ari scientists
Francesca Aweeka, PharmD
Dr. Francesca Aweeka is a professor of pharmacy at UCSF and director of the Drug Research Unit. Dr. Aweeka's accomplishments are in the areas of antiviral pharmacologic research, teaching, and clinical work related to kidney transplantation and HIV. Her primary research activities are in the area of pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic investigation of antiretrovirals. This includes assessing the pharmacokinetics of antiretrovirals in tissue compartments including specific cells and the cerebrospinal fluid and relating measures of exposure to declining viral load. These studies require use of state-of-the-art intracellular nucleoside triphosphate assays, free drug assays, and methods for CSF that have been developed and validated within the Drug Research Unit. A current focus is investigating drug-drug interactions relevant to international settings, including drugs for tuberculosis and malaria.
Dr. Aweeka is principal investigator for the Pharmacology Support Laboratory for the NIH-sponsored Adult and Pediatric AIDS Clinical Trials Groups (currently known as ACTG and IMPAACT). She has carried out several studies in women, including during pregnancy, and children.