Pharmacogenetics leader visits as Green Professor
By Lin Lofley
Speaking to graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, Dr. Mary V. Relling recounted how she advanced from an interest in chemistry to a doctorate in pharmacy and eventually to leadership of a department at one of the most prestigious children’s hospitals in the U.S.
Dr. Relling, Chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, in Memphis, Tennessee, recently visited the UT Southwestern campus as the 2016 Ida M. Green Distinguished Visiting Professorship Honoring Women in Science and Medicine. The Green Professorship is a two-day event, hosted by the Women in Science and Medicine Advisory Committee (WISMAC) that includes one-on-one meetings with senior faculty, small group gatherings with students, junior faculty, and trainees, as well as a University Lecture.
Dr. Relling is an internationally recognized leader in the clinical application of pharmacogenetics, the study of how drugs may react differently in different people based upon their genetic makeup.
Brought up in Arizona, she had a freshman chemistry teacher in at the University of Arizona who piqued her interest in science. She quickly learned that she could put that interest to practical purpose.
“My teacher talked about the rationale behind medication effects related to their chemistry, and I found that interesting,” Dr. Relling told the student audience during a question-and-answer session on the North Campus. “Then, someone pointed out to me that one thing you could do with chemistry was to go to pharmacy school and become a pharmacist. I liked that idea because it meant I could have a career where you’re helping people, interacting with people and still have it based in science.”
She went on to earn a doctorate at the University of Utah, where rotations showed her the facets of clinical pharmacy, literally from pediatrics to geriatrics. Along the way she also became interested in oncology.
“I love pediatrics,” she said, with a nod to St. Jude, “but seeing the work that’s done on the geriatric ward at a VA hospital left me thinking those are the true heroes in health care.
“And I found out that what I loved was oncology,” Dr. Relling said. “Cancer is a life-threatening disease, and many cancers get better with drugs, but those drugs are very toxic. If you give the patient the wrong drugs or too much, side effects may be lethal. If you give too low a dose, the patient may die from his or her tumor.”
Dr. Naomi Winick, Professor of Pediatrics at UT Southwestern and a colleague of Dr. Relling’s, introduced the speaker and thanked Southwestern Medical Foundation, which sponsors the Distinguished Visiting Professorship, established in honor of Ida Green, the wife of Texas Instruments co-founder Cecil H. Green. Both are now deceased. Mrs. Green was a great supporter of opening career paths for women in science and medicine and provided a major bequest to the Foundation. Dr. Relling, an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, is the 18th Green Visiting Professor.
During her keynote presentation, titled “Pharmacogenetic Tests: Moving from Discovery to Clinical Implementation,” Dr. Relling addressed the necessity of understanding how specific gene products will react with specific drugs. Biomedical scientists are called on to identify the association between a gene and a drug, and how they will react in relation to one another. To then put those associations to use in the clinic, Dr. Relling’s group is creating specific prescribing advice – which drugs, which doses – based on specific genetic test results.
“We think that if you just say ‘There’s a problem with this gene and this drug,’ that’s not specific enough advice for the clinician to know how to go forward.”
The mission of WISMAC is to:
- Provide advice and initiatives on issues related to women in science and medicine, with the ultimate goal to improve UT Southwestern for everyone;
- Enhance the visibility of women in science and medicine by selecting and hosting the annual female Distinguished Visiting Professor; and
- Maintain the WISMAC Website and Directory of Faculty Women.
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Dr. Winick holds the Lowe Foundation Professorship in Neuro-Oncology.
