Lyrialle Han is the Drug Metabolism and Disposition Highlighted Trainee Author for the August 2020 issue. She was a pre-doctoral trainee in the Department of Pharmaceutics at the University of Washington under the mentorship of Dr. Qingcheng Mao when her paper was written. In March 2020, Dr. Han obtained her Doctor of Philosophy degree and pursued a career at Genentech, Inc. as a clinical pharmacologist, supporting early- and late-stage clinical development of new molecules. The Drug Metabolism and Disposition article that earned her selection as a Highlighted Trainee Author is titled “Impact of Microbiome on Hepatic Metabolizing Enzymes and Transporters in Mice during Pregnancy” and is available at https://doi.org/10.1124/dmd.120.000039

As a pre-doctoral trainee, Dr. Han’s area of research focused on understanding factors that affect drug disposition during pregnancy. Specifically, she investigated the role of transporters in the disposition of bupropion and its active metabolites, the effect of N-acetyltransferase-2 genotype on the pharmacokinetics of hydralazine in hypertensive pregnant women, and the interplay of the microbiome and pregnancy on the expression and activity of hepatic drug metabolizing enzymes and transporters.

The anticipated impact of Dr. Han’s research is to fill an important knowledge gap of the interaction of pregnancy and the microbiome on the expression and/or activity of hepatic drug metabolizing enzymes and transporters (DMET). She demonstrated that the magnitude of pregnancy-induced changes in the expression and/or activity of hepatic DMETs in conventional and germ-free mice were significantly different, suggesting that the microbiome could alter drug disposition during pregnancy. This research provides a basis for further mechanistic investigation of microbiome-mediated changes in hepatic DMETs and drug disposition during pregnancy.

When not in the lab, Lyrialle enjoys arts and crafts.  She also likes rock climbing, traveling, and going on adventures.