A pharmaceutical researcher at Vanderbilt University Medical Center recently received an award from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. Brian F. McBride, a research fellow in Vanderbilt’s Division of Clinical Pharmacology, was recognized for a research paper that showed that a single dose of a dietary weight loss supplement containing ephedra and caffeine could cause abnormal heartbeats. McBride is investigating patient variability in the clinical response to antiarrhythmic medications. The findings were published in the January 2005 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The annual award recognizes outstanding contributions to biomedical literature involving drug safety and efficacy in humans. McBride was presented with the award at the ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting in Las Vegas.

For more information, visit www.ashp.org.

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