Sarah Vordenberg, PharmD, MPH
Associate Chair, Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Clinical Professor
College of Pharmacy
1007 E Huron St
Ann Arbor, MI 48104-1628
3228 Pharm
Role Overview and Bio
Sarah Vordenberg is a Clinical Professor and Associate Chair of the Department of Clinical Pharmacy.
Research
Dr. Vordenberg’s research focuses on engaging adults in the medication decision-making process, specifically related to deprescribing in older adults and selection of safe and effective over-the-counter medications.
Patient education published in JAMA:
Polypharmacy and deprescribing
Nonprescription heartburn medications for adults
Oral non-prescription pain medications for adults
Teaching
Dr. Vordenberg is the course coordinator for the required first year P504 Pharmacy Practice Skills I course (fall semester) and P512 Self-Care course (winter semester).
Service
Dr. Vordenberg is the Associate Chair for the Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Chair of the PharmD Curriculum and Assessment Committee. She is a member of the MyDispense International Steering Committee and co-administers the MyDispense USA Community.
Research Interests
-
Deprescribing medications among older adults
-
Appropriate use of over-the-counter medications
-
Improving student learning via computer simulation
Awards
-
2026 Outstanding Reviewer, Journal of the American Pharmacists Association
-
2026 Teaching Excellence Award, College of Pharmacy, University of Michigan
-
2026 AACP Lab Sig Publication Award - Honorable Mention (Senior author on the publication), American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Lab SIG
-
2025 Lawrence C. Weaver Transformative Community Service Award , American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy
-
2025 Faculty Appreciation Award, University of Michigan College of Pharmacy P1 Class , P1 Class
-
2024 Teaching and Mentoring Award – Curricular Innovation, American College of Clinical Pharmacy Education and Training PRN
-
2023 Outstanding Reviewer, Journal of the American Pharmacists Association
-
2023 Editorial Advisory Board, Journal of the American Pharmacists Association
-
2022 Academic Leadership Fellows Program, American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy
-
2022 Outstanding Reviewer, Journal of the American Pharmacists Association
-
2020 Teaching Excellence Award, University of Michigan College of Pharmacy
-
2019 Fellow, Michigan Pharmacists Association
-
2018 Student Appreciation Award , P1 Class
-
2017 Interprofessional Leadership Fellow, University of Michigan
-
2016 Pharmacist of the Year, Hope Clinic
-
2016 Poster Award: Barriers to Implementation of Community Pharmacy-Based Immunization Services in WayneCounty, Michigan, APhA-APPM Presentation Merit Award for Contributed Research at APhA
-
2015 ACCP MeRIT Scholarship Award, ACCP
Selected Publications
Vordenberg SE, Dulo N, Bonner C, Ferguson E, Marshall VD, Weir KR. Trust first, concerns second: An international vignette study of older adults’ willingness to deprescribe statins. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2026;74(2):500-508. DOI: 10.1111/jgs.70186
Chaitoff A, Weir KR, Marshall VD, Vordenberg SE. Understanding medicine preferences of older adults: The role of messaging in a multi-methods experimental survey. Health Expect. 2025;28(4):e70366. DOI: 10.1111/hex.70366
Vordenberg SE, Ostaszewski K, Marshall VD, Zikmund-Fisher BJ, Weir KR. Effects of warning information at medication initiation on deprescribing intentions in older adults: A hypothetical vignette. Patient Educ Couns. 2025;133:108654. DOI: 10.1016/j.pec.2025.108654
Weir KR, Marshall VD, Vordenberg SE. Latent class analysis identifies four distinct Patient Deprescribing Typologies among older adults in four countries. Innov Aging. 2025;9(2):igaf002. DOI: 10.1093/geroni/igaf002
Vordenberg SE, Nichols J, Marshall VD, Weir KR, Dorsch MP. Investigating older adults’ perceptions of artificial intelligence tools for medication decisions: A vignette-based experimental survey in the U.S. J Med Internet Res. 2024;16(26):e60794. DOI: 10.2196/60794.
Vordenberg SE, Davis RC, Strominger J, Marcus SC, Kim HM, Blow FC, Wallner LP, Caverly T, Krein S, Maust DT. Clinician contributions to central nervous-system active polypharmacy among older adults with dementia in the US. J Am Geriatric Soc. 2025;73(2):422-430. DOI: 10.1111/jgs.19256
Vordenberg SE, Kirch M, Singer D, Solway E, Roberts JS, Zikmund-Fisher BJ, Kullgren JT. Interest in medication deprescribing among US adults aged 50-80. J Gen Intern Med. 2024. DOI: 10.1007/s11606-024-08945-x
Hoffman CM, Vordenberg SE, Leggett AN, Akinyemi E, Turnwald M, Maust DT. Insights into designing educational materials for persons living with dementia: A focus group study. BMC Geriatr. 2024;380(24). DOI: 10.1186/s12877-024-04953-y
Vordenberg SE, Weir KR, Scherer AM, Jansen J, Schoenborn N, Todd A. Exploring different contexts of statin deprescribing: A vignette-based experiment with older adults across four countries. J Gen Intern Med. 2024; DOI: 10.1007/s11606-024-08698-7.
Weir KR, Shang J, Choi J, Rana R, Vordenberg SE. Factors important to older adults who disagree with a deprescribing recommendation. JAMA Netw Open. 2023;6(10):e2337281. DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.37281.
Vordenberg SE, Rana R, Shang J, Choi J, Scherer AM, Weir KR. Reasons why older adults in three countries agreed with a deprescribing recommendation in a hypothetical vignette. Basic Clin Pharmacol Toxicol. 2023; 133(6):673-682. DOI: 10.1111/bcpt.13857
Vordenberg SE, Weir K, Jansen J, Todd A, Schoenborn N, Scherer AM. Harm and medication-type impact agreement with hypothetical deprescribing recommendations: A vignette-based experiment with older adults across four countries. J Gen Int Med. 2023; 38(6):1439-1448. DOI: 10.1007/s11606-022-07850-5
Keller MS, Vordenberg SE, Steinman MA. Moving deprescribing upstream. J Gen Intern Med. 2022; 37(12):3176-3177. DOI: 10.1007/s11606-022-07537-x