Jennifer Colby

Team tracks sources of false positives in urine drug screens

False positives on urine drug screens are common and are frequently due to cross-reactivity of these tests to medications. Last year, Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers Jacob Hughey, PhD, assistant professor of Biomedical Informatics, and Jennifer Colby, PhD, at that time assistant professor of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, devised, tested and published a method to systematically identify medications that interfere with screenings for drugs of abuse.

Research team sorts out drug screen false positive results

Vanderbilt investigators have identified 13 previously unknown drug compounds that cause false positive screenings for amphetamines, buprenorphine (an opioid), cannabinoids and methadone.