Pharmacometrics Center of Excellence
The Pharmacometrics Center of Excellence is a consortium of investigators with wide scientific expertise in Pharmacometrics, Clinical Pharmacology, and Drug Design. Our investigators have broad expertise in pre-clinical through post-marketing studies.
About the MWUPCE
The Midwestern University Pharmacometrics Center of Excellence (MWUPCE) partners strong faculty knowledge base in computer modeling of drug efficacy and toxicity with wet-lab analytic approaches. Together, the group is highly expert conducting pre-clinical through post-marketing studies. The Center builds on the existing synergies in the University's Core Facilities.
Learn more about the Downers Grove Core Research Facility
Mission
The mission of the MWUPCE is to:
- Design innovative strategies that maximize safe and effective pharmacotherapy for patients
- Develop the next generation of translational clinicians and scientists through advanced pharmacometric education.
Meet the Investigators
Director: Marc Scheetz, Pharm.D., MSc
Dr. Scheetz is the Director of the Midwestern University Pharmacometrics Center of Excellence. He is the Associate Dean for Research in the College of Pharmacy and is a professor of Pharmacy and Pharmacology. He currently practices as an Infectious Diseases pharmacist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in downtown Chicago. Dr. Scheetz's primary research interest lies in the interface of the pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic interaction (i.e. between antimicrobials, pathogens, and hosts). He is particularly interested in assessing modifiable pharmacologic variables in the treatment of infectious diseases and identifying optimal exposures against the backdrop of toxicity. His group studies toxicology in the laboratory, as well as through clinical data modeling. Dr. Scheetz is actively engaged in drug development and formerly served as a member of the FDA Antimicrobial Drugs Advisory Committee.
Shridhar Andurkar, Ph.D.
Dr. Andurkar serves as Professor and Chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences. He earned his M.S. and Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry from Auburn University, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences. He completed his postdoctoral studies at the University of Houston, Department of Chemistry. Dr. Andurkar has more than 25 years of experience in the design, synthesis, isolation and purification, structural elucidation, drug metabolism, and pharmacological studies of bioactive molecules. His current research interests are in the design, synthesis, and pharmacological evaluation of novel analgesics and antiepileptic agents, as well as the study of novel synthetic organic chemical methodologies, stereoselective synthesis, and evaluating the impact of stereochemistry on biological activity. He serves as scientific advisor to Aagami Inc., and Pharmazz Inc.
Medha Joshi, MPharm, Ph.D.
Dr. Medha D. Joshi is an Associate Professor in Pharmaceutical Sciences at Midwestern University's College of Pharmacy, Glendale Campus. Dr. Joshi has expertise in lipid based drug delivery systems including solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN), micro emulsions, self-emulsifying drug delivery systems (SMEDDs), nanosuspensions, and liposomes etc. targeted drug delivery. Her research program at Midwestern university is focused on application of nanoparticulate targeted delivery a) to neurogenetic peptides for their delivery to the blood brain barrier, and b) reduction of maternal-fetal toxicity of drugs across the placental barrier. She has more than 30 peer-reviewed research articles, two patents, and three book chapters to her credit. She has been a principle investigator and co-investigator on several intramural and extramural grants, including the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation and NIH AREA grants.
Sylwia Marianski, Pharm.D.
Dr. Sylwia Marianski is an Infectious Diseases Pharmacotherapy fellow at Midwestern University and a member of the Pharmacometrics Center of Excellence. She earned her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Midwestern University College of Pharmacy in 2023. Following that, she completed a PGY-1 Pharmacy Practice Residency at Endeavor Health Hospital, where she continues to practice clinically. Dr. Marianski’s research interests include the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of anti-infective agents. Professionally, she is interested in strategies to overcome antimicrobial drug resistance and bacterial pathogenesis. She actively participates in a wide range of activities, such as pharmacokinetic modeling of antibiotics and holds positions on multiple committees for infectious disease pharmacy organizations. Upon completion of her fellowship, she is interested in pursuing a career in academia or the pharmaceutical industry.
Gwendolyn Pais, BPharm, Ph.D.
Dr. Gwendolyn Pais is a Research Assistant Professor in the College of Pharmacy and a Scientist within the Midwestern University Pharmacometrics Center of Excellence. Dr. Pais earned her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She completed her postdoctoral training in Pharmacology at Midwestern University. Her research focuses on preventing drug-induced kidney and neurologic toxicity. She is particularly interested in defining optimal exposures, exposure thresholds and biomarkers of toxicity to facilitate dose escalation in a safe manner. Her laboratory utilizes non-clinical approaches and seeks to translate these data to critically ill pediatric patients. Dr. Pais is actively engaged in pharmacology organizations and serves as a reviewer for multiple peer-reviewed journals.
N. "Jim" Rhodes, Pharm.D., MSc
Dr. Rhodes is an Associate Professor and member of the Midwestern University Pharmacometrics Center of Excellence. He currently practices as an Infectious Diseases and Antimicrobial Stewardship pharmacist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in downtown Chicago. Dr. Rhodes's interests include anti-infective pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. His research is primarily focused on clarifying the antimicrobial-exposure-response profiles in pre-clinical and translational models. His research program also seeks to evaluate how contemporary antimicrobial utilization influences resistance and clinical outcomes. He is actively engaged in infectious diseases organizations and serves as a reviewer for multiple peer-reviewed journals and funding organizations.
Justin Shiau, Pharm.D.
Dr. Justin Shiau is an Infectious Diseases Pharmacotherapy fellow at Midwestern University and a member of the Pharmacometrics Center of Excellence and practices clinically at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. He obtained his Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville School of Pharmacy in 2022. He then went on to complete a PGY-1 Pharmacy Practice Residency at Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage Hospital. Dr. Shiau's interest areas include antimicrobial stewardship, treatment of multi-drug resistant infections, drug-induced toxicity, and pharmacy academia. Currently, he is actively engaged in various activities including clinical data pharmacokinetic modeling of antibiotics and serving in various committees for infectious disease pharmacy organizations.
Adrian Valadez, Pharm.D.
Dr. Adrian Valadez is a Postdoctoral fellow at Midwestern University and a member of the Pharmacometrics Center of Excellence. His focus is on quantitating beta-lactam antibiotic pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics (PK/PD). He is enthusiastic about further exploring opportunities within the realm of Infectious Disease research, PK/PD modeling, academia, and pharmaceutical industry. Currently, he is engaged with multiple laboratory methodologies including LC-MS/MS assay development, and population pharmacokinetic modeling and simulation using cutting edge software programs such as Pmetrics and Monolix to analyze drug behavior within the body.
Marta Zurawska, Ph.D., Pharm.D.
Dr. Zurawska is a postdoctoral fellow at Midwestern University in Downers Grove, with a focus on the application of mass spectrometry for the analysis of small molecules in infectious disease research. She obtained her Doctor of Pharmacy degree in Bari, Italy, and gained hand’s on research experience in the laboratory of Prof. Ferdinando Palmieri studying mitochondrial transporter proteins. She received her PhD in Biochemistry and Biophysics in Warsaw, Poland under the supervision of Prof. Michal Dadlez. She has expertise in mass spectrometry-based proteomics to study biomarkers for sensitivity to CDK-4/6 inhibitors in breast cancer, targeted proteomic analyzes, LC-MS PRM, MRM, and global proteomics approaches. She studied the GSTP1 protein which is important in breast cancer at the Division of Oncology at Washington University in St. Louis. Her research interests center on the translational application of mass spectrometry and multi-omics approaches as tools to achieve personalized medicine.
Previous Publications and Presentations
Miglis C, Rhodes NJ, Liu J, Gener J, Hang E, Scheetz M. Quantifying the Importance of Active Antimicrobial Therapy among Patients with Gram-negative Bloodstream Infections: Cefepime as a Representative Agent. International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents. 2018. Epub 2018/10/14. doi: 10.1016/j.ijantimicag.2018.10.004. PubMed PMID: 30315921.
Avedissian SN, Scheetz MH, Zembower TR, Silkaitis C, Maxwell R, Jenkins C, Postelnick MJ, Sutton SH, Rhodes NJ. Measuring the impact of varying denominator definitions on standardized antibiotic consumption rates: implications for antimicrobial stewardship programmes. Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. 2018;73(10):2876-82. Epub 2018/08/08. doi: 10.1093/jac/dky275. PubMed PMID: 30085084.
Joshi M, Chang J., Hlukhenka K., Pais G., Avedissian S., Gulati A., Prozialeck W, Hubka T., Scheetz MH, Griffin B. (2018) Elucidation of fetal and maternal vancomycin-induced kidney injury using a pregnant rat model, PharmSci 360, November 2018, Washington DC.
Joshi M, Hlukhenka K., Pais G., Prozialeck W, Scheetz M, Griffin B. In vitro evaluation of vancomycin loaded liposomes for its potential of reduced nephrotoxicity in rat epithelial kidney (NRK) cells, ASHP Midyear 2018
Aljefri D, Avedissian S, Rhodes NJ, Postelnick M, Scheetz MH. 1391. Vancomycin Area under the Curve (AUC) to Predict Nephrotoxicity: A systematic Review and Meta-analysis of observational studies. ID Week; San Francisco 2018.
Avedissian S, Liu J, O'Donnell J, Pais G, Becher L, Joshi M, Prozialeck W, Lamar P, Lodise TP, Scheetz MH. 1419. 24-Hour Pharmacokinetic Relationships for Intravenous Vancomycin and Novel Urinary Biomarkers of Acute Kidney Injury. ID Week; San Francisco 2018.
Avedissian S, Rhodes NJ, Liu J, Aljefri D, Postelnick M, Sutton S, Zembower T, Martin D, Pais G, Cruce C, Scheetz MH. 1821. Understanding the components and calculation of the SAAR, Illustrative Data. ID Week; San Francisco 2018.
Cruce C, Postelnick M, Martin D, Sutton S, Wunderink R, Zembower T, Scheetz MH, Rhodes NJ. 209. Impact of a risk-based CAP prescribing guideline paired with antimicrobial stewardship to improve antibiotic prescribing for patients at low risk for drug resistant pathogens. ID Week; San Francisco 2018.
Lee B, Constantino-Corpuz J, Apolinario K, Wang S, Nadler B, Scheetz MH, Rhodes NJ. 1068. Evaluation of Cefazolin versus Anti-Staphylococcal Penicillins for the Treatment of Methicillin-Susceptible Staphylococcus aureus Bloodstream Infections in Acutely-Ill Adult Patients: Results of a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. ID Week; San Francisco 2018.
Liu J, Avedissian S, Pais G, Joshi M, Rhodes NJ, Scheetz MH. 1394. A Translational Pharmacokinetic Rat Model of Cerebral Spinal Fluid (CSF) and Plasma Concentrations of Cefepime. ID Week; San Francisco 2018.
Liu J, Mercuro N, Davis S, Yarnold P, Patel T, Petty L, Kaye K, Scheetz MH. 1871. Identifying time periods of high and low vancomycin use. ID Week; San Francisco 2018.