Twelve faculty members at the 91���� have been elected to the Washington State Academy of Sciences. They are among 36 scientists and educators from across the state July 17 as new members. Election recognizes the new member’s “outstanding record of scientific and technical achievement and willingness to assist the Academy in providing the best available scientific information and technical understanding to inform complex policy decisions in Washington.”��

The 91���� faculty members were selected by current WSAS members or by their election to national science academies. Eleven were voted on by current WSAS members:��

, professor, Bill & Melinda Gates Chair, and director of the Paul G. ��Allen School for Computer Science & Engineering, for “contributions in data management for data science, big data systems, cloud computing and image/video analytics and leadership in data science education.”��

professor of civil & environmental engineering and of industrial & systems engineering, for “pioneering work in human mobility analysis and infrastructure resilience, which have transformed transportation systems in terms of both demand and supply, and shaped the future directions of transportation systems research on community-based solutions and disaster resilience.”��

Lloyd and Kay Chapman Endowed Chair for Oral Health and associate dean for research in the 91���� School of Dentistry, and professor in the Department of Health Systems & Population Health, for “leadership in understanding and addressing children’s oral health inequities through community-based socio-behavioral interventions and evidence-based policies.”��

professor of biology, for “internationally recognized leadership in the biology of sleep, including groundbreaking research on molecular and genetic aspects of the brain, human behavioral studies on learning under varied sleep schedules, and contributions that have shaped policy on school schedules and standard time.”��

, the Virginia and Prentice Bloedel professor of physics and of electrical & computer engineering, for “foundational contributions to fundamental and applied research on the optical and spin properties of quantum point defects in crystals and for service and leadership in the quantum community.” ��

, professor and chair of human centered design and engineering, for “award-winning leadership in HCI computing, whose research has advanced health and education technology, influenced policy, and shaped the HCI field of through impactful scholarship, interdisciplinary collaboration and inclusive, real-world technology design.”��

, professor and associate dean for research in the 91���� School of Social Work, for “contributions to understanding psychosocial and physiological factors that moderate the effectiveness of their interventions and ultimately improve the health of children with abdominal pain disorders.”��

, professor of medicine in the 91���� School of Medicine and of pharmacy, “for leadership in health economics and cancer research, including work on financial toxicity, cost- effectiveness, and healthcare policy that has influenced national discussions, improved cancer care access, and shaped policies for equitable and sustainable healthcare.” Ramsey is also Director of the Cancer Outcomes Research Program at Fred Hutch.��

, professor of bioengineering and Vice Dean of Research and Graduate Education in the 91���� School of Medicine, for “national leadership in biomedical research, research policy, and graduate education, including pioneering novel drug delivery approaches for regenerative medicine applications in the nervous system and other tissues such as bone, cartilage, tendon and skin.”��

, Rabinowitz Endowed Professor of Earth and space sciences, for “revolutionizing our understanding of climate change in Antarctica through pioneering ice core extractions under hazardous Antarctic conditions and their subsequent analyses over two decades, and for applying that expertise to advance climate research in Washington State.”��

, professor of pharmaceutics, for “pioneering contributions to pharmaceutical and translational sciences, including groundbreaking research on drug transporters, PBPK modeling and maternal-fetal pharmacology that have helped shaped drug safety policies.”��

The Academy also welcomed new members who were selected by virtue of their election to the National Academies of Science, Engineering or Medicine. Among them is , the Arthur B. McDonald professor of physics and director of the Center for Experimental Nuclear Physics and Astrophysics. Hertzog was elected to the National Academy of Sciences last year. ��

NASA last month to establish a regional scientific consortium based at the 91����, in partnership with Washington State University and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, that will use an interdisciplinary approach to explore how the space environment — both in low-Earth orbit and beyond — affects living things.

The , which stands for Biology in Space: Establishing Networks for DUrable & REsilient Systems, will focus on innovation, acceleration and implementation of knowledge and technology of space biology centered on human-plant-microbiome relationships. The long-term goal is to enable a durable��human presence in low Earth orbit, 90 to 600 miles altitude, and beyond.

“The establishment of the BioS-ENDURES Consortium marks an exciting new chapter in space biology research at 91����, WSU and PNNL,” said principal investigator , professor and chair of aeronautics and astronautics at the 91����. “We’ve long recognized that successful long-term space presence requires more than just rockets and spacecraft — it demands a deep understanding of the complex interactions between humans, plants and microorganisms in space environments.

“I’m particularly excited that through this consortium, we’re bringing together experts across all three institutions to develop new ways to monitor and predict these biological interactions in space, work that will be crucial for establishing a sustainable human presence beyond Earth.”

The team includes biologists studying humans, animals and plants, who will work together with microbiologists and other experts to ensure an integrated view of the space flight biosphere by enhancing data acquisition, modeling and testing. BioS-ENDURES has three focus areas related to the effects of spaceflight stressors:

• Develop monitoring to measure underlying molecular status, or biomarkers, in humans, animals, plants and their associated microbial communities
• Create models that predict human-plant-microbe robustness and interactions among organisms in space
• Validate and apply understanding of human and plant health, including promoting beneficial human-plant-microbe interactions, to enhance health in space

At the 91����, the interdisciplinary team includes and in microbiology; and in environmental and forest sciences; in Earth and space sciences; in pharmaceutics; Marissa Kranz at the 91���� Medical Cyclotron Facility; and in genome sciences; Dr. in laboratory medicine and pathology at the 91���� School of Medicine; in pharmacy; and in oceanography.

The BioS-ENDURES Consortium builds on a collaboration between the 91����, WSU, PNNL and science and industry advisory boards. Consortium members will work with NASA to align work with current and projected needs. The funding is spread out over five years and will support yearly proof-of-principle demonstration projects to advance the science of the three focuses, annual symposia tracks, and physical testing.

“The 91���� is excited to have this opportunity to contribute to the��development of new capabilities that will enable a sustainable��human presence in space,”��said Mari Ostendorf, vice provost of research at the 91���� and 91���� professor of electrical and computer engineering.��“This consortium enables new partnerships and brings together investigators who have a long history with NASA and space applications with researchers who have deep expertise in human/animal, plant and microbial biology.��This research will push the boundaries of our scientific understanding to reveal new biological mechanisms that will address both sustainability and risk mitigation needs in space.��We look forward working with WSU, PNNL and NASA, as well as with other industry and science partners to accelerate space technology.”

For more information, see or contact Morgansen at morgansn@uw.edu. ��

For more than 20 years, the 91���� has been home to a database built, maintained and expanded around the goal of helping to prevent health complications from adverse drug reactions, one of the of injury and death in health care settings.

This year, the 91���� School of Pharmacy’s , or DIDB — the core research tool from the school’s nonprofit team — is celebrating both for innovation and two decades of independent funding through licensing agreements with companies, research institutes and regulatory agencies around the globe.

“The award from the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics is a great acknowledgement of the impact we’ve had in the drug development space,” said Dr. , DIDB co-founder and director of Drug Interaction Solutions. “We built something from scratch at the 91����, and now it is internationally recognized as an authoritative research tool, with over 180 organizations from 40 different countries as subscribers.”

The Drug Interaction Database is a highly detailed, structured matrix of cross-linking entries designed to support research and regulatory scientists in academia, pharmaceutical companies and other organizations in their evaluation of drug interactions and drug safety. Entries for the database are curated by 91���� scientists from a wide range of drug-related documents, including clinical studies, drug developer publications, toxicity case reports and FDA New Drug Applications reviews.

The database is continuously updated as new information about drugs becomes available. Currently, the site has more than 170,000 entries involving in vitro (or “test-tube experiments”) and in vivo (in humans) data on metabolic enzymes and drug transporters (proteins in the body that help drugs pass from one organ to another); interactions with other drugs or with foods, herbs, tobacco and genetics; and other factors.

The Drug Interaction Solutions team of experts not only thoroughly reviews drug interaction information but also helps researchers use the system effectively.

“The impetus to initiate this database resulted from my work with antiepileptic drugs.

My eureka moment occurred in 1994 when I became able to segregate the clinical interactions of the drug phenytoin (Dilantin) according to two distinct but related enzymes. That ‘discovery’ propelled my efforts to pursue the development of the database,” said , the founder of the DIDB and its principal investigator until 2009, when he retired from the 91����. Levy has in the field of drug disposition and drug-to-drug interactions��and remains an advisor to the director.

“This award recognizes the excellence and dedication of the team of database researchers, as well as the input I received from colleagues in the departments of Pharmaceutics and Medicinal Chemistry in the School of Pharmacy, and the Department of Neurological Surgery in the School of Medicine,” Levy said.

After establishing the plan for building the database and recruiting Ragueneau-Majlessi, Levy was able to gain funding initially through seed grants from several pharmaceutical companies. In 2002, the university began licensing access to the database through . Since then, Drug Interaction Solutions has remained a nonprofit venture with licensing revenues used to cover the costs of scientific and technical maintenance, as well as the development of new features.

“The DIDB is a prime example of a university-sourced innovation maintained by the university and made available as products directly to customers, as opposed to licensed to others or spun off as a company,” said Roï Eisenkot, senior innovation manager at CoMotion. “As a longtime partner of the program, 91���� CoMotion has been collaborating with the team to build its licensing offerings and expand into new markets, while supporting all partner contracting activities such as risk management, managing distributors, fee collection and license renewals.”

While the database is not intended for doctors in clinical settings to use directly, Ragueneau-Majlessi explained, it is evolving in that direction through the integration of its data into the tools that help doctors make drug choices and manage adverse drug interactions.

According to the FDA, two-thirds of patient visits result in a prescription, with more drug combinations being used to treat patients. Adverse drug reactions “increase exponentially with four or more medications,” the agency . In addition, herbals and food products (including fruit juices) can significantly affect various common medications, so multi-drug interactions are frequent in clinical situations.

“It should not be acceptable that a person can be given two drugs with a major adverse interaction when we know the mechanism behind that interaction,” Ragueneau-Majlessi said. “We have the mechanistic and quantitative understanding that allow us to predict drug interactions, and that is very powerful clinically. Adverse drug interactions can be prevented.”

On its website, the Drug Interaction Solutions team the DIDB can support the growth of personalized medicine and the trend toward selecting the most appropriate drug and dose for each unique patient.

“I really believe that is the next stage for the database,” Ragueneau-Majlessi said. “We are now in the era of precision dosing and personalized therapy. And, even if we can’t prevent all drug interactions, we can manage them. If you understand the mechanism of the drug and its interactions, you can make sure that an individual patient is not negatively affected. Knowledge is power.”

Levy and Ragueneau-Majlessi will officially receive the from the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics in March at the society’s annual meeting. The award honors scientists in clinical pharmacology who “have demonstrated leadership in the application of significant, innovative science to clinical drug development.”

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For more information contact Marie-Christine Bodinier, senior marketing manager for Drug Interaction Solutions, at mariecb@uw.edu.

Faculty members from the 91���� School of Pharmacy and the 91���� School of Medicine have secured a $4.7 million National Institutes of Health grant to study drug disposition during pregnancy. Disposition refers to how the drugs are absorbed, distributed, metabolized, and excreted.

The principal investigator on this multi-part, five-year grant from the NIH National Institute on Drug Abuse is Jashvant Unadkat, professor of pharmaceutics.

Unadkat’s grant includes researchers from the 91���� Departments of Pharmaceutics, Pharmacy, and Obstetrics and Gynecology. It will involve three subprojects, each examining different drug types and their disposition in pregnant women and their fetuses: the drug abuse treatment methadone, amphetamines and other illicit drugs, and the antidepressant bupropion.

Researchers will work with the British company Simcyp to synthesize the data from all three projects. Simcyp uses a population-based simulator to conduct physiological pharmacokinetic modeling — a mathematical modeling technique for predicting the disposition of synthetic or natural chemical substances in virtual human populations. The analysis may help predict how pregnant women and their fetuses handle illicit drugs, medications for drug abuse, and antidepressants.

Longterm, researchers would like to improve treatment of pregnant women who need to take medications. They hope to guide prescribers on how to adjust dosages. The researchers also want to provide new tools to predict fetal exposure to drugs during pregnancy and to evaluate risks to the baby.

The Unadkat lab has been studying drug disposition during pregnancy for more than 25 years.��Earlier, Unadkat’s goals were to develop therapeutic strategies to prevent transmission of HIV from mother to child before birth. One of his key findings was that HIV drug disposition can be substantially altered in pregnant women, so much so that the usual doses administered to men and non-pregnant women do not have the same therapeutic effect in pregnant women.

“These research findings led us to ask a broader question about how to adjust dosing regimens of drugs taken during pregnancy to maintain efficacy and reduce toxicity,” said Unadkat.��“It’s inevitable that pregnant women need to take medicinal drugs, because many women have clinical conditions that need to be treated.��Not attending to conditions like hypertension or HIV infection could be harmful for the mother and her fetus.”

Unadkat later broadened his research to study illicit as well as licit drugs. His group recognized that the use of illicit drugs in pregnancy is an important social issue. Research on the effects of these drugs during pregnancy could help in assessing risk to the fetus.

Faculty members throughout the 91���� School of Pharmacy study the safe and effective use of medications taken during pregnancy. For this new NIH grant, Unadkat will collaborate with several such colleagues. Project leaders from the 91���� School of Pharmacy are Nina Isoherranen, Qingcheng Mao, Jashvant Unadkat and Joanne Wang; and co-investigators are Gail Anderson, Rodney Ho and Ed Kelly. Co-investigators from the School of Medicine are Justine Chang, Michael Grayett and Alyssa Stephenson-Famy.

“I’m delighted to have the opportunity to collaborate with such a wide range of scientists on this NIH grant,” said Unadkat. “It is my hope that the research we are conducting could one day improve the health and well-being of pregnant women and their babies.”