New dean of College of Pharmacy and Nutrition announced
Highly regarded pharmaceutical sciences researcher and educator Dr. Kishor Wasan has been selected as the new dean for the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Pharmacy and Nutrition. The university’s Board of Governors approved the appointment for a five-year term effective August 1, 2014.
Wasan joins the U of S from the University of British Columbia (UBC), where he is presently a professor and associate dean of research and graduate studies in the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences and the director and co-founder of the UBC Neglected Global Diseases Initiative (NGDI). In this role, he is responsible for undergraduate and postgraduate development, as well as pharmaceutical and global health research and scholarship. Under his leadership, the UBC-NGDI has raised over $45 million for research.
“We have ambitious goals for our College of Pharmacy and Nutrition and Dr. Wasan has the combination of leadership qualities and proven academic experience that position him to succeed in the challenges that lie ahead,” said Brett Fairbairn, provost and vice-president academic. “I am confident he will lead our College of Pharmacy and Nutrition as it enters its second century and I am excited to welcome him to the U of S.”
In addition to his role as dean, he will also be a tenured full professor. Wasan has extensive involvement in the development of new research and educational programs and has published over 480 peer review articles and abstracts in top journals. He has demonstrated success in leading research initiatives through his 19 years of independent research at UBC. Wasan completed his undergraduate pharmacy education at the University of Texas at Austin, and a PhD in Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology from the University of Texas Medical Centre in Houston, Texas. Dr. Wasan has been a practicing pharmacist in both the retail and hospital settings and still maintains a pharmacist license from the State of Texas.
“I am very excited to join the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition at the University of Saskatchewan and work collaboratively with the great faculty and staff to lead the college to be amongst the best pharmacy and nutrition schools in Canada,” said Wasan. “I see a huge opportunity in a college that is energized and poised for change and a university, community and province committed to seeing the college succeed.”
Wasan is also a Distinguished University Scholar and Canadian Institutes of Health Research/iCo Therapeutics Inc. Research Chair in Drug Delivery for Neglected Global Diseases, as well as a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists and the Canadian Society of Pharmaceutical Scientists. He is well-known in the post-secondary field for his strengths in research and education curriculum change.
Dr. Kishor Wasan will replace Dr. David Hill, who has served as dean from August 2009 to July 2014. In 2013-14, the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition is celebrating its centennial anniversary.