Morris named chair in UB pharmacy school

The School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences has named SUNY Distinguished Professor Marilyn E. Morris as chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Morris had served as interim chair since early 2016 and assumed the position of chair on March 1.

“We are lucky to have such a wonderful scientist and colleague, and a dedicated mentor to our students. I congratulate her on this advancement,” says James M. O’Donnell, dean of the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.

A UB faculty member since 1985, Morris is one of the world’s pre-eminent scholars in the areas of drug membrane transport, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. She is widely recognized for her groundbreaking discoveries regarding the role of dietary flavonoids in drug interaction and drug resistance — research with enormous implications for patient care and drug therapy, particularly in the treatment of cancer.

Morris is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards, including the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists’ (AAPS) Research Achievement Award in Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics and Drug Metabolism; the AAPS Innovation in Biotechnology Award; the Francis Dudley Meyer Award for Breast Cancer Research from the Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation; the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Research and Creative Activity; and the 2013 Alumni of Distinction Award from the University of Manitoba.

She is a fellow of both the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences and the AAPS, for which she is also past president. Morris is a member of the Food and Drug Administration’s Advisory Panel for Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences, and was elected a member of the executive committee of the Board of Pharmaceutical Sciences for the International Pharmaceutical Federation.

She received a doctorate in pharmaceutics from UB, a master’s degree from the University of Ottawa and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Manitoba.