Xiaoyu Men
PhD Student, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Toronto
Xiaoyu is a PhD student at the Department of Pharmacology in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto, and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. She works under the supervision of James Kennedy, Daniel Felsky, and Vanessa Gonçalves.
Xiaoyu’s research interest is in statistical genetics and psychiatry treatment, specifically the association between pharmacokinetic and other multi-gene risk factors with the adverse effects to venlafaxine medication in late-life depression. She has published research articles and presented research findings in the areas of pharmacotherapy and pharmacogenetics.
Xiaoyu received this year’s award for the project: Predicting Venlafaxine-Induced Adverse Effects in Late-Life Depression using mPRS and Population Pharmacokinetic Modelling.
The goal of her project is to develop a predictive model for antidepressant-induced adverse effects, analyzing the contribution of multiple genetic risk factors in the variability of antidepressant-induced adverse effects. Furthermore, the study will examine whether drug exposure, estimated by population pharmacokinetic (PK) models, mediates the impact of genetic factors on adverse effects.
