Clinical and Translational Pharmacology

Aims:

The Clinical and Translational Pharmacology Section aims to advance the understanding of drug action in humans, optimize therapeutic strategies, and promote the translation of pharmacologic insights into clinical practice. The section focuses on the integration of clinical pharmacology, pharmacotherapy, pharmacogenetics/genomics, biomarker-driven drug development, and translational approaches to neuropharmacology, psychopharmacology, and organ system pharmacology.

Scope:

• Clinical pharmacology: drug safety and pharmacovigilance; adverse drug reaction (ADR) monitoring; therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM); dose individualization and optimization; and drug utilization research.
• Pharmacotherapy: Evidence-based pharmacotherapeutic strategies; comparative effectiveness research; rational drug use and polypharmacy management; drug selection and treatment algorithms; and therapeutic outcomes assessment.
• Pharmacogenetics/Pharmacogenomics: genetic determinants of inter-individual variability in drug response (efficacy, toxicity, and metabolism); pharmacogenetic testing and implementation in clinical practice; genome-wide association studies (GWAS) for drug response phenotypes; personalized and precision medicine; pharmacoepigenetics; and clinical decision support systems for pharmacogenomics.
• Biomarkers and molecular targets: discovery, validation, and clinical application of predictive, prognostic, pharmacodynamic, and response biomarkers; companion diagnostics; target engagement biomarkers; circulating biomarkers; tissue-based and imaging biomarkers; biomarker-guided patient stratification and clinical trial design; and molecular target identification and validation in human disease.
• Neuropharmacology: Pharmacological mechanisms of drugs acting on the central and peripheral nervous systems; translational neuropharmacology from preclinical models to human application; drugs for neurological disorders (stroke, epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis, neuropathic pain, and migraine); neuroprotective and neurorestorative strategies; blood–brain barrier (BBB) transport and CNS drug delivery; neuroinflammation and glial pharmacology; and molecular targets in neurological diseases.
• Organ system pharmacology (cardiovascular, renal, respiratory, gastrointestinal, endocrine, and hepatic pharmacology): pharmacological mechanisms and therapeutic strategies specific to diseases of these systems (e.g., hypertension, heart failure, asthma, COPD, chronic kidney disease, diabetes, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease); system-level drug response and resistance phenotypes; integration of organ-specific pathophysiology with pharmacotherapy; and organ-oriented approaches to dose–response, safety, and efficacy assessment.
• Psychopharmacology and behavioral pharmacology: Pharmacological treatment of psychiatric disorders (depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, obsessive–compulsive disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder); mood stabilizers, antidepressants, antipsychotics, anxiolytics, and hypnotics; mechanisms of action of psychotropic drugs; behavioral pharmacology in humans (cognitive function, mood, motivation, and impulse control); clinical trials in psychiatry; treatment-resistant depression and psychosis; addiction and substance use disorder pharmacotherapy; placebo and nocebo effects; and pediatric and geriatric psychopharmacology.