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Ramsey Lab

About the Lab


The Ramsey Lab is interested in all aspects of pharmacogenetics, from basic research to implementation in patient care. Pharmacogenetics refers to the effect of a person's genetic code on his/her response to a medication. Research has been done in this field for decades, but only recently has pharmacogenetic information been incorporated into clinical care. There are no guidelines for dosing of more than 100 drugs based on genetic information, provided by the NIH-funded Clinical Pharmacogenetics Implementaton Consortium (CPIC). Many of the genes involved in response to medication alter the pharmacokinetics of the drug (the speed at which it's absorbed, distributed, metabolized, or eliminated). 

The lab's basic research has focused on the transporter SLCO1B1, which is involved in the disribution of many natural compounds (e.g., bilirubin) and drugs (e.g., methotrexate). As part of CPIC, Dr. Ramsey was involved in the development of a clinical guideline for personalized simvastatin dosing based on the SLCO1B1 gene. Her lab is now pursuing how genetic variants influence the transport of methotrexate in children with arthritis and cancer. Her team led the creation of the webtool, mtxpk.org, to enable clinicians to visualize how a patient is eliminating methotrexate and whether an expensive rescue drug is needed.

Another clinical research focus of the lab is on neuropsychiatric pharmacogenetics. The Ramsey lab has shown the impact of the CYP2D6 and CYP2C19 genes on the tolerability and response to these medications. She was part of the CPIC guideline for antidepressants based on the CYP2D6 and CYP2C19 genes.

Leader


Laura Ramsey, PhD is the Section Chief for Indivualized Therapeutics in the Division of Clinical Pharmacology, Toxicology & Therapeutic Innovation. She will develop a pharmacogenomics implementation program that is fully integrated in the electronic health record and develop model-informed decision support tools for a number of drug substrates relevant to the patients we serve here.

Dr. Ramsey is originally from Iowa and completed undergraduate degrees in Chemistry and Biotechnology at the University of Northern Iowa. She went on to complete a Phd in Molecular, Cellular, Developmental Biology and Genetics at the University of Minnesota. Following her PhD completion, she completed a post-doctoral fellowship at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital with an emphasis in pharmacogenomics. Working with Dr. Mary Relling, a pioneer in pediatric pharmacogenomics and clinical implementation of pharmacogenomic testing, Dr. Ramsey developed a passion in this subject domain. Following her post-doctoral fellowing at St. Jude, she joined the faculty in the Divisions of Clinical Pharmacology & Pharmacy Research at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. In her career, Dr. Ramsey has authored over 90 peer reviewed manuscripts, hundreds of abstract presentations, and has been heavily funded. This includes a current NICHD R01 entitled, Improving the Effectiveness and Safety of Escitalopram in Pediatric Anxiety Disorders Using Pharmacogentically-guided Dosing. 

Dr. Ramsey is an active member of the Clinical Pharmacogenetics Implementation Consortion, the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics, the Society for Pediatric Research, and the Pharmacogenomics Global Research Network, where she currently servces as the Treasurer. Dr. Ramsey won the Darrell Abernethy Early-Stage Investigator Award from the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics in 2019. 

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Headshot of Laura Ramsey, PhD
Laura Ramsey, PhD
Clinical Pharmacology

Doctoral Research Faculty; Associate Professor of Pediatrics, University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine

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