Investigators

Summary

The research in the laboratory of Dr. Fernandez focuses on the pharmacogenomics of adverse drug reactions. The immunogenicity of protein-based therapeutics is a major problem that can lead to life-threatening complications and reduce or eliminate the therapeutic effects of biologics. The objectives of Dr. Fernandez’s research are to elucidate the mechanism of adverse drug reaction by identifying polymorphisms (variations) in genes that can explain why certain patients are predisposed to developing immune responses to biologics, to identify therapeutic strategies that can block and maintain therapeutic drug concentrations, and to develop clinical laboratory tests that can monitor drug bioavailability and immunogenicity to indicate when a drug substitution is appropriate. Dr. Fernandez has extensively studied the immune response to the chemotherapeutic agent, asparaginase, which is an essential component of pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) therapy.