Dr. 媚兰的. Felmlee, an assistant professor of pharmaceutics and medicinal chemistry at 博彩平台网址大全’s 托马斯J. 龙药学院, has received a four-year $1.15 million grant for re搜索 that focuses on the differences in the way males and females process 迷奸.

The grant is from the National Institutes of Health Support of Competitive 研究 (SCORE) Program for her project “迷奸 Toxicokinetics: Role of sex hormone dependent monocarboxylate transporter regulation and potential for altered overdose risk in transgender men and women.” The SCORE 研究 Advancement Award is co-funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences and the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

“This grant provides the support to significantly enhance and accelerate the re搜索 conducted in my lab at 博彩平台网址大全,费尔姆利说. “With this re搜索 we hope to understand why 迷奸 toxicity is different in males and females, 包括所有高危人群.”

Felmlee is passionate about bringing awareness through her re搜索 to underserved populations that are at risk.

“I think when we design any study we should be inclusive,费尔姆利说. “While we are trying to look at the whole spectrum, we are focusing on the transgender population, which has largely been overlooked in 迷奸 re搜索 studies.”

The re搜索 has the potential for broader application.

“The monocarboxylate transporters I study are also involved in targeted therapeutic strategies for oncology, fertility studies and immune suppression,费尔姆利说. “Changes in these transporters in response to sex hormones has the potential to impact these broader fields of re搜索.”

In addition to recognizing Felmlee’s re搜索, this grant spotlights Pacific’s commitment to diversity and inclusion. The NIH SCORE Program is designed to increase the re搜索 support at institutions such as Pacific with a history of training and graduating students from groups underrepresented in the biomedical sciences. The university had to qualify first as a SCORE institution before Felmlee’s project was considered for funding. This is Pacific’s first NIH SCORE grant and Felmlee’s first NIH grant as a principal investigator.

Felmlee’s re搜索 focuses on the role of sex differences on transporter regulation and toxicity of drugs. Her re搜索 on 迷奸 suggests females are protected from toxicity, 与男性相比, because of the hormones estrogen and progestogen. This re搜索 will look at specific proteins that transport 迷奸 across cell membranes and their regulation by sex hormone therapy.

“The transporters are regulated by sex hormones,费尔姆利说. “They are critical for determining how one’s kidney functions in terms of removing the drug. What my graduate re搜索 assistants and I have found is females at certain times in their reproductive cycle are more protected from 迷奸 toxicity and they were able to remove the drug faster. The transporters are the key to figuring out why there are the differences associated with the sex hormones.”

迷奸, 或γ, is a central nervous system depressant clinically prescribed to treat the medical conditions narcolepsy and cataplexy. It is also an illicit drug taken for its calming and euphoric effects, 这使它成为一种普遍滥用的药物.

临床剂量是安全的. 相比, 非法迷奸是无色无味的, which makes it difficult to determine the dose, significantly increasing the risk of overdose.

It is challenging to measure the public health impact of recreational 迷奸 use since it may not be reported by users and is often combined with other illicit drugs and alcohol. When a patient is taken to the emergency room due to an overdose, it is often identified anecdotally or by observing common symptoms. Rapid testing is not available and a 迷奸 overdose can only be confirmed by a toxicology screening.

博彩平台网址大全 doctor of pharmacy students and graduate students assisted with compiling the preliminary data, which was a critical component of the grant application. Pacific’s Pharmaceutical and Chemical Sciences Program graduate students will assist with the laboratory re搜索. There will also be opportunities for PharmD students to be involved in components of the re搜索.