Faculty & Staff Details
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Name: | Reza Mehvar |
| Position: | Professor | |
| Email: | reza.mehvar@ttuhsc.edu | |
| Bio | Reza Mehvar, Pharm.D., Ph.D., is a Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Dr. Mehvar received his Pharm.D. degree (1979) from the University of Tehran College of Pharmacy (Tehran, Iran) and his Ph.D. (1988) in Pharmacokinetics from the University of Alberta Faculty of Pharmacy (Edmonton, Canada). In 1988, Dr. Mehvar joined Drake University College of Pharmacy in Des Moines, IA (USA) as an Assistant Professor of Pharmaceutics where he was eventually promoted to Professor of Pharmaceutics prior to joining Texas Tech School of Pharmacy in 1999. During his academic career, Dr. Mehvar has taught undergraduate and graduate pharmacokinetics courses and conducted research in the area of pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetic-based targeted drug delivery approaches. Please Click here to view a partial list of research articles indexed in PubMed. Please click here to view a list of Educational Research publications. |
Education:
1984-1988 Ph.D. (Pharmacokinetics), Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. 1974-1979 Pharm.D. (Honors), Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
Research Interests:
Laboratory Research: Dr. Mehvar’s research has focused mainly in two areas, one dealing with the stereoselective pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics and analysis of chiral drugs and the other focusing on the pharmacokinetics of macromolecules with regard to their use as drug delivery systems. Earlier work in Dr. Mehvar’s laboratory involved delineation of the pharmacokinetics of the individual enantiomers of chiral drugs, including cardiovascular agents, in humans and animals. His recent work in this area includes the effect of rate of entry of racemic drugs into the portal vein on the ratio of the blood concentrations of the enantiomers. His other area of interest deals with the kinetics of macromolecules with regard to their potential for targeted delivery of drugs, such as delivery of immunosuppressants to the immune system for the purpose of local immunosuppression. Organ- and/or cell-specific delivery of immunosuppressants is advantageous because it reduces the exposure of other tissues to the drug, and, therefore, reduces the toxic effects of these agents. Additionally, the sustained effects of the macromolecular prodrugs of anti-inflammatory agents may be useful for reduction of ischemia-reperfusion damage associated with the current methods of organ preservation outside the body before transplantation. Most commonly used techniques in Dr. Mehvar’s laboratory include HPLC and pharmacokinetic studies in whole animals (e.g., rats) or humans and in animal organs (e.g. isolated perfused rat liver) and cells.
Educational Research: Dr. Mehvar is interested, conducts research, and publishes in the following areas: ability-based, outcome driven learning approaches; development of online tools for learning pharmacokinetics; outcome assessment strategies; and curricular development and mapping. He is two times recipient of Innovation in Teaching Award from the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy for his work on the development of learning tools in pharmacokinetics (1997 and 2000).
Publications:
Please Click Here for Research Publications indexed in PubMed.
Please Click Here for Educational Publications.