Spring 2007 - Purdue College of Pharmacy - Purdue University

Meet the New Dean
T H E B E G I N N I N G O F T H E S V E N S S O N E R A
“Purdue’s School of Pharmacy and
Pharmaceutical Sciences is one of the
top-ranked programs in the nation,”
says Dean Svensson. “The School’s
alumni and former faculty members
make up about one-quarter of the
nation’s deans of pharmacy, as well
as many other leadership positions in
pharmacy. I am excited about the opportunity
to work with faculty and staff
to bring the programs of the College to
the next level of preeminence.”
Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Craig
pursued his prepharmacy and undergraduate
training at the University of
Maryland. He received his PharmD
degree from the University of Maryland
in 1981 and his PhD in Pharmaceutics
from the State University of New York
at Buffalo in 1984. After a postdoctoral
fellowship in pharmacokinetics
at the University at Buffalo, he joined
the faculty at Wayne State University
in Detroit, Michigan, as an Assistant
Professor, where he rose to the rank
of Professor and Associate Chairman
of the Department of Pharmaceutical
Sciences. In August of 2003, he became
the Lyle and Sharon Bighley Professor
of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Head
of the Division of Pharmaceutics in the
College of Pharmacy at the University
of Iowa. He received Teacher of the
Year Awards at both Wayne State University
and the University of Iowa, and
was awarded the Career Development
Chair Award and gave the convocation
address for the class of 2006 at Wayne
State University.
Craig has served as a member or
chair of numerous grant review panels
Dr. Craig K. Svensson
is Dean of the College
of Pharmacy, Nursing,
and Health Sciences,
as well as Professor
of Medicinal Chemistry
and Molecular
Pharmacology, at
Purdue University.
He assumed the position
on October 1, 2006.
for the National Institutes of Health
and currently serves on the Xenobiotic
and Nutrient Disposition and Action
Study Section for the NIH. He is also
the recipient of the James A. Shannon
Director’s Award given by the NIH. He
is a recipient of the American Federation
for Clinical Research Meritorious
Research Award, and in October, 2006,
he was named a Fellow of the American
Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists,
of which he currently serves
as the Associate Editor for the AAPS
Journal. Craig is a regular reviewer for
numerous scientific journals, including
the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental
Therapeutics, Drug Metabolism
and Disposition, and the Journal of the
American Medical Association. He is a
member of the American Association
for the Advancement of Science, the
American Society for Pharmacology
and Experimental Therapeutics, and
the Rho Chi Honor Society.
Craig’s research interests have
primarily focused on understanding
the mechanism of idiosyncratic drug
reactions, with a particular emphasis
on cutaneous drug reactions. His laboratory
has examined the role of altered
metabolism in AIDS patients as a predisposing
factor for these reactions in
this highly susceptible population. His
laboratory has also examined the role
of metabolic and immunologic events in
the skin in precipitating the cutaneous
drug reactions observed with sulfonamide
antimicrobial agents. With his
administrative responsibilities as Dean,
however, he is no longer directing a
research program.
In addition to his experience as
a faculty member, researcher, and
administrator, Craig has worked in a
community pharmacy, hospital pharmacy,
and served as a hospital-based
clinical pharmacokinetics consultant.
He has also worked as a poison information
specialist. During his time at
the University of Maryland, he served
as Chair of the Student Committee on
Drug Abuse Education.
If credentials alone don’t impress
you, meeting in him person certainly
will. You’re first greeted by kind eyes,
followed by a pleasant demeanor. Spend
a little time with him, and you’ll soon
find out that not only is he passionate
about being the best dean he can possibly
be, he also has a great sense of humor.
8 the PURDUE pharmacist n SPRING 2007