Ep#013: Preventing Adverse Drug Reactions through Pharmacogenomics with Amani Saini

In thirteen episode of the Personalized Medicine Podcast we focus on the personalization of
treatment in clinical practice. There is mourning evidence that shows that variations in the
genome can significantly affect inter-patient differences in drug response. Together with Amani
Saini, the founder of Adverse Drug Reaction (ADR) Canada, we talk about the field of
pharmacogenomics, adverse drug reactions and the future of tailored therapy. Amani holds a
BA in Political Science from the University of British Columbia and Master of Public
Administration degree from Dalhousie University. She currently serves as president of ADR
Canada, which brings together patients, researchers, and policymakers to advocate for the
increased the use of genomics in guiding health decisions.

Together with Amani, we talked about:

◦ The start-up story of ADR Canada
◦ The burden of adverse drug reactions
◦ The effectiveness of clinical trials
◦ Known gene variants that influence responses to drugs
◦ Genomics as a tool to prescribe effective, safe medications
◦ Advances in pharmacogenomics around the world
◦ The benefit of mandatory healthcare databases
◦ Improving reporting structures in healthcare
◦ The policy proposals of ADR Canada
◦ Turning scientific discovery into clinical practice
◦ The stakeholders in healthcare policy
◦ Future plans for ADR Canada
◦ Science communication, education, collaboration
◦ The future of pharmacogenomics


Get in touch with Amani:
Twitter: @amani_saini
Twitter (Adverse Drug Reaction Canada): @adr_canada
Web (Adverse Drug Reaction Canada): https://adrcanada.org

Make sure to download the full show notes with our guest's bio, links to their most notable work, and our recommendations for further reads on the topic of the episode at pmedcast.com