Meet Bruce Yacyshyn, MD, FRCPC, FACG, AGAF
Dr. Yacyshyn is a gastroenterologist/internist with over 35 years of award-winning experience focusing on translational/clinical research of gastroenterology, hepatology, and nutrition. Unique to Medpace is our emphasis on scientific and medical expertise, which is especially important for gastroenterology and hepatology clinical development. In his role as Vice President in the Medical Department, Dr. Yacyshyn helps develop a strategic direction that provides medical leadership and guidance and sets the stage for your compound’s success.
As a Professor of Medicine, currently appointed as Adjunct Professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Systems Physiology at the University of Cincinnati, he has had a career-long passion for translational research including early and late-phase drug development. Being part of teams leading the initial development of new drug platforms and diagnostic biomarkers has given him a series of new insights that were based in his clinical and research training, and have been focused since into the serious and unmet diseases that he treats.
In this brief interview, we learn more about his background and the expertise Dr. Yacyshyn brings to Medpace.
Tell us about your background: what expertise do you bring to Medpace?
I am an academic gastroenterologist and translational clinical researcher with a special interest in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease), gut inflammation, functional bowel disorders, enteric infections, big-data analysis, -OMICS applications to clinical medicine, models of disease and pre-clinical and early stage drug development. I served my fellowship at Washington University in St. Louis in gastroenterology and gut immunology and have been active in that area since. I now act as Adjunct Professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Systems Physiology at the University of Cincinnati. In addition, my published work in peer-reviewed medical and scientific literature recently ranked in the top 10% of all physicians nationally in Doximity’s 2022 citation report.
How does your prior experience translate into the work you do with Medpace?
My years of experience as a clinical director for inpatient and outpatient care in the liver, including pre-and post-liver transplant recipients, and nutrition patients have provided me with an excellent understanding of this space and the unmet needs within this therapeutic area. I’ve been a leading investigator for a number of global clinical trials that have resulted in the development of new classes of drugs for the treatment of a range of GI disorders including biologic drugs (vedolizumab), molecular therapeutics (antisense oligonucleotides) small molecules (mesalamine and bismuth subsalicylate) probiotics (BIfidobacter infantus), potential cell therapies (organoids), and diagnostics (-omics technologies). Through my work at Medpace, I am well-situated to leverage these experiences and interests by working closely with colleagues and sponsors to advance the development of novel and effective therapeutics.
What are some challenges, considerations, or risks that are specific to GI and Hepatology clinical development?
As someone that has been involved in the early stages of our understanding of the immune system in this area, I’ve been fortunate to witness many improvements in the clinical development process. One of the challenges we’re still facing in GI and hepatology clinical trial execution is a lack of response from patients to some of the biologic drugs being developed. It seems that we’ve hit a wall in terms of achieving higher responses, which may lead to the use of a combination of drugs for therapeutics instead of single agents. As a result, this may lead to more complex clinical trials.
We would welcome the opportunity to talk about your upcoming clinical development in gastro and liver diseases. Learn more about our capabilities in gastroenterology and contact us to connect with our internal experts.