Professor Andrew Somogyi

• Late Breaking News:

  NHMRC Project Award 2004: Mu opioid receptor polymorphisms and variability in opioid actions (with co investigator Dr Timohty Cox, School of Molecular Biosciences).
  
  This project will examine the role of genetic variations in the target site for opioid drugs (the mu opioid receptor) in inter-interdividual variability in response to pain treatment with opioids such as morphine. The studies will include human clinical trials and cell preparations allowing us to study the basic mechanisms and then translate these into actual clinical practice. If successfull the results could mean better dose and medicine selection for people with pain and those seeking treatment for heroin addiction based on their genetic makeup. There is the opportunity for several PhD projects within this award and for more enquiries email Andrew Somogyi.

• Position: Professor, Deputy Head of Discipline
• Qualifications: PhC, MSc, DHP, PhD
• Location: Medical School Nth., Rm N504, telephone +61 8 8303 5572, email : andrew.somogyi@adelaide.edu.au
• Academic interests: (teaching, research etc.)
  
Teaching of basic and clinical pharmacology to
2nd, 3rd and 4th year medical students; 4th year dental students; 3rd year Bachelor of Health Science students; 3rd year Bachelor of Science students


• Service to the Faculty:
Deputy Chair of the Research Committee of the Faculty of Health Sciences;
Chair of the Grants and Personnel Committee of the Faculty of Health Sciences;
Member of the Higher Degrees Committee of the Faculty of Health Sciences;
Member of the Faculty of Health Sciences Board


• Service to the Royal Adelaide Hospital:
Member of the Research Committee of the Royal Adelaide Hospital/IMVS;
Member of the Investigational Drugs Sub-Committee of the Research Ethics Committee


• Service to the Community:
Member of the Medicines Evaluation Committee of the Therapeutic Goods Administration of the Department of Health & Ageing;
Member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the Australian Medicines Handbook; Company Director of Australian Medicines Handbook Pty Ltd.;
Company Director and Secretary of the 9th International Conference of Toxicology Pty Ltd;
Member of the Executive of the Adelaide Pharmacology Group


• Research:

Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of Opioids
Pharmacogenetics and Pharmacogenomics of Opioids
Gastrointestinal Drug Absorption Mechanisms
Drug Transport Mechanisms
Drug Metabolism
Pain

• Membership of Editorial Boards:
British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology (Executive Editor);
Pharmacogenetics;
Current Drug Delivery


• Research Consultancy:
Provides consultancy on preclinical and clinical pharmacology (pharmacokinetics, metabolism and pharmacodynamics) of drugs for biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies


• Current Research Grants:

NHMRC:

• Distribution kinetics of opioids used in substitution programs (in collaboration with Richard Upton – Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive care) [$195,000]
• Clinical Pharmacology of methadone during induction onto maintenance treatment (in collaboration with Jason White and Felix Bochner) [$420,000
  
NIH

• Pain and analgesic response in opiate dependence (in collaboration with Walter Ling, and  Karen Miotta [USA] and, Jason White and Felix Bochner.[US$1,567,695]

NHMRC Equipment

• Liquid Chromatograph-Mass Spectrometer (in collaboration with Jason White, Philip Burcham, Richard Upton, Janet Coller, Betty Sallustio, Rod Irvine and Andrew Humpage) [$249,000]

Invited speaker to National & International Meetings:

• World Congress of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (September 4-9 2003, Sydney). Symposium title “Oral Drug Delivery and Absorption: Mechanisms And Problem Solving Strategies”. Title of talk “Impact of Pharmacogenetics on Drug Absorption”.
• Joint Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory/Wellcome Trust Conference on Pharmacogenomics (September 24-28 2003 Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hingston, United Kingdom). Symposium Session “Drug Response”. Title of talk “Polymorphisms and the Human mu opioid receptor gene and variability in opioid actions”.
• Faculty of Pain Medicine of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthestists Conference (1 October 2003, Melbourne). Symposium Title “Opioid Tolerance, Dependence and Addiction” Title of talk “Methadone: Uses, limitations and dangers”.
• Second Annual Meeting of the International Society of Pharmacogenomics, a joint meeting with the Pacific Rim Association for Clinical Pharmacogenetics (November 3-4, 2003 Los Angeles). Symposium Title “Pharmacogenomics and Clinical Medicine I. ” Title of talk “Pharmacogenetics of Opioid Analgesia: interplay between genes, enzymes, transporters and receptors”.

 
International Committees:

• Member of the Executive of the Organising Committee of the World Congress on Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics 2004 in Brisbane;
• Member of the following sub-committees: Finance, Sponsorship and Program
• Faculty Research Committee of the Faculty of Pain Medicine, Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists.
  
  International Collaborations:
  
• Professor Michel Eichelbaum
  Dr. Margarete Fischer-Bosch Institute for Clinical Pharmacology,
  Stuttgart, Germany
  
• Professor Walter Ling
  Integrated Substance Abuse Programs
  Dept. Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences
  David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA,
  Los Angeles, USA
  
• Associate Professor Lorna Christrup
  Royal Danish School of Pharmacy.
  Copenhagen, Denmark
  

Latest Publication:
Stereochemical Aspects of Drug Action and Disposition, Eds Eichelbaum, M., Testa B, and Somogyi A, Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology, Chapter 13, Volume 153,

Supervision of Higher Degree Students:
2 Masters students from the Royal Danish School of Pharmacy; 8 PhD students.