Aditya Kumar is the Drug Metabolism and Disposition Highlighted Trainee Author for the June 2022 issue. He is a final year PhD candidate at the University of Washington’s Department of Pharmaceutics, under the mentorship of Dr. Jashvant D. Unadkat. The DMD article that earned his selection as a Highlight Trainee Author is titled “Characterizing and Quantifying Extrahepatic Metabolism of (-)-∆9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and It’s Psychoactive Metabolite, 11-OH-THC” and is available at https://doi.org/10.1124/dmd.122.000868.
Mr. Kumar’s areas of research are drug metabolism and transport, in vitro to in vivo extrapolation (IVIVE), physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling, population PK modeling, and cannabinoid disposition. His current work is focused on predicting fetal exposure to the most abundant, psychoactive compound in cannabis, THC, and its metabolite 11-OH-THC. Cannabis is the most commonly used recreational drug, but little is known about its drug disposition during pregnancy. Aditya has quantified the extrahepatic and fetal metabolism of both compounds and is investigating the transplacental transfer of these cannabinoids to populate a maternal-fetal-PBPK model with these data. Once populated, this PBPK model will be used to predict the gestational-age dependent fetal exposure to THC and 11-OH-THC.
The anticipated impact of Mr. Kumar’s research is to estimate the gestational-age dependent pharmacologically relevant THC/11-OH-THC concentrations in the fetal circulation and fetal brain following prenatal cannabis use, via inhalation or oral consumption. These predictions can inform future preclinical fetal toxicity studies to determine the potential neurodevelopmental effects of prenatal cannabis use.
When not in the laboratory, Aditya enjoys spending his time outdoors climbing, bouldering, and hiking. He also enjoys playing basketball and football.