Research on codeine in breastmilk wins award

Parvaz Madadi, BMSc, a graduate student at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry at The University of Western Ontario, has been awarded the prestigious 2008 David J. Goldstein Trainee Award by the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (ASCPT). Her winning research abstract is entitled "A toxicogenetic case-control study of codeine toxicity during breastfeeding." Madadi received the award at the Annual Meeting in Orlando, Florida.

"It is an honour to receive this recognition," says Madadi. "Our work questions the safety of codeine during breastfeeding for certain infants and leads the way for further investigation in this important topic." Madadi is a PhD student working in clinical pharmacology with Dr. Gideon Koren as her supervisor. She received her BMSc from Western.

The David J. Goldstein Trainee Award was established to recognize the trainee(s) with the highest scoring abstract(s). The award was established in honor of David J. Goldstein, MD, PhD, a longtime ASCPT member and supporter of trainees. Dr. Bridgette Jones of Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City also received the award this year.

Madadi and Jones also received the Presidential Trainee Award, along with 17 others for outstanding scientific achievement as selected by their ASCPT peers.

ASCPT has 21-hundred members worldwide and is the leading forum for the exchange, development, and integration of translational science into the drug development continuum from discovery to safe and effective medication use.