Speaker Profile

Ph.D., Dean, Dr. Gordon J. Vanscoy Professor, Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Pitsburgh

Biography
Patricia Kroboth is dean of the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy and the Dr. Gordon J. Vanscoy Distinguished Service Professor. Her experiences in practice, research, teaching, and administration allowed her to transition quickly to the role of dean in 2002. She earned a BS in Pharmacy from the University at Buffalo and the MS and PhD degrees from the University of Pittsburgh. She has had an exciting and well-funded research career exploring basic functions and clinical applications of modulation of the GABA receptor and the family of ligand drugs, the benzodiazepines. She was founding director of what became the country’s first Clinical Pharmaceutical Scientist PhD Program, a program that continues to prosper at Pitt. After 21 years, she closed her laboratory in 2004 and now focuses on her administrative role. She is fellow of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy and fellow of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists. Among her awards is her 2013 American College of Clinical Pharmacology Award for Mentoring in Clinical Pharmacology. Dean Kroboth has led the Pitt Pharmacy family to a shared vision for the School of Pharmacy, which is now a leader in education, a research school of distinction, and innovator in the practice of pharmacy, including the pharmacists’ role in the community. The School is considered among the elite schools of pharmacy with research that spans from drug discovery to new models of care with the greater goal of improving patient care and outcomes. At Pitt Pharmacy, students and faculty alike are inspired to strive for excellence and set a high bar for achievement. Prior to becoming dean, Dr. Kroboth served serially as chair of both departments of the School, beginning with the Department of Pharmacy and Therapeutics in 1988 and then the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences in 1996.