Fellowship For Study In U.S.

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32217, 9 February 1970, Page 14

Fellowship For Study In U.S.

Dr W. M. Wardell, formerly! of Christchurch and now ini Dunedin, has been awarded: an international fellowship to I study clinical pharmacology! in the United States. He is! one of five persons selected from more than 50 applicants! in 21 countries for the Merck-1 Sharp and Dohme intema-| tional fellowships. Dr Wardell is a research officer for the New Zealand Medical Research Council, and lecturer in clinical pharmacology at the Otago Medical School. The study grant will enable him to train in clinical pharmacology at the; University of Rochester; School of Medicine in the; United States. Aged 31, Dr Wardell was; educated at Christ’s College! and studied at the University! of Canterbury and the Otago! University Medical School. He! gained a master of arts! degree in' physiology at, Oxford University in 1961, a !

D. Phil, in pharmacology; there in 1964, and in 1967; the B.M. and B.Ch. degrees.! He worked at the Radcliffe; Infirmary, Oxford, and at Dunedin Hospital. His earlier research involved studies on the electrical and pharmacological properties of nerve cells. At present he is concerned with research on the mechanism of adverse reactions of certain classes of drugs. The fellowship programme, begun by the Merck Company Foundation in 1964, is designed to help relieve the world-wide shortage of clinical ‘ pharmacologists—physicians who have attained expert knowledge through specialised study and who evaluate the usefulness and safety of new drugs before they are made generally available by physicians. The programme finances up to two years of study in the United States.