Jusko and Morris: Scientific Trailblazers

This quote aptly represents the lifelong career paths of SUNY Distinguished Professors William Jusko, PhD, and Marilyn Morris, PhD. Both are internationally recognized pharmaceutical scientists, and their work has been responsible for groundbreaking advances in drug discovery and drug development.

Both trailblazers have been honored many times over the course of their careers for significant impact on advancing the health and well-being of the world’s population. But this past year has brought some of the highest recognitions one can receive from their peer pharmaceutical scientists. 

The AAPS Distinguished Pharmaceutical Scientist Award recognizes an individual’s lifetime achievement for substantial contributions in research and the advancement of pharmaceutical science that have had a lasting impact. It is the AAPS’s highest honor.

Jusko was honored for his groundbreaking research in pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, wherein he studies the disposition and pharmacological effects of drugs, and the optimization of dosing for immunosuppressive, anti-diabetic and cancer treatments. His work has led to significant advances in mathematical and computer modeling of the time-course of responses following drug dosing.

Jusko’s research has been continuously funded through the National Institutes of Health since 1977. His numerous awards include the Volwiler Research Achievement Award, American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy; the Oscar B. Hunter Career Award in Therapeutics, American Society for Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics; a coveted MERIT (Method to Extend Research in Time) NIH award, and the Lewis B. Sheiner Lecturer Award, International Society of Pharmacometrics (ISoP).

From 2001 to 2016, Jusko served as chair of the school’s Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and has mentored more than 100 students and fellows. He is a fellow of the ACCP, AAPS, ISoP and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

An FIP fellowship designation is one of the organization’s highest honors. It recognizes members who have exhibited strong leadership internationally, distinguished themselves in the pharmaceutical sciences and/or practice of pharmacy, contributed to the advancement of pharmaceutical sciences and/or practice of pharmacy, and who have served FIP.

As one of the world’s preeminent scholars in the areas of drug membrane transport, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, Morris was recognized for her groundbreaking discoveries concerning the role of dietary flavonoids in drug interaction and drug resistance—research with enormous implications for patient care and drug therapy, particularly in the treatment of cancer.

Morris is also the recipient of numerous prestigious awards, including the AAPS Research Achievement Award in Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics and Drug Metabolism; Francis Dudley Meyer Award for Breast Cancer Research, Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation; and the AAPS Innovation in Biotechnology Award. She is a fellow of both the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists, of which she is past president.

Since 2016, Morris has served as the school’s chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, carrying on the work of William Jusko, her predecessor. She has advised more than 100 pharmacy, graduate and postdoctoral students.