Research faculty at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy are nationally and internationally renowned for their work in the fields of pharmaceutical sciences and health outcomes research.

Pharmaceutical Sciences (PSC)

Andy Coop, PhD Andrew Coop, PhD
Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Associate Dean for Graduate Programs


Research Interests: Synthesis of morphine (opioids) analogs and biochemical studies of the mechanisms of cocaine and methamphetamine (stimulants) attenuation -- towards developing new treatments for drug addiction
Richard Dalby Richard Dalby, PhD
Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Research Interests: Optimization of drug delivery to the lung and nose to understand what factors affect the performance of pressurized metered dose inhalers, dry powdered inhalers, nebulizers, and nasal sprays
Daniel Deredge, PhD Daniel J. Deredge, PhD
Assistant Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Research Interests: Application of mass spectrometry-based biophysical approaches, with a particular focus on Hydrogen-Deuterium exchange, integrated with computational approaches for the structural and biophysical characterization of proteins within the context of protein structure and dynamics, protein/macromolecules interaction and protein/ligands interactions
Natalie D. Eddington, PhD, FAAPS, FCP Natalie D. Eddington, PhD, FAAPS, FCP
Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Research Interests: Nationally known expert in drug delivery and pharmacokinetics, with research focused on cancer therapy and treatments for disorders of the central nervous system
Steven Fletcher, PhD
Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Director, MS in Pharmaceutical Sciences


Research Interests: Rational design of drugs towards new treatments for cancer and inflammation, discovery of traditional small-molecules, harnessing covalent chemistries to accomplish sustained inhibitions of target proteins, as well as leveraging proteolysis-targeting chimera and molecular glue technologies to achieve the targeted degradation of disease-causing proteins
Stephen Hoag, PhD Stephen Hoag, PhD
Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Research Interests: Development of systematic methods for formulating controlled and immediate release tablets, and the use of mathematical models to understand the mass transport processes in hydrogels
Headshot of Chad Johnson

Chad Johnson, PhD
Assistant Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Co-Director of Graduate Studies in Medical Cannabis

Research Interests: Synthesis of novel, fast-acting antidepressants targeting the muscarinic receptors (mAChRs) for major depressive disorder and opioid analgesics with reduced reinforcement for treatment of drug addiction. 

Jace W. Jones, PhD
Assistant Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Research Interests: Development of innovative mass spectrometry based platforms to probe the structure/function dynamics of lipids. Research covers analytical instrumentation, application to model systems, and bioinformatic integration of multidimensional datasets.
Maureen Kane, PhD Maureen Kane, PhD
Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Director, Mass Spectrometry Center


Research Interests: Development of new bio-analytical technologies for quantitative profiling of metabolites and proteins; elucidating the role of retinoid binding and retinoid metabolism in cancer, diabetes, obesity, and inflammation
Headshot of Berhanu Kibret

Berhanu Kibret, PhD
Instructor of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Research Interests: Role of the endocannabinoid system (ECS) in neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders with a nuanced emphasis on unraveling the intricate involvement of neuronal and glial type 2 cannabinoid (CB2) receptors in neuroimmune and behavioral effects.

Headshot of Alexander MacKerell Alexander MacKerell, PhD
Grollman-Glick Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Research Interests: Structure-function relationships of proteins, carbohydrates, and nucleic acids; computer-aided drug design targeting cancer, opioids, immunosuppression, and other diseases; the development of empirical force fields for biological and pharmaceutical compounds
Headshot of Sarah Michel Sarah L.J. Michel, PhD
Dean, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy
Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Research Interests: Investigation of metalloregulatory proteins that recognize and regulate DNA and RNA, and participate in inflammation, cancer, normal neuronal development, and immune response
Amanda Oglesby headshot Amanda Oglesby, PhD
Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Director, PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences


Research Interests: Investigations into iron-responsive small regulatory RNAs (sRNAs) in bacterial pathogens using a combination of genetics, proteomics, metabolomics, in vitro phenotypic analyses, in vivo infection models, and various expression analysis tools to determine how sRNAs are expressed, identify their cellular targets, and characterize their role in pathogenesis
Ryan M. Pearson, PhD Ryan M. Pearson, PhD
Assistant Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Research Interests: Developing strategies for treating dysregulated immune responses in areas such as allergy, inflammation, infectious disease, and cancer through the merger of two enabling disciplines, nanotechnology and immune engineering.
‌‌‌‌‌James Polli, PhD James Polli, PhD
Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Ralph F. Shangraw/Noxell Endowed Chair in Industrial Pharmacy and Pharmaceutics
Director, MS and Graduate Certificate in Regulatory Science


Research Interests: Studies on the inclusion of bioavailability considerations in drug design and the pharmacokinetic evaluation of oral solid dosage forms
‌‌‌‌‌C.S. Raman, PhD C.S. Raman, PhD
Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Research Interests: Multifaceted structural and biological studies that combine high-resolution X-ray crystallography with biochemistry, biophysics, molecular biology, and evolutionary and phylogenetic analyses
‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌Headshot of Paul Shapiro Paul Shapiro, PhD
Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Associate Dean for Research and Advanced Graduate Studies


Research Interests: Mechanistic studies of mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase signaling pathways and regulation of cancer cell proliferation and inflammation with the goal of discovering novel function-selective MAP kinase inhibitors that specifically block signaling events that drive the pathology of disease but have fewer off-target effects in normal tissue
‌‌‌‌‌Jana Shen, PhD Jana Shen, PhD
Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Research Interests: Development of molecular simulation and data science tools for drug and materials design; mechanisms of opioid receptors and ion/substrate transporters; reversible and covalent drug design targeting kinases and proteases
‌‌‌‌‌Yan Shu, PhD Yan Shu, PhD
Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Research Interests: Investigation of drug transport mechanisms and metabolism in therapeutics, particularly how different factors such as genetic polymorphisms and diseases affect drug transporters, metabolizing enzymes, and, therefore, drug responses
‌‌‌‌‌Audra Stinchcomb, PhD Audra Stinchcomb, PhD
Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Research Interests: Investigation of the mechanisms and optimization of prodrug skin permeation and microneedle-enhanced skin permeation, as well as the influence of prodrug physicochemical properties on skin flux, distribution, and metabolism
Marc Taraban, PhD Marc Taraban, PhD
Associate Research Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Research Interests: Dynamic nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) applications in low and high field to study solvent-solute interactions; water relaxation rate as a probe for noninvasive characterization of biopharmaceuticals; and applications of modern biophysical and structural biology methods, such as DLS, MFI, SAX(N)S, etc., to study structural characteristics and conformational dynamics in biopolymers, molecular assemblies, and dendrimers
‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌Hongbing Wang, PhD Hongbing Wang, PhD
Professor and Interim Chair, Pharmaceutical Sciences
Program Chair, Experimental and Translational Therapeutics


Research Interests: Investigations of the molecular mechanisms that govern the xenobiotic-induced regulation of metabolizing enzymes and drug transporters in humans, including metabolism-associated drug-drug interactions, drug-induced liver toxicity, and interaction between pharmacogenomics and nuclear receptor-mediated induction of drug-metabolizing enzymes
‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌Angela Wilks, PhD

Angela Wilks, PhD
Isaac E. Emerson Chair of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Program Chair of Chemical and Biological Discovery

Research Interests: Addressing the question of how bacterial pathogens acquire and utilize heme as an iron source in survival and virulence has led to the design of patented inhibitors of heme utilization as novel antimicrobials. Utilizing a systems biology approach, this research combines bacterial genetics, metabolomics, biochemical and biophysical tools

‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌Patrick Wintrode, PhD Patrick Wintrode, PhD
Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Research Interests: Characterization of pathological protein conformations using biophysical techniques to elucidate how these contribute to disease; mass spectrometry and computer simulations are also being used to determine how the molecular dynamics of HIV proteins contribute to drug susceptibility and drug resistance
‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌Headshot of Fengtian Xue Fengtian Xue, PhD
Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Research Interests: Investigation of the mechanism and biological functions of disease-related enzymes using novel cellular imaging agents, as well as rational design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of potential medicinal agents for human diseases such as traumatic brain injury, neurodegeneration, and cancer
‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌Bruce Yu, PhD Bruce Yu, PhD
Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Research Interests: Biomaterials engineering research to investigate the link between molecular chirality and material mechanical properties, and research in the area of imaging technologies towards developing imaging agents for multicolor F-19 MRI
Wenbo Yu, PhD Wenbo Yu, PhD
Research Assistant Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Research Interests: Computer-aided drug design (CADD) targeting cancer and other diseases; new CADD methods development and coding; force field development; and molecular level simulation for phenomenon of biological and medicinal interests

Practice, Sciences, and Health Outcomes Research (P-SHOR)

Wendy Camelo Castillo, MD, MSc, PhD Wendy Camelo Castillo, MD, PhD, MSc
Assistant Professor of Practice, Sciences, and Health Outcomes Research
Director, Pharmaceutical Health Services Research Graduate Program


Research Interests: Pharmacoepidemiology; development and implementation of methods for comparative effectiveness and patient centered outcomes research; health disparities
Peter Doshi, PhD, Assistant Professor, Pharmaceutical Health Services Research Peter Doshi, PhD
Associate Professor of Practice, Sciences, and Health Outcomes Research

Research Interests: Credible evidence synthesis; evidence-based medicine; reporting biases; drug safety; drug regulation; medical journalism; evidence, policy, and advocacy in public health
Susan Dosreis, BSPharm, PhD Susan DosReis, PhD
Professor of Practice, Sciences, and Health Outcomes Research
Co-Vice Chair for Research and Scholarship


Research Interests: Pharmacoepidemiology; pediatric mental health behavioral science
Headshot of Allison Dunn

Allison Dunn, PharmD, MS
Research Assistant Professor of Practice, Sciences, and Health Outcomes Research

Research Interests: Clinical pharmacology; the applications of pharmacometrics in both clinical practice and clinical development

Joga Gobburu, PhD - Professor & Director, Center for Translational Medicine Joga Gobburu, PhD
Professor of Practice, Sciences, and Health Outcomes Research
Director, Center for Translational Medicine


Research Interests:
Pediatrics; clinical pharmacology and translational research; comparative effectiveness; pharmacometrics
Mathangi Gopalakrishnan, MS, PhD - Research Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice and Science Mathangi Gopalakrishnan, PhD, MS
Assistant Professor of Practice, Sciences, and Health Outcomes Research

Research Interests:
Pharmacometrics, Bayesian applications in drug development, and innovative clinical trial designs
C. Daniel Mullins, PhD C. Daniel Mullins, PhD
Professor of Practice, Sciences, and Health Outcomes Research
Executive Director, The PATIENTS Program


Research Interests: Pharmacoeconomics; comparative effectiveness research and health disparities
Eberechukwu Onukwugha, PhD Eberechukwu Onukwugha, PhD, MS
Professor of Practice, Sciences, and Health Outcomes Research

Research Interests: Pharmacoeconomics, healthcare resource utilization, and health disparities.
Eleanor Perfetto, PhD, MS
Professor of Practice, Sciences, and Health Outcomes Research

Research Interests: Health policy issues, including issues related to comparative effectiveness research, health care quality performance measurement, patient-focused drug development, and reimbursement
Danya Qato, PhD, PharmD, MPH Danya Qato, PhD, PharmD, MPH
Associate Professor of Practice, Sciences, and Health Outcomes Research

Research Interests: Improving regulatory and policy tools to reduce use of high risk medications in vulnerable populations; risk management and post-marketing surveillance; environmental and global health systems development; pharmacovigilance; and health disparities
Fadia Shaya, PhD Fadia Shaya, PhD, MPH
Professor of Practice, Sciences, and Health Outcomes Research
Distinguished University Professor
Executive Director, Behavioral Health Resources Program
Director of Informatics and Implementation Research, Institute for Clinical and Translational Research


Research Interests: Pharmacoeconomics; pharmacoepidemiology; health policy and regulatory science; comparative effectiveness of drugs and medical devices; disparities and social determinants of health; entrepreneurship
Julia Slejko, PhD Julia Slejko, PhD
Associate Professor of Practice, Sciences, and Health Outcomes Research

Research Interests: Medication adherence and decision-analytic modeling for cost effectiveness and comparative effectiveness research
Ester Villalonga Olives, PhD, MsC Ester Villalonga Olives, PhD, MsC
Associate Professor of Practice, Sciences, and Health Outcomes Research

Research Interests: Patient reported outcomes; social epidemiology; and health inequalities
Linda Simoni-Wastila, BSPharm, PhD, Professor, Pharmaceutical Health Services Research Linda Wastila, PhD, MSPH, BSPharm
Professor and Parke-Davis Chair in Geriatric Pharmacotherapy

Research Interests: Health services research in mental health and substance use disorders in geriatrics
Zafar Zafari, MSc, PhD Zafar Zafari, PhD, MSc
Assistant Professor of Practice, Sciences, and Health Outcomes Research

Research Interests: Mathematical/statistical simulation modeling; cost-effectiveness analyses; statistical methods of prediction; Bayesian methods for evidence synthesis; optimal resource allocation based on personalized clinical data; and health policy