Pharma - Informatics Unit (PHARMAINF)

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:

1. computational methodologies at the molecular level (e.g., drug – receptor interaction) which are required when searching for a new active substance,
2. 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,
3. 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),
4. computational methods in pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics using non-compartmental or compartmental methods, as well as population approaches relying on nonlinear mixed effect models,
5. the mathematical and statistical analysis for the design and assessment of clinical and bioequivalence studies,
6. 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,
7. all kinds of meta-analyses regarding drug action, side-effects, interactions, etc., in clinical use of drugs,
8. the use of bio-informatics in the drug design of biotechnology drugs.

In summary, the Unit deals with the following six subject areas:

1. Informatics for Drug Discovery / Chemoinformatics
2. Informatics for Quality-by-Design and Formulation Development
3. Informatics for Biopharmaceutics, Pharmacokinetics, and Pharmacodynamics
4. Informatics for Clinical Trials and Clinical Practice
5. Informatics for Meta-Analysis
6. 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

• Panos Macheras: Professor Emeritus, Dpt. of Pharmacy, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece.

Members:

• Dimitrios Hatziavramidis: Professor, School of Chemical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Greece.
• Emmanuel Mikros: Professor, Dpt. of Pharmacy, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece.
• Haralambos Sarimveis: Professor, School of Chemical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Greece.
• Dimitrios Rekkas: Assoc. Professor, Dpt. of Pharmacy, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece.
• Aris Dokoumetzidis: Assistant Professor, Dpt. of Pharmacy, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece.
• Evangelos Evangelou: Assistant Professor, Clinical and Molecular Epidemiology at University of Ioannina, Greece.
• Kosmas Kosmidis: Dpt of Physics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
• Ioannis Vizirianakis Associate Professor, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
• Maria Gazouli, Associate Professor, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
• Dimitris Goussis, Professor, School of Applied Mathematics and Physical Sciences, National Technical University of Athens, Greece
• Despina Sanoudou, Assistant Professor, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
• Athanassios Iliadis, Professor Emeritus, School of Pharmacy, University of Marseilles, France
• Theodoros Christopoulos, Professor, Dpt. of Chemistry, University of Patras, Greece
• Ioannis Boletis, Professor, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece

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