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Opportunities for pharmacists to integrate pharmacogenomics into clinical practice

The Pharmacogenomics Journal volume 20, pages 169–178 (2020)Cite this article

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Abstract

Many medical centers in the United States have implemented pharmacogenomics (PGx) programs to integrate PGx into clinical practice. The roles of pharmacists in optimizing medication use based on genetic testing results are emergently evolving. A literature search was conducted to assess pharmacists’ roles in pharmacogenetics/pharmacogenomics or precision/personalized medicine programs. Fifteen PGx pharmacy practice models implemented in eleven hospitals and one community pharmacy in the U.S. were selected for evaluation. Pharmacists perform results interpretation, genotype-guided medication selection and adjustment, medication acquisition, adverse reactions monitoring, and patient education. Institutions that are interested in implementing a PGx program should plan the strategies to overcome the challenges, such as educational knowledge gaps, informatics, and reimbursement issues. Strong institutional support, well-defined goals, standardized procedures, and strategies to educate clinicians and patients are the prerequisites to comprehensively deliver genomic data for individualized drug therapy.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr Shusen Sun and Mr Wei Chen for providing guidance on the paper. This work is supported by The CAMS Innovation Funds for Medical Sciences (CIFMS) (Grant nos. 2016-I2M-1-001, 2017-I2M-2-003, and 2017-I2M-1-005) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant no. 81803511).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacy, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100021, China

    Yan-Ting Wang, Jun Yang, Zhi-Xiang Zhu & Guo-Hui Li

  2. Department of Pharmacy, Yale New Haven Hospital, New Haven, CT, 06510, USA

    Man Yee Merl

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  1. Yan-Ting Wang
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Correspondence to Man Yee Merl or Guo-Hui Li.

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Wang, YT., Merl, M.Y., Yang, J. et al. Opportunities for pharmacists to integrate pharmacogenomics into clinical practice. Pharmacogenomics J 20, 169–178 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41397-019-0119-8

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