November 8, 2024

By: Markie Heideman, Content Marketing Manager

 
Whether you’re a young child or a grown adult, hearing the news that you need an organ transplant can be frightening and full of unknowns; that’s why it’s relieving to know that a team of interdisciplinary specialists is there to help every step of the way. On that team at Michigan Medicine is Dr. Jamie Park, a Clinical Transplant Pharmacist and a Clinical Professor in the College of Pharmacy. 
 

Working with kidney and liver transplant patients of all ages, Park plays an integral role from the time the patient is being evaluated for transplant eligibility to post-operation. 

“When a patient is being evaluated for eligibility, I [the pharmacist] will do a medication review and make recommendations to the physician if they should start or stop certain medications ahead of surgery,” Park explained.

After a patient receives their transplant, they are put on immunosuppressant medications to help prevent the immune system from damaging the new organ. Pharmacists like Dr. Park personalize the correct immunosuppressant dosage to patients based on their immunological risk and other characteristics such as genotype. They can evaluate if a patient is over or under immunosuppressed by looking at their bloodwork. 

The pharmacist will then monitor the patient to ensure they aren’t experiencing adverse drug reactions. If they are, the pharmacist can recommend adjusting the dosage or the type of drugs being used post-transplant. 

 

Patient Care Post-Transplant

When the patient is ready to be discharged and sent home, “It’s our job to come up with the correct immunosuppressant regimen that the patient goes home on,” Park explains. “Once they are home, we meet with them during the follow-up visits (either in-person at the clinic or virtually) to monitor drug levels, make sure that they aren’t having any unfavorable drug reactions, and adhering to the medications.” 

For organ transplant patients, it’s important they remain on immunosuppressant drugs for the remainder of their life to ensure the immune system does not attack the donor organ, but according to Park, “adherence is a really big issue.” 

Park notes that although adherence to immunosuppressants is high in the immediate months after a transplant, many patients begin to wane themselves off of it over time, which can create a catastrophic situation.

“It’s easy for them to stop taking the medication without realizing that the new organ could fail again and that the immune system could attack it without those drugs, and that’s why education is so important. Our team of pharmacists tries to provide that education throughout the transplant stay and during our follow-up appointments with the patient.” 

 

Pharmacy and the Care Team

In many spaces within medicine, implementing pharmacists as part of the care team is a relatively newer practice, but within the organ transplant area, pharmacists have been active members of the team for more than four decades.

“Pharmacists are very well-received and integrated into the transplant space,” Park explained. “We have been valued in the transplant space since the 1970’s. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services require that there is a pharmacist on the team for a transplant; more than half of transplant patients use Medicare.”

Michigan Medicine began utilizing transplant pharmacists prior to this requirement, recognizing the importance of this service to patients. Park says her team has expanded over the years. 

“When I started 22 years ago, I could only help with inpatient care, because I was the only transplant pharmacist. Now, our team has six.” 

 

Transplant Research

When Dr. Park is not shaping the future of pharmacy in the classroom and doing lifesaving work in the hospital, she is working on important research – looking to see if other existing medications could help transplant patients in their recovery, or if transplant patients should steer clear of certain medications for other conditions they may have. 

In 2024, Park co-authored a review outlining the use of SGLT2 inhibitors in organ transplant patients. SGLT2 inhibitors are typically used to treat diabetes in the general population, but this study examined how transplant patients reacted to this medication. The review found that SGLT2 inhibitors have similar efficacy and safety in these patients compared to the general population, but more long-term data is needed.

This is one example of the extensive research Park is involved in to better understand optimal use of medications in transplant patients. 

 

Supporting Students

Outside of clinical pharmacy, Park’s passion is mentoring. Park recently co-mentored a group of PharmD students participating in the ACCP Clinical Research Competition. This competition allows first and second-year PharmD students to hone in on their analysis of pharmacy literature by participating in an online journal club, and by submitting a letter of intent and a clinical research proposal. This year’s theme was the pharmacist’s role in solid organ transplants. With the help of Dr. Park’s mentorship, U-M’s team took home first place!

Dr. Park’s deep knowledge in transplant pharmacy is a great example of how the U-M College of Pharmacy faculty are leading at pharmacy’s edge, and providing cutting-edge education and experiences to students. 

“There’s no “I” in team and I’m happy to work alongside some of the best here.”