Amber L. Beitelshees

Dr. Amber L. Beitelshees is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Nutrition at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. With a PharmD from the University of Florida and an MPH in epidemiology, she completed a residency in Pharmacy Practice at the University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago followed by a postdoctoral fellowship in Cardiovascular Pharmacogenomics. Previously, she served on the faculty at Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine and the University of Florida College of Pharmacy before joining her current institution.

Dr. Beitelshees' research focuses on understanding interpatient variability in drug response, particularly through pharmacogenomics. She leverages genetic epidemiology, clinical pharmacology, and functional genomics to investigate treatment responses in cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Her work examines how understanding variability in drug response can provide mechanistic insights into disease biology and explores approaches for implementing pharmacogenetics into routine clinical care. She actively serves on the Pharmacogenetics Service and the Pharmacogenetics subcommittee of the P&T committee to facilitate the clinical implementation of pharmacogenetic tests.

Analysis of her recent publications reveals a strong emphasis on precision medicine applications in cardiology and endocrinology. Her research spans pharmacogenetics of antihypertensive medications, diabetes treatments including SGLT2 inhibitors and GLP-1 receptor agonists, and antiplatelet therapy optimization. A notable trend is her increasing focus on racial disparities in drug response, particularly in cardiovascular treatments for Black patients, and the development of clinical implementation strategies for pharmacogenetic testing.

In her clinical role, Dr. Beitelshees contributes to pharmacogenetic service implementation and serves on relevant committees. Her collaborative work spans numerous institutions through consortia like the IGNITE Pharmacogenetics Working Group, demonstrating her leadership in translating pharmacogenomic research into clinical practice. Her laboratory utilizes a multidisciplinary approach combining genetic epidemiology with clinical pharmacology to address questions of drug response variability.