Dr. Reza Mehvar

Dr. Reza Mehvar

Professor, Chair, Department of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences
School of Pharmacy
Expertise: Pharmacokinetics; Pharmacodynamics; Drug Disposition; Drug Metabolism; Liver Diseases;
Office Location: Rinker Health Science Campus 257
Phone: (714) 516-5490
Education:
University of Tehran, Doctor of Pharmacy
University of Alberta, Ph.D.

Biography

Dr. Mehvar is Professor and Chair of the Department of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences at Chapman University School of Pharmacy. Dr. Mehvar received his Pharm.D. degree from the University of Tehran College of Pharmacy (Tehran, Iran) and his Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences (Pharmacokinetics) from the University of Alberta Faculty of Pharmacy (Edmonton, Canada).

In 1988, Dr. Mehvar joined Drake University College of Pharmacy in Des Moines, IA (USA) as an Assistant Professor of Pharmaceutics where he was eventually promoted to Professor of Pharmaceutics prior to joining Texas Tech School of Pharmacy in 1999. At Texas Tech, he served as Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Interim Co-Chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Director of the Pharmacokinetics Core of the Clinical Pharmacology & Experimental Therapeutics Center.

During his academic career, Dr. Mehvar has taught professional and graduate pharmacokinetics courses and conducted research in the areas of pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, hepatobiliary disposition of xenobiotics, and pharmacokinetic-based targeted drug delivery approaches. His laboratory research, which has been published in more than 100 peer-reviewed articles, has been consistently supported by several grants from the National Institutes of Health, pharmaceutical industry, and state and local foundations and agencies. Additionally, he has published 20 peer-reviewed educational articles related to ability-based learning approaches, online tools for active learning in pharmacokinetics, and curricular outcome assessment strategies.

Dr. Mehvar has received several awards for both his teaching and research accomplishments, including multiple American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) Innovation in Teaching Awards, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center President’s Excellence in Research Award, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center President’s Excellence in Teaching Award, and Texas Tech University System Chancellor’s Council Distinguished Teaching Award. In 2014, Dr. Mehvar was inducted into the Academy of the Pharmacology Educators of the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET). Additionally, Dr. Mehvar was a recipient of the inaugural AACP Distinguished Teaching Scholar Award in 2016, which recognizes excellence in academic pharmacy faculty engaged in and/or supporting scholarly teaching and the scholarship of teaching and learning.

Research Interests

Dr. Mehvar’s research is focused on the role of the liver in drug disposition and the pharmacological approaches to treat liver diseases. With regard to drug disposition, recent studies in his laboratory have focused on the inflammatory mediators, such as cytokines and nitric oxide, affecting cytochrome P450-mediated drug metabolism. As for the liver diseases, the focus has been on the reduction of rejection in liver transplantation and attenuation of cold and warm ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury. The latter studies have resulted in the development of a novel dextran prodrug of methylprednisolone, which selectively accumulates in the liver, releasing the active drug for an extended period of time (> two weeks) and reducing the IR injury and graft rejection after transplantation in animal models. Very recently, his laboratory has focused on the effects of hepatic IR injury and other liver diseases on the transporter- and/or cytochrome P450-mediated hepatobiliary and brain disposition of drugs. In particular, his group is interested in investigating how liver diseases might affect the blood-brain barrier permeability and P450-mediated metabolism in the brain as they relate to neurologic complications observed after liver surgical procedures. Dr. Mehvar also conducts educational research related to ability-based learning approaches, online tools for active learning in pharmacokinetics, and curricular outcome assessment strategies.

Recent Creative, Scholarly Work and Publications

Alshammari N, Chandrashekar DV, Rashid M, Mehvar R. Differential expression and activities of cytochrome P450 3A in the rat brain microsomes and mitochondria. Fundam Clin Pharmacol. 2023 Apr;37(2):359-368. doi: 10.1111/fcp.12848. Epub 2022 Nov 17. PMID: 36345268.
Chandrashekar DV, DuBois BN, Rashid M, Mehvar R. Effects of chronic cirrhosis induced by intraperitoneal thioacetamide injection on the protein content and Michaelis-Menten kinetics of cytochrome P450 enzymes in the rat liver microsomes. Basic Clin Pharmacol Toxicol. 2023 Feb;132(2):197-210. doi: 10.1111/bcpt.13813. Epub 2022 Nov 24. PMID: 36370118; PMCID: PMC10100077. Copy
Noorani B, Chowdhury EA, Alqahtani F, Ahn Y, Nozohouri E, Zoubi S, Patel D, Wood L, Huang J, Siddique MB, Al-Ahmad A, Mehvar R, Bickel U. Effects of Volatile Anesthetics versus Ketamine on Blood-Brain Barrier Permeability via Lipid-Mediated Alterations of Endothelial Cell Membranes. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 2023 May;385(2):135-145. doi: 10.1124/jpet.122.001281. Epub 2023 Feb 24. PMID: 36828631.
Alwadei N, Rashid M, Chandrashekar DV, Rahighi S, Totonchy J, Sharma A, Mehvar R. Generation and Characterization of CYP2E1-Overexpressing HepG2 Cells to Study the Role of CYP2E1 in Hepatic Hypoxia-Reoxygenation Injury. Int J Mol Sci. 2023 May 1;24(9):8121. doi: 10.3390/ijms24098121. PMID: 37175827; PMCID: PMC10179595.
Rezaei H, Khoubnasabjafari M, Jouyban-Gharamaleki V, Hamishehkar H, Afshar Mogaddam MR, Rahimpour E, Mehvar R, Jouyban A. A new method for investigating bioequivalence of inhaled formulations: A pilot study on salbutamol. J Pharm Pharm Sci. 2023 May 3;26:11466. doi: 10.3389/jpps.2023.11466. PMID: 37206631; PMCID: PMC10188931.
Rahman MA, Chandrashekar DV, Nam YW, Syed B, Salehi D, Aliabadi HM, Zhang M, Mehvar R. Development and validation of an ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method to investigate the plasma pharmacokinetics of a KCa 2.2/KCa 2.3 positive allosteric modulator in mice. Rapid Commun Mass Spectrom. 2023 Aug 15;37(15):e9537. doi: 10.1002/rcm.9537. PMID: 37184249; PMCID: PMC10330529.
Mehvar R, Beuttler R. Effects of Transition from Closed-Book to Open-Book Assessment on Students' Scores in a Pharmacokinetics Course. Pharmacy (Basel). 2023 Aug 23;11(5):134. doi: 10.3390/pharmacy11050134. PMID: 37736906; PMCID: PMC10514878.
Noorani B, Chowdhury EA, Alqahtani F, Sajib MS, Ahn Y, Nozohouri E, Patel D, Mikelis C, Mehvar R, Bickel U. A Semi-Physiological Three-Compartment Model Describes Brain Uptake Clearance and Efflux of Sucrose and Mannitol after IV Injection in Awake Mice. Pharm Res. 39:251-261 (2022).
Chandrashekar DV, DuBois B, Mehvar R. UPLC-MS/MS Analysis of the Michaelis-Menten Kinetics of CYP3A-Mediated Midazolam 1'– and 4–Hydroxylation in Rat Brain Microsomes. J. Chromatogr. B, 1180: 122892 (2021).
DuBois BN, Amirrad F, Mehvar R. A Comparison of Calcium Aggregation and Ultracentrifugation Methods for the Preparation of Rat Brain Microsomes for Drug Metabolism Studies. Pharmacology. 2021;106(11-12):687-692. doi: 10.1159/000519667. Epub 2021 Oct 18. PMID: 34662883.
Mehvar R, A Simple and Flexible Model to Calculate Annual Merit Raises for Health Sciences Faculty. Comput. Biol. Med. 116: 103533 (2020).
Chandrashekar DV, Mehvar R. UPLC-MS/MS Analysis of CYP1A-Mediated Ethoxyresorufin-O-Deethylation Activity in the Rat Kidney Microsomes. J. Chromatogr. B 1153 (2020) 122272.
Noorani B, Chowdhury EA, Alqahtani F, Ahn Y, Patel D, Al-Ahmad A, Mehvar R, Bickel U. LC-MS/MS-based In Vitro and In Vivo Investigation of Blood-Brain Barrier Integrity by Simultaneous Quantitation of Mannitol and Sucrose. Fluids Barriers CNS, 17: 61 (2020).
DuBois B, Amirrad, F, and Mehvar R. Kinetics of Dextromethorphan-O-Demethylase Activity and Distribution of CYP2D in Four Commonly-Used Subcellular Fractions of Rat Brain. Xenobiotica, 49: 1133-1142 (2019).
Chowdhury EA, Alqahtani F, Bhattacharya R, Mehvar R, and Bickel U. Simultaneous UPLC–MS/MS Analysis of Two Stable Isotope Labeled Versions of Sucrose in Mouse Plasma and Brain Samples as Markers of Blood-Brain Barrier Permeability and Brain Vascular Space. J. Chromatogr. B Analyt. Technol. Biomed. Life Sci., 1073: 19-26 (2018).
Mehvar R and Beuttler, R. Effects of a Multicourse, Composite Examination Method on the Performance of PharmD Students in a Basic Pharmacokinetics Course. Am. J. Pharm. Educ., 82: Article 6286 (2018).
Mehvar R, Clearance Concepts: Fundamentals and Application to Pharmacokinetic Behavior of Drugs. J. Pharm. Pharm. Sci., 21s: 88s-102s (2018).
DuBois B and Mehvar R, UPLC-MS/MS Analysis of Dextromethorphan-O-Demethylation Kinetics in Rat Brain Microsomes. J. Chromatogr. B Analyt. Technol. Biomed. Life Sci., 1096: 66-72 (2018).
Alqahtani F Chowdhury EA, Bhattacharya R, Noorani B, Mehvar R, and Bickel U. Brain Uptake of [13C] and [14C]Sucrose Quantified by Microdialysis and Whole Tissue Analysis in Mice. Drug Metab. Dispos., 46: 1514-1518 (2018).
Mehvar R. Why Every Aspect of Academic Pharmacy Career Should be Viewed Through the Lens of Scholarship. Am. J. Pharm. Educ., 81: Article 2 (2017).
Miah MK, Chowdhury, EA, Bickel U, and Mehvar R. Evaluation of [14C] and [13C]Sucrose as Blood-Brain Barrier Permeability Markers. J. Pharm. Sci., 106:1659-1669 (2017). Selected by the Editors as the Most Original and Most Significant Findings Article.
Miah MK, Bickel U, and Mehvar R. Effects of Hepatic Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury on the Blood-Brain Barrier Permeability to [14C] and [13C]Cucrose. Metab. Brain Dis., 32:1903-1912 (2017).
Mehvar R. Application of Organ Clearance to Estimation of the In Vivo Hepatic Extraction Ratio. Curr. Clin. Pharmacol., 11:47-52 (2016).
Miah MK, Bickel U, and Mehvar R. Development and Validation of a Sensitive UPLC-MS/MS Method for the Quantitation of [13C]Sucrose in Rat Plasma, Blood, and Brain: Its Application to the Measurement of Blood-Brain Barrier Permeability. J. Chromatogr. B Analyt. Technol. Biomed. Life Sci., 1015:105-110 (2016).
Mehvar R. Fractional Clearance for Verapamil N-Demethylation in the Isolated Rat Liver Preparation. Drug Metab. Dispos. 43: 1056-1057 (2015).
Miah MK, Shaik IH, Bickel U, and Mehvar R. Effects of Pringle Maneuver and Partial Hepatectomy on the Pharmacokinetics and Blood-Brain Barrier Permeability of Sodium Fluorescein in Rats. Brain Res., 1618:249-260 (2015).
Miah MK, Shaik IH, Bickel U, and Mehvar R. Effects of Hepatic Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury on the P-Glycoprotein Activity at the Liver Canalicular Membrane and Blood-Brain Barrier Determined by In Vivo Administration of Rhodamine 123 in Rats. Pharm. Res., 31:861-873 (2014).
Edpuganti, V and Mehvar R, UHPLC-MS/MS Analysis of Arachidonic Acid and 10 of Its Major Cytochrome P450 Metabolites as Free Acids in Rat Livers: Effects of Hepatic Ischemia. J. Chromatogr. B Analyt. Technol. Biomed. Life Sci. 964: 153-163 (2014).
Holford S, Allegaert K, Anderson BJ, Kukanich B, Sousa AB, Steinman A, Pypendop B, Mehvar R, Giorgi M, and Holford N. Parent-Metabolite Pharmacokinetic Models for Tramadol – Tests of Assumptions and Predictions. J. Pharmacol. Clin. Toxicol. 2:1023 (2014).

Faculty Directories by School or College