Jonathan B. Hoyne, Ph.D.

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SUMMARY

Jonathan B. Hoyne, Ph.D., develops new laboratory tests for a variety of diseases including cancer, endocrine, autoimmune and neurological disorders. He also researches post-transplant care. Tests help diagnose diseases, give information about their severity and determine if treatment is effective. Dr. Hoyne focuses on basic research and the discovery of new biomarkers in addition to the application of existing tests to improve people's care. His research involves using advanced technology such as mass spectrometry for conducting this research.

Focus areas

• Developing a test to monitor the level of the drug nimodipine in cerebral spinal fluid to aid in treatment of subarachnoid hemorrhage. Dr. Hoyne researches the development of a method to measure medicine at extremely low levels using mass spectrometry. He develops new tests to determine the sensitivity of a person's tumor to new experimental medicine.

  This project also involves the use of mass spectrometry to measure lipids in biopsy samples. A subset of the lipids in these samples have their lipid ratios changed dramatically when treated with medicine. These tumors tend to be some of the most aggressive tumors and the medicine has effects across a wide range of tumor models. Dr. Hoyne expects to evaluate the full set of lipids in a person's sample. This field of study is called lipidomics and it identifies potential new therapeutic targets. This knowledge also may yield information about side effects and how to avoid them. This data may evaluate whether a particular tumor is sensitive to a research drug or not. This project uses several types of mass spectrometry.

Significance to patient care

Treatment with nimodipine is used to avoid worsening after a subarachnoid hemorrhage. However, the amount of nimodipine a person has in their cerebral spinal fluid, from a standard dose, varies quite a bit. Too much nimodipine can cause hypotension, and too little may allow vasospasm in the affected vessels. This vasospasm prevents oxygen from reaching damaged tissues and risks increasing the effects of the hemorrhage. Dr. Hoyne hopes to measure the nimodipine and determine the variables that predict good versus poor outcomes by using artificial intelligence tools.

Professional highlights

• Association of Clinical Scientists:
  • Vice president, 2023-2024.
  • Clinical Scientist of the Year, 2022.
• Southeast chair, Association for Diagnostic and Laboratory Medicine, 2022.