After completing undergraduate work at the University of Notre Dame in Biochemistry, Erica Woodahl received her Ph.D. in Pharmaceutics from the University of Washington in 2004. After completing a postdoctoral fellowship at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, she moved to the University of Montana as an Assistant Professor in 2007.

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INTERESTS OF THE WOODAHL LABORATORY

The research in the lab focuses on the role of drug transporters and pharmacogenomics in the disposition of xenobiotics in the body. The first major focus utilizes both in vitro and in vivo models to evaluate genetic polymorphisms in the coding and regulatory regions of drug transporter genes that change transporter activity and expression. Genetic variability in drug transporters may alter drug disposition, including the distribution of drugs into target cells and tissues, the development of multidrug resistance, and the susceptibility to neurodegenerative diseases. The main transporters of interest include members of the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter superfamily, primarily P-glycoprotein (ABCB1), MRP2 (ABCC2), and MRP3 (ABCC3), and the equilibrative and concentrative nucleoside transporters (ENTs and CNTs). These transporters are important in the disposition of many therapeutic classes of drugs, as well as other xenobiotic and endogenous substrates. A second major focus of the lab is pharmacogenomics, or the study of the relationship between a person's genotype and response to drug treatment. Native American populations are understudied in the area of pharmacogenomics; therefore, in collaboration with the Montana Cancer Institute, the lab investigates the impact of pharmacogenomics in key drug transporters and drug-metabolizing enzymes in these groups, with a particular emphasis on cancer chemotherapeutic agents.

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SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

1. Yang, Z., Woodahl, E.L., Wang, X.Y., Bui, T., Shen, D.D. and Ho, R.J. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR method to estimate full-length mRNA levels of the multidrug resistance gene. Biotechniques, 33:196, 198, 200 passim, 2002.

2. Woodahl, E.L., Yang, Z., Bui, T., Shen, D.D. and Ho, R.J. Multidrug resistance gene G1199A polymorphism alters efflux transport activity of P-glycoprotein. J Pharmacol Exp Ther, 310:1199-1207, 2004.

3. Woodahl, E.L. and Ho, R.J. Augmentation of Cell-Mediated Immunity to Virus. In: Cellular Drug Delivery: Principle and Practice. Ed: Lu, D.R. and Øie, S., Humana Press Inc., Totowa, NJ, 2004.

4. Woodahl, E.L. and Ho, R.J. The role of MDR1 genetic polymorphisms in interindividual variability in P-glycoprotein expression and function. Curr Drug Metab, 5:11-19, 2004.

5. Woodahl, E.L., Yang, Z., Bui, T., Shen, D.D. and Ho, R.J. MDR1 G1199A polymorphism alters permeability of HIV protease inhibitors across P-glycoprotein-expressing epithelial cells. Aids, 19:1617-1625, 2005.

6. Woodahl, E.L. Pharmacology of Personalized Chemotherapy Management (PCM). Saladax Biomedical. Available at: http://www.saladax.com/pcm/pharmacology.php. 2006.

7. Woodahl, E.L., Hingorani, S.R., Wang, J., Guthrie, K.A., McDonald, G.B., Batchelder, A., Li, M., Schoch, H.G. and McCune, J.S. Pharmacogenomic Associations in ABCB1 and CYP3A5 with Acute Kidney Injury and Chronic Kidney Disease after Myeloablative Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation. Pharmacogenomics J, in press.