Amalia Issa, PhD, MPH
Associate Professor, University of Houston, College of Pharmacy
Director, Personalized Medicine Program, Abramson Center for the Future of Health

Current Research Interests:

Dr. Issa has developed a unique area of translational research focused on pharmacogenomics and personalized medicine applications, and how they will be translated and integrated into health care delivery and health systems, and has been conducting research in this area for over a decade. Dr. Issa was one of the very first scientists to conduct and publish on the translational research and health policy issues related to pharmacogenomics and personalized medicine applications. Her research is positioned at the nexus of epidemiology/health services research and molecular science, and she leads an interdisciplinary team of scientists who are actively engaged in research aimed at the effective translation of the science of pharmacogenomics and personalized medicine from the laboratory bench to the bedside and to the community and policy. Dr. Issa and her team are committed to developing the evidence base for, promoting informed decision making about, and accelerating knowledge translation of personalized medicine applications into meaningful health outcomes.

Education and Training:

Ph.D. (specialization: Neuropharmacology), McGill University
MPH, UCLA School of Public Health
Fellowship, Harvard Medical School

Honors:

First Place (Blue Ribbon), Recognition of Excellence for an Outstanding Scientific Presentation,
Molecular Epidemiology/Pharmacogenomics Category,
International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology,  2009
National Health Forum 2005 Honoree
Robert Wood Johnson Health and Society Scholar (declined to accept NRSA)
Ruth L. Kirchstein National Research Service Award (NRSA)
McGill University Faculty of Medicine Graduate Scholarship
Collegium Fellowship to Attend Summer Institute at Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles
Hoechst-Marion-Roussel Canada Award for Doctoral Research
Alzheimer Society of Montreal Research Award (one of two awarded)  McGill
University Faculty of Graduate Studies Travel Award to attend the Society for Neuroscience Conference
Washington, D.C.Fonds de la recherche en santé du Québec (FRSQ) Doctoral Scholarship

Selected Publications:

Issa, AM, Tufail, W. Hutchinson, JF,Tenorio J, Baliga MP. Assessing patient readiness for the clinical adoption of personalized medicine. Public Health Genomics, 12: 163-169, 2009

McKibben L, Boone DJ , Marchibroda J and. Issa AM,  A novel transformation model for personalized medicine laboratory systems Pers. Med, in press.

Issa, AM., Evaluating the value of genomic diagnostics: Implications for clinical practice and public policy. Adv. Health Econ. Health Services Research 19, 191-206, 2008.

Issa, AM. Clinical applications of pharmacogenomics to adverse drug reactions. Expert Clin. Pharmacol. 1(2), 251-260, 2008.

Frueh, F., Issa AM, Andreopoulou E, Cristofanilli M. Molecular dissection of cancers - another piece in the puzzle to better assess, and treat disease using biomarkers that correlate with disease type and stage. Pers. Med. 5 (3): 211-213, 2008.

Issa, AM, Phillips KA, Van Bebber S, Nidamarthy HG, Lasser KE, Haas JS, Alldredge BK, Wachter RM, and Bates DW. Drug withdrawals in the United States: A systematic review of the evidence and analysis of trends. Current Drug Safety, 2 (3):177-185, 2007.

Issa, AM. Personalized Medicine and the Practice of Medicine in the 21stCentury. MJMed., 10: 53-57, 2007.

Issa, AM, Mojica, WA, Morton, SC, Shekelle, PG, Traina, S., Newberry SJ, and   MacLean, CH. The efficacy of omega-3 fatty acids on cognitive function in aging and dementia: A systematic review. Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders, 21:88-96, 2006.

MacLean, CH, Newberry SJ, Mojica WA, Khanna P, Issa, AM, Traina, SB, Hilton, L.K., Garland R., Lim, Y.W., Suttorp M., and Morton, SC. Effects of omega-3 fatty acids on cancer risk: A systematic review. JAMA, 295:403-415, 2006.

Issa, AM, Weiss, L.T., Tufail, W., Phillips, K.A., and Van Bebber, S.L. Innovation in personalized medicine: BiDil® as a case study for integrating clinical and policy developments. Personalized Medicine 3(4): 421-42, 2006.

Selected Recent Peer-Reviewed Abstracts:

Issa, AM, Farroni JS, Tufail W, Tenorio J and Hutchinson J. The Use of Genomic Diagnostics for Breast and Colorectal Cancer to Determine Therapeutic Strategies: A Study of Patient Utilities, J. Molecular Diagnostics, in press, 2009

Issa, AM, Farroni JS, Tufail W, Hutchinson J, and Tenorio J.. Patient preferences for pharmacogenomic-based diagnostics for breast and colon cancer, J. Clin. Pharmacology, 49: 1113;100, 2009

Issa, AM., Tufail,W. Hutchinson J, Baliga MP, and Tenorio J. Patient preferences towards the clinical adoption of pharmacogenomics: A discrete choice experiment and implications for health policy, Can J. Clin. Pharmacol., 16(1): 14, e202-233, 2009

Issa, AM, Boone, J. Marchibroda J., and McKibben, L. An organizational transformational model for laboratory health systems: Application to personalized medicine, Academy Health, June, 2009.

Issa, AM, Hutchinson J, Tufail W, and Tenorio J. Understanding the clinical utility and adoption of pharmacogenomics: A quantitative analysis of patient decision-making, Pharmacoepidemiology & Drug Safety, 18: S161: 370, 2009.

Issa, AM, and Tufail W. Evaluating the use of clinical epidemiology for translating pharmacogenomics, Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, 48: 2008

Foster WJ, Tufail W, and Issa, AM. Quality of pharmacoeconomic analyses of macular degeneration therapies: A technology assessment. Invest. Opthal. Vis. Science, 49: E-Abstract, 2008.

Issa AM and Anh-Do K. Appraising the ability of pharmacogenomic clinical studies to detect adverse drug reactions. Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety 17: 263, 2008.

Gaisser, S. Blanquert, I and Issa, AM. Processes in genetic testing development. International Conference on Genomics and Society: Setting the Agenda, 2008.

Issa AM and McKibben L. Translating advances in personalized medicine to population health: opportunities and constraints, American Public Health Association Annual Meeting, October 29, 2008, San Diego, CA.

Issa, A.M. and Weiss LT Evaluating the use of pharmacogenomics to identify adverse drug reactions: Study design considerations. American Public Health Association, 2007.

Issa, AM. and Weiss LT. Quantifying patient preferences for pharmacogenomic tests and therapeutics. International Human Genome meeting, June, 2007

Issa, AM., Weiss, L.T., Tufail, W. and Foster W.J. Evaluating the quality of economic studies of macular degeneration therapeutics. Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety 16: 141-142, 2007.

Issa, AM and Weiss LT. Exploring patient preferences for personalized medicine using conjoint analysis. American Public Health Association Annual Meeting, Boston, MA, November 2006.

Issa, AM, Weiss, LT and Foster, WJ. Cost-effectiveness and efficacy of therapeutics for macular degeneration: Cross-national comparisons. American Society of Retinal Specialists/European Vitreoretinal Society Joint Meeting, Cannes, France, September, 2006.

Issa, AM, Phillips KA, and Van Bebber, S. Integrating genomic diagnostics into health care: Stakeholder perspectives and policy implications. International Genomics and Public Health conference (one of 8 papers selected for special oral presentation), Montreal, June 2006.