Joseph D. Ma, PharmD

Research Summary

Dr. Ma’s research interests are in examining methods that evaluate drug-drug interactions. His research has elucidated that several methods estimating in vivo, real-time, drug-metabolizing enzyme and transporter activity are inadequate and lack optimal validation. Dr. Ma is also interested in examining pain medication pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic variability in opioid-treated, cancer patients.

Dr. Ma's clinical practice is in pain and palliative care in an outpatient, multidisciplinary clinic at the Moores Cancer Center. Under a collaborative practice protocol, Dr. Ma sees patients and is able to start, stop, or modify therapy to treat symptoms and sides effects of a disease and its treatment.

Key Contributions

• Evaluated accuracy and validity of in vivo cytochrome P450 (CYP) and P-glycoprotein phenotyping methods and probe drugs.
• Serving as co-Director for Master’s Program in Drug Development and Product Management (DDPM).
• Experience in clinical research of in vivo phenotyping studies, methodology evaluation, and utility of limited sampling strategies.

Potential Collaborative Programs

• Experience in private and public sector in clinical trial operations, management, and execution.
• Experience in Proof of concept, phase I (FIH), and drug-drug interaction studies.
• Developing novel teaching methods for health care professionals encompassing areas of drug discovery, development, and commercialization.

Academic Achievements

Education: B.S. Biology, UC Irvine (1998); Pharm.D., UC San Francisco (2002); Fellowship Clinical Pharmacology/Drug Metabolism, Bassett Healthcare, Cooperstown, NY (2002-2004).

Awards and Honors: NIDA Intramural Research Training Award, NIH (1997, 1998); UC San Diego SSPPS Faculty Teaching Award (2008, 2013, 2017); Fellow Clinical Pharmacology, American College of Clinical Pharmacology (2015); Excellence in Achievement, American College of Clinical Pharmacology (2016).

Leadership Experience: Clinical Trial Associate, Early Development, Amgen, Inc. (2004-2007); Meeting Program Committee Member, ACCP Annual Meeting, San Antonio, TX, (2009); Co-chair, Symposium: Innovations and Controversies in Quantifying Drug-Drug Interactions, ACCP Annual Meeting, San Antonio, TX, (2009), Meeting Program Co-chair, ACCP Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA (2012).

Teaching

• Pharmacogenomics (SPPS219)
• Pharmacy Therapeutics (SPPS 212B)
• Clinical Trials Development from Phase 0 to Phase 3 studies (DDPM204)
• Biologic and Biosimilar Development (DDPM210)

Selected Publications

• Piscitelli et al. (2023) Fexofenadine Plasma Concentrations to Estimate Systemic Exposure in Healthy Adults Using a Limited Sampling Strategy with a Population Pharmacokinetic Approach. Therapeutic Drug Monitoring 45(4): 539-545.
• Liyanage et al. (2023) Limitations of fexofenadine limited sampling strategy using plasma concentrations and partial area under the concentration-time curve to estimate transporter activity in healthy adults. International Journal of Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics 61(6): 262-269.
• Arya et al. (2024) The expanding role of endogenous biomarkers for assessment of transporter activity in drug development: Current application and future horizon. Pharmaceutics 16(7): 855.
• Okoroma et al. (2024) Evaluating the risk index for serious prescription opioid-induced respiratory depression or overdose in patients with cancer. Journal of Pain and Palliative Care Pharmacotherapy 38(2): 131-137