National pharmacy organization awards UH Hilo Pharmacy Dean top research honor

The American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy has selected John M. Pezzuto, dean of the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy, to receive their top research award.

Pezzuto receives the 2014 Volwiler Research Achievement Award for his outstanding research and contributions to the field of natural product drug discovery. The award will be announced in July at the 2014 Annual Meeting in Grapevine, Texas, and will be published in Academic Pharmacy Now and on the AACP website.

“It is a tremendous honor, and I am very grateful for being recognized by the AACP in this manner,” Pezzuto said. “Over the years I have had the privilege of working with many fine colleagues, students, postdocs and visiting scholars. We continue to hope our hard work will make a difference for future generations.”

As Founding Dean of the UH Hilo Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy created in 2007, Pezzuto leads approximately 100 faculty and staff to educate and train students for careers in pharmacy.

After 35 years in academia, he has amassed more than 500 publications, is the co-inventor of several patents, the editor of four books, a member of more than 10 editorial boards of international journals, and the editor-in-chief of Pharmaceutical Biology. He is widely known for identifying the cancer-prevention aspects of resveratrol, a chemical found in grapes and grape products. Primarily noted for working in the area of natural products, he has been an administrator and researcher in pharmacy and drug discovery.

Pezzuto received his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Rutgers University and Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (now Rutgers University). He was the recipient of a postdoctoral fellowship from the National Cancer Institute and performed two years of postdoctoral work in the Department of Chemistry at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

“I have been witness to John’s work for many years, and have been impressed with the intensity that he displays when pursuing his research,” said Lucinda Maine, AACP executive vice president and CEO. “His research is world renowned and has the potential to affect the health of millions not only now but in the future.”

The Volwiler Research Achievement Award was established as the research prize in academic pharmacy to honor the late Ernest H. Volwiler, former president and research director of Abbott Laboratories. According to AACP, “the intent of the Award is to recognize annually an individual within the ranks of pharmacy education recognized by his or her peers as one of the leading research workers in a given area of the pharmaceutical and clinical sciences, pharmacy practice and the social and administrative sciences, and for outstanding contributions to the respective disciplines.”

Pezzuto joins a highly distinguished group of researchers who have received this award since it was introduced in 1977.