Summary

Kristen Ward received her PharmD from the University Of Michigan College Of Pharmacy in 2014, and went on to complete a three year fellowship in precision medicine research under the mentorship of Dr. Vicki Ellingrod. She joined the College of Pharmacy as a Clinical Assistant Professor in 2018, and currently has a clinical role in ambulatory psychiatry and pharmacogenomics implementation. Her research goals are to apply precision medicine techniques, such as metabolomics and pharmacogenomics, to improve medication outcomes for patients with serious mental illness.

Research Interests

  • Mechanisms and risk factors underlying antipsychotic adverse drug events

  • The application of pharmacogenomics to improve the safety and efficacy of psychotropic medications

  • Pharmacogenomics implementation and education

Selected Publications

  • Lee J, Costa-Dookhan K, Panganiban K, MacKenzie N, Treen QC, Chintoh A, Remington G, Muller DJ, Sockalingam S, Gerretsen P, Sanches M, Karnovsky A, Stringer KA, Ellingrod VL, Tso IF, Taylor SF, Agarwal SM, Hahn MK, Ward KM. Metabolomic signatures associated with weight gain and psychosis spectrum diagnoses: A pilot study. Front Psychiatry. 2023;14.

     

  • Blazy C, Ellingrod V, Ward K. Variability between Clinical Pharmacogenetics Implementation Consortium (CPIC®) Guidelines and a Commercial Pharmacogenetics Laboratory in Genotype-to-Phenotype Interpretations. Front Pharmacol. 2022;13.

  • Sloat NT, Yashar BM, Ellingrod VE, Ward KM. Assessing the impact of pre-test counseling on patient knowledge, perceptions, and expectations of pharmacogenomic testing to guide antidepressant use. Journal of Genetic Counseling. 2022;31(6):1373-1382.

  • Ward KM, Burghardt KJ, Kraal AZ, Jaeger A*, Yeomans L, McHugh C, Karnovsky A, Stringer KA, Ellingrod VL. Genetic and Metabolite Variability in One-Carbon Metabolism Applied to an Insulin Resistance Model in Patients with Schizophrenia Receiving Atypical Antipsychotics. Front. Psychiatry. 2021;12.

  • Burghardt K, Ward K, Sanders E, et al. Atypical Antipsychotics and the Human Skeletal Muscle Lipidome. Metabolites 2018; 8: 64.