All Faculty
Medicinal Chemistry
Professor Ryan A. Altman received his B.S. in chemistry from Creighton University in 2003 and his Ph.D. in organic Chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2008. He completed his training at the University of California, Irvine as a National Institutes of Health postdoctoral fellow from 2008–2011.
Professor Brian Blagg earned a B.A. in chemistry and environmental studies in 1994 from Sonoma State University and a Ph.D. in organic chemistry in 1999 from the University of Utah. In 2002, Blagg completed an NIH Postdoctoral Fellow at The Scripps Research Institute.
Associate Professor Apurba Dutta earned a Ph.D. from North-Eastern Hill University in Shillong, India in 1989 and was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Konstanz in Germany from 1991-1992. He was also a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Kansas from 1993-1994.
Robert Hanzlik earned his B.A. in chemistry and biology from Southern Illinois University, and completed his Ph.D. in organic chemistry at Stanford University.
Distinguished Professor Blake Peterson earned a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Nevada, Reno and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of California, Los Angeles. He was a Damon Runyon-Walter Winchell Cancer Research Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard University from 1995-1998, an American Cancer Society Research Scholar in 2003, and a Camille Dreyfus Teacher Scholar in 2003.
Dr. Thomas Prisinzano earned a bachelor’s in chemistry from the University of Delaware and a doctorate in pharmaceutical sciences from Virginia Commonwealth University. He received postdoctoral training at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md.
Distinguished Professor Barbara Timmermann joined the School of Pharmacy faculty as chair of the Department of Medicinal Chemistry in August of 2005. She came to KU after an academic career of close to 25 years at the University of Arizona, where she attained the title of Regents Professor.
Michael Wolfe earned a B.S. in chemistry from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science and a Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry from the University of Kansas. After a postdoctoral stint at the University of Kansas, he was a Pharmacology Research Associate Trainee (PRAT Fellow) at the National Institutes of Health.
Pharmaceutical Chemistry
Professor Cory Berkland earned a BS in chemical engineering at Iowa State University, an MS in chemical engineering from the University of Illinois and a PhD in chemical and bimolecular engineering at the University of Illinios. He also completed his post doc work at the University of Illinois.
Associate Professor Laird Forrest earned a BS in chemical engineering from Auburn University and an MS in chemical engineering at the University of Illinois-Urbana. He also earned a PhD in chemical and biomolecular engineering at the University of Illinois-Urbana. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship in pharmaceutical sciences at the University of Wisconsin.
Associate Professor Jeff Krise earned a B.S. in pharmacy from Duquesne University and a Ph.D in pharmaceutical chemistry from the University of Kansas. He completed his postdoctoral research at the Department of Biochemistry at Stanford University.
Distinguished Professor Sue Lunte earned a B.S. at Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Michigan and a Ph.D. at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.
Distinguished Professor C. Russell Middaugh earned a B.S. from the University of California, Santa Cruz, a Ph.D. from Cornell University and completed his postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Minnesota.
Professor Picking earned her Ph.D. at the University of Kansas. Her research interests are vaccine development - especially for the children of low income countries, Enteric bacterial pathogens, and type III secretion.
Distinguished Professor Picking earned his Ph.D. at the University of Kansas. He is the director of the Kansas Vaccine Development Center and director of the Higuchi Biosciences Center.
Distinguished Professor and Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry Chair Christian Schöneich earned a diplom at Free University in Berlin, Germany and a Ph.D. at Technical University in Berlin, Germany.
Professor Teruna Siahaan earned a B.S. and an M.S. from the University of Indonesia and a Ph.D. from the University of Arizona. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Distinguished Professor Valentino Stella earned a B.Pharm. from the Victorian College of Pharmacy in Parkville, Victoria, Australia and a Ph.D. from the University of Kansas.
Associate Dean John Stobaugh earned a B.S. from the University of Oklahoma in 1974, an M.S. from the University of Oklahoma in 1977, and a Ph.D. from the University of Kansas in 1982.
Associate Professor Thomas Tolbert earned a B.S. in chemistry from Purdue University, a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the Massachusetts institute of Technology and completed his postdoctoral research at the Scripps Research Institute.
Distinguished Professor David Volkin earned a BA in chemistry at the University of California, San Diego and a PhD in Biochemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Assistant Professor Michael Wang earned a B.S. in chemistry from Peking University, a Ph.D. in analytical chemistry at Duke University and completed his postdoctoral fellowship at the University of North Carolina School of Pharmacy.
Pharmacology & Toxicology
I started my research program on the role of lipid rafts as compartments for signaling via neurotrophin receptors. As changes in neurotrophin signaling are known to contribute to nerve degeneration in diabetic neuropathy, we extended our work to diabetic animal and cell culture models, which is the current thrust in the lab.
The specific aims of my research are designed to determine how the Msr system affects the function and expression of other proteins as well as to evaluate the role of methionine oxidation in the progression of oxidative stress and age related diseases.
The most rewarding aspect of my job is mentoring young scientists. I have enjoyed mentoring a dozen Ph.D. graduate students and numerous post-doctoral fellows.
My research focuses on the development and application of tools and workflows for multi-scale multi-modal correlated volume microscopies and three-dimensional volume reconstruction to unravel synaptic geometry.
I received a Ph.D. in biophysics with a specialization in oxidative stress research and have been conducting research in the field of oxidative stress since my graduation.
My research focuses on the neurobiological substrates of social behavior and stress.
Research conducted in Dr. Yan’s laboratory is geared toward unraveling the cellular and molecular basis of neurodegeneration and devising therapeutic strategies to hamper the processes that cause neuronal death.
Our research focuses on brain aging and neurodegeneration (with an emphasis on Alzheimer’s disease; AD).
Pharmacy Practice
Associate Dean Jim Backes earned a B.S. in Pharmacy and Pharm.D. from Creighton University in Omaha, NE. Prior to joining the University of Kansas, he practiced as an ambulatory care pharmacist in the Family Medicine Clinic at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. He is a professor in the Pharmacy Practice and Internal Medicine departments and serves as the Assistant Director of the Atheroscierosis and LDL-Apheresis Center (ALAC) on the Kansas University Medical Center campus.
Jessica Bates earned a Pharm.D. from the University of Kansas. She completed a PGY1 residency in Community Pharmacy at the UNC Eschelman School of Pharmacy in North Carolina. She is a board certified pharmacotherapy specialist with practice experience in ambulatory care and community settings. Prior to joining KU, she served as preceptor for the Balls Foods Stores community residency program. She is a Clinical Coordinator for the Pharmacy Skills Laboratory.
Clinical Associate Professor Crystal Burkhardt earned her Doctor of Pharmacy and Masters of Business Administration at Drake University and completed an ASHP accredited geriatric specialty residency at the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center. She is a board certified pharmacotherapy specialist. Her primary practice site is at the Landon Center on Aging located on the KUMC campus which serves as the primary source for her practice based research.
Ashley Crowl earned her PharmD from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and completed a two-year ambulatory care leadership residency at the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy. specializing in Ambulatory Care and Leadership. She is board certified in ambulatory care and practices at a family medicine residency clinic. Her research interests include interprofessional education, obesity, and team-based care.
Clinical Assistant Professor Larry Davidow earned a BS in Pharmacy from the University of Missouri Kansas City in 1989. As a student, Larry worked for several years at Spalitto’s Pharmacy in northeast Kansas City, Missouri and the University of Kansas Medical Center.
Jennifer Dill earned a PharmD from the University of Kansas and completed an ASHP-accredited specialty residency in Drug Information at The University of Kansas Hospital and Hoechst Marion Roussel.
Clinical Assistant Professor Kimberly Dodson earned a Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D) Degree from the University of Kansas School of Pharmacy in 2003. She is the Coordinator for the Pharmacy Skills Laboratory on the Wichita Campus. Dodson has worked in both community and institutional pharmacy practice settings. Her areas of interest include pharmacist’s role in diabetic education, pediatric care and dosing and health care reform.
Professor Funk earned his Ph.D. at the University of Kansas. He most recently served as a postdoctoral fellow at Children's Mercy Hospital, Kansas City, Missouri. His research interests include molecular mechanisms of variability in clinical response to immunologically active agents used in the treatment of pediatric autoimmune disease.
Associate Professor Dennis Grauer earned his B.S. in Pharmacy in 1989 from the University of Kansas. He received his M.S. in Hospital Pharmacy in 1991 from The Ohio State University and completed an ASHP accredited residency program in 1991 at The Ohio State University Medical Center. In 2000, he earned his Ph.D. in Pharmacy from The Ohio State University.
Department of Pharmacy Practice Chair David Henry received his BS in pharmacy and MS in hospital pharmacy administration from KU. He became interim chair of the Department of Pharmacy Practice in November, 2010, and chair in May, 2011. His clinical practice is with the KUMC Pediatric Hematology/Oncology team.
Clinical Assistant Professor James Kleoppel is a preceptor in the Inter-professional Family Medicine Student Clinic at The University of Kansas Hospital.
Assistant Professor Brittany Melton earned a B.S. in pharmaceutical science and a Pharm.D. at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana in 2009. She earned a Ph.D. in pharmacy practice from Purdue in 2013. While working on her Ph.D., she also earned the graduate certificate in survey research. She practiced in both hospital and community pharmacy settings prior to coming to KU. Melton joined the KU faculty in 2013. Her research interests include informatics, human-computer interaction, patient/medication safety and medication alert design.
Clinical Associate Professor Karen E. Moeller has appointments in both the Department of Pharmacy Practice and the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine. Her primary practice site is in the adult inpatient psychiatry unit at The University of Kansas Hospitals. Moeller is active in both teaching and research. Her research interests are in the areas of substance abuse and schizophrenia.
Instructor Susie Muir earned a BS in Pharmacy from the University of Kansas in 1977. She has 30 years of hospital pharmacy experience throughout the country including Hawaii and six years of experience in retail working at Watkins Student Health Center. She has served as a preceptor for 36 years. Muir also served as primary JCAHO resource for 5 hospitals in Memphis TN.
Clinical Assistant Profession, Cambrey Nguyen, earned a Pharm.D. from the University of Kansas School of Pharmacy in 2012. After graduation, she worked for Walgreens as a Market Pharmacist then moved on to work with pharmaceutical companies as a Medical Information Specialist at ProPharma Group. She joined the KU School of Pharmacy in March 2016 as a clinical assistant professor in drug information and is a drug information specialist in the KU Drug Information Center.
Rafia Rasu earned her Ph.D. from the University of Texas School of Public Health with a major concentration in Health Economics and Outcomes Research. Rasu completed her pharmacy degrees (BPharm and MPharm) from the University of Dhaka Bangladesh, followed by an MBA from the same institution in 2001. She joined the KU School of Pharmacy as a tenured Associate Professor of Pharmacy Practice in September 2014.
Rasu is the Director of the Kansas City Antibiotic Resistance Task Force (KART) program, supervises the outcomes research lab located at the KUMC Department of Pharmacy Practice, and serves as a researcher at the Kansas City Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
Her research interests are in the areas of outcomes research, pharmacoeconomics, pharmacoepidemiology, managed care, health literacy, health services research, economic evaluation of health care interventions, and public health.
Clinical Professor Janelle F. Ruisinger serves as the Director of the KU Community Pharmacy Residency Program. She is also a Clinical Pharmacist in the KU Medical Center Atherosclerosis and LDL-Apheresis Center which serves as her practice site and primary source for her practice based research.
Clinical Assistant Professor Tiffany Shin earned a B.S. in Pharmaceutical Science and a Pharm.D. from the Ohio State University College of Pharmacy. She completed a PGY-1 residency in Pharmacy Practice at UC Health - University Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio and a PGY-2 residency in Ambulatory Care with an emphasis in academia at the Ohio State University College of Pharmacy in Columbus, Ohio.
Clinical Associate Professor Sarah Shrader graduated with Doctor of Pharmacy from KU in 2003. She completed PGY1 Pharmacy Practice Residency at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) and PGY2 in Family Medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina.
Clinical Assistant Professor Molly Steed earned a Pharm.D. in 2005 from the University of Wisconsin School of Pharmacy. She continued her training at the University of Kentucky, where she completed a PGY1 Pharmacy Practice Residency, a PGY2 Infectious Diseases Pharmacy Residency and The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Certificate Program.
Abby Winter earned her Doctor of Pharmacy from Drake University and completed community pharmacy residency training at Creighton University. She serves as a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice and is responsible for the development of a PGY1 Community Residency Program in Wichita.
Clinical Assistant Professor Barbara Woods earned her B.S. Pharm. from the University of Kansas School of Pharmacy and completed a M.A. in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in health services administration from KU School of Education. She also serves as director of the Multicultural Pharmacy Scholars Program for the School of Pharmacy. Her primary teaching responsibilities are Pharmacy Law and Professional Ethics.
