Kansas City,
14
December
2017
|
09:55 AM
America/Chicago

Dr. Wagner Named KL2 Clinical Research Scholar

Dr. Jon Wagner, Dr. Steve Leeder

Jonathan Wagner, DO, Children’s Mercy Pediatric Cardiologist and Clinical Pharmacologist, has been selected as a KL2 Clinical Research Scholar by Frontiers: The Heartland Institute for Clinical and Translational Research. This award provides more than $470,000 over the next 22 months for Dr. Wagner to continue his research on optimizing the use of statins in children.

Frontiers is an academic home for clinical and translational research providing support to scientists so discoveries and research findings can be brought more rapidly to the point of care, thus improving the health of all in the region. Funded by a $20 million Clinical and Translational Science Award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and headquartered at the University of Kansas Medical Center, Frontiers works with its partner institutions around the region to bring new cures and therapies to patients faster.

“My long-term goal is to implement precision-based therapeutics strategies in clinical pediatric cardiology practice, thereby optimizing cardiovascular drug use for the individual patient,” said Dr. Wagner. “This project will advance the understanding of covariates that affect inter-individual variability in statin exposure, providing the data needed for refinement of current dosing guidelines.”

Dr. Wagner’s work in the KL2 Program will be mentored by Steve Leeder, PharmD, PhD, and Susan Abdel-Rahman, PharmD. Throughout his time as a KL2 Scholar, Dr. Wagner will be required to present his research progress to the Frontiers Scholar’s Club and NIH as requested.

“We congratulate Jon and his team of mentors and collaborators, including Steve Leeder, Susan Rehman and Leon Van Haandel, among others” said Girish Shirali, MBBS, FACC, FASE, Division Director, Cardiology and Co-Director, Ward Family Heart Center. “This is the first KL2 award within the Ward Family Heart Center, and we look forward to seeing how this can help advance the research Jon has been doing.”

Based on the progress of the project, Dr. Wagner may be eligible for a renewal of the award at the completion of the 22 months.

 

Learn more about the Division of Pharmacoloy and Toxicology at Children's Mercy.