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Urs A. Meyer

Urs A. Meyer
Urs A. Meyer (2020)
NationalitySwiss
Scientific career
FieldsClinical pharmacology, pharmacogenomics, personalized medicine
InstitutionsUniversity of Zurich, University of California, San Francisco, University Hospital of Zurich, Biozentrum University of Basel

Urs Albert Meyer is a Swiss physician-scientist and clinical pharmacologist.

Life

Meyer is professor emeritus of pharmacology at the Biozentrum University of Basel. After clinical and research training at the University of California, San Francisco, USA, he worked as assistant professor in clinical pharmacology at the same institution. In 1974, he became Head of Clinical Pharmacology at the University Hospital of Zurich. From 1983 to 2008, Meyer carried out research and taught as professor of pharmacology at the Biozentrum University of Basel, where he also acted as Chairman. He has served in various World Health Organization and National Institutes of Health functions and was president of the Clinical Section of the Swiss National Science Foundation.[1]

Work

The research of Urs A. Meyer explored the pharmacogenomic and environmental mechanisms that cause interindividual variability in drug response.[2] In his postdoctoral work, he described the molecular defect in heme synthesis causing hepatic porphyrias.[3] He and his coworkers later made the first transgenic mouse model of this disease[4] and elucidated the drug sensitivity of patients with porphyria.[5] Meyer's laboratory received international acclaim through the discovery of the molecular mechanism of two common genetic polymorphisms of drug metabolism which cause a variable clinical response to numerous drugs. His team identified the genes and mutations for the enzyme cytochrome P450 CYP2D6[6] and for N-acetyltransferase 2[7] and developed the first pharmacogenetic DNA tests.[8] Furthermore, Meyer contributed to the molecular mechanism by which certain drugs activate nuclear receptors and thereby regulate the expression of drug metabolizing enzymes and drug transporters.[9] These predictable variations in drug response allow actionable clinical decisions for drug choice and drug dose and are important components of personalized medicine and precision medicine.[10][11]

Awards and honors

  • 1971–1974: Faculty Development Award in Clinical Pharmacology by the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association Foundation
  • 1974: Cloëtta Prize[12]
  • 1978: Award of the Anita Saurer Foundation
  • 1991: Rawls-Palmer Award for Progress in Medicine of the American Society of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics[13]
  • 2004: Robert Pfleger Research Award[14]
  • 2004: R.T. Williams Distinguished Scientific Achievement Award of the International Society for the Study of Xenobiotics[15]
  • 2010–2011: President, International Society for the Study of Xenobiotics (ISSX)
  • 2019: Lifetime Achievement Award of the European Association of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics[16]

References

  1. ^ "Curriculum Vitae". Ursmeyer.biozentrum.unibas.ch. Retrieved 11 October 2013.
  2. ^ "List of projects and selected publications". Ursmeyer.biozentrum.unibas.ch. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
  3. ^ Meyer, UA; Strand, LJ; Doss, M; Rees, AC; Marver, HS (15 June 1972). "Demonstration of a genetic defect in porphobilinogen metabolism". N Engl J Med. 286 (24): 1277–82. doi:10.1056/NEJM197206152862401. PMID 5024458.
  4. ^ Lindberg, RLP; Porcher, C; Grandchamp, B; Ledermann, B; Bürki, K; Brandner, S; Aguzzi, A; Meyer, UA (1 January 1996). "Porphobilinogen deaminase deficiency in mice causes a neuropathy resembling that of human hepatic porphyria". Nature Genetics. 12 (2): 195–9. doi:10.1038/ng0296-195. PMID 8563760. S2CID 12116377.
  5. ^ Podvinec, M; Handschin, C; Looser, R; Meyer, UA (25 June 2004). "Identification of the xenosensors regulating human 5-aminolevulinate synthase". Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 101 (24): 9127–32. Bibcode:2004PNAS..101.9127P. doi:10.1073/pnas.0401845101. PMC 428484. PMID 15178759.
  6. ^ Gonzales, FJ; Skoda, RC; Kimura, S; Umeno, M; Zanger, UM; Nebert, DW; Gelboin, HV; Hardwick, JP; Meyer, UA (4 February 1988). "Characterization of the common genetic defect in humans deficient in debrisoquine metabolism". Nature. 331 (6155): 442–46. Bibcode:1988Natur.331..442G. doi:10.1038/331442a0. PMID 3123997. S2CID 4370336.
  7. ^ Blum, M; Demierre, A; Grant, DM; Heim, M; Meyer, UA (15 June 1991). "Molecular mechanism of slow acetylation of drugs and carcinogens in man". Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 88 (12): 5237–41. Bibcode:1991PNAS...88.5237B. doi:10.1073/pnas.88.12.5237. PMC 51847. PMID 1675794.
  8. ^ Heim, M; Meyer, UA (1 September 1990). "Genotyping of poor metabolizers of debrisoquine by allele-specific PCR amplification". Lancet. 336 (8714): 529–32. doi:10.1016/0140-6736(90)92086-w. PMID 1975039. S2CID 11125259.
  9. ^ Handschin, C; Meyer, UA (1 December 2003). "Induction of drug metabolism : the role of nuclear receptors". Pharmacol Rev. 55 (4): 649–73. doi:10.1124/pr.55.4.2. PMID 14657421. S2CID 86323258.
  10. ^ Meyer, UA (1 September 2004). "Pharmacogenetics-five decades of therapeutic lessons from genetic diversity". Nat Rev Genet. 5 (9): 669–76. doi:10.1038/nrg1428. PMID 15372089. S2CID 3174146.
  11. ^ Meyer, UA; Zanger, UM; Schwab, M (1 January 2013). "Omics and drug response". Annu Rev Pharmacol Toxicol. 53: 475–502. doi:10.1146/annurev-pharmtox-010510-100502. PMID 23140244.
  12. ^ Cloëtta Prize cloetta-foundation.ch. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
  13. ^ Rawls-Palmer Progress in Medicine Award ascpt.org. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
  14. ^ "Robert Pfleger Research Award". Pfleger-stiftung.de. Retrieved 11 October 2013.
  15. ^ "R.T. Williams Distinguished Scientific Achievement Award -Sponsored by Charles Crespi and Family". issx.org. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
  16. ^ "Lifetime Achievement Award of the European Association of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics". eacpt.org. 18 May 2021. Retrieved 4 April 2022.