The Skaggs School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences

Brookie M. Best

Dr. Brookie Best is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Pharmacy and Pediatrics at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (SSPPS) and the Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine (SOM). She is also an Assistant Clinical Professor of Pharmacy, Non-salaried for the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Pharmacy. She completed a Bachelor of Science degree at UCSD in Chemistry with an Emphasis in Chemical Education in 1994. She received her Pharm.D. degree in 1999 from UCSF, and did her residency in Pharmacy Practice at the UCSD Medical Center in 2000. Dr. Best was an NICHD/NIH Fellowship recipient in Pediatric Clinical Pharmacology Research from 2001 to 2004, and completed a Masters of Advanced Studies (M.A.S.) in Clinical Research at UCSD in 2007.

Dr. Best teaches and organizes core Pharmacy Practice courses that provide a knowledge base of self-care diseases and over-the-counter medications to first-year student pharmacists at SSPPS. She also leads workshops for students in the Biopharmaceutics courses. She mentors students, residents and fellows in Pediatric Clinical Pharmacology research projects in the Division of Pharmacology and Drug Discovery in the SOM Pediatrics Department. She has published over 15 peer-reviewed journal articles, and presented over 40 abstracts at scientific meetings related to her research program. Additionally, Dr. Best serves as an Attending Pharmacist at the Baker Elementary School Student-run Free Medical Clinic, which she helped found in 1998.

Dr. Best received a Young Investigator award in 2004-2005 to fund research on how genes affect the effectiveness of anti-HIV drugs. She was a National Center for Leadership in Academic Medicine Scholar and Co-Valedictorian in 2006, and was recently honored as a young civic leader by the San Diego Metropolitan Uptown Examiner and Daily Business Report as one of their "Forty Under 40" Honorees.

Research Interests

Dr. Best specializes in pharmacokinetics - basically the processes by which a drug is absorbed, distributed, metabolized and eliminated by the body - and pediatric clinical pharmacology research. Her research efforts have focused on studying anti-HIV drugs in pregnant women, children and non-pregnant adults. She also studies drugs used to treat Kawasaki disease, the leading cause of acquired heart disease in children.

Selected Publications

Best B, Burns J, DeVincenzo J, Phelps S, Blumer J, Wilson J, Capparelli E, Connor J, Pediatric Pharmacology Research Unit Network. Pharmacokinetic and safety evaluation of a pediatric oral formulation of pentoxifylline in Kawasaki disease. Curr Ther Res Clin Exp 2003;64:96-115.

Best B, Mirochnick M, Capparelli EV, Stek A, Burchett SK, Holland DT, Read JS, Smith E, Hu C, Spector SA, Connor JD, PACTG P1026s Study Team. Impact of pregnancy on abacavir pharmacokinetics. AIDS 2006;20:553-560.

Goicoechea M, Best B, Seefried E, Wagner G, Capparelli E, Haubrich R and the California Collaborative Treatment Group (CCTG). Failure of modified directly observed therapy combined with therapeutic drug monitoring to enhance antiretroviral adherence in a patient with major depression. AIDS Patient Care and STDs 2006;20:233-237.

Goicoechea M, Best B, Capparelli E, Haubrich R and the CCTG. Concurrent use of efavirenz and oxcarbazepine may not affect efavirenz plasma concentrations. Clinical Infectious Diseases 2006;43:116-17.

Stek A, Mirochnick M, Capparelli EV, Best B, Hu C, Burchett SK, Elgie C, Holland DT, Schiffhauer J, Sheeran B, Smith E, Tuomala R, Foca M, Cotter A, Read JS, PACTG P1026s Study Team. Reduced lopinavir exposure during pregnancy. AIDS 2006;20:1931-9.

Goicoechea M, Best B, Capparelli E, Caperna J, Ballard C, and Haubrich R. Therapeutic ritonavir-boosted atazanavir plasma concentration and concurrent omeprazole use. AIDS 2006;20:2127-8.

Best BM, Goicoechea M, Witt MD, Miller L, Daar ES, Diamond C, Tilles JG, Kemper CA, Larsen R, Holland DT, Sun S, Wagner G, Capparelli EV, McCutchan JA, Haubrich RH and the California Collaborative Treatment Group 578 Study Team (CCTG 578). A randomized controlled trial of therapeutic drug monitoring in treatment-naïve and experienced HIV-1-infected patients. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr 2007;46:433-42.

Letendre SL, Marquie-Beck J, Ellis RJ, Woods SP, Best B, Clifford DB, Collier AC, Gelman BB, Marra C, McArthur JC, McCutchan JA, Morgello S, Simpson D, Alexander TJ, Durelle J, Heaton R, Grant I; The CHARTER Group. The Role of Cohort Studies in Drug Development: Clinical Evidence of Antiviral Activity of Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors and HMG-CoA Reductase Inhibitors in the Central Nervous System. J Neuroimmune Pharmacol. 2007 Mar;2(1):120-127.

Letendre S, Marquie-Beck J, Capparelli E, Best B, Clifford D, Collier I, Ellis RJ; The CHARTER Group. Validation of the CNS AC, Gelman BB, McArthur JC, McCutchan JA, Morgello S, Simpson D, Grant penetration-effectiveness rank for quantifying antiretroviral penetration into the central nervous system. Arch Neurol 2008;65(1):65-70.

Goicoechea M, Liu S, Best B, Sun S, Jain S, Kemper C, Witt M, Diamond C, Haubrich R, Louie S, CCTG 578 Team. Increased tenofovir-associated renal toxicity in protease inhibitor- versus non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor-based therapy. J Infect Dis 2008;197(1):102-108.

List of Publications in Pub Med