Dr. Britt Drögemöller moved halfway across the world to pursue a new life in Canada as the Canada Research Chair of Pharmacogenomics and Precision Medicine - during a pandemic. If that doesn't say "strong, independent woman in STEM," we don't know what does! In this interview with Best of the WWEST producer and host Vanessa, you'll hear about that journey, as well as many other things, including (but not limited to) learning to pivot when opening a lab during a pandemic and really cool research that can avoid horrific medication side effects. 

(Please excuse any audio hiccups in this remotely recorded interview.)

Guest: Dr. Britt Drögemöller (Twitter)

Dr. Britt Drögemöller is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biochemistry & Medical Genetics at the University of Manitoba and holds a Canada Research Chair in Pharmacogenomics and Precision Medicine. Dr. Drögemöller’s research uses genomic and computational analyses to guide the development of novel treatment strategies that offer maximum benefit and minimal harm. This research is focused specifically on vulnerable and understudied populations (e.g. pediatric and maternal populations) as therapeutic agents are often not designed and tested with these patients in mind. Dr. Drögemöller received her PhD from Stellenbosch University in South Africa in 2013, and continued her training in pharmacogenomics and precision medicine at the University of British Columbia, where she completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Canadian Pharmacogenomics Network for Drug Safety.

Subscribe to us on these platforms:

Or wherever you get your podcasts!

Relevant Links:

• Canadian Pharmacogenomics Network for Drug Safety
• Drögemöller Lab
• H3Africa
• Publications by Dr. Drögemöller
• Stellenbosch University, South Africa
• University of British Columbia
  
• University of Manitoba

Hosted by: Vanessa Hennessey
Theme Music: “Positive and Fun” by Scott Holmes
Produced by: Vanessa Hennessey

We acknowledge that Best of the WWEST is hosted and produced on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and Sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. Best of the WWEST is also produced on Treaty 6 territory. Best of the WWEST has featured many guests and has been hosted and produced by people of different lands, countries, and cultures, but we also acknowledge that we are settlers on this land. We are grateful for the privilege to be working as visitors on these unceded and ancestral territories of all the Metis, Inuit, First Nations, and Indigenous people that call this land home. We acknowledge and reflect on the harms and mistakes of the past and to consider how we are and can each, in our own way, try to move forward in a spirit of reconciliation and collaboration.