Grant Abstract: An Informatics Framework for Discovery and Ascertainment of Drug-Supplement Interactions

Grant Number: 5R01AT009457-03
PI Name: Zhang
Project Title: An Informatics Framework for Discovery and Ascertainment of Drug-Supplement Interactions

Abstract: Most U.S. adults (68%) take dietary supplements and there is increasing evidence of drug-supplement interactions (DSIs); our ability to readily identify interactions between dietary supplements with prescription medications is currently very limited. To optimize the safe use of dietary supplements, there remains a critical and unmet need for informatics methods to detect DSIs. Our rationale is that an innovative translational informatics framework to discover potential DSIs from social media can complement our findings in biomedical literature. Our long-term goal is to use informatics approaches to enhance DSI clinical research and translate its findings to clinical practice ultimately via clinical decision support systems. The objective of this supplement application is to develop informatics methods to enable the enrichment of DS terminology and discovery of DSIs from social media (i.e., Twitter). Towards these objectives, we propose the following specific aims: (1) Extracting supplement terms and identifying usage information; and (2) Detecting signals of the DSIs and AEs associated with DS. The successful accomplishment of this project will provide additional new information to our findings in the parent award. This information is critical to subsequent efforts aimed at improving patient safety and efficacy of therapeutic interventions. The results from this study are imperative in order to achieve the ultimate goal of reducing an individual’s risk of potential DSIs.

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