Finding the right dose

Dion Brock. Picture supplied.

Dion Brocks is a professor and the associate dean of student affairs in the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Alberta. He is a U of A alumnus multiple times, including his PharmD and his PhD in pharmaceutical sciences in 1993, specializing in pharmacokinetics — which is how the body reacts to medications.

His research areas and interests include the effects that high cholesterol and obesity, in particular, can have on the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of drugs. He is also interested in understanding the influence of the intestinal lymphatic system on the pharmacokinetics of substances. Most recently, he has been exploring the use of population-pharmacokinetics approaches in preclinical studies. 

We contacted Dion Brocks to learn more about him and his current research.

Please explain the focus of your research and why it's important.

Obesity is a major health issue facing people all around the world. People who experience obesity face a number of related health issues, notably diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and depression. Patients often have to take medications to treat these conditions. Obesity can affect processes in the body, which affects drug entrance, movement through and departure in the body. These factors can have an impact on how effective or toxic a given dose of a drug is, potentially requiring adjustment of the dose in an obese patient. Our lab is focused on examining how obesity affects the dose of a drug entering into the body and how quickly the drug is processed and eliminated from the body.

What impact is your research making or do you hope it will make in the future?

After a drug gets into the blood from the dosage form, it can get to the place in the body where it does its job, but they obviously do not stay there forever due to removal processes, mostly in organs such as the liver or the kidney. The liver, for example, contains enzymes that convert a drug to a non-active chemical. We found that a number of these enzymes are decreased in the liver; that means that the drugs potentially stay in the body for longer. Our hope is that by understanding the effect of obesity on these factors, we can use the information to help clinicians decide on whether the dose of the drug needs to be altered in order to make it more safe and effective in the patient. 

What part of your work do you find the most rewarding? The most challenging?

Research is an intellectual journey into the unknown. There is a lot of satisfaction in reading through the literature, seeing gaps in our knowledge, and planning and conducting experiments that help to fill in those gaps. And, of course, helping to train future scientists through those endeavours. Without those graduate students, nothing could be done to advance this sort of research. The challenging parts are dealing with unexpected data. But while these challenges might hinder the original expectations, they also present more opportunities for studies and exploration. 

What first drew you to the field of pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences, and then to your specific area of research?

At my core, I am a pharmacist, and I have practiced in both community and hospital pharmacy. What drew me to research was my research experience in my PharmD degree back in 1986 here at the U of A. 

What's the No. 1 piece of advice you give your students?

Learn to enjoy course materials you find difficult or do not enjoy. Everything has relevance somewhere. 

What is something your colleagues would be surprised to learn about you?

Since my teen years I have been passionate about music and I love to play guitar. I have been playing mostly bass guitar with the U of A Middle East and North African Musical Ensemble since 2006. We have played numerous concerts over the years. It was something I got into completely unexpectedly but it has been a fantastic experience to be part of that great group of people.