Wolfe Selected to Chair NIH Study Section

Michael Wolfe, the Mathias P. Mertes Professor of Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Kansas School of Pharmacy, will serve as chair of the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Drug Discovery for the Nervous System (DDNS) Study Section at the institute’s Center for Scientific Review.

The Center for Scientific Review was established in 1946 and, according to its mission statement, “works to ensure that NIH grant applications receive fair, independent, expert and timely scientific reviews, free from inappropriate influences, so NIH can fund the most promising research.”

Wolfe, a KU alumnus of the Department of Medicinal Chemistry (PhD, ’90), joined the faculty of the University of Tennessee in Memphis in 1994. Five years later, he moved to Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where his work focused on understanding the molecular basis of Alzheimer’s and related disorders and identifying effective approaches for pharmacological intervention. He became Professor of Neurology in 2008. He joined the KU faculty in 2016 as the Mathias P. Mertes Professor of Medicinal Chemistry.  Since returning to KU, Wolfe has intensely focused the lab’s research efforts on elucidating biochemical and biological effects of genetic mutations that cause a hereditary form of Alzheimer’s disease, which strikes carriers in mid-life.

KU School of Pharmacy Dean Ronald Ragan said the school is fortunate to have a scientist of Wolfe’s caliber as a member of the faculty.

“Dr. Wolfe compliments the other internationally recognized faculty members in the School of Pharmacy and is actively studying Alzheimer’s disease with an eye toward understanding the disease and hopefully developing new drugs to manage it,” Ragan said. “His input on the study section will be valuable and will help ensure that the NIH funds the best and brightest to conduct research in this area.”

Wolfe said he hopes to provide effective leadership for the DDNS study section.

“Although serving as chair of this grant-reviewing panel is a major responsibility and extremely challenging, it’s also an incredible honor to be entrusted to lead in this important way.”

Wolfe began his term on June 30 and will serve as chair of the study section for one year.