The science of personalized medicine will be this month’s topic for the Omaha Science Café from 7 to 8 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 5, at the Slowdown, 729 N. 14th St.
Courtney Fletcher, Pharm.D., dean of the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Pharmacy, will be the featured speaker.
Personalized medicine studies how individuals respond to, absorb and eliminate drugs. The goal of personalized medicine is to allow drug therapy to move from the current “one size fits all” approach to a more individualized approach. This should improve the likelihood of the desired response and minimize the chances of an adverse reaction.
Science Cafes are held in Omaha the first Tuesday of each month. They are free educational events sponsored by UNMC, BioNebraska and the Nebraska Coalition for Lifesaving Cures. The goal is to increase science literacy by getting young adults interested in science by presenting it in a casual setting.
Free pizza will be provided by the Nebraska Coalition for Lifesaving Cures for the first 50 people in attendance.
Dr. Fletcher, who was named dean of the UNMC College of Pharmacy in 2007, received his bachelor’s degree in pharmacy with honors from the University of Wyoming and his doctor of pharmacy degree from the University of Minnesota.
He held faculty positions at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, University of Minnesota and Drake University. He has devoted his research and practice interests towards the clinical pharmacology of antiviral agents.
For more information about the Science Cafes, go to http://www.unmc.edu/sciencecafe/index.htm