Dr. Rabia Atayee

Pain & Palliative Care

Rabia S. Atayee, Pharm.D., BCPS

Assistant Professor of Clinical Pharmacy
Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
Telephone: (858) 822-3549
Email: rsamady@ucsd.edu

Research Summary:

Dr. Atayee is currently involved in researching including ketamine for mucositis pain, the use of methylnaltrexone for opioid-induced constipation, psychosocial assessment of palliative care patients, clinical and financial impacts of an ambulatory palliative care service, and monitoring and counseling guidelines for oral chemotherapy.
Other research areas of focus include measuring the impact of pharmacist education in smoking cessation, comparing chemotherapy regimens in acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML), evaluating the pharmacokinetic and metabolic analysis of excreted pain medications in patient populations.

Academic Achievements

Education: Completion of pre-pharmacy requirements (1999) UCSD; Pharm.D. (2003) UCSF; ASHP Residence in Pharmacy Practice (2004) UCSD; Board Certification in Pharmacotherapy Specialty (2008) (BCPS).
Awards and Honors: Resident Research Project of the Year Award, UCSD Medical Center (2004); ASHP Research and Education Foundation Pain Management Traineeship (2008); Nominated and awarded for Marquis Who's Who in America (2009); Selected for the National Center for Leadership in Academic Medicine (NCLAM) (2009).
Leadership Experience: First pharmacist at UCSD Medical Center to obtain a DEA license for prescribing independently (2007); Serves as chair or member of several committees at UCSD Health Sciences Campus and Medical Center.

Teaching

* Pharmacy Practice (SPPS 201, 202, 203).
* Therapeutics (SPPS 212B).
* Palliative Care Elective Didactic Course; Pain and Palliative Care Clerkship, Family Medicine Pain Lectures (SPPS 401/CP149).
* Therapeutics Oral Examiner (SPPS 212 A, B, C).

Key Contributions to Pharmaceutical Sciences

* Established role of palliative care pharmacist.
* Effective use of pain and palliative care medications in hematology and oncology patients.
* Clinical research for the use of ketamine in refractory pain.
* Development of a pain and palliative care clerkships for pharmacy students.
* Established monitoring and counseling guidelines for pharmacist for oral chemotherapy.

Selected Recent Publications

(PubMed List)
Atayee et al. (2008), Development of an ambulatory palliative care pharmacist practice. Journal of Palliative Medicine 11:1077-82
Diego et al. (2009), Methylnaltrexone: a novel approach for the management of opioid induced constipation in patients with advanced illness. Expert Review of Gastroenterology and Hepatology 3:473-85.
Ryan et al. (2009), Ketamine mouthwash for mucositis pain. Journal of Palliative Medicine 12:989-91.
1. Roeland et al. (2010), Symptom control in stem cell transplantation: a multidisciplinary palliative care team approach: Part I. Journal of Supportive Oncology 8:100-116.
Roeland et al. (2010), Symptom control in stem cell transplantation: a multidisciplinary palliative care team approach: Part II. Journal of Supportive Oncology 8:179-183.

Potential Collaborative Programs with the Pharmaceutical Industry

* The use of dronabinol or marijuana for refractory neuropathic pain in oncology and hematology patients.
* Developing guidelines for the use of methadone as an analgesic in chronic pain therapy.
* Developing pain educational workshops for oncology patients.