Rate My Professor Brian Tsuji

Brian Tsuji, PharmD, is Professor of Pharmacy Practice at the University at Buffalo School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. He completed his Doctor of Pharmacy degree in 2003 followed by a fellowship in Dr. Michael Rybak's laboratory in Detroit, Michigan. Tsuji joined the University at Buffalo in 2005, advancing to receive tenure in 2013 and promotion to full professor in 2018. He holds positions as Associate Dean for Clinical and Translational Sciences, inaugural Edelman Endowed Chair in Experimental Therapeutics appointed in 2024, and Head of the Division of Clinical and Translational Therapeutics. He built the division from inception by assembling interdisciplinary teams of PharmD, PhD, and MD investigators, scientists, and students to address public health challenges. Tsuji led the development of the first Master of Science program in Clinical and Translational Therapeutics in the United States and an NIH T35 training program in collaboration with the UB School of Medicine, emphasizing education and training in health sciences.

Tsuji's research focuses on antimicrobial pharmacodynamics, investigating resistance mechanisms in multi-drug resistant Gram-negative bacteria known as superbugs, and pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic modeling of antimicrobials to prevent resistance emergence through novel hollow fiber infection models and bacterial genetic analysis. As principal investigator, he has secured multiple National Institutes of Health R01 grants, including a $3.92 million award representing the second largest in the school's history, to study novel antibiotic combinations against antibiotic-resistant pathogens. He is lead author of the International Polymyxin Dosing Guidelines providing global clinical guidance on last-resort antibiotics. With over 100 peer-reviewed manuscripts, key publications include 'International consensus guidelines for the optimal use of the polymyxins' (2019), 'Resurgence of colistin: a review of resistance, toxicity, pharmacodynamics, and dosing' (2010), 'Framework for optimisation of the clinical use of colistin and polymyxin B: the Prato polymyxin consensus' (2015), and 'Pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics of colistin and polymyxin B: are we there yet?' (2016). His laboratory has pioneered PK/PD relationships guiding antibiotic dose selection in Phase 1, 2, and 3 clinical trials, contributing to drug approvals and defining clinical applications. Tsuji received the 2020 SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities and is a Fellow of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (FCCP), Infectious Diseases Society of America (FIDSA), and Society of Critical Care Medicine (FCCM), as well as Past-President of the International Society of Antimicrobial Pharmacology.