The ambition of our group is to “…contribute with high international quality research and education in translational pharmacology. We create synergy between the qualifications of the group and collaborators.”
Translational pharmacology is the study of drugs across scientific disciplines. We combine in vitro cell-based studies with clinical studies in either patients or healthy volunteers to increase translation and understand mechanisms underlying drug variability. Current projects:
- Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy is a dose-limiting toxicity to several widely used chemotherapeutic drugs. We are using induced-pluripotent stem cell-derived sensory neurons and Schwann cells to understand the mechanistic basis of this toxicity and chemotherapy transport in the peripheral nervous system. This work is funded by the Danish Cancer Society and Independent Research Fund Denmark.
- We are currently coordinating three clinical trials assessing the potential of neurofilament light chain as a biomarker of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy for breast cancer, childhood leukemia, and multiple myeloma. This work is funded by the Danish Cancer Society and Independent Research Fund Denmark.
- Vincristine is a widely used chemotherapeutic drug used to treat childhood leukemia and solid tumors. Vincristine provokes substantial symptoms of peripheral neuropathy in some patients, that can persist for numerous years after concluding treatment. We are performing a clinical trial to generate patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cells from children treated with vincristine to understand patient-specific molecular mechanisms underlying this devastating toxicity. This work is supported by Børnecancerfonden.
- We are collaborating with the Environmental Medicine group to study the impact of PFAS on 3D primary human hepatocytes. PFAS have been shown to have a major impact on human health and understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying this impact is crucial to avoid similar toxicities in the future.
Besides the a fully functional cell laboratory, we utilize LC-MS/MS to analyze drug concentrations in cells, plasma and urine. Additionally, we utilize automated fluorescence microscopy to study drug impact on cells. We have several national and international collaborations that allows us access to additional state-of-the-art methods.
For further questions, contact Professor, Head of Research, and group leader Tore Bjerregaard Stage.
