Indiana Genomics Implementation Opportunity for the Underserved

Dr. Skaar is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Clinical Pharmacology at the Indiana University in Indianapolis, Indiana. He did his graduate work in nutrition at the University of Wisconsin and lactation physiology at the Pennsylvania State University, followed by a postdoc in breast cancer drug resistance at the Lombardi Cancer Center at Georgetown University. Since joining Indiana University, his research is focused on the discovery and implementation of genomic predictors of drug response. More specifically, his studies are focused on genetic variants in the ADME genes. The discovery studies are funded by two NIH grants focused on identifying genetic variants that are associated with clinical drug efficacy and toxicity. Those variants are followed up with laboratory functional studies to understand the mechanisms underlying their association. They also include studies to identify miRNAs that contribute to the drug-induced and developmental changes in hepatic drug metabolism. He also leads an NIH-funded pharmacogenomics implementation study. The goal is to identify and overcome the barriers to using pharmacogenomics to guide clinical drug therapy. The implementation studies include prospectively testing and using pharmacogenetic testing in clinical care. He currently serves as the vice-chair of the NIH-IGNITE (Implementing Genomics into Practice) network.