Faraz Kazmi

Graduate Student - Parkinson Lab
B.S. Honors in Cell and Molecular Biology, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada
M.S. Biology, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada

I was born and raised in Montreal, Canada where I attended Concordia University and graduated with a B.S. in Cell and Molecular Biology in 2003 and a M.S. in Biology in 2006. In late 2006, I moved to Kansas City to work with Andrew Parkinson Ph.D. at XenoTech, LLC, where I served as a study director for in vitro drug-drug interaction studies to support drug candidate regulatory submissions. My current focus at XenoTech is in the Research & Innovation group. I joined the department at KUMC in 2011 and am currently pursuing my Ph.D. in Toxicology under the supervision of Dr. Andrew Parkinson and Dr. Greg Reed. In my spare time, I enjoy playing sports, namely indoor soccer and ice hockey in adult leagues in the Kansas City area.

Research Interests

My research interests focus on the in vitro to in vivo extrapolation (IVIVE) of drug-drug interactions. Drug-drug interactions are an important concern, because a concomitantly administered drug may cause loss of efficacy by induction of CYP enzymes (i.e. increased metabolic clearance of a victim drug), or potential toxicity by inhibition of CYP enzymes (i.e. decreased metabolic clearance of a victim drug). In vitro tests, such as assays in human liver microsomes and hepatocytes, are often used by pharmaceutical companies to predict these interactions, however many times potential interactions are either over or under predicted. Regulatory agencies require the prediction of drug-drug interactions from these in vitro tests to be based on the total concentration of drug, as opposed to the pharmacologically relevant free concentration of drug. The addition of plasma to these in vitro test systems may be a method to intrinsically correct for free fraction of drug, while allowing the predictions of drug-drug interactions to still be based on the total concentration of drug. I plan on exploring this method, as well as other possibilities, as ways to improve in vitro predictions of in vivo drug-drug interactions.

Selected Publications

Parkinson A, Kazmi F, Buckley DB, Yerino P, Paris BL, Holsapple J, Toren P, Otradovec SM and Ogilvie BW. An Evaluation of the Dilution Method for Identifying Metabolism-dependent Inhibitors (MDIs) of Cytochrome P450 (CYP) Enzymes. (2011) Drug Metab Dispos 39:1370-1387

Ogilvie BW, Yerino P, Kazmi F, Buckley DB, Rostami-Hodjegan A, Paris BL, Toren P, and Parkinson A. The Proton Pump Inhibitor Omeprazole, but not Lansoprazole or Pantoprazole, is a Metabolism-Dependent Inhibitor of CYP2C19: Implications for Coadministration with Clopidogrel. (2011) Drug Metab Dispos 39:2020-2033

Parkinson A, Kazmi F, Buckley DB, Yerino P, Ogilvie BW, and Paris BL. System Dependent Outcomes during the Evaluation of Drug Candidates as Inhibitors of Cytochrome P450 (CYP) and UDP-Glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) Enzymes: Human Hepatocytes versus Liver Microsomes versus Recombinant Enzymes. (2010) Drug Metab Pharmacokinet 25:16-27