JOSEPH E ROWER portrait
  • Associate Director, Center for Human Toxicology
  • Research Assistant Professor, Pharmacology And Toxicology
  • Adjunct Assistant Professor, Pediatrics
801-587-7595

Research Statement

Dr. Joseph Rower is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology. The major focus of my laboratory is using clinical pharmacology to optimize drug dosing, especially in children. A primary project in the lab is the development of a precision medicine tool to guide tacrolimus therapy in pediatric transplant. We are currently combining pharmacokinetic, pharmacogenomic, and pharmacodynamics analyses to assess the potential for this precision medicine tool to improve the longevity of heart transplants in children. Additionally, we utilize mass spectrometry and other bioanalytical techniques to quantify drug concentrations in blood/tissue to generate data defining how drug moves through the body. Of particular interest in our lab are studies using dried blood spots (DBS), a novel, low blood volume sampling technique ideal for collecting samples in neonates. We have used these skills to support clinical trials on the glucocorticoid budesonide, the steroid oxandrolone, and the antiviral ganciclovir.

Grants, Contracts & Research Gifts

  • Oral buprenorphine as a novel low-dose induction strategy for individuals with opioid use disorder . PI: Joji Suzuki . NIH/NIDA , 04/01/2024 - 03/31/2026. Total project budget to date: $500,293.00
  • Heavy cannabis use, neurocognition and PrEP care engagement among young Black sexual minority men . PI: John Schneider (contact), Justin Knox . NIH/NIDA , 09/15/2022 - 06/30/2027. Total project budget to date: $4,986,904.00
  • Intravenous Magnesium: Prompt Use for Asthma in Children Treated in the Emergency Department . PI: Michael D. Johnson . NIH/NHLBI , 04/01/2022 - 03/31/2024. Total project budget to date: $733,538.00
  • Bioanalytical Core for the Epilepsy Therapeutic Screening Program . PI: Karen Wilcox. NIH/NINDS, 03/23/2022 - 03/22/2027. Total project budget to date: $373,831.00
  • Repurposing Valganciclovir to Treat Cytomegalovirus-Induced Hearing Loss. PI: Joseph E. Rower . Cures Within Reach , 10/01/2021 - 09/30/2024. Total project budget to date: $40,000.00
  • Quantification of Drugs of Abuse and Related Compound in Biological Specimens . PI: Christopher A. Reilly. NIH/NIDA , 03/01/2021 - 03/14/2024. Total project budget to date: $586,680.00
  • Precision Pharmacokinetic-Guided Tacrolimus Dosing to Improve Pediatric Heart Transplant Outcomes. PI: Joseph E. Rower. NIH/NHLBI , 05/01/2020 - 04/30/2025. Total project budget to date: $834,776.00
  • Oxandrolone Pharmacokinetics Core Lab. PI: Joseph E. Rower. New England Research Institutes, 03/01/2019 - 02/28/2022. Total project budget to date: $41,064.00
  • Recreational Drug use in Hepatitis C Virus Infection . PI: Joseph E. Rower, Jennifer J. Kiser . ALSAM Foundation Skaggs Scholar Program , 07/01/2019 - 06/30/2021. Total project budget to date: $149,778.00

Publications

  • Fabian NJ & Mannion AJ, Jamiel M, Anderson DJ, Rower JE, Reilly CA, Menegas W, Muthupalani S, Ta C, Fox JG, Kramer R, Haupt JL (2023). Evaluation and comparison of pharmacokinetic profiles and safety of two extended-release buprenorphine formulations in common marmosets. Sci Reports. Published, 07/22/2023.
  • Yellepeddi VK & Battaglia M, Davies SJC, Alt J, Ashby S, Shipman P, Anderson DJ, Rower JE, Reilly C, Voight M, Mim SR (2023). Pharmacokinetics of intranasal amiloride in healthy volunteers. Clin Transl Sci. Published, 01/2023.
  • Rower JE & McKnite A, Hong B, Daly K, Hope K, Cabrera A, Molina KM (2023). External Assessment and Refinement of a Population Pharmacokinetic Model to Guide Tacrolimus Dosing in Pediatric Heart Transplant. Pharmacotherapy. Published, 01/2023.
  • Manuzak JA & Granche J, Tassiopoulos K, Rower JE, Know JR, Williams DW, Ellis RJ, Goodkin K, Sharma A, Erlandson KM, ACTG A5322 Study Team (2023). Cannabis Use is Associated With Decreased Antiretroviral Therapy Adherence Among Older Adults With HIV. Open Forum Infect Dis. Published, 01/2023.
  • Hillam K & Suarez D, Nielson C, Traxler A, Sommer E, Winslow A, Holley A, Huang E, Hughes M, Firpo MA, Rower JE, Park AH (2023). Hearing Following Prolonged and Delayed Ganciclovir Treatment in a Murine Cytomegalovirus Model. Laryngoscope. Published, 01/2023.
  • Johnson MD & Barney BJ, Rower JE, Finkelstein Y, Zorc JJ (2023). Intravenous Magnesium: Prompt Use for Asthma in Children Treated in the Emergency Department (IMPACT-ED): Protocol for a Multicenter Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR Res Protoc. Published, 01/2023.
  • Mensah JA & Johnson K, Reilly CA, Wilcox KS, Rower JE, Metcalf CS (2022). Evaluating the efficacy of prototype antiseizure drugs using a preclinical pharmacokinetic approach. Epilepsia. Published, 01/2022.
  • Imburgia CE & Rower JE, Green D, McKnite A, Kelley W, Reilly CA, Watt KM (2022). Remdesivir and GS-441524 Extraction by Extracorporeal Life Support Circuits. ASAIO J. Published, 01/2022.
  • Freeling JL & Scholl JL, Eikanger M, Knoblich C, Potts RA, Anderson DJ, Rower JE, Farjoo MH, Zhao H, Pillatzki A, Rezvani K (2022). Pre-clinical safety and therapeutic efficacy of a plant-based alkaloid in a human colon cancer xenograft model. Cell Death Discov. Published, 01/2022.
  • Biltaji E & Enioutina EY, Yellepeddi V, Rower JE, Sherwin CMT, Ward RM, Lemons RS, Constance JE (2020). Supportive care medications coinciding with chemotherapy among children with hematologic malignancy. Leuk Lymphoma. Published, 04/07/2020.
  • Rower JE & Nielson C, Shi K, Park AH (2020). Validation of an Assay for Quantifying Ganciclovir in Dried Blood Spots. J Pharm Biomed Anal. Published, 02/17/2020.
  • McEvoy, CT & Ballard PL, Ward RM, Rower JE, Wadhawan R, Hudak ML, Weitkamp JH, Harris J, Asselin J, Chapin C, Ballard RA (2020). Dose Escalation Trial of Budesonide in Surfactant for Prevention of Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia in Extremely Low Gestational Age Newborns (SASSIE). Pediatr Res. Published, 01/2020.
  • Linakis MW & Rower JE, Sorenson S, Reilly CA, Lambert LM, Williams RV, Burch PT (2020). Stability and pharmacokinetics of an extemporaneous formulation of oxandrolone to improve neonatal growth following surgical heart repair. J Pediatr Pharmacol Ther. Published, 01/2020.
  • Rower JE & King AD, Wilkins D, Wilkes J, Yellepeddi V, Maese L, Lemons RS, Constance JE (2020). Dronabinol Prescribing and Exposure Among Children and Young Adults Diagnosed with Cancer. J Adolesc Young Adult Oncol. Published, 01/2020.
  • Nguyen ND & Memon TA, Burrell KL, Almestica-Roberts M, Rapp E, Sun L, Scott AF, Rower JE, Deering-Rice CE, Reilly CA (2020). Transient Receptor Potential Ankyrin-1 and Vanilloid-3 Differentially Regulate Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress and Cytotoxicity in Human Lung Epithelial Cells After Pneumotoxic Wood Smoke Particle Exposure. Mol Pharmacol. Published, 01/2020.
  • Yellepeddi V & Rower JE, Liu X, Kumar S, Rashid J, Sherwin CMT (2019). State-of-the-Art Review on Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic Modeling in Pediatric Drug Development. Clinical Pharmacokinet. Published, 01/2019.
  • Krekels EHJ & Rower JE, Constance JE, Knibbe C, Sherwin CMT (2017). Hepatic Drug Metabolism in Pediatric Patients. In Wen Xie (Ed.), Drug Metabolism and Disposition in Diseases. Elsevier Inc. Published, 01/2017.
  • Liu X & Yu T, Rower JE, Campbell SC, Sherwin CM, Johnson MD (2016). Optimizing the use of intravenous magnesium sulfate for acute asthma treatment in children. Pediatric Pulmonology. Published, 01/2016.
  • Job KM & Stockmann C, Constance JE, Enioutina EY, Rower JE, Linakis MW, Balch AH, Yu T, Liu X, Sherwin CMT (2016). Pharmacodynamic Studies of Voriconazole: Informing the Clinical Management of Invasive Fungal Infections. Expert Review of Anti-infective Therapy. Published, 01/2016.
  • Enioutina EY & Constance JE, Stockmann C, Linakis MW, Yu T, Rower JE, Balch AH, Sherwin CM (2015). Pharmacokinetic considerations in the use of antivirals in neonates. Expert Opinion on Drug Metabolism and Toxicology. Published, 01/2015.
  • Langley T & Levitt D, Rower JE (2011). Two generalizations of the 5/8 bound on commutativity in nonabelian finite groups. Mathematics Magazine. Published, 01/2011.
  • Anderson PL & Kiser JJ, Gardner EM, Rower JE, Meditz A, Grant RM (2011). Pharmacological considerations for tenofovir and emtricitabine to prevent HIV infection. Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (electronic). Published, 01/2011.
  • Anderson PL & Rower JE (2010). Zidovudine and Lamivudine for HIV Infection. Clinical Medicine Reviews in Therapeutics. Published, 01/2010.