Clinical Implementation of Pharmacogenetic Testing with Mary Relling

In this episode, our guest is Mary V. Relling, Pharm.D. Emerita Member, Department of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN. Dr. Relling earned her undergraduate B.S. degree from the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy and her doctoral degree from the University of Utah College of Pharmacy. She completed post-doctoral fellowships with Dr. William Evans at St. Jude and with Dr. Urs Meyer at University of Basel. She joined St. Jude as a faculty member in 1988, and was chair of

the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences from 2003-2020. She was also a professor at the University of Tennessee in the Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy. Her primary interests are in the treatment and pharmacogenetics of childhood leukemia and in the clinical implementation of pharmacogenetic testing in medicine. Dr. Relling is co-founder of CPIC, the Clinical Pharmacogenetics Implementation Consortium. She has published over 450 original scientific manuscripts. She was elected to the Institute of Medicine (National Academy of Medicine) in 2009.

Topics to discuss:

Foundations & Career Journey

1. You’ve had an extraordinary career at St. Jude since joining in 1988. What first drew you to pediatric pharmacology and pharmacogenetics?
2. Your work has helped shape how we treat childhood leukemia. What do you see as the most transformative advancements in this space over your career?

Pharmacogenetics & CPIC

1. You co-founded the Clinical Pharmacogenetics Implementation Consortium (CPIC). What was the impetus behind its creation, and how has its mission evolved?
2. What do you see as the biggest barriers to widespread clinical implementation of pharmacogenetic testing today?
3. How do you respond to skepticism about the clinical utility of pharmacogenetic testing in everyday medical practice?
4. Which pharmacogenetic guidelines do you believe have had the most significant clinical impact so far—and why?
5. What advice do you have for institutions that want to start implementing pharmacogenetic testing but don’t know where to begin?

Implementation in Clinical Settings

1. At St. Jude, you helped lead efforts to integrate pharmacogenetic testing into clinical care. What lessons did you learn about operationalizing this work in real-world settings?
2. How important is interdisciplinary collaboration—between pharmacists, physicians, geneticists—in making pharmacogenetic testing work in practice?
3. Can you share an example where pharmacogenetic testing changed the course of treatment for a pediatric patient?

Policy, Ethics, and Future Vision

1. What policy or regulatory changes would help accelerate the clinical adoption of pharmacogenetic testing?
2. As someone who has contributed extensively to the science, how do you think we should balance data privacy with the need for clinical data sharing in genomics?
3. What are you most excited about in the future of pharmacogenetics? Are there particular therapeutic areas or technologies that you think will drive the next wave of innovation?

Legacy & Advice

1. You’ve mentored many rising leaders in the field. What qualities do you think are most important for the next generation of pharmacogenomics researchers and clinicians?
2. With over 450 publications and a career that has changed pediatric pharmacology, what legacy do you hope your work leaves behind?

Guest: Mary V. Relling, Pharm.D. Emerita Member, Department of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

Host: Hillary Blackburn, PharmD, MBA

• www.hillaryblackburn.com
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/hillary-blackburn-67a92421/