Dr. Rachel Tyndale is a senior scientist in Molecular Science at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). She is also a professor in the Departments of Psychiatry, and Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Toronto.
Dr Tyndale has supervised over 150 scientists, post-doctoral fellows and graduate students, published >450 papers, reviews and book chapters, and given >250 invited presentations. Dr Tyndale has received >50 awards, including ISSX North American Scientific Achievement Award (2021), fellow of the AAAS (2020), CalTech Wiersma Visiting Professor of Neurobiology (2018), and the Faculty of Medicine Graduate teaching award (2017).
Additionally, Dr Tyndale is the Canada Research Chair in pharmacogenomics and was the endowed chair in addictions (2013-2016). She served as chair for the NIH Pharmacogenomics Research Network; she sits on the steering committee for Clinical Pharmacogenomics Implementation Consortium guidelines and for PharmVar. Dr Tyndale is a scientific advisory board member for Health Canada, Brain Canada, and the Canadian Council on Substance Abuse; she was a lead author for the Surgeon General’s 2020 report on smoking cessation. Dr Tyndale was an associate editor for CPT, and is an associate editor for P&T, and serves on the editorial board of DMD and Trends in Pharmacological Sciences.
Areas of Research
Dr. Tyndale investigates genetic risk factors for drug dependence to better understand the mechanisms involved with drug abuse and to optimize treatment approaches. Drugs under study include ethanol, opiates, benzodiazepines and amphetamines with a focus on nicotine and smoking. She is tackling the serious public health issue of smoking and trying to find answers to the questions why some people smoke more than others, and why some find it easier to quit. Dr. Tyndale’s goal is to use genetic information to personalize treatment for people who want to quit smoking. The techniques range from molecular identification and characterization of novel genetic polymorphisms to in vivo pharmacokinetic, abuse liability, epidemiological, and clinical treatment studies. Another area of her research involves the study of the unique regulation, function, and toxicity of cytochrome P450 enzymes in the central nervous system. Dr. Tyndale is assessing how commonly used drugs such as nicotine or ethanol regulate these enzymes and the subsequent impact on treatment drugs, as well as drugs of abuse. The techniques range from western blotting and mRNA approaches, to in vitro and in vivo drug metabolism, to behavioural/toxicity studies.
Publications
View Dr. Tyndale's publications on PubMed.