Dr. Henrik Dohlman, Professor of Biochemistry & Biophysics and joint in Pharmacology has been named Chair of the Department of Pharmacology, effective Oct. 1, 2016.
Dohlman takes over a department that has an international reputation for research excellence, currently 4th in the nation in NIH funding and ranked the #3 department of pharmacology in the world by U.S. News and World Report.
Much of that success can be attributed to Gary Johnson, PhD, who served as chair for 13 years, stepping down from the role in October of 2015.
“I am excited to be joining the ranks of such a distinguished faculty. Under the leadership of Dr. Johnson the department has grown tremendously in prominence,” Dohlman said of the appointment. “On this foundation, and together with partner research centers, I look forward to furthering advances in research as well the recruitment of leading scholars, educators and learners to UNC.”
Dohlman has served on the faculty at UNC for 15 years and holds a joint appointment with the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics where he previously served as vice chair. He is also a member of the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center.
As a researcher, Dohlman has made significant contributions to the understanding of the molecular mechanisms of receptor desensitization and, further, to the implementation and validation of the yeast model for pharmacological research and human application.
A leader in his field, Dohlman is associate editor for The Journal of Biological Chemistry, the flagship journal of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He holds an R35 Outstanding Investigator Award from the National Institutes of Health.
Dohlman completed his doctoral studies at Duke University and post-doctoral training at UC Berkeley before joining the faculty at Yale University in 1993 and UNC in 2001.