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Philip E. Empey

PharmD, PhD, FCCP
Associate Professor
Headshot of Philip E Empey
Philip E. Empey

Email:

pempey@pitt.edu

Phone:

412-648-7219

Office:

205 Salk Pavilion
3501 Terrace St
Pittsburgh, PA 15261
Accepting MS and PhD Students
Learn about Dr. Empey's Research

Biography

Dr. Philip Empey is a tenured Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmacy & Therapeutics and in the Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) at the University of Pittsburgh. He directs the Center for Clinical Pharmaceutical Sciences, is the Associate Director for Pharmacogenomics of the Pitt/UPMC Institute for Precision Medicine, and also directs the University of Pittsburgh - Thermo Fisher Scientific Pharmacogenomics Center of Excellence.

Dr. Empey is a Fellow of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy. As a clinician-scientist in the Department of Pharmacy and Therapeutics, Dr. Empey conducts NIH-funded clinical and translational research aimed at understanding the mechanisms of the variability in drug response to improve medication-related outcomes in critically-ill patients. Dr. Empey is a leader in pharmacogenomics, spearheading clinical implementation and innovative education through the Pittsburgh Pharmacogenomics (PittPGx) PreCISE-Rx program and Test2Learn teams. He has been principal investigator on several clinical trials and is co-principal investigator for the Pitt+Me Discovery Biobank which is advancing population scale preemptive pharmacogenomics testing (to >150,000 patients) in western Pennsylvania. He serves as chair of the Education Committee of the Pharmacogenomics Global Research Network, co-chair of the Pharmacogenomics Working Group for NHGRI's Intersociety Coordination Council for Practitioner Education in Genomics, and is co-chair of the Epic Pharmacogenomics Brain Trust to advance best practices for integration of pharmacogenomics in electronic health record. Dr. Empey has published over 130 manuscripts and book chapters and has presented more than 190 scientific abstracts.

Education / Training

  • PharmD - University of Rhode Island
  • PGY1 and PGY2 residencies in Pharmacy Practice and Critical Care - University of Kentucky
  • PhD in Clinical Pharmaceutical Sciences - University of Kentucky
  • Postdoctoral research training - University of Pittsburgh

Honors / Awards

  • 2025: Luminary Award, Precision Medicine World Conference
  • 2024: Double Helix Award for Excellence in Advancing Pharmacogenomics Through Collaboration, STRIPE/American Society of Pharmacovigilance 2023: Ascending Star Award, University of Pittsburgh
  • 2018: Chancellor's Distinguished Teacher Award, University of Pittsburgh
  • 2015: Innovations in Teaching Award, American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy
  • 2013: Young Investigator Award, Society of Critical Care Medicine

Research Interests

Dr. Empey's laboratory employs a bench-to-bedside approach to study pharmacokinetics and pharmacogenomics mechanisms of variation in drug response. This includes wet lab studies of drug transporter interactions, drug quantitation in various biological matrices, and genotype-phenotype discovery. We also employ data science techniques to model drug exposure in critically-ill populations and evaluate associations with clinical phenotypes. Finally, we leverage informatics and implementation science strategies to ensure discoveries translate to improvement in clinical care through clinical trials and pragmatic implementation programs. Our overall goal is to improve medication outcomes through precision medicine -- to apply knowledge of an individual's genetic, environmental, and lifestyle information to tailor medical decisions and treatments.

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