Angela Birnbaum

Angela Birnbaum is a Professor in the Department of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology at the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy. She serves as Associate Director of the Center for Clinical and Cognitive Neuropharmacology and is a Fellow of The American Epilepsy Society (FAES). Her research focuses on translational clinical pharmacology with emphasis on special populations including the elderly, pregnant women, children, and those with drug addiction.

Dr. Birnbaum earned her PhD in Pharmacology (with a Neuroscience minor) from the University of Minnesota Department of Pharmacology. She completed her undergraduate studies with a Bachelor of Science and Medical Technology (BSMT) with chemistry minor from Ohio Northern University, along with a Bachelor of Biology (BS). She also completed a Medical Technology Internship at St. Rita's Medical Center and a Post-doctoral Fellowship in Clinical Neuropharmacology at the University of Minnesota.

Her research program centers on pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics in special populations, with particular expertise in antiepileptic drugs. She investigates drug concentration variability and response across different patient groups, with significant work on medications like lamotrigine, carbamazepine, and lacosamide. Her laboratory operates as a Pharmacokinetics Laboratory Core for various grant projects and explores drug stability both in vivo and in vitro.

Dr. Birnbaum's recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on pregnancy-related pharmacokinetics, particularly for antiepileptic medications, and pharmacokinetic considerations for vulnerable populations including neonates and critically ill patients. Her work combines pharmacometric modeling with clinical research to optimize drug dosing across diverse patient populations.

Among her notable recognitions:

• Fellow of The American Epilepsy Society (FAES)
• Designation as Center of Excellence for Model-based Drug Development (MBDD)
• Certara Center of Excellence designation for her program

Dr. Birnbaum has been principal investigator and collaborator on numerous research projects funded by the National Institutes of Health, pharmaceutical industry, instrumentation companies, and foundations. Her current projects include investigations into antiseizure medication exposure during pregnancy and breastfeeding, development of monoclonal antibodies to reverse fentanyl overdose, and clinical trials of multivalent opioid vaccine components.

Her laboratory, the Birnbaum Laboratory for Translational Clinical Neuropharmacology, operates as both an independent research program investigating drug effects on cognition and a Pharmacokinetics Laboratory Core supporting multiple research projects. The lab incorporates Certara's Phoenix software suite into thesis and research projects, reflecting their expertise in model-based drug development.