Clinical Pharmacology & Toxicology

The Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology Department strives to achieve ‘Quality Use of Medicines’ in every patient of St Vincent’s Hospital.

As the first Clinical Pharmacology Unit established in Australia, today our Department is at the international forefront in discovering the reasons for variability in response to medicines and is one of the few hospitals in Australia accredited to train the next generation of clinical pharmacologists.

We look after and help patients who have had toxic effects, side effects or insufficient response from their medicines, and interactions between their medicines. We are admitting consultants for other patients admitted to the PANDA unit, sharing that roster with the Emergency Department. We also provide advice on therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) including model informed dosing. 

Patients can experience adverse reactions to medicines as each individual can have a different response to their medication due to their age, sex, weight, organ functions and genetics. Our Department investigates these different reactions through careful assessment of a person’s medical history, measuring the concentrations of the drug in their blood, assessment of vital organ functions such as the kidney and liver and the relevant genes.  Our aim is to recommend a tailored treatment to the individual patient.

The Clinical Pharmacology department also contributes to systems solutions to Quality Use of Medicines through roles in medication governance at local, state and national levels.

Research

All members of the department have academic affiliations with the UNSW School of Clinical Medicine. Active areas of research include therapeutic drug monitoring, improving medication use in gout, opioid effectiveness in musculoskeletal disorders treatment and outcomes from medicines and other drug toxicity, Quality Use of Medicines in vulnerable populations, design and implementation of clinical interventions to optimise use of medicines and pharmaco-epidemiology using big data. 

Consultants

Professor Richard O Day AM MBBS (Hon) MD FRACP

Associate Professor Jonathan Brett MBBS (Hon) BMedSci (Hon) PhD FRACP FAChAM

Associate Professor Bridin Murnion BSc (Hon I), MBChB FRACP FFPMANZCA, FAChAM

Dr Bash Jagarlamudi MBBS MD

Advanced Trainee

Senior Hospital Scientists

Dr Jane Carland BMedSc (Hon I, University Medal) PhD

Dr Jana Stojanova BPharm (Hon) PhD

Dr Richard Kevin BPsych (Hon I) PhD

Honorary Visiting Associates

A/Prof Darren Roberts BPharm MBBS PhD FRACP FAChAM

Dr Sophie Stocker BSc (Hon) PhD

Contact Details

Location:                                 Therapeutics Centre, Level 2 Xavier Building

Phone No.:                              61 2 8382 2304

Fax No.:                                  61 2 8382 2724

The TDM Advisory Service is available to discuss individual cases. For any questions, please page (pg 6822).