2017 HOPA Research Grant Awardees
Jason N Barreto, PharmD
Grant Amount: $76,476
The overall objective of Dr. Barreto’s study is to improve the delivery of cancer care by leveraging novel renal biomarkers to optimize the balance between safety and effectiveness during high-dose MTX therapy. If successful, this innovative approach to apply non-invasive serum and urine biomarkers to optimize medication use could serve as a model for dose optimization of other renally-eliminated or nephrotoxic antineoplastics.
Mark Kirstein, PharmD
Grant Amount: $23,524
Dr. Kirstein’s long-term goal is to improve the efficacy and safety of voriconazole in the prevention and treatment of fungal infections. This goal will be accomplished by developing a clinically relevant and simple pediatric-specific model of clinical factors and genotypes that will predict a personalized voriconazole dose for every patient. The overall objective is to define the genetic variants and patient specific covariates associated with voriconazole pharmacokinetic variability.
2016 HOPA Research Grant Awardees
Dr. Jai Patel, PharmD
Grant Amount: $45,000
The goal of Dr. Patel’s proposed research is to investigate the impact of clinical pharmacist interventions on pain and symptom management in ambulatory cancer patients and explore associations between pharmacogenetics and pain response. The research will test the hypothesis that pharmacist interventions conducted periodically after baseline clinic visit will improve the proportion of patients achieving significant pain improvement and reduce symptom burden using the Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS) compared to historical data in which pharmacist assessments were not conducted.
Dr. Judith Smith, BCOP BS FCCP PharmD RPh
Grant Amount: $33,330
Dr. Smith received funding for her research addressing the paucity of pharmacokinetic data available in obese patients as described in the ASCO guidelines for dosing chemotherapy in obese patients. The objective of this study is to evaluate the variability in pharmacokinetic parameters and define the plasma concentrations associated with increase toxicity of paclitaxel or cisplatin in obese cancer patients when the chemotherapy dose is calculated with an actual or an assigned (capped) body surface area (BSA).
2015 HOPA Research Grant Awardees
Dr. Val Adams, PharmD BCOP FCCP
Grant Amount: $40,000
Dr. Adams work, entitled “Cancer-related venous thromboembolism: Treatment choice, patterns, and outcomes,” will evaluate and compare anticoagulation treatments for cancer-related VTE. A large, national cohort of individuals will be utilized from an administrative claims database for the years 2012-2014 which includes medical and pharmacy information for over 20 million lives. This study will be the first to compare new treatment modalities to traditional anticoagulation treatment options.
Dr. Jill Bates, PharmD MS BCOP
Grant Amount: $18,950
Dr. Bates received funding for her research entitled, “Evaluation of pharmacist-driven first cycle chemotherapy consultation,” that aims to demonstrate that care provided to patients by oncology pharmacists positively impacts clinical outcomes and will establish a process of care in oncology pharmacy that empowers oncology pharmacists to step into a healthcare provider role. The objective of this program is to establish pharmacist-patient relationships in an acute care oncology setting by providing a service that supports shared decision making in cancer care, saves physician time and reduces medication-related problems (MRP).
2014 HOPA Research Grant Awardee
Dr. Shawna Kraft, PharmD BCOP
Grant Amount: $47,000
Dr. Kraft's research study will assess a smart phone application and an automated dispensing machine in assisting patients with their oral cancer medications to develop an easy to use system for patients with cancer receiving medication therapy.
With her $47,500 grant award, Dr. Kraft will be able to assess patient adherence to oral oncolytics and to validate a smart phone application partnered with an automated dispensing machine, a "Pod", in affecting patient adherence, correlation of patients’ self-report of adherence to actual adherence and patient satisfaction with the adherence system.
2013 Research Grant Awardee
The Identification and Limitation of Pediatric Chemotherapy Errors Associated with the Transition to CPOE.
Dr. Kerry Parsons, PharmD BCOP
Grant Amount: $25,000
The study highlights the need for hematology/oncology pharmacists in the transition to a computerized provider order entry (CPOE) system. CPOE systems allow medical practitioners to submit medication orders, including chemotherapy drugs, directly to pharmacists.
The intent of the grant is to research methods of improving the chemotherapy error reduction process and validate the necessity of hematology/oncology pharmacists' participation in this transition. Dr. Emily Waite, PharmD BCOP has become the principal investigator going forward. Findings of the project were presented at the 2016 HOPA Annual Conference. This research grant, totaling $25,000 in funding, is intended to provide support for projects that are likely to result in facilitating the efforts of hematology/oncology pharmacists to optimize the care of individuals affected by cancer.
2012 Research Grant Awardees
Improving & Defining the Impact & Value of Pharmacists in Stem Cell Transplant
Dr. Kamakshi Rao
Grant Amount: $15,200
As the profession of pharmacy evolves, pharmacists are being woven into an increasingly collaborative model of healthcare. Within the oncology pharmacy practice area, expansion into ambulatory clinics has been on the upswing. In the area of bone marrow/stem cell transplant (BMT), pharmacists have long been an important part of the collaborative care team, and now, their presence is growing in the ambulatory care clinics of BMT programs. As these involvements grow, there is now a need for an evaluation of the impact pharmacists are making in this area.
This proposal seeks to develop a formalized educational program to more comprehensively meet the needs of our patients, and to develop a more comprehensive tool to accurately gauge the impact of pharmacists on patient care outcomes. Through the development of these programs, the researchers aim to:
1) improve the level and quality of pharmacist-driven care and
2) accurately and clearly describe the "value" of pharmacist services on the clinical, economic, and humanistic outcomes of patient care.
In Vitro Stability of Erlotinib, Lapatinib and Imatinib in Common Compounding Vehicles
Dr. Quan Li
Grant Award: $21,270
Oral chemotherapy agents are widely used in clinical practice, however, a significant portion of oncology patients cannot swallow whole tablets. There are only two chemotherapy drugs, tamoxifen and megestrol acetate, that are currently commercially available in oral liquid dosage forms. The goal of this study is to identify an optimal temperature and maximum time for which oral liquid compounds of erlotinib, lapatinib and imatinib are stable with total retention of the dose being 90% or above (USP criteria for oral compounding). This project will provide in vitro stability data and develop standard compounding methods for three commonly prescribed oral chemotherapy agents for hospital and compounding pharmacy.