Dr. Perera is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Center for Pharmacogenomics at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine. With expertise in pharmacokinetics, clinical pharmacology and human genetics, Dr. Perera focuses her research interests on pharmacogenomics in minority populations. Examples of her work include identifying common genetic variants associated with warfarin dose and identifying genomic risk factors for venous thromboembolism, both in African Americans. Dr. Perera anticipates that results from these and other multidisciplinary studies will allow the development of an economically sustainable program in clinical pharmacogenetics, including a consult service. Overall, Dr. Perera's goal is to bring meaningful translation of pharmacogenetics research findings into clinical care, a goal very much consistent with precision medicine.
Recent Publications
- Huang, Z, Jack, M, O'Leary, KJ, Nutescu, EA, Chen, T, Ruhnke, GW, George, D, House, LK, Knoebel, R, Hartman, S et al.. Care Team Attributes Predict Likelihood of Utilizing Pharmacogenomic Information During Inpatient Prescribing. Clin Transl Sci 2025; 18 (4): e70193. PubMed PMID:40259529 PubMed Central PMC12011642.
- Perera, M. From genome to drug: the hidden story of diversity. Nat Rev Genet 2025; 26 (5): 296. PubMed PMID:40113984 .
- Singh, A, Alarcon, C, Nutescu, EA, O'Brien, TJ, Tuck, M, Gong, L, Klein, TE, Meltzer, DO, Johnson, JA, Cavallari, LH et al.. Local ancestry informed GWAS of warfarin dose requirement in African Americans identifies a novel CYP2C19 splice QTL. medRxiv 2025; : . PubMed PMID:40093246 PubMed Central PMC11908343.
- Yang, G, González, P, Moneró, M, Carrasquillo, K, Renta, JY, Hernandez-Suarez, DF, Botton, MR, Melin, K, Scott, SA, Ruaño, G et al.. Discovery of ancestry-specific variants associated with clopidogrel response among Caribbean Hispanics. NPJ Genom Med 2025; 10 (1): 20. PubMed PMID:40055373 PubMed Central PMC11889249.
- Carver, K, Clark, C, Zhong, Y, Yang, G, Mishra, M, Alarcon, C, Perera, M. MeQTL Mapping in African American Hepatocytes Reveals Shared Genetic Regulators of DNA Methylation and Gene Expression. bioRxiv 2025; : . PubMed PMID:39896509 PubMed Central PMC11785176.
- Yang, G, Alarcon, C, Chanfreau, C, Lee, NH, Friedman, P, Nutescu, E, Tuck, M, O'Brien, T, Gong, L, Klein, TE et al.. Investigation of Genomic and Transcriptomic Risk Factors of Clopidogrel Response in African Americans. Clin Pharmacol Ther 2025; 117 (5): 1313-1324. PubMed PMID:39868839 PubMed Central PMC11993291.
- Garofano, K, Mariani, V, Rashid, K, Suwunnakorn, S, Sidahmed, A, Horvath, A, Maggirwar, SB, O'Brien, TJ, Perera, MA, Whalen, M et al.. Transcriptomic and functional characterization of megakaryocytic-derived platelet-like particles: impaired aggregation and prominent anti-tumor effects. Platelets 2025; 36 (1): 2449344. PubMed PMID:39812346 PubMed Central PMC11890189.
- Brochu, HN, Song, K, Zhang, Q, Zeng, Q, Shafi, A, Robinson, M, Humphrey, J, Croy, B, Peavy, L, Perera, M et al.. A program for real-time surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 genetics. Sci Rep 2024; 14 (1): 20249. PubMed PMID:39215120 PubMed Central PMC11364650.
- Edirisinghe, EAHW, Athukorala, BN, Perera, M, Abeywardana, BASD, Sigera, PST, Eranga, P, Theekshana, KD, Boudjelal, M, Ali, R, Peiris, DC et al.. Jellyfish Venom Peptides Targeting Human Potassium Channels Identified through Ligand Screening: Morphometric and Molecular Identification of the Species and Antibiotic Potential. Mar Drugs 2024; 22 (8): . PubMed PMID:39195449 PubMed Central PMC11355547.
- Asiimwe, IG, Blockman, M, Cavallari, LH, Cohen, K, Cupido, C, Dandara, C, Davis, BH, Jacobson, B, Johnson, JA, Lamorde, M et al.. Meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies of stable warfarin dose in patients of African ancestry. Blood Adv 2024; 8 (20): 5248-5261. PubMed PMID:39163621 PubMed Central PMC11493193.
