Mission Statement: To champion growth of internationally recognized research, clinical and educational excellence in immunologically mediated adverse drug reactions (IM-ADR) that will lead to prevention, earlier diagnosis, effective targeted treatment options, and improved drug safety across diverse patient populations; to foster community engagement with patients and families affected by IM-ADR to promote increased awareness and support.
The Center for Drug Safety and Immunology is a center of excellence in human immunology that operates under the umbrella of the broader personalized medicine enterprise at VUMC. Its key scope and purpose is the advancement of understanding of the genetic and mechanistic basis of immunologically mediated adverse drug reactions. The primary purpose of this center is to directly translate the science into both improved patient outcomes and safer drug utilization, design, and development. The overriding mission of the center is to optimize safety of drugs across diverse populations. A key outcome is to define mechanisms for prediction, prevention, and earlier diagnosis of IM-ADRs. In addition, the Center for Drug Safety will lead the multicenter investigation and implementation of innovative and effective targeted treatment approaches.
A Drug Safety Clinical Service operates in parallel to the research program. This includes an outpatient clinic focusing on precision patient-centered care where patients and their families who have experienced or been labeled as having an IM-ADR can receive genetic testing and counseling on IM-ADRs, in vivo testing procedures that help appropriately label their ADR, and expert advice on safe and effective future drug options. The research program offers both outpatients who have experienced IM-ADRs and inpatients with acute IM-ADRs participation in studies where cutting-edge “integrated single-cell omic” approaches will be applied to understand the drug-specific genetic risks factors and the tissue specific immunopathogenesis of the IM-ADR.
The Center for Drug Safety fosters an outstanding research and clinical training environment with the prime purpose of attracting, supporting, and developing careers of future national and international leaders in the field of IM-ADRs. The Center is currently the only one of its kind in North America (and arguably internationally) that offers the depth and breadth of this cross-disciplinary and specialized training experience. The outpatient clinic exemplifies the next generation of precision medicine clinics where trainees in Internal Medicine, Allergy and Immunology, Infectious Diseases, and Dermatology learn important principles of immunology and pharmacology that translate into improved clinical care at all levels of practice and are not available in other training environments.