Lee E. Limbird, Ph.D

A native of Philadelphia, Lee Limbird obtained her B.A. degree in Chemistry in 1970 from the College of Wooster, Wooster, Ohio, and her Ph.D. in Biochemistry in 1973 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After postdoctoral research at Duke University, she joined the Department of Pharmacology at Vanderbilt University in 1979, where she later served as the Chair of the Department from 1991-1998. Under her leadership, the department led the nation in acquiring funding from the National Institutes of Health, and ranked among the best training programs in Pharmacological Sciences as well as citation impact of the research produced by the department.

From 1998-2003, Dr. Limbird served as Vanderbilt University Medical Center's first Associate Vice-Chancellor for Research, where she oversaw the doubling of research funding and infrastructure capacity. She is widely acknowledged for her ability to attract new faculty to Vanderbilt during her tenure. She also represented Vanderbilt on the Governor's Task Force on Technology, the Tennessee Technology Development Corporation, and served as a member of the Steering Committee for the Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance.

Following Dr. Limbird's retirement from Vanderbilt in 2004, she joined the faculty at Meharry Medical College and served as Vice President for Research and Chair of the multidisciplinary department of Biomedical Sciences until 2008 when she joined Fisk University. She currently serves at Fisk as Dean of the School of Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Business Administration.as well as Coordinator of the Pre-Health Professions. Dr. Limbird has maintained her affiliation with Vanderbilt as Adjunct Professor of Education and Medical Administration at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.

While at Vanderbilt, Dr. Limbird’s research efforts focused on understanding physiological effects of epinephrine and norepinephrine on alpha2-adrenergic receptors, by examining the functional relevance of receptor structure, receptor interface with a variety of signaling pathways, and receptor trafficking itineraries. Her laboratory explored strategies on both the molecular level as well as whole organisms. She is the author of the textbook Cell Surface Receptors: A Short Course in Theory and Methods; and was Co-Editor, with Joel G. Hardman, of Goodman and Gilman's Pharmacological Basis for Therapeutics, 9th and 10th editions. Her editorial board service has included the Journal of Biological Chemistry, the Journal of American Physiology, and Molecular Pharmacology, serving as its Associate Editor from 1982-1987 Dr. Limbird has received numerous awards and recognitions for both teaching as well research, and has served on many boards and committees including Chair of the Pharmacology Study Section for the NIH; Chair of the Board of Scientific Counselors of the National Institute for Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) for the NIH; member of the Board of Scientific Counselors for the National Institutes of Drug Abuse; and Chair of the Blue Ribbon Committee for Review of the NIDDK Intramural Research Program.

In 2008, Dr. Limbird was honored by the establishment o of the Lee E Limbird Chair in Pharn1acology, and the unveiling of her portrait painted by Michael Shane Neal.