Nephrology investigator Dr. Casey Dorr interviewed for the FDA’s OMHHE Health Equity Lecture Series for National Native American Heritage Month

Federal Food &  Drug Administration (FDA) Associate Commissioner for Minority Health and Director for the Office of Minority Health and Health Equity (OMHHE) Cheryl Anne Boyce, PhD, interviewed Hennepin Healthcare Research Institute (HHRI) Investigator Casey Dorr, PhD, MS, for the FDA’s OMHHE Health Equity Lecture Series for National Native American Month on November 13, 2024.

During the webinar, they discussed Dr. Dorr’s research in pharmacogenomics and his ongoing work to improve representation among researchers, including Native American researchers and other underrepresented populations.

First-generation Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe descendant, Dr. Dorr, is an Investigator of Nephrology at HHRI and an Assistant Professor at the University of Minnesota (U of M) Department of Medicine in the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension. Dr. Dorr is also the Co-Director of the Pathways to Research Program (PReP) & Advanced Pathways to Research Program (A-PReP) at the Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute at the U of M. Let’s dive into what Dr. Boyce and Dr. Dorr discussed during their time together.

What is pharmacogenomics?

Pharmacogenomics is a relatively new field of study. Pharmacogenomics is how a person’s genetics impact their response to drugs with can include efficacy or toxicities. While studying kidney transplantation, it led Dr. Dorr to the study of pharmacogenomics. The right dosage for the right person is the golden ticket to finding out how drugs metabolize in a person’s body. A person can metabolize a drug(s) quickly or slowly and that will have a significant impact on the therapeutic dosages needed, particularly those living with kidney disease.

Through his team’s research, Dr. Dorr found that underrepresented communities, particularly in Black communities, have worse outcomes with kidney disease and transplants in part due to incorrect prescription dosages. Patients with kidney disease and those with kidney transplants are prescribed upwards of 20 pills per day, including anti-rejection medications, making Dr. Dorr’s work crucial to improving health inequities through increased diversity in research. 

How do you improve Native American health outcomes?

Dorr received mentorship from his Ojibwe elders, Ben Clark, and Rick Smith, teaching him the importance of community. “One of the things I believe in is that we have to give back to our community and that we train the future generations of Native Scientists and other minority populations.”

With this in mind, Dorr is a very active member of both the American Indian Science and Engineering Society and the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics (AISES), and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS). He is a strong advocate for improving Native Americans' social determinants of health. By increasing access to healthy foods, self-sufficiency, healthcare options, access to education, socioeconomic status, and improving lifestyle overall, these changes would improve kidney disease and health outcomes overall.

Why is diversity so important to research?

Diversity is important not only in the patient populations involved in medical research, but also within the representation of physician researchers. It’s imperative that researchers originate from across the globe and from different backgrounds, graduate from different schools, learn different schools of thought from their elders and mentors, and hold different values. This variety brings about a metamorphosis of ideas.

“Diversity drives innovation. If someone else has a different way to get to the same answer, it is eventually valid. So, a lot of innovation in science can be driven [through] diversity of thought, diversity of people, and I really value that.”

How does Dr. Dorr give back to the community?                                     

Dorr has now reached many career milestones, including reaching the faculty level at the U of M, putting him in a philanthropic mood. He does this through teaching researchers in underrepresented communities as the Co-Director of the Pathways to Research Program (PReP) & Advanced Pathways to Research Program (A-PReP) at the Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute at the University of Minnesota (U of MN).

While he teaches the traditional curriculum, he also engrains the importance of non-research skills like how to network, how to make research posters, how to translate complex topics into simple language for non-research audiences, and how to be more resilient in the face of constant scientific rejections and failures.

How could precision medicine shape the future?

Dorr is hopeful for the future of pharmacogenomics and how it can create personalized approaches to medicine.

“What we’d like to see is where a patient goes into the doctor, and they can get a DNA test and then it pops up with this score. It says, ok, this patient needs ‘x’ dose of drug ‘x.’ Or do not mix these drugs for this patient and so that we can give patients the right doses of the right drugs at the right combinations.”

Watch the full interview: National Native American Heritage Month: A Conversation with Dr. Casey Dorr