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Professor Gail Anderson retires from UW School of Pharmacy

After 31 years of distinguished service to the students, faculty and staff at the University of Washington School of Pharmacy, Professor Gail Anderson retired Spring 2019.  Over the course of her academic career, Gail made many notable contributions to the Department, School, University and epilepsy community.

Gail received her Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy, Master of Science in Pharmacy Practice and her Doctor of Philosophy in Pharmaceutics from the University of Washington in 1978, 1981 and 1987, respectively. 

Gail joined the faculty at UW in 1988 as an Assistant Professor of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutics and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Neurological Surgery.  She served in this role until 1994 when she was promoted to Associate Professor of Pharmaceutics and Pharmacy and Adjunct Associate Professor of Neurological Surgery.  In 2000, Gailwas promoted to Professor of Pharmacy and Adjunct Professor of Neurological Surgery and Pharmaceutics, positions she held until her retirement in May, 2019. 

Gail has been a distinguished epilepsy investigator for over 30 years.  During this time, she conducted innovative translational and clinical research on traumatic brain injuries and led clinical studies focused on the pharmacokinetics and drug interactions of antiepileptic drugs and natural products with an emphasis on special populations. Collectively, her work has contributed to a greater understanding of anti-seizure drug metabolism and propensity for drug-drug interactions.  Over the course of her tenure at the University of Washington, Gail has enjoyed substantial extramural research funding including a prestigious $3.3 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) Research Grant in 2009 to study the impact of poly-drug therapy for traumatic brain injury. Her research findings have been published in over 110 highly cited peer-reviewed manuscripts and she has been an invited author for 19 book chapters.  In addition, Gail has delivered over 80 invited regional, national and international presentations focused on her research findings.

Gail’s passion for epilepsy research and therapeutics followed her into the classroom. She has taught clinical pharmacokinetics of antiepileptic drugs to students across a number of professional health programs, including pharmacy, nursing, and physician assistants for several years. Gail also developed an interest in alternative therapies and taught a highly subscribed, clinically based, online alternative medicine course.  In addition to her many teaching commitments in the Doctor of Pharmacy Curriculum, Gail served as the faculty advisor for numerous graduate and post-doctoral fellows. 

Gail served the Department, School, University and scientific community with distinction by way of her involvement on numerous committees – including:  School of Pharmacy Faculty Council, School of Pharmacy Curriculum Committee; Plein Endowed Research Committee; and Steering Committee for the Health Science Interdisciplinary Education Project. Gail served as a Member of the Scientific Advisory Committee for the General Clinical Research Center (converted to ITHS) and Grant Reviewer for ITHS. She also served the scientific community as a grant reviewer for several governmental and non-governmental agencies including NIH, NINDS, NIAMS, NIGMS and NCCAM. Gail has been an active contributor to the service mission of many professional organizations including the Epilepsy Foundation NW where she has been a member of the Professional Advisory Board since 1993.  Gail has also served the American Epilepsy Society in many different capacities for the last 25 years.  In addition, she served as a member of the Data Safety/ Monitoring Board NINDS Neurological Treatment Network for three antiepileptic drug clinical trials between 2008 and 2013.  She was also an Editorial Board Member for numerous professional journals including Journal of Epilepsy, Epilepsy Research  and Clinical Pharmacokinetics.

Over the course of her academic career, Gail has received many accolades including the 2005 School of Pharmacy Gibaldi Excellence in Teaching Award and the 2010 University of Washington School of Pharmacy Distinguished Alumnus for Excellence in Pharmaceutical Science and Research Award.  In 2017, Gail was elected as a Fellow of the American Epilepsy Society. 

We are pleased that Professor Anderson will return part-time to the School of Pharmacy in Fall 2019 where she will teach in our current curriculum (GOLD) and aid in the transition to our revised (PURPLE) curriculum.

Please join all of us at the University of Washington as we congratulate Gail on the tremendous impact that she has had on the Department, School and University and help us celebrate her legacy as an honored researcher, distinguished educator, dedicated professional and valued colleague. Congratulations Gail!