The Unit is involved in all the computational work (modeling and simulation) needed during the stages of discovery-development and application of pharmaceutical products into clinical practice.
More specifically, the computational work covers:
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computational methodologies at the molecular level (e.g., drug – receptor interaction) which are required when searching for a new active substance,
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quantitative structure relationships between molecular properties (e.g., MW, surface area) or physicochemical characteristics (e.g., solubility) and drug action or transit through the body (absorption, distribution, metabolism) characteristics,
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computational design for development of the drug dosage form e.g., set specific release or dissolution properties, and the development of in vitro-in vivo correlations (IVIVC),
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computational methods in pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics using non-compartmental or compartmental methods, as well as population approaches relying on nonlinear mixed effect models,
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the mathematical and statistical analysis for the design and assessment of clinical and bioequivalence studies,
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the application of population techniques based either on Bayesian approximations or control theory for determination, for setting the appropriate dosage regimen for narrow therapeutic index drugs,
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all kinds of meta-analyses regarding drug action, side-effects, interactions, etc., in clinical use of drugs,
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the use of bio-informatics in the drug design of biotechnology drugs.
In summary, the Unit deals with the following six subject areas:
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Informatics for Drug Discovery / Chemoinformatics
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Informatics for Quality-by-Design and Formulation Development
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Informatics for Biopharmaceutics, Pharmacokinetics, and Pharmacodynamics
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Informatics for Clinical Trials and Clinical Practice
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Informatics for Meta-Analysis
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Applications of Bioinformatics to drug design-action of biotechnology drugs.
A diagram of the subject areas in which the ‘PharmaInformatics’ Unit is involved is shown in Fig. 1.
Figure 1. A schematic representation of the subject areas in which the PharmaInformatics Unit is involved.
Scientific Team
Head of the Unit
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Panos Macheras: Professor Emeritus, Dpt. of Pharmacy, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece.
Members:
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Dimitrios Hatziavramidis: Professor, School of Chemical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Greece.
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Emmanuel Mikros: Professor, Dpt. of Pharmacy, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece.
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Haralambos Sarimveis: Professor, School of Chemical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Greece.
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Dimitrios Rekkas: Assoc. Professor, Dpt. of Pharmacy, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece.
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Aris Dokoumetzidis: Assistant Professor, Dpt. of Pharmacy, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece.
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Evangelos Evangelou: Assistant Professor, Clinical and Molecular Epidemiology at University of Ioannina, Greece.
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Kosmas Kosmidis: Dpt of Physics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
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Ioannis Vizirianakis Associate Professor, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
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Maria Gazouli, Associate Professor, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
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Dimitris Goussis, Professor, School of Applied Mathematics and Physical Sciences, National Technical University of Athens, Greece
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Despina Sanoudou, Assistant Professor, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
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Athanassios Iliadis, Professor Emeritus, School of Pharmacy, University of Marseilles, France
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Theodoros Christopoulos, Professor, Dpt. of Chemistry, University of Patras, Greece
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Ioannis Boletis, Professor, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece