Patrice L. Jackson-Ayotunde
Professor, Pharmaceutical Sciences
Richard A. Bernstein Endowed Professor
Education
- Postdoctoral Fellow – Drug Discovery Program, Georgetown University, Washington, DC
- Ph.D. – Pharmaceutical Sciences (2009) Howard University, Washington, DC
- M.S. – Organic Chemistry (2003) Tennessee State University, Nashville, TN
- B.S. – Chemistry (2000) LeMoyne-Owen College, Memphis, TN
Bio
Dr. Jackson-Ayotunde’s research laboratory engages in early drug discovery and development of novel anticonvulsant analogs as potential agents for the treatment of drug-resistant epilepsy. Her laboratory works very closely with the Epilepsy Therapy Screening Program (ETSP) at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, NIH. Dr. Jackson-Ayotunde has a drug library of compounds that have been evaluated by ETSP for anticonvulsant activity in their induced-seizure animal models. Dr. Jackson-Ayotunde also collaborates with the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Psychoactive Drug Screening Program (PDSP) led by Dr. Bryan Roth’s lab at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. She truly enjoys working with students. Dr. Jackson-Ayotunde has trained and mentored several graduate, professional, and undergraduate students. Dr. Jackson-Ayotunde patent entitled N-Phenyl and N-Benzyl Enaminones and Methods For Using Same was approved by the United States Patent and Trademark Office on April 3, 2018. She has published several articles in refereed journals and a book chapter. She annually attends and presents her research at national scientific meetings.
Dr. Jackson-Ayotunde was named a Mentoring Institute for Neuroscience Diversity Scholar (MINDS) for 2016-2017, and the Emerging Scholar of 2015, Diverse: Issues In Higher Education Magazine published in Nov 2014. In 2014 she was awarded the Outstanding Invention Award from The University of Maryland, Office of Technology Commercialization and the UMES Graduate School Promising Scholar Award. Dr. Jackson-Ayotunde was awarded SP-1 Professor of the Year for 2011-2012 academic year. Dr. Patrice Jackson-Ayotunde has been selected by an external review committee to serve as the Richard Bernstein Professor for a period of three years.
She serves as the Faculty advisor for the Pharmacy Student Government Association and the UMES AAPS Student Chapter. Dr. Jackson-Ayotunde is currently a member of the American Epilepsy Society, the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists, and the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy.
Areas of Interest and/or Experience
- Drug design and discovery, Medicinal Chemistry, and Computational Chemistry
