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Background and Mission | Chapter Bylaws | Officers and Councilors for 2023-2024 | Chapter Annual Meeting | Past Meetings 

Background and Mission 

The formation of the local Midwest affiliate of the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET) was spearheaded on June 10, 1987 by Dr. William K. Riker, past president of ASPET, Dr. Seymour Ehrenpreis of the Chicago Medical School, Dr. Toshio Narahashi of Northwestern Medical School, and Dr. Israel Hanin of Loyola University Chicago. Key individuals in the Chicago area were then contacted to establish a voluntary executive working group that ultimately organized the first Scientific Day at the University of Chicago on Thursday, May 12, 1988.

Since the first scientific program, annual meetings have been held each spring to foster the goals of ASPET to promote scientific communication among research workers interested in pharmacology. The chapter has consistently met the ASPET requirements of a chapter affiliate throughout its existence by holding a least one annual meeting, maintaining a membership roster of at least 20 ASPET members in good standing.

Officers and Councilors (2023–2024)

  • President – James J. O’Donnell, PhD – Associate Professor
    Department of Foundational Sciences and Humanities, Discipline of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, Chicago Medical School; Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy; Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, North Chicago, IL

  • Vice President – Marsha Pierce, PhD – Assistant Professor
    Department of Pharmacology, Midwestern University, Downers Grove, IL
  • Treasurer – Adriana Caballero, PhD – Research Assistant Professor
    Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University Illinois Chicago, Chicago, IL

  • Secretary – William Conrad, PhD – Assistant Professor of Chemistry
    Lake Forest College, Lake Forest, IL

  • Councilor – Sharada Buddha, PhD - Associate Professor 

    Department of Chemistry, Saint Xavier University, Chicago, IL

  • Councilor – Joanna Dabrowska, PhD, PharmD – Associate Professor, Discipline of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, Chicago Medical School, Center for Neurobiology of Stress Resilience and Psychiatric Disorders, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, North Chicago, IL  

  • Councilor – Yevgeniya E. Koshman, PhD, DSP – Principal Research Scientist I
    AbbeVie Inc., North Chicago, IL

  • Councilor – Minoli Perera, PhD – Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Center for Pharmacogenomics, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL.

  • Councilor – Amanda L. Persons, PhD – Associate Professor

    Dept. of PA Studies, RUSH University, Chicago, IL

  • Councilor – Cai M. Roberts, PhD – Assistant Professor
    Department of Pharmacology, Midwestern University, Downers Grove, IL

  • Councilor – Mohd Shahid, PhD – Associate Professor of Pharmacology

    Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy (COP),
    Department of Graduate Studies, School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (SGPS)
    Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, North Chicago, IL

  • Councilor / Past President – Takeshi Shimamura, PhD – Associate Professor
    Department of Surgery, UI Cancer Center, College of Medicine, University Illinois, Chicago, IL

  • Past President – Eric AG Blomme, DVM, PhD – VP and Senior Research Fellow
    Development Biological Sciences, AbbVie Inc., North Chicago, IL

Chapter Annual Meeting

The Great Lakes chapter's annual meetings have consistently drawn a wide representation of the mid-western pharmacology community. The chapter's 2024 annual meeting on "Advances in Neurobiology and Pharmacology of PTSD and Anxiety Disorders" will be held on June 21, 2024. For more information, please visit 2024 GLC ASPET Annual Meeting page.

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