Dr. Shirley M. Tsunoda, Pharm.D., FSSP

Dr. Tsunoda’s research focuses on using metabolomics to investigate factors influencing the variability of drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics. Her group is interested in the intersection of drugs and the gut microbiome – pharmacomicrobiomics. She is one of the Principal Investigators of the UCSD Center of Excellence in Therapeutics for MPRINT (Maternal and Pediatric Precision in Therapeutics) Hub where she is investigating the impact of antibiotic exposure through breastfeeding on the infant microbiome, metabolome, and development. Previous work has included investigating the impact of altering the gut microbiome with antibiotics on drug metabolizing activity and using probe compounds such as midazolam and cyclosporine to predict activity of CYP3A4, the major drug metabolizing enzyme in the intestine and liver, as well as clinical pharmacology investigations with immunosuppressive agents. Her group is also investigating the use of noninvasive techniques to monitor drugs and other chemicals in pregnancy, infancy, and healthcare workers.

Dr. Tsunoda has several ongoing research projects in: 1) investigating the bidirectional effect of the microbiome on tacrolimus exposure; 2) addressing the impact of xenobiotics such as antidepressants and antibiotics on the human milk metabolome and microbiome; 3) analyzing skin swab metabolomics for drug and environmental exposure; 3) clinical pharmacology studies with immunosuppressive drugs in transplant patients.