Dr Shu Ren

Dr Shu Ren

Lecturer

School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy

Career Summary

Biography

Shu joined the Pharmacy academic team in 2022 to support the re-accreditation process for the B.Pharm(Hons) program, which we successfully passed in 2023.

Shu now teaches two days a week in Year 3 and Year 4 PHAR courses within the BPharm(Hons) program. He enjoys the interaction with students, especially in workshops and dispensing labs. Shu will continue to review and improve student experiences and learning outcomes in PHAR courses.

On other days, he works in the John Hunter Hospital Stroke team as a research pharmacist, coordinating various local and international clinical trials in acute stroke treatment and prevention.

Shu is passionate about patient’s medicines management and related research, and has witnessed many amazing stroke recoveries with the timely use of medicines, and the significant quality of life outcomes for his patients and their families.

Shu was awarded his PhD in Clinical Pharmacology here at the University of Newcastle in 2021. Previously he has had more than 10 years of experience working as a clinical pharmacist in NSW public hospitals, most recently in oncology/haematology at Calvary Mater Newcastle.


Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy in Clinical Pharmocology, University of Newcastle
  • Bachelor of Pharmacy with Honours, University of Sydney

Keywords

  • clinical pharmacology
  • clinical trial
  • hospital pharmacy
  • stroke

Languages

  • English (Fluent)
  • Mandarin (Mother)

Fields of Research

Code Description Percentage
321402 Clinical pharmacology and therapeutics 50
320101 Cardiology (incl. cardiovascular diseases) 50

Professional Experience

UON Appointment

Title Organisation / Department
Clinical Trials Research Associate University of Newcastle
School of Medicine and Public Health
Australia
Lecturer University of Newcastle
School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy
Australia
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Publications

For publications that are currently unpublished or in-press, details are shown in italics.


Conference (2 outputs)

Year Citation Altmetrics Link
2024 Hasnain M, Garcia-Esperon C, Parsons M, Miteff F, Spratt N, Churilov L, Sharma G, Butcher K, Bladin C, Yan B, Russell M, Ren S, Levi C, 'STROKE IN PATIENTS WITH VERY LARGE ISCHAEMIC CORE: ASSESSMENT OF REPERFUSION THERAPY IMPACT ON OUTCOME (SICARIO) BAYESIAN OPTIMAL PHASE 2 TRIAL', INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF STROKE, 19, 182-182 (2024)
Co-authors Christopher Levi
2024 Garcia-Esperon C, Parsons M, Miteff F, Spratt N, Bivard A, Churilov L, Butcher K, Holliday L, Bladin C, Yan B, Gao L, Cheung A, Easton D, Russell M, Ren S, Levi C, 'Stroke in patients with very large Ischaemic Core: Assessment of Reperfusion therapy Impact on Outcome (SICARIO) trial', CEREBROVASCULAR DISEASES, 53, 146-146 (2024)
Co-authors Christopher Levi, Carlos Garciaesperon, Neil Spratt

Journal article (9 outputs)

Year Citation Altmetrics Link
2023 Attia J, Horvat JC, Hunter T, Hansbro PM, Hure A, Peel R, Ren S, Dizon J, Chiu S, Srikusalanukul W, Greenough R, Abhyaratna WP, 'Persistence of Detectable Anti-Pneumococcal Antibodies 4 Years After Pneumococcal Polysaccharide Vaccination in a Randomised Controlled Trial: The Australian Study for the Prevention through Immunisation of Cardiovascular Events (AUSPICE)', HEART LUNG AND CIRCULATION, 32, 1378-1385 (2023) [C1]
DOI 10.1016/j.hlc.2023.09.006
Citations Scopus - 3
Co-authors Alexis Hure, Jay Horvat, John Attia, David Newby, David Durrheim, Mark Mcevoy, Christopher Levi
2022 van der Westhuizen A, Lyle M, Graves MC, Zhu X, Wong JWH, Cornall K, Ren S, Pugliese L, Levy R, Majid AJ, Vilain RE, Bowden NA, 'Repurposing azacitidine and carboplatin to prime immune checkpoint blockade-resistant melanoma for anti-PD-L1 re-challenge', Cancer Research Communications, 2, 814-826 (2022) [C1]
DOI 10.1158/2767-9764.crc-22-0128
Citations Scopus - 5Web of Science - 2
Co-authors Nikola Bowden, Moira Graves
2022 Ren S, Hansbro PM, Srikusalanukul W, Horvat JC, Hunter T, Brown AC, Peel R, Faulkner J, Evans T-J, Newby D, Hure A, Abhayaratna WP, Tsimikas S, Gonen A, Witztum JL, Attia J, Li SC, AUSPICE I, 'Generation of cardio-protective antibodies after pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine: Early results from a randomised controlled trial', ATHEROSCLEROSIS, 346, 68-74 (2022) [C1]

Background and aims: Observational studies have demonstrated that the pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPV) is associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular events. This may ... [more]

Background and aims: Observational studies have demonstrated that the pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPV) is associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular events. This may be mediated through IgM antibodies to OxLDL, which have previously been associated with cardioprotective effects. The Australian Study for the Prevention through Immunisation of Cardiovascular Events (AUSPICE) is a double-blind, randomised controlled trial (RCT) of PPV in preventing ischaemic events. Participants received PPV or placebo once at baseline and are being followed-up for incident fatal and non-fatal myocardial infarction or stroke over 6 years. Methods: A subgroup of participants at one centre (Canberra; n = 1,001) were evaluated at 1 month and 2 years post immunisation for changes in surrogate markers of atherosclerosis, as pre-specified secondary outcomes: high-sensitive C-reactive protein (CRP), pulse wave velocity (PWV), and carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT). In addition, 100 participants were randomly selected in each of the intervention and control groups for measurement of anti-pneumococcal antibodies (IgG, IgG2, IgM) as well as anti-OxLDL antibodies (IgG and IgM to CuOxLDL, MDA-LDL, and PC-KLH). Results: Concentrations of anti-pneumococcal IgG and IgG2 increased and remained high at 2 years in the PPV group compared to the placebo group, while IgM increased and then declined, but remained detectable, at 2 years. There were statistically significant increases in all anti-OxLDL IgM antibodies at 1 month, which were no longer detectable at 2 years; there was no increase in anti-OxLDL IgG antibodies. There were no significant changes in CRP, PWV or CIMT between the treatment groups at the 2-year follow-up. Conclusions: PPV engenders a long-lasting increase in anti-pneumococcal IgG, and to a lesser extent, IgM titres, as well as a transient increase in anti-OxLDL IgM antibodies. However, there were no detectable changes in surrogate markers of atherosclerosis at the 2-year follow-up. Long-term, prospective follow-up of clinical outcomes is continuing to assess if PPV reduces CVD events.

DOI 10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2022.02.011
Citations Scopus - 1Web of Science - 10
Co-authors Catherine Deste, Shuchuen Li, Alexandra Brown, Mark Mcevoy, John Attia, Jay Horvat, David Durrheim, Christopher Levi, Alexis Hure
2021 Ren S, Attia J, Li SC, Newby D, 'Pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine is a cost saving strategy for prevention of acute coronary syndrome', VACCINE, 39, 1721-1726 (2021) [C1]
DOI 10.1016/j.vaccine.2021.02.019
Citations Scopus - 3Web of Science - 2
Co-authors John Attia, David Newby, Shuchuen Li
2019 Peel R, Ren S, Hure A, Evans T-J, D'Este CA, Abhayaratna WP, Tonkin AM, Hopper I, Thrift AG, Levi CR, Sturm J, Durrheim D, Hung J, Briffa TG, Chew DP, Anderson P, Moon L, McEvoy M, Hansbro PM, Newby DA, Attia JR, 'Evaluating recruitment strategies for AUSPICE, a large Australian community-based randomised controlled trial', MEDICAL JOURNAL OF AUSTRALIA, 210, 409-415 (2019) [C1]

Objectives: To examine the effectiveness of different strategies for recruiting participants for a large Australian randomised controlled trial (RCT), the Australian Study for the... [more]

Objectives: To examine the effectiveness of different strategies for recruiting participants for a large Australian randomised controlled trial (RCT), the Australian Study for the Prevention through Immunisation of Cardiovascular Events (AUSPICE). Design, setting, participants: Men and women aged 55¿60 years with at least two cardiovascular risk factors (hypertension, hypercholesterolaemia, overweight/obesity) were recruited for a multicentre placebo-controlled RCT assessing the effectiveness of 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (23vPPV) for preventing cardiovascular events. Methods: Invitations were mailed by the Australian Department of Human Services to people in the Medicare database aged 55¿60 years; reminders were sent 2 weeks later. Invitees could respond in hard copy or electronically. Direct recruitment was supplemented by asking invitees to extend the invitation to friends and family (snowball sampling) and by Facebook advertising. Main outcome: Proportions of invitees completing screening questionnaire and recruited for participation in the RCT. Results: 21¿526 of 154¿992 invited people (14%) responded by completing the screening questionnaire, of whom 4725 people were eligible and recruited for the study. Despite the minimal study burden (one questionnaire, one clinic visit), the overall participation rate was 3%, or an estimated 10% of eligible persons. Only 16% of eventual participants had responded within 2 weeks of the initial invitation letter (early responders); early and late responders did not differ in their demographic or medical characteristics. Socio-economic disadvantage did not markedly influence response rates. Facebook advertising and snowball sampling did not increase recruitment. Conclusions: Trial participation rates are low, and multiple concurrent methods are needed to maximise recruitment. Social media strategies may not be successful in older age groups. Trial registration: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, ACTRN12615000536561.

DOI 10.5694/mja2.50117
Citations Scopus - 1Web of Science - 10
Co-authors Christopher Levi, David Newby, Mark Mcevoy, Alexis Hure, John Attia, David Durrheim
2018 Ren S, Holliday E, Hure A, Peel R, Hancock S, Leigh L, Oldmeadow C, Newby D, Li SC, Attia J, 'Pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine associated with reduced lengths of stay for cardiovascular events hospital admissions Experience from the Hunter Community Study', VACCINE, 36, 7520-7524 (2018) [C1]

Background: The pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPV) has been associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular events in human observational studies. Animal studies suggest tha... [more]

Background: The pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPV) has been associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular events in human observational studies. Animal studies suggest that the phosphorylcholine epitope in the Streptococcus pneumoniae cell wall is structurally similar to oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL), hence PPV induces the production of antibodies that cross-react with anti-oxLDL and may cause regression of atherosclerotic plaque. We set out to determine the strength of association between PPV administration and reduction in cardiovascular events. Methods: A longitudinal, population-based cohort study of older Australians, from the Hunter Community Study, with up to 11 years of follow-up. We included participants aged = 65 years at baseline (2004¿2008), without a history of cardiovascular disease (CVD). History of PPV administration at baseline was the main exposure of interest. "Total number of hospital bed-days with CVD primary diagnosis" was one of the main outcomes measured. Models were adjusted for age, diabetes, alcohol intake, and smoking status. Influenza vaccine was the control exposure used and fracture bed-days was the control outcome used, to investigate the potential for residual confounding. Results: 91 of the total 1074 participants (mean age = 72, male = 45%) experienced a CVD event during follow-up. PPV (regardless of influenza vaccine) was associated with a significant reduction in CVD bed-day, (n = 863, incident rate ratio, IRR = 0.65, 95%CI: 0.45¿0.94, p = 0.02), but influenza vaccine (regardless of PPV) was not (n = 864, IRR = 0.86, 95%CI: 0.54¿1.35, p = 0.51). Furthermore, PPV adjusted for influenza vaccine remained associated with CVD bed-days (IRR = 0.64, 95%CI: 0.43¿0.96, p = 0.03) but was not associated with fracture bed-days (IRR = 0.75, 95%CI: 0.28¿2.00, p = 0.56). Conclusion: PPV demonstrated a 35% reduction in CVD bed-days. This finding was robust to residual confounding, using a control exposure and a control outcome, eliminating the concern for healthy-user bias. A large double-blinded placebo-controlled RCT is underway to confirm our finding and to explore the proposed mechanism of action (ACTRN12615000536561).

DOI 10.1016/j.vaccine.2018.10.064
Citations Scopus - 3Web of Science - 3
Co-authors Alexis Hure, Liz Holliday, David Newby, Christopher Oldmeadow, John Attia, Shuchuen Li
2016 Ren S, Hure A, Peel R, D'Este C, Abhayaratna W, Tonkin A, Hopper I, Thrift AG, Levi C, Sturm J, Durrheim D, Hung J, Briffa T, Chew DP, Anderson P, Moon L, McEvoy M, Hansbro P, Newby D, Attia J, 'Rationale and design of a randomized controlled trial of pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine for prevention of cardiovascular events: The Australian Study for the Prevention through Immunization of Cardiovascular Events (AUSPICE)', American Heart Journal, 177, 58-65 (2016)
DOI 10.1016/j.ahj.2016.04.003
Citations Scopus - 3Web of Science - 3
Co-authors David Durrheim, Alexis Hure, John Attia, David Newby, Mark Mcevoy, Catherine Deste, Christopher Levi
2015 Ren S, Newby D, Li SC, Walkom E, Miller P, Hure A, Attia J, 'Effect of the adult pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine on cardiovascular disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.', Open Heart, 2, 1-9 (2015) [C1]
DOI 10.1136/openhrt-2015-000247
Citations Web of Science - 4
Co-authors John Attia, Shuchuen Li, Alexis Hure, David Newby, Emily Walkom
2012 Bajorek BV, Ren S, 'Utilisation of antithrombotic therapy for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation in a Sydney hospital: then and now', INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PHARMACY, 34, 88-97 (2012)
DOI 10.1007/s11096-011-9594-y
Citations Scopus - 1Web of Science - 13
Co-authors Beata Bajorek
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Dr Shu Ren

Positions

Lecturer
School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy
College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing

Clinical Trials Research Associate
School of Medicine and Public Health
College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing

Contact Details

Email shu.ren@newcastle.edu.au
Phone (02) 4921 7708

Office

Room MS107
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