Dr. Landry Kamdem Kamdem, assistant professor of pharmaceutical sciences, was selected in June as one of two national recipients of the 2011 American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics Young Investigator Award.
The award, given for his proposal, “The Impact of UGT2B17 Genetic Polymorphisms on the Disposition and Action of Exemestane in Healthy Volunteers,” is funded by a one-year grant from July 1, 2011, to June 30, 2012. The grant is intended to support a fellow and a junior faculty member in clinical pharmacology or a related field who works in clinical/translational research.
Many factors, including the applicant, mentor, institution and project, were used to select two promising young scientists from across the nation.
“The purpose of the study is to see if response to exemestane (a drug used to treat breast cancer) is influenced by a person’s genetic makeup,” Kamdem Kamdem said.
Kamdem Kamdem, who began working at Harding in the fall of 2010, said he began his research for this project immediately upon his arrival.
“The YIA means a lot to me and the Harding University College of Pharmacy,” Kamdem Kamdem said. “For the past 11 months, with the help of my advisers and collaborators, I have been involved in the design and set up of a translational pharmacogenomic research program. At present, this program has two main areas of focus aimed at improving the treatment regimens of patients suffering from breast or colorectal cancer. And with two key pieces of equipment purchased this year, we were positioned to begin pharmacokinetic and pharmacogenomic profiling.”
With the addition of the YIA grant, the college can conduct a pilot clinical study that focuses on assessing the impact of a person’s genetic fingerprint on the disposition and action of exemestane, a standard drug used to prevent distant metastasis, the spread of cancer from the initial site, in patients diagnosed with breast cancer.
“Exemestane is metabolized by an enzyme that is polymorphically expressed in humans,” Kamdem Kamdem said. “Ten to 20 percent of Americans do not express the exemestane-metabolizing gene. We do hypothesize that these individuals require a lesser dose than others.”
Kamdem Kamdem said the study should begin within the next two weeks. The clinical study, taking place in the Center for Health Sciences, is selecting 20 women to be the main participants.
Through this research, Dr. Kamdem Kamdem said he hopes that the results will contribute to personalizing exemestane therapy without adverse side effects.
“We hope that our results will contribute to personalizing exemestane therapy with reduced costs and adverse events based on individual genetic fingerprint,” Kamdem Kamdem said.
