Local pharmacogenetics research cited in reputable scientific journal

Research carried out by Dr Francesca Wirth, lecturer at the Department of Pharmacy in the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery of the University of Malta, was recently cited in a scientific report in a reputable journal on Nature.com.

As part of her doctoral research, Dr Wirth carried out research on pharmacogenetic testing in collaboration with the Department of Cardiology and the Department of Pathology at Mater Dei Hospital. Patients with a history of angina who undergo coronary stenting are prescribed the antiplatelet drug clopidogrel to reduce risks of post-procedural thrombotic complications.

In this research, Dr Wirth assessed pharmacogenetic vari- ability between patients and the implications of using clopidogrel, using two laboratory-based testing methods and an innovative rapid, point-of-care testing approach to individualise antiplatelet therapy. Point-of-care pharmacogenetic testing enables accurate, reliable and user-friendly pharmacogenetic testing at the patient’s bedside and provides rapid results to individualise therapy at the time of initial prescription, in the critical period after coronary stenting.

Findings from the research were published in the International Journal of Clinical Pharmacy. The research was undertaken under the supervision of Professor Lilian M. Azzopardi, head Department of Pharmacy, University of Malta, in collaboration with Pro- fessor Albert Fenech, consultant cardiologist, Dr Robert Xuereb, Chair, Department of Cardiology, Mater Dei Hospital and Dr Christopher Barbara, Chair, Department of Pathology, Mater Dei Hospital.