Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology

News Highlights

headshot of man

Randy Hall Elected ASPET President

Randy Hall began his term as President of ASPET on July 1, 2025.

Randy is the 6th member of our department to serve as ASPET President, more than any other university!
Thomas Kukar, PhD

Tom Kukar Received New Grant

Congratulations to Dr. Tom Kukar, Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, for receiving a new grant co-sponsored by the Alzheimer's Disease Drug Discovery foundation (ADDF) and the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration (AFTD) titled:​

"Development of a granulin biologic to treat progranulin deficient Frontotemporal dementia (FTD)".

Two men standing in front of digital display screen
Left to right: Yong Ran, PhD, and Todd Golde, MD, PhD

Drs. Todd Golde and Yong Ran Honored with Emory OTT “Innovation of the Year” Award

Drs. Todd Golde and Yong Ran’s technology entitled “Therapeutic strategy to preserve muscle mass during weight loss” was selected as “Innovation of the Year” and honored at the Technology Partnership Forum: Partnering, Technology & Faculty Honors” event organized by Emory University Office of Technology. 

Emory OTT News

BRIMR

Emory PhCB Ranked Top 9 ​for NIH Funding 

Emory Pharmacology and Chemical Biology ranked number 9 ​for NIH Funding by the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research (BRIMR) 2024. Each year, the BRIMR publishes a ranking of U.S. academic institutions and health care systems based on the research funding they received from NIH the prior year. Congratulations ​to our faculty, staff, and trainees! 

Emory Report News Story

Nicholas Varvel

New Publication in Varvel - Dingledine Lab

The labs of Drs. Ray Dingledine and Nick Varvel published an article in Science Translational Medicine titled, "Disease modification upon 2 weeks of tofacitinib treatment in a mouse model of chronic epilepsy". This work investigates genetic pathways to address the stubbornly difficult challenge of alleviating epileptic seizures. Using this pathway, they achieved promising reductions through utilizing an existing FDA-approved drug.

headshots of two men
Left to right: Yong Wan, PhD, and Junlong (Jack) Chi, graduate student

Wan Lab Published Articles in Two New Articles

The lab of Dr. Yong Wan published articles in Nature Communications and The Journal of Clinical Investigation. 

Nature Communications: "MGAT1-Guided complex N-Glycans on CD73 regulate immune evasion in triple-negative breast cancer," April 15, 2025. 

The Journal of Clinical Investigation: "4-1BB stimulation with concomitant inactivation of adenosine A2B receptors enhances CD8+ T cell antitumor response," April 3, 2025.

Headshots of three men
Left to right: Haian Fu, PhD, Xiulei Mo, PhD, Wei Zhou, PhD

Fu/Mo Lab Published Article in "Nature Communications"

The lab of Dr. Haian Fu and Xiulei Mo published an article titled, "Uncovering the rewired IAP-JAK regulatory axis as an immune-dependent vulnerability of LKB1-mutant lung cancer," in Nature Communications, February 2025.

Link to full Nature Communications article

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Dr. Dionna Williams on the cover of The Pharmacologist

Dionna Williams' Cover Feature on The Pharmacologist

Congratulations to Dionna Williams, PhD, Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, for being featured on the cover of The Pharmacologist, in honor of Black History Month. Dr. Williams was one of two professors at Emory to recently receive the Presidential Early Career Award, the U.S. government’s highest honor for early-career scientists. She joined ASPET in 2022 and is a member of the Division for Drug Metabolism and Disposition.

Haian Fu and Nancy Walworth
Left to right: Haian Fu, PhD, and Dr. Nancy Walworth, AMSPC President

Haian Fu Honored by the Pharmacology Leadership Award

“AMSPC President’s Award for Leadership in the field of Pharmacology”​

This award was presented to Haian Fu, PhD, Professor and Chair of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, Emory University, by the AMSPC President at the 2025 Annual Meeting of the Association of Medical School Pharmacology Chairs. The President’s Award for Leadership was established to recognize a current or retired department chair who has demonstrated extraordinary commitment and accomplishment as a leader in the field of Pharmacology. Awardees are expected to have distinguished themselves in their discipline and have contributed as a leader both within their institution and beyond, particularly in positions that advance the field of Pharmacology.

Dr. Dionna Williams

Dionna Williams Received Presidential Early Career Award

Congratulations to Dionna Williams, PhD, Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, for receiving the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, which recognizes scientists and engineers who show exceptional potential for leadership early in their research careers.

The Williams Lab studies how HIV compromises the brain and determines whether combining HIV antiretroviral therapies with drugs of abuse exacerbates brain damage. Additionally, Williams investigates how immunologic and pharmacologic factors affect health disparities.

The Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers is overseen by a joint commission between federal agencies and the U.S. National Science Foundation. Honorees receive an award package that includes a citation, a plaque and up to five years of funding to advance their research. 

Emory News Center

Haian Fu, PhD

Haian Fu Received 2025 ASPET Susan Band Horwitz Award

ASPET is pleased to award Haian Fu, PhD, the 2025 Susan Band Horwitz Award Lecture in Cancer Pharmacology. The ASPET Division for Cancer Pharmacology established this award lecture to recognize excellent original research by established investigators in the area of cancer pharmacology. The award is named in honor of Dr. Susan Band Horwitz who is a pioneer in understanding the mechanism of action of cancer chemotherapy drugs many of which have been and remain mainstays of cancer therapy and whose work has changed the nature of cancer treatment. 

Dr. Fu is receiving this award in recognition of his dedication to the field of cancer pharmacology and ASPET, especially his pioneering contributions to targeting protein-protein interactions in cancer.

The award will be presented by the Division for Cancer Pharmacology on April 4, 2025, during the ASPET 2025 Annual Meeting in Portland, Oregon. Additionally, Dr. Fu has been invited to deliver the award lecture on his work as part of the annual meeting. Congratulations again, Dr. Fu!

man standing with sport coat and tie

Steve Traynelis Awarded 2025 Pharmacia-ASPET Award

Congratulations to Stephen Traynelis, PhD, Professor of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, Emory University, for his 2025 Pharmacia-ASPET Award for Experimental Therapeutics by ASPET. Another well-deserved national recognition for Steve’s remarkable scientific accomplishments!​​

This award recognizes outstanding research in pharmacology and experimental therapeutics, basic laboratory or clinical research that has had, or potentially will have, a major impact on the pharmacological treatment of disease.

Dr. Traynelis is receiving this award in recognition of his important discoveries regarding the molecular and functional properties of the glutamate receptors and the development of novel subtype-selective ligands for glutamate receptors that are in clinical development for neurological diseases with high unmet clinical.