Pharmacology and Chemical Biology News

The Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology welcomes Dionna Williams, PhD, as Associate Professor, who will join the department on January 1, 2024. 

Originally from Bridgeport, Connecticut, Dr. Williams’s early love for science and desire to understand human disease focused their aspirations towards biomedical research. A first-generation college student, Dr. Williams graduated Cum Laude from Hofstra University before attending the Albert Einstein College of Medicine for their graduate studies. Dr. Williams’ research is dedicated to increasing understanding of the intersection between substance abuse and HIV neuroscience. Specifically, her research focuses on adverse drug:drug interactions between substances of abuse and antiretroviral therapy efficacy in limiting HIV infection in the brain.

An additional research focus centers on the mechanisms by which neuroinflammation promotes neurologic dysfunction during HIV, and evaluating how cannabinoids can be leveraged to modulate immune responses and restore neurologic health. Dr. Williams also incorporates studies evaluating biologic contributors that perpetuate HIV health disparities into their research program.

Fun facts about Dionna: they have a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and Hap Ki Do, are an undefeated amateur Muay Thai fighter and coach, and they almost went to a performing arts high school but chose to attend a science high school instead.

Several Pharmacology and Chemical Biology faculty were recognized during the 2023 Celebration of Faculty Eminence.

The 2023 Celebration of Faculty Eminence event recognizes some of Emory University’s most esteemed faculty members—those newly named to endowed and non-endowed professorships from last year—while engaging the donors who make many of these coveted positions possible through their philanthropy.

Raymond Dingledine, PhD, Professor of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, former department chair, and Director of the Center for Neuroinflammation Therapeutics, received the 2023 Axelrod Prize (shared with Mark Bear, MIT) from the Society for Neuroscience. He was also named as a 2022 fellow of the National Academy of Inventors.

Motivated by the therapeutic opportunities that follow from discovering how the brain responds to injury, prolonged seizures or gradual adjustments of aging, Dr. Dingledine's research over the past decade has focused on the consequences of unabated inflammation in the brain, particularly that mediated by COX-2 induction and consequent EP2 receptor activation.

Andrey Ivanov, PhD, Assistant Professor of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, was named a member of the Board of Directors of the International Chemical Biology Society.

Dr. Ivanov utilizes state-of-the-art computational and systems biology approaches to study the molecular connectivity between the biological pathways. He develops and applies methods of computational molecular modeling, cheminformatics, and virtual screening to facilitate drug discovery and therapeutic development. 

Emory University created an endowed distinguished professorship honoring George Painter, PhD, Professor of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, CEO of DRIVE (Drug Innovation Ventures at Emory), and the director of the Emory Institute for Drug Development (EIDD), for his life-saving work in developing critical medicines including molnupiravir, which is now approved globally for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19). 

In 2022, Dr. Painter was also named as a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. 

Randy Hall, PhD, Professor of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, received a 2023 Emory School of Medicine Hidden Gem Award and the Emory 1% Award. Dr. Hall also received a new NIH NINDS R21 award,“Disease-Associated Mutations and Ligand Activation of the Adhesion G Protein-Coupled Receptor ADGRB2”. This application received a top 1% score.