Rachel Tyndale

Rachel Tyndale PhD is head of Pharmacogenetics at the Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, the Canada Research Chair in Pharmacogenomics, and a Professor in the Departments of Pharmacology & Toxicology, and Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. She is the former Department of Psychiatry Chair in Addictions.

Dr. Tyndale sits on numerous scientific advisory boards, editorial boards, was chair for NIH’s PharmacoGenomics Research Network (PGRN.org), and is a lead writer for the 2018 Surgeon General’s Report on Tobacco Cessation. Dr. Tyndale has supervised over 100 scientists, post-doctoral fellows and graduate students, published over 300 papers and book chapters, given over 200 invited presentations and received over 40 awards in clinical and basic pharmacology.

Research Synopsis

Dr. Tyndale focuses on sources of variation between individuals in drug response in the clinical area of addictions, with a focus on smoking and opioids. Dr. Tyndale seeks to identify and understand risk factors, and underlying mechanisms, in substance abuse and to implement approaches to personalize treatment. Her laboratory program also has a major interest in understanding how interindividual variation in drug metabolizing enzymes within the brain alters drug and toxin effects.