Biography

Dr. Gafar received his master’s degree in clinical pharmacy from Andalas University in Padang, Indonesia. He completed his PhD at the University of Groningen on optimizing the treatment of tuberculosis in children and adolescents using epidemiological and pharmacological approaches. Dr. Gafar has led several national and international research collaborations, including individual patient data meta-analyses of the pharmacokinetics of anti-tuberculosis drugs. He is currently a postdoctoral researcher at McGill University under the FRQS Fellowship. Dr. Gafar is a member of the WHO Child and Adolescent Tuberculosis Working Group and the WHO Technical Advisory Group on TB Drug Dosing.

Expertise

TB Diagnostics
Public Health

Key Impacts

Population pharmacokinetic modelling of standard- and high-dose rifampicin for TB preventive therapy in the 2R2 randomised controlled trial

High-dose rifampicin for TPT resulted in greater-than-proportional exposure due to non-linear clearance at higher doses, with between-country variability affecting exposure. These findings are important for determining exposure-response relationships and should be considered when designing future trials involving high-dose rifampicin.

Source: Conference 2024