Rate My Professor Simran Maggo

Dr. Simran Maggo earned her PhD in Pharmacology from the University of Otago, where her doctoral research investigated the effects of HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors, commonly known as statins, on learning and memory using guinea pig models. During her PhD studies in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, she contributed to the New Zealand Pharmacovigilance Centre by monitoring adverse drug reactions reported from medications. Following her doctorate, Maggo served as a research assistant in the same department in Dunedin from February 2010 to January 2011. She then held a postdoctoral position in the Department of Pathology and Biomedical Science at the University of Otago, Christchurch, starting in September 2014, focusing on the genetic basis of drug-induced adverse drug reactions.

Maggo's research specializes in pharmacogenetics, examining genetic variants associated with adverse drug responses, particularly in genes such as CYP2D6, CYP2C9, and CYP2C19. She has supervised postgraduate students on projects including the allelic diversity of CYP2D6 in Māori and Pasifika populations, applications of second- and third-generation sequencing in pharmacogenetics, and pharmacogenetics of adverse drug reactions. Her contributions include developing platforms like UDRUGS for genomic investigation of drug reactions. Key publications encompass 'Effects of HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors on learning and memory in the guinea pig' (2014, with John C. Ashton), 'Common CYP2D6, CYP2C9, and CYP2C19 Gene Variants in a New Zealand Antidepressant Response Cohort' (2019), 'Nanopore Sequencing of the Pharmacogene CYP2D6 Reveals Greater Diversity than Conventional Methods' (2019, with Yusmiati Liau et al.), 'Pharmacogenetics of Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitor-Induced Angioedema' (2019, with Yusmiati Liau et al.), and 'Pharmacogenetics of Statin-Induced Myotoxicity' (2020, with Ping Siu Kee et al.). Through these efforts, Maggo has advanced understanding of personalized prescribing to mitigate drug toxicities in psychiatry, cardiovascular therapy, and beyond, influencing clinical pharmacogenomics in New Zealand.