Darrell Abernethy: Drug Side Effect that Mimic Aging
Darrell R. Abernethy, MD, PhD, FACP , is responsible for leading the development of a pharmacological mechanism based safety program in the Office of Clinical Pharmacology to work in synergy with efforts in the Office of Surveillance and Epidemiology and other Offices and Centers at FDA. Dr. Abernethy brings more than 25 years of experience in medicine and pharmacology, including positions in academia, practice and research. Prior to joining FDA he served as Chief Science Officer at USP.
Education and Professional Background:
Dr. Abernethy earned his M.D. and Ph.D. from the University of Kansas School of Medicine in 1976. In addition to his work at FDA, he is currently a professor of medicine (geriatrics) and of pharmacology and molecular science (part-time) at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Dr. Abernethy's training in Internal Medicine was at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital, and postdoctoral training in Clinical Pharmacology at Massachusetts General Hospital followed this. He is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Clinical Pharmacology. He joined the faculty at Tufts-New England Medical Center as an Assistant Professor. Following this he was at Baylor College of Medicine where he became Associate Professor of Medicine. Dr. Abernethy then moved to Brown University School of Medicine as Chief of the Division of Clinical Pharmacology and became Professor of Medicine at that institution. He then moved to Georgetown University School of Medicine as Francis Cabell Brown Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology and Director of the Division of Clinical Pharmacology. Dr. Abernethy then joined the National Institute of Aging in as Chief of the Laboratory of Clinical Investigation in the intramural research program. Most recently he served as Chief Science Officer at USP.
Professional Leadership:
Dr. Abernethy's studies of mechanisms of peripheral distribution of drugs and drug disposition and effect in obesity and pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic relationships of cardiovascular drugs in aging have been well received and led to his being named to the ISI Most Highly Cited Researchers in Pharmacology. He has received the Rawls-Palmer Award from the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics and the Nathaniel Kwit Award from the American College of Clinical Pharmacology.
As an educator, he has served on the National Board of Medical Examiners Pharmacology Test Committee (1992-1996; chair 2009-present), chair of the NBME (now called USMLE) Applied Pharmacology Committee (1997-2000), and the USMLE biostatistics task force and Step 1 Test Committee (2000-2006). As an extramural investigator, he served on the NIGMS Pharmacological Sciences study section (1988-1992), the FDA generic drugs (1990-1992) and cardiorenal (1992-1996) advisory committees, and as chair of the VA merit review Geriatrics subcommittee (1998-2000). Dr. Abernethy's professional affiliations include serving as President of the American Society of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (1991-1992). In addition, he has served as a member of the editorial boards the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society and Biopharmaceutics and Drug Disposition and as Editor-in-Chief of Pharmacological Reviews. He currently is on the editorial boards of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology, Drugs, Drugs and Therapy Perspectives, Molecular Interventions, and is Associate Editor of the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.