition, reporting and prevention of adverse drug events, deprescribing