Colin Funk (Biomedical and Molecular Sciences) is the only Canadian scientist working with an international research team to personalize chronic drug therapy while reducing the risk of heart attacks, heart failure and strokes.

The Personalized NSAID Therapeutics Consortium (PENTACON) focuses on mitigating the serious side effects from using nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID).

“I expect it will be very rewarding to work alongside a superb team of renowned scientists from diverse disciplines,” says Dr. Funk, the Canada Research Chair in Molecular, Cellular and Physiological Medicine. “I hope we realize the goal of personalized medicine, with respect to the most commonly prescribed drug class.”

NSAIDs are used to relieve pain and inflammation and are among the most common medications consumed worldwide. The consortium will explore factors contributing to patients’ variable responses to the drugs and how that information can be used to create personalized drug therapy programs. Dr. Funk’s research has previously revealed cardiovascular risks often associated with certain members of the NSAID class of drugs.

The consortium includes 39 investigators from 18 institutions and four countries

The five-year project is funded by an $18.5 million grant from the U.S. National Institutes of Health’s National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.