Howard McLeod

Last updated

Howard L. McLeod (born 1965) is an American pharmacogeneticist and implementation scientist specialized in precision medicine.

Contents

Early life and career

McLeod was born in 1965, in Tacoma, Washington,[ citation needed ] and grew up in Gig Harbor, Washington. He graduated from Gig Harbor High School, where he was a member of a pre-grunge band The Potentials, and wrote the lyrics/music for their four-song EP. [1]

He received his undergraduate degree in pharmacy at the University of Washington and his clinical pharmacology medical training (PharmD, 1988) from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Sciences. He completed a clinical research fellowship at St Jude Children's Research Hospital and was a visiting academic scientist at the Beatson Institute for Cancer Research Glasgow University. [2] [3]

Research

Since 1994, McLeod has been a tenured faculty member at Aberdeen University, Washington University School of Medicine, the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and the University of South Florida. At UNC-Chapel Hill, he was the founding director of the UNC Institute for Pharmacogenomics and Individualized Therapy and held a Fred Eshelman endowed chair. He was a senior member at Moffitt Cancer Center, where he was also medical director at the De Bartolo Family Personalized Medicine Institute and Founding Chair of the Department of Individualized Cancer Management. [4] [5]

McLeod had a key role with the TPMT polymorphisms, including being responsible for establishing the relationship between TPMT enzyme activity in leukemia blast cells and red blood cells and identifying differences in mutation frequency and sequence across global populations. [6] He has also been a pioneer in the use of ex vivo cell lines, such as immortalized lymphoblastoid cell lines, to discover novel gene associations with activity of anticancer drugs. [7]

McLeod began international scientific collaborations in 1994, initially working with colleagues in Korle Bu Hospital in Accra, Ghana, Kenyatta National Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya, and XiangYa Hospital in Changsha, China. [8] [9] From this work spawned the Pharmacogenetics for Every Nation Initiative (PGENI), which ultimately worked with 104 countries to bring local pharmacogenomic data into the national drug formulary decisions for essential medicines. [10]

The then 20-year, longstanding research collaboration with XiangYa Hospital in Changsha China led to McLeod being one of the first western scientists to receive a Foreign 1000 Talent award. This award title has more commonly been used to recruit Chinese nationals to either move their research program in the west to China or to establish a comparable laboratory in China and the west. [11] [ better source needed ]

In December 2019, McLeod was forced to resign from his position at Moffitt Cancer Center for allegedly improperly failing to disclose ties to the Chinese Thousand Talents Plan recruitment program. The CEO of the center was also forced to resign, along with four additional researchers. [11] [12] [13]

National service

McLeod was a member of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) Committee on Clinical Pharmacology from 2002 to 2013. He has also served in consultative roles for review of new drug applications for the Oncology Drugs Advisory Committee, the Gastrointestinal Advisory Committee, and Neurology section (carbamazepine-induced cutaneous adverse effects). [3]

He has had a number of roles at the USA National Institutes of Health. He also had roles with the National Human Genome Research Institute, serving on the National Advisory Council, Chairing the External Scientific Panel for the eMERGE Network, and as a founding member of the Genomic Medicine Working Group. [14] [15]

Business activities

McLeod is also a businessman, serving on the board of directors of both privately held and publicly traded companies (including Nasdaq: CGIX). He has founded a number of companies, such as Ortelion (Pharma Ethnobridging), Posterbolt (fabric scientific posters), Clariifi (precision oncology), and Interpares Biomedicine. Interpares Biomedicine won the BioFlorida 2017 BioPitch competition. [16]

Awards and honors

McLeod has received a number of awards, honors, and named lectureships, from academic organizations, Coriell Institute, the US Food and Drug Administration, and from Professional Societies. [17]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allopurinol</span> Medication

Allopurinol is a medication used to decrease high blood uric acid levels. It is specifically used to prevent gout, prevent specific types of kidney stones and for the high uric acid levels that can occur with chemotherapy. It is taken orally or intravenously.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Azathioprine</span> Immunosuppressive medication

Azathioprine, sold under the brand name Imuran, among others, is an immunosuppressive medication. It is used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, granulomatosis with polyangiitis, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, and systemic lupus erythematosus; and in kidney transplants to prevent rejection. It is listed by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as a group 1 human carcinogen. It is taken by mouth or injected into a vein.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pharmacogenomics</span> Study of the role of the genome in drug response

Pharmacogenomics, often abbreviated "PGx," is the study of the role of the genome in drug response. Its name reflects its combining of pharmacology and genomics. Pharmacogenomics analyzes how the genetic makeup of a patient affects their response to drugs. It deals with the influence of acquired and inherited genetic variation on drug response, by correlating DNA mutations with pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic, and/or immunogenic endpoints.

Fluorouracil, sold under the brand name Adrucil among others, is a cytotoxic chemotherapy medication used to treat cancer. By intravenous injection it is used for treatment of colorectal cancer, oesophageal cancer, stomach cancer, pancreatic cancer, breast cancer, and cervical cancer. As a cream it is used for actinic keratosis, basal cell carcinoma, and skin warts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mercaptopurine</span> Chemical compound

Mercaptopurine (6-MP), sold under the brand name Purinethol among others, is a medication used for cancer and autoimmune diseases. Specifically it is used to treat acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL), Crohn's disease, and ulcerative colitis. For acute lymphocytic leukemia it is generally used with methotrexate. It is taken orally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Personalized medicine</span> Medical model that tailors medical practices to the individual patient

Personalized medicine, also referred to as precision medicine, is a medical model that separates people into different groups—with medical decisions, practices, interventions and/or products being tailored to the individual patient based on their predicted response or risk of disease. The terms personalized medicine, precision medicine, stratified medicine and P4 medicine are used interchangeably to describe this concept though some authors and organisations use these expressions separately to indicate particular nuances.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thiopurine methyltransferase</span>

Thiopurine methyltransferase or thiopurine S-methyltransferase (TPMT) is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the TPMT gene. A pseudogene for this locus is located on chromosome 18q.

Pharmacotherapy, also known as pharmacological therapy or drug therapy, is defined as medical treatment that utilizes one or more pharmaceutical drugs to improve ongoing symptoms, treat the underlying condition, or act as a prevention for other diseases (prophylaxis).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tioguanine</span> Chemical compound

Tioguanine, also known as thioguanine or 6-thioguanine (6-TG) or tabloid is a medication used to treat acute myeloid leukemia (AML), acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), and chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Long-term use is not recommended. It is given by mouth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cancer biomarker</span> Substance or process that is indicative of the presence of cancer in the body

A cancer biomarker refers to a substance or process that is indicative of the presence of cancer in the body. A biomarker may be a molecule secreted by a tumor or a specific response of the body to the presence of cancer. Genetic, epigenetic, proteomic, glycomic, and imaging biomarkers can be used for cancer diagnosis, prognosis, and epidemiology. Ideally, such biomarkers can be assayed in non-invasively collected biofluids like blood or serum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Riin Tamm</span> Estonian geneticist

Riin Tamm is an Estonian geneticist and a proponent of science in popular culture. She is the head of the Department of Youth and Talent Policy within the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research. She has previously served as the director of University of Tartu Youth Academy.

Dr Vinod Scaria FRSB, FRSPH is an Indian biologist, medical researcher pioneering in Precision Medicine and Clinical Genomics in India. He is best known for sequencing the first Indian genome. He was also instrumental in the sequencing of The first Sri Lankan Genome, analysis of the first Malaysian Genome sequencing and analysis of the Wild-type strain of Zebrafish and the IndiGen programme on Genomics for Public Health in India.

Toxgnostics is part of personalized medicine as it describes the guiding principles for the discovery of pharmacogenomic biomarker tests, also referred to as companion diagnostic tests, which identify if an individual patient is likely to suffer severe drug toxicity from treatment with a specific therapeutic agent. Once at-risk individuals are identified, drug toxicity can be prevented using elective dose reduction or prescription of a different medication.

The Pharmacogenomics Knowledgebase (PharmGKB) is a publicly available, online knowledge base responsible for the aggregation, curation, integration and dissemination of knowledge regarding the impact of human genetic variation on drug response. It is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), and is a partner of the NIH Pharmacogenomics Research Network (PGRN). It has been managed at Stanford University since its inception in 2000.

Professor Sir Munir Pirmohamed is a British clinical pharmacologist and geneticist. Since 2007 he has been the NHS Chair of Pharmacogenetics at the University of Liverpool.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cancer pharmacogenomics</span>

Cancer pharmacogenomics is the study of how variances in the genome influences an individual’s response to different cancer drug treatments. It is a subset of the broader field of pharmacogenomics, which is the area of study aimed at understanding how genetic variants influence drug efficacy and toxicity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary V. Relling</span> American pharmacogeneticist

Mary Violet Relling is an American pharmacogeneticist. Relling's research focuses on pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics in children and how genome variability influences a child's response to cancer chemotherapy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruth March</span> British genomic scientist

Ruth Eleanor March is a British genomic scientist who is senior vice president of precision medicine at AstraZeneca. She specialises in precision medicine and oncology. During the COVID-19 pandemic, March developed a diagnostic test for COVID-19.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wylie Burke</span> American geneticist

Wylie Burke is a Professor Emerita and former Chair of the Department of Bioethics and Humanities at the University of Washington and a founding co-director of the Northwest-Alaska Pharmacogenomics Research Network, which partners with underserved populations in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matthias Schwab (pharmacologist)</span> German pharmacologist

Matthias Schwab is a German doctor and university lecturer. He is director of the Dr. Margarete Fischer-Bosch-Institute of Clinical Pharmacology located on the campus of the Robert-Bosch-Hospital in Stuttgart, an institution of the Robert Bosch Stiftung, and holder of the Chair of Clinical Pharmacology at the University of Tübingen as well as Medical Director of the Department of Clinical Pharmacology at the University Hospital Tübingen.

References

  1. ↑ "Dr. Howard McLeod, FASCO, FCCP, Precision & Genomic Medicine, Molecular Oncology". Dr Howard Mcleod. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  2. ↑ "Howard McLeod". AGBT. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  3. 1 2 "Speakers". www.partneringforcures.org. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  4. ↑ "Speakers – 16th Annual Personalized Medicine Conference" . Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  5. ↑ "Howard McLeod Archives". UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  6. ↑ McLeod, H. L.; Relling, M. V.; Liu, Q.; Pui, C. H.; Evans, W. E. (April 1, 1995). "Polymorphic thiopurine methyltransferase in erythrocytes is indicative of activity in leukemic blasts from children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia". Blood. 85 (7): 1897–1902. doi: 10.1182/blood.V85.7.1897.bloodjournal8571897 . ISSN   0006-4971. PMID   7703493.
  7. ↑ Watters, James W.; Kraja, Aldi; Meucci, Melissa A.; Province, Michael A.; McLeod, Howard L. (August 10, 2004). "Genome-wide discovery of loci influencing chemotherapy cytotoxicity". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 101 (32): 11809–11814. Bibcode:2004PNAS..10111809W. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0404580101 . ISSN   0027-8424. PMC   511056 . PMID   15282376.
  8. ↑ Ameyaw, M. M.; Collie-Duguid, E. S.; Powrie, R. H.; Ofori-Adjei, D.; McLeod, H. L. (1999). "Thiopurine methyltransferase alleles in British and Ghanaian populations". Human Molecular Genetics. 8 (2): 367–370. doi: 10.1093/hmg/8.2.367 . ISSN   0964-6906. PMID   9931345.
  9. ↑ Collie-Duguid, E. S.; Pritchard, S. C.; Powrie, R. H.; Sludden, J.; Collier, D. A.; Li, T.; McLeod, H. L. (1999). "The frequency and distribution of thiopurine methyltransferase alleles in Caucasian and Asian populations". Pharmacogenetics. 9 (1): 37–42. doi:10.1097/00008571-199902000-00006. ISSN   0960-314X. PMID   10208641.
  10. ↑ Marsh, Sharon; Van Booven, Derek J.; McLeod, Howard L. (2006). "Global pharmacogenetics: giving the genome to the masses". Pharmacogenomics. 7 (4): 625–631. doi:10.2217/14622416.7.4.625. ISSN   1462-2416. PMID   16753009.
  11. 1 2 Griffin, Justine (February 7, 2020). "Moffitt returns $1 million to state. Money was linked to scientist with China ties". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
  12. ↑ Mervis, Jeffrey (January 19, 2020). "Moffitt Cancer Center details links of fired scientists to Chinese talent programs". Science. doi:10.1126/science.aba9662. S2CID   213405004.
  13. ↑ Bin Han Ong, Matthew (March 6, 2020). "Moffitt execs were made aware of Howard McLeod's China activities, ousted researcher's attorney says". Cancer Letter. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  14. ↑ "Genomic Medicine Working Group". Genome.gov. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  15. ↑ "Howard Mcleod - President & Chief Medical Officer at Pharmazam". THE ORG. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  16. ↑ "Area biotech firm, fighting cancer, wins big award - BioFlorida, Inc". www.bioflorida.com. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  17. ↑ "Coriell Blog". www.coriell.org. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  18. ↑ "ASCO Meetings". meetings.asco.org. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  19. ↑ "ACCP" (PDF).
  20. ↑ "Pharmacogenetics: Worldwide - Expertscape.com". www.expertscape.com. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.