Winnie Seto, Assistant Professor - Status

Area of Research

Winnie Seto conducts clinical pharmacy research in pediatric patients with a focus on pharmacokinetics, medication use in critically ill pediatric patients, application of clinical epidemiological principles and study designs for clinical pharmacy practice research in pediatric patients.

Research Challenge

There is a significant knowledge gap in pharmacy practice for critically ill pediatric patients in terms of drug dosing, efficacy and toxicity. In order to treat pediatric patients, pharmacists often need to extrapolate from evidence for adult patients, which is not ideal nor optimal for pharmaceutical care in pediatric patients.

Randomized controlled trials are the best way to generate evidence for drug dosing in adults but are often not feasible in pediatric populations due to a variety of issues, including small sample sizes, ethical concerns and challenges with potential risks and consent.

Proposed Solution

Seto and her team aim to generate evidence about drug dosing in pediatric patients to maximize efficacy and minimize toxicity, with the goal of improving treatments for critically ill children. Clinicians and researchers must generate evidence-based practice using creative alternative study methods for pediatric patients.

Impact to Date

The team conducts pharmacokinetic studies using retrospective data and pharmacokinetic modelling simulations to generate dosing guidelines. They then use prospective cohorts to validate such dosing guidelines. This evidence-based approach generates therapeutic drug monitoring guidelines that inform practice within the Hospital for Sick Children and other pediatric centres.