Kate E. Kyler, MD, MSc, FAAP
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine; Education Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, University of Kansas School of Medicine
Full Biography
Kate Kyler, MD, MSc, FAAP, Hospital Medicine, received a $945,931 K23 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The funding is for her study “Systemic Corticosteroid Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamic Biomarker Identification in Children with Asthma and Obesity” and covers a project period of May 1, 2025-April 30, 2030 (Award No. 1K23HL173648-01A1).
As Dr. Kyler explains, children with asthma and obesity have worse outcomes and poorer response to medications used to treat asthma symptoms, such as systemic corticosteroids (SCS), compared to lean children with asthma. Currently, the pharmacologic mechanisms underlying these differences and their associations with obesity aren’t well understood.
The goal of this study is to find out how having obesity affects how asthma medicine works in the body. To do this, Dr. Kyler and her team are comparing how the medicine moves through and affects the bodies of kids with asthma who have obesity and those with an average weight.
“It’s important to grow our understanding of obesity-related differences in inflammation and drug processing and response during asthma attacks. My hope is to improve steroid safety and response for these kids through obesity-focused dose optimization," said Dr. Kyler.
This K23 grant will support Dr. Kyler on her path to becoming an independent clinician scientist in the field of pharmacokinetic (PK) modeling and pharmacodynamic (PD) biomarker development for children with asthma and obesity.
Mentors on the study include Bridgette Jones, MD, MSCR, Clinical Pharmacology & Toxicology, Elin Grundberg, PhD, Genomic Medicine Center, Ann Davis, PhD, MPH, ABPP, Center for Healthy Lifestyles and Nutrtion and University of Kansas Medical Center, and Daniel Gonzalez, PharmD, PhD, Duke University School of Medicine.
“This work will position Dr. Kyler to become a leader in the field of precision therapeutics for children with asthma and obesity, able to link pharmacologic translational science to the bedside for performance of pediatric clinical trials,” said Dr. Jones and Dr. Grundberg.
The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.