PhD student in pharmaceutical sciences
Virginia Commonwealth University School of Pharmacy
Ola AlAzzeh, BSc, MSc, PhD Student
Pharmaceutical Sciences, Virginia Commonwealth University
Ola AlAzzeh is a 3rd year PhD student in Pharmaceutical Sciences at Virginia Commonwealth University, specializing in pharmacogenomics. She joined Dr. Joseph McClay lab to pursue her PhD in 2022, where her work focuses on developing a robust framework for extracting adverse drug reaction (ADR) phenotypes from electronic health records (EHRs) and utilizing genome-wide association studies (GWAS) to identify genetic variants associated with central nervous system (CNS) medication-induced ADRs. By uncovering genetic risk factors, her work aims to advance personalized medicine and improve medication safety.
Ola holds a Master of Science in Clinical Pharmacy from Jordan University of Science and Technology and a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from Philadelphia University, Jordan. Before beginning her PhD journey, she worked as an ambulatory clinical pharmacist, clinical preceptor, and lecturer in pharmacy education in Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Her well-balanced experience in clinical practice, research, and academia fueled her passion for applying genomics in clinical practice to enhance drug safety and efficacy, advancing the discovery of genetic biomarkers, and translating genetic research into clinical applications.