Scholarly Sessions

Mental Health

Hospital-based Medicine

Genomics

Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics

Community Pediatrics

Pharmacology

General Pediatrics

Adolescent Medicine

Don’t Panic! How to Incorporate Pharmacogenetic Testing Into the Care of Pediatric Mental Health Disorders

Chair(s)

• 

  Sara Van Driest, MD, PhD

  Associate Professor
  Pediatrics
  Vanderbilt University Medical Center
  Nashville, Tennessee, United States
• 

  Sonya Tang Girdwood, MD, PhD

  Assistant Professor
  Pediatrics
  Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
  Fort Thomas, Kentucky, United States

Personalized medicine is a National Institutes of Health major initiative and focuses on delivering the right treatment to the right patient at the right time instead of a one-size-fits-all approach. Although pediatricians excel at patient-centered care and weight-based dosing, few other data are incorporated into dosing decisions for children. Pharmacogenetics is the study of how the genetic makeup of a person influences the response to drugs and is an essential pillar to advancing personalized medicine. Advances in pharmacogenetic testing have been made in the field of pediatric psychiatry to provide individualized management of common mental health disorders. As the number of children and adolescents who require treatment for mental health is on the rise, general pediatricians are expected to initiate and titrate psychotropic medications. However, many pediatricians have not received formal training on pharmacogenetic testing, and are unaware of the tests available, the indications for testing, the limitations to test interpretation, and how to adjust therapy based on findings. In this panel discussion, attendees will hear from experts on the current state of pharmacogenetic testing in drugs commonly used in pediatric mental health disorders and how to implement testing clinically in their practice. This session will include discussion of each specific topic throughout, as well as broad discussion based on audience questions and/or sample cases from the presentation team.

Presentations:

• 4:30 PM - 4:40 PM US CT

  Pharmacogenetic testing: a general pediatrician’s perspective
  

  Presenter: Sara Van Driest, MD, PhD – Vanderbilt University Medical Center
• 4:40 PM - 5:00 PM US CT

  Is it time to pay attention to genetic testing results when prescribing stimulants?
  

  Presenter: Jacob T. Brown, PharmD – University of Minnesota
• 5:00 PM - 5:20 PM US CT

  Can a genetic test result make me less anxious about prescribing this SSRI?
  

  Presenter: Laura Ramsey, PhD – Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
• 5:20 PM - 5:40 PM US CT

  Antipsychotics, Genes, and Drug Response – finding the useful data among the crazy contradictions
  

  Presenter: Katelyn Rossow, MD, MPH – Vanderbilt University
• 5:40 PM - 6:00 PM US CT

  Pearls and pitfalls for pharmacogenomic testing in the treatment of autism, ADHD, anxiety, and depression
  

  Presenter: Erika L. Nurmi, MD, PhD – UCLA
• 6:00 PM - 6:30 PM US CT

  Break
  

  Presenter: Belinda Thomas
• 6:30 PM - 7:00 PM US CT

  Click for Live Q&A: Don’t Panic! How to Incorporate Pharmacogenetic Testing Into the Care of Pediatric Mental Health Disorders
  

  Presenter: Belinda Thomas