A photo of Laura B. Ramsey.

Laura B. Ramsey, PhD


  • Associate Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics

About

Biography

My 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 their response to a medication. How a person responds to or metabolizes a drug can vary widely in a population. As a trainee, I saw how genetics could help predict or explain some of this variability and wanted to make sure we continue to expand research in this area and use this information in clinical care. We study many different types of medications for many diseases.

One medication I am particularly interested in is methotrexate — used in high doses for treating cancer and low doses for treating autoimmune diseases. I convened and led an international group of experts in creating a consensus guideline for when to use glucarpidase, a medication used to prevent toxicity from methotrexate. We also developed a web tool that shows clinicians how an individual patient is predicted to eliminate methotrexate and whether they are likely to meet the indication criteria for glucarpidase.

We found that pharmacogenetic variants influenced the response, toxicity and dosing of antidepressants (sertraline, citalopram and escitalopram) in children. We then implemented clinical decision support with dosing guidelines through the Genetic Pharmacology Service to optimize dosing and potentially avoid side effects. The Genetic Pharmacology Service is a multidisciplinary team I work with to develop, interpret and implement new pharmacogenetic tests in the electronic medical record. I also educate doctors, pharmacists, genetic counselors and nurses on when and how to use the tests in the clinic.

I am a recipient of the Darrell Abernethy Early Stage Investigator Award (2019) from the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics. I have more than 11 years of research experience and began working at Cincinnati Children's in 2015.

Publications

Selected

MTXPK.org: A Clinical Decision Support Tool Evaluating High-Dose Methotrexate Pharmacokinetics to Inform Post-Infusion Care and Use of Glucarpidase. Taylor, ZL; Mizuno, T; Punt, NC; Baskaran, B; Sainz, AN; Shuman, W; Felicelli, N; Vinks, AA; Heldrup, J; Ramsey, LB. Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics. 2020; 108:635-643.

Selected

Gene-Based Dose Optimization in Children. Ramsey, LB; Brown, JT; Vear, SI; Bishop, JR; Van Driest, SL. Annual Review of Pharmacology and Toxicology. 2020; 60:311-331.

Selected

Pharmacogenetics of treating pediatric anxiety and depression. Ramsey, LB; Bishop, JR; Strawn, JR. Pharmacogenomics. 2019; 20:867-870.

Selected

CYP2C19-Guided Escitalopram and Sertraline Dosing in Pediatric Patients: A Pharmacokinetic Modeling Study. Strawn, JR; Poweleit, EA; Ramsey, LB. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology. 2019; 29:340-347.

Selected

Pharmacogenetics of Sertraline Tolerability and Response in Pediatric Anxiety and Depressive Disorders. Poweleit, EA; Aldrich, SL; Martin, LJ; Hahn, D; Strawn, JR; Ramsey, LB. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology. 2019; 29:348-361.

Selected

Delayed methotrexate clearance in patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia concurrently receiving dasatinib. Ramsey, LB; Mizuno, T; Vinks, AA; O'Brien, MM. Pediatric Blood and Cancer. 2019; 66.

Selected

Association of SLCO1B1 *14 Allele with Poor Response to Methotrexate in Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis Patients. Ramsey, LB; Moncrieffe, H; Smith, CN; Sudman, M; Marion, MC; Langefeld, C; Becker, ML; Thompson, SD. Acr Open Rheumatology. 2019; 1:58-62.

Selected

Influence of CYP2C19 Metabolizer Status on Escitalopram/Citalopram Tolerability and Response in Youth With Anxiety and Depressive Disorders. Aldrich, SL; Poweleit, EA; Prows, CA; Martin, LJ; Strawn, JR; Ramsey, LB. Frontiers in Pharmacology. 2019; 10.

Selected

Implementation of Pharmacogenetics at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center: Lessons Learned Over 14 Years of Personalizing Medicine. Ramsey, LB; Prows, CA; Zhang, K; Saldana, SN; Sorter, MT; Pestian, JP; Wenstrup, RJ; Vinks, AA; Glauser, TA. Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics. 2019; 105:49-52.

Selected

Consensus Guideline for Use of Glucarpidase in Patients with High-Dose Methotrexate Induced Acute Kidney Injury and Delayed Methotrexate Clearance. Ramsey, LB; Balis, FM; O'Brien, MM; Schmiegelow, K; Pauley, JL; Bleyer, A; Widemann, BC; Askenazi, D; Bergeron, S; Shirali, A; et al. Oncologist. 2018; 23:52-61.

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