The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET) is a 5,000 member scientific society whose members conduct basic and clinical pharmacological research and work for academia, government, large pharmaceutical companies, small biotech companies, and non-profit organizations. It was founded in 1908 by John J. Abel, who became its first President. The president is elected by its members and chairs ASPET Council, its governing body, and is the public spokesperson for the Society. Past presidents include such luminaries as Otto Krayer, Alfred Gillman and Robert Furchgott. The five Emory faculty who have served in this important role is the largest number from any institution in the history of the Society.
Carl C. Pfeiffer MD, PhD ASPET President 1961
Pharmacology Department member from 1955-1960, after which he moved to the New Jersey Neuropsychiatric Institute as Director of Research in Neuropharmacology. National and international authority on trace elements and their roles in various behavioral diseases/mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression.
James A. Bain, PhD ASPET president 1969
Pharmacology Department member from 1954-1976, Chair of Pharmacology from 1957-1962, and Director of the University's Division of Basic Health Sciences from 1960 -1976. Dr. Bain had very broad research interests spanning from biochemical pharmacology of CNS drugs to cancer therapy. In 1988 he received Emory’s Thomas Jefferson Award and ASPET’s Torald Sollman Award (for contributions over many years to the advancement and extension of knowledge in the field of pharmacology).
Steven G. Holtzman, PhD ASPET president 2004
Pharmacology Department member from 1969-2007. Dr. Holtzman made many seminal contributions to understanding the pharmacological actions of opioids and opioid antagonists, including the use of drug discrimination procedures that have a key role in the preclinical development of new drugs for use in psychiatry and drug and alcohol dependence. He also contributed to understanding the actions of psychomotor stimulants and the role of the dopamine system in the development of tolerance. Dr. Holtzman was also President in 1977 of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence.
Kenneth P. Minneman, PhD ASPET president 2007
Pharmacology Department member from 1980-2009, and Candler Professor of Pharmacology from 2000-2009. Dr. Minneman was a major contributor to our understanding of a1-adrenergic receptor pharmacology and signaling and in 1989 won ASPET’s John J. Abel Award for outstanding research by a young investigator. In 2009 he became Dean of Chemical & Life Sciences & Engineering at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology.
Edward T. Morgan, PhD ASPET president 2018
Pharmacology Department member from 1986-present. Dr. Morgan is known for his work on regulation of cytochrome P450 enzymes by alcohol, sex hormones and inflammatory mediators. He is a leader in graduate education and mentoring at Emory, and works to promote diversity and inclusion in the STEM disciplines at Emory and nationally.
Randy Hall, PhD ASPET President-Elect 2024
Randy Hall, PhD, Professor of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, was recently elected to serve as the next President of the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET). Dr. Hall will officially be ASPET’s President-Elect on July 1st, 2024, and his one-year term as ASPET President will begin on July 1st, 2025.
Dr. Hall's lab research is focused on the regulation and signaling of G protein-coupled receptors.
ASPET is a 5,000-member scientific society whose members conduct basic and clinical pharmacological research and work for academia, government, large pharmaceutical companies, small biotech companies, and non-profit organizations. Research by ASPET members helps to develop new medicines and therapeutic agents to fight existing and emerging diseases.
Dr. Hall will be the 6th member of the Emory Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology to serve as President of ASPET since the society’s founding in 1908. The 6 ASPET Presidents from Emory are the most of any university in the world.
