Directory

Cathleen Peterson-Layne is a professor of anesthesiology and Director of Obstetric Anesthesiology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center/Nebraska Medicine in Omaha, NE. After receiving her BS from UA College of Pharmacy in 1988, Cathleen earned her PhD in pharmacology, then her MD at Duke University.

Kenry joined the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Arizona as an Assistant Professor in Pharmaceutical Sciences in June 2023. Prior to that, he conducted his postdoctoral work at Harvard University, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, the University of British Columbia, and the National University of Singapore. Kenry received his PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the National University of Singapore and BEng (Electrical and Electronic Engineering) with First Class Honors from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

Shaun Phillips is the CEO at Canyon Vista Medical Center, part of LifePoint Health.  Prior to joining LifePoint, he spent 10 years in executive leadership for Bronson Healthcare Group, a not-for-profit, integrated health system operating in southwest Michigan and northern Indiana. 

Additionally, he had nearly 10 years of experience in various pharmacy leadership roles at Trinity Health, a multi-state, Catholic healthcare organization.   

Dr. Polt is interested in the synthesis of lipids, glycolipids and glycopeptides, and studying their interaction with biological membranes and GPCRs. Applications include Sphingosine Phosphate receptor agonists and antagonists, as well as sphingosine analogues that interfere with the processing and expression of Glycosphingolipids.

Professional Organizations
American Chemical Society

Dr. Cyndi Porter Fraser has served in academic pharmacy for over 15 years as an instructor and in various leadership roles focused on student success and academic growth. Throughout her career she has worked in close partnership with faculty, administrators, and students to establish several student-centered initiatives dedicated to enhancing overall academic and personal development by empowering students to achieve life-long goals. Prior to arriving at University of Arizona, Dr.

G-protein coupled receptors (GPCR) are integral membrane proteins that transduce extracellular hormonal signals from the plasma membrane to the interior of the cell. This large family of receptors is related both structurally and functionally. Structurally, GPCRs share a characteristic "seven transmembrane motif" which means that there are seven regions of the receptor that cross the plasma membrane. Functionally, GPCRs share the ability to interact with so-called ‘G-proteins’ following stimulation of the receptor by a hormonal signal.

Purchasing agent for Pharmacology & Toxicology labs:

• Purchase research and teaching supplies, services, and equipment using requisitions, check requests, and purchasing card (PCard).
• Ensures proper coding and compliance with university policies and procedures.
• Assists with tagging and equipment inventory.

Klaus Romero is the Chief Science Officer at the Critical Path Institute (C-Path). Dr. Romero, a clinical pharmacologist and epidemiologist with more than 17 years combined experience in academic and pharmaceutical clinical research, translational sciences, pharmacometrics, modeling and simulation and pharmacoepidemiology, has been with C-Path since December 2007.

Mary J. Ryan is an emeritus board member who worked for Medco Health Solutions, Inc., from 1988 until 2012. She is retired as vice president, corporate regulatory group, responsible for interface with various regulatory agencies, including state boards of pharmacy and departments of insurance. Mary graduated from UA with a Bachelor of Science in pharmacy in 1974. She completed her master’s degree in business administration at Arizona State University in 1983.

Joseph Scheeren, PharmD, worked in R&D in the Pharmaceutical Industry for over 35 years in the USA, China and Europe. He led Regulatory Affairs and Development in US/China in Bayer in the last 15 years. Since January 2019, he is Adjunct Professor at Peking University for Regulatory Sciences in the Department of Clinical Research. In April 2019 he joined C-Path Institute as its President and CEO. Dr. Scheeren serves on Advisory Boards at the Center for Innovation in Regulatory Science, the Regulatory Affairs Track at Yale University, the Center of Regulatory Excellence in Singapore.

Dr. Schnellmann teaches medical, graduate, and undergraduate students across several courses at the University of Arizona. 

Rick G. Schnellmann, PhD, is dean endowed chair of the University of Arizona R. Ken Coit College of Pharmacy and holds the Howard J Schaeffer in Pharmaceutical Sciences Endowed Chair. A leading pharmacologist, researcher and drug discovery entrepreneur, he joined the UA in August 2016 from the Medical University of South Carolina.

Bruce Seligmann is the co-founder and CSO of BioSpyder Technologies, Inc., and is conducting research in collaboration with the University of Arizona Cancer Center. He's also the co-founder, director, chief science officer and vice president of research at High Throughput Genomics based in Tucson.