Mariko Nakano

Biography

Dr. Mariko Nakano joined the Molecular Testing Labs after completing a post-doctoral fellowship at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, where she studied the highly polymorphic drug-metabolizing enzyme CYP2D6. Her research focus was to determine and predict CYP2D6-mediated drug-drug interactions for various genotypes. Before the FDA fellowship, she investigated the molecular mechanism of CYP3A4 inactivation by bioactivated ritonavir as a post-doctoral fellow under Dr. Kent Kunze in the University of Washington Medicinal Chemistry Department. She received her Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry from the University of Washington under the supervision of Dr. Allan Rettie in 2011. Her graduate work included characterizing the role of a previously orphan cytochrome P450 enzyme – CYP4V2 – in saturated and unsaturated fatty acid homeostasis. Dr. Nakano has published her work in multiple peer-reviewed journals and presented her research at national and international conferences.

Research Interest

Medicinal Chemistry, Genotypes