Urs A Meyer

Life

Meyer is professor emeritus of pharmacology. He obtained his M.D. at the University of Zurich in 1967 and worked as assistant professor in clinical pharmacology at the University of California, San Francisco. In 1974, he became Head of Clinical Pharmacology at the University Hospital of Zurich. From 1983 to 2008, Meyer carried out research and taught as professor of pharmacology at the Biozentrum University of Basel, where he also acted as Chairman. He has served in various World Health Organization and National Institutes of Health functions and was president of the Clinical Section of the Swiss National Science Foundation.

Work

Meyer is best known for his research in the field of pharmacogenomics and personalized medicine. He investigated the influence of environmental and genetic factors on drug action. Meyer recognized defects in the enzymes of heme biosynthesis to be the cause of porphyrias and discovered how drugs can precipitate acute hepatic porphyria. He identified genetic variants in the enzymes of the human cytochrome P450 system and showed that they explain the variable clinical response to drugs. Genetic variants of N-acetyltransferase were also discovered in his laboratory. Furthermore, Meyer contributed to the molecular mechanism by which drugs activate transcription factors such as nuclear receptors and thereby regulate the expression of drug metabolizing enzymes and drug transporters.

Awards and honors