Pharmacy’s Dean Rick Schnellmann Earns Award for Excellence

Rick Schnellmann, PhD, dean of the R. Ken Coit College of Pharmacy, received the 2022 Robert W. Berliner Award for Excellence in Renal Physiology from the American Physiological Society (APS). Dr. Schnellmann is the Howard J. Schaeffer Endowed Chair in Pharmaceutical Sciences and a professor of pharmacology and toxicology.

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The Robert W. Berliner Award for Excellence in Renal Physiology is the most prestigious award given by the renal section of the society. The award recognizes distinguished lifetime achievement in renal physiological research, teaching, training and activities within APS.

“I am honored to receive this recognition as it represents my research efforts in renal physiology and injury which led to my commitment to drug discovery to identify drugs to treat acute kidney injury and diabetic kidney disease,” said Dr. Schnellmann. “My goal in my research has always been to optimize health and patient outcomes as well as a deep commitment to teaching and mentoring aspiring students and postdoc fellows.”

Dr. Schnellmann’s research is focused on identifying and developing drugs to treat acute kidney injury (AKI), diabetic kidney disease, stroke, spinal cord injury and Parkinson’s disease. His research has been funded continuously since 1987 and includes NIH grant funding totaling more than $30 million. Dr. Schnellmann earned his doctorate in pharmacology and toxicology from UArizona in 1984.

“Rick’s career has included scientific breakthroughs, well over 200 original research publications, and long-term funding by NIH, VA, and pharma,” wrote P. Darwin Bell, PhD, professor of medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, in his letter nominating Dr. Schnellmann for the award. “He has trained graduate students and postdoctoral fellows and thereby contributed to the continuing health of our biomedical sciences. Although Rick has straddled the worlds of both physiology and pharmacology, his dedication to physiology and to APS is undeniable.” 

Dr. Schnellmann, who joined UArizona Health Sciences in 2016, was the editor of the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics from 2004 to 2009 and served as associate editor of the American Journal of Physiology and Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology.

“Dean Schnellmann exemplifies the criteria for this award as he has a long and highly successful research career and has made outstanding contributions to our understanding of the causes and potential treatments of AKI,” wrote Dr. Bell.