September Post

Now that we’re a little over a month into the program, I’m starting to get the hang of testing and have honestly learned so much I’m surprised it’s been so little time. A couple things have really resonated with me: the Tulane primate research center, and drug-drug interactions.

My college roomate currently works at the primate center, and I never really knew what he was talking about when he would mention the research he did on the macaques. It’s really exciting to learn in lectures and seminars information gathered from experiments someone I know is involved in. 

Another thing that has really stuck with me is the amount of drug-drug interactions that are possible, specifically with completely unrelated drugs. I’ve worked in a couple clinics since graduating, and honestly only thought drug interactions would be obvious, like avoiding beta blockers if you plan to do allergy immunotherapy, since the beta blockers compete for the same binding site as epinephrine, which would be needed for a possible reaction. Every day, I would have to do the tedious task of asking patients what medications they were currently taking, not really knowing the physiological effects that could be caused by interactions I didn’t even know were possible. 

Cytochrome P450 drug metabolism is a completely new concept to me, and at this point is something I will never forget. My aunt recently had surgery, has been having some complications, and, for whatever reason, I’m the person in the family who she calls for medical advice (I am not qualified). At the beginning of this week, she told me she’s been taking cimetidine for acid reflux. Because of what I’ve learned in this program, I know cimetidine is a potent inhibitor of cytochrome P450, and told her she’s probably going to be told to stop taking it for now. Of course, the doctors had beat me to that and had already told her that morning, but it’s insane to see the clinical relevance of what we’ve learned, and really speaks to how big of an impact pharmacology has on patient well-being. I’m so excited to learn even more, and can’t wait to start doing some community outreach projects in the coming months.