Chris McCurdy, Ph.D., FAAPS, a professor of medicinal chemistry and the Frank A. Duckworth Eminent Scholar Chair, has been appointed as the associate dean for faculty development in the University of Florida College of Pharmacy, effective May 1.
In this new role, McCurdy will lead faculty development opportunities, assist with onboarding new faculty, track the effectiveness of mentoring committees and oversee tenure and promotion, including development of the new post-tenure review process. He will also develop annual reports, update the faculty handbook and serve on several faculty committees.
McCurdy is a broadly trained pharmaceutical scientist and pharmacist whose research focuses on the design, synthesis and development of drugs to treat pain, anxiety, mental health and substance use disorders. He joined the UF College of Pharmacy in 2017 and has received nearly $40 million in extramural funding and authored more than 190 publications during his career. While at UF, he established the UF Translational Drug Development Core, which assists scientists in advancing a compound from the lab to clinical studies. McCurdy previously served as president of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists, a professional organization with more than 9,000 members.