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A University of Florida pharmacy researcher who studies the relationship between genetics and drug responses has been appointed to a newly funded professorship.

Julie A. Johnson, Pharm.D., College of Pharmacy professor and department chair, was named the V. Ravi Chandran, Ph.D. Professor in Pharmaceutical Sciences this September by College of Pharmacy Dean William H. Riffee, Ph.D.

“Dr. Johnson’s extraordinary leadership and excellence in research has been recognized by her peers in the academy and now by our college through her appointment to the Chandran professorship,� Riffee said.

Johnson joined UF in 1998, and three years later was appointed professor of pharmacy and also of medicine, in cardiology. In July 2002, she was appointed chair of the department of pharmacy practice. Her current research focuses on pharmacogenomics and cardiovascular disease-gene associations, as well as the influence of race and ethnicity on drug responses.

UF Alumnus V. Ravi Chandran, Ph.D. established the professorship in 2000 with a $100,000 gift to the college. This year, he contributed another $100,000, which combined with other donations and matching funds, has brought the endowment to more than $400,000.

Chandran earned a master’s in pharmaceutical science from Jadavpur University in Calcutta. In 1981, he left India to study pharmaceutics and pharmacokinetics at UF, where he earned his Ph.D. In 1989, Chandran started one of the first pharmaceutical companies to create generic drugs for products whose brand patent had expired. Today his company, American Generics, Inc. in Albany, N.Y., is a fully automated, computer-integrated manufacturing facility.

While acknowledging the honor in being selected for an endowed professorship, Johnson credits the valued support of alumni who make it possible.

“It’s former UF graduates like Dr. Chandran who give so much back to their college that really make a difference,� Johnson said.