Med chem professor organizing AAPS's annual meeting

Christopher R. McCurdy

hristopher R. McCurdy wonders if his plate could get any fuller. The medicinal chemistry professor has spent the year planning the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists' 2012 annual meeting.

McCurdy is co-chair of the association's program committee and is responsible for securing the meeting's keynote speaker, as well as speakers for its plenary sessions. Along with the committee chair, he is also overseeing all of the programming logistics of hosting nearly 5,000 members at the Chicago meeting.

"This is definitely a huge undertaking," McCurdy said. "AAPS is the organization at the leading edge of pharmaceutical sciences, and the executive committee has provided me a humbling opportunity to lead with my strengths."

The associate professor of medicinal chemistry will be installed as chair of the program committee during the October meeting and will begin assuming responsibilities for the association's 2013 annual meeting in San Antonio. As chair, McCurdy will be responsible for the entire meeting and will help section chairs plan their various sessions.

McCurdy is also chair of AAPS's publications committee and previously served as chair of the Drug Design and Discovery section.

Michael A. Repka, UM's chair and professor of pharmaceutics, also is on the national AAPS leadership team as vice chair of the Formulation Design and Development section. During the 2012 meeting, Repka will become the section chair and serve on the planning committee for the 2013 meeting with McCurdy.

"We are proud to have Drs. McCurdy and Repka both serving in leadership positions within AAPS," said David D. Allen, pharmacy dean. "This association's members are at the forefront of pharmaceutical sciences around the world, and it is a tribute to both of these professors, and our school, that they have placed such confidence and trust in them."

McCurdy was selected Teacher of the Year by UM pharmacy students enrolled in the second year of their professional program in 2003, 2006 and 2010. He also received the university's campuswide Faculty Achievement Award in 2010.

The author of more than 60 papers in professional journals, he has received research funding from the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Science Foundation.

AACP named McCurdy an Academic Leadership Fellow in 2006, and the Pharmacy Leadership and Educational Institute presented him with its Albert B. Prescott/GlaxoSmithKline Leadership Award in 2002 during the American Pharmacists Association's annual meeting.

AAPS, a professional association with about 12,000 members employed in industry, academia, government and research institutes worldwide, provides an international forum for the exchange of knowledge among scientists to enhance their contributions to public health.