ESR 4.3
Optimized TB-care by dried blood spot (DSB) analysis and e-health

Project

Drug level guided dosing has been introduced to increase efficacy and to reduce toxicity. Dry blood spot (DBS) analysis is a tool to easily obtain the necessary drug levels and the UMCG has an international leading position in this field. You will focus on implementation of e-health combined with DBS spot analysis to support personalised dosing. You will determine risk factors for suboptimal patient care in current practice. Coached by MAD multimedia, you will then develop a smart phone application to exchange relevant information
between patient, physician and pharmacist. In the next step you will evaluate the cost effectiveness of the DBS/e-health program. Finally, you will work on the implementation of the developed tools in tuberculosis patients in a high burden setting in Romania. Gilead offers an internship on pharmacovigilance and medical information for healthcare professionals.

Supervisors

  • Dr. JWC Alffenaar, hospital pharmacist – clinical pharmacologist » Link
  • Dr. Y Stienstra, infectious diseases physician and clinical epidemiologist » Link

Collaborations

MAD multimedia, the Netherlands
Gilead, the Netherlands
University Chest Clinic Lasi, Romania

Relevant publications

  1. Ghimire S, Bolhuis MS, Sturkenboom MGG, Akkerman OW, de Lange WCM, van der Werf TS, et al. Incorporating therapeutic drug monitoring into the World Health Organization hierarchy of tuberculosis diagnostics. Eur Respir J. 2016.
  2. van der Burgt EPM, Sturkenboom MGG, Bolhuis MS, Akkerman OW, Kosterink JGW, de Lange WCM, et al. End TB with precision treatment! Eur Respir J. 2016 Feb;47(2):680–2.
  3. Zuur MA, Bolhuis MS, Anthony R, den Hertog A, van der Laan T, Wilffert B, et al. Current status and opportunities for therapeutic drug monitoring in the treatment of tuberculosis. Expert Opin Drug Metab Toxicol. 2016.

Keywords

Dried blood spot, e-health, tuberculosis