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Dr. Heide Ford is a tenured Professor, CU Medicine Endowed Chair, and Chair of the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. She also serves as Associate Director for Basic Research at the NCI‑designated University of Colorado Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Dr. Ford leads an internationally recognized, continuously NCI/NIH‑funded research program focused on developmental regulators of cancer progression and metastasis, with particular emphasis on transcriptional and translational control mechanisms of cellular plasticity. She has authored more than 100 peer‑reviewed publications and holds multiple patents related to therapeutic targeting of transcription and translation factors. She is a co‑founder of Sieyax, a University of Colorado Anschutz spin‑out company developing novel cancer therapeutics that has been supported by STTR funding.

An active national and international leader, Dr. Ford has chaired NCI study sections and Research Conferences and has served on numerous editorial boards, including as Senior/Deputy Editor for Molecular Cancer Research and Breast Cancer Research. She is deeply committed to mentorship, education, and inclusive leadership and brings broad scientific vision, translational expertise, and organizational experience to society leadership roles. Dr. Ford is a graduate of the Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) program and has received multiple honors for mentorship and research excellence, most recently the 2026 Chancellor’s Distinguished Research Lectureship Award.

Dr. J. Silvio Gutkind is a Distinguished Professor and Chair, Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, and Associate Director for Basic Science at the Moores Cancer Center, University of California, San Diego. He earned his PhD in Pharmacology from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and completed his postdoctoral research at the National Institute of Health (NIH). Dr. Gutkind joined the UC San Diego Department of Pharmacology in 2015 after 17 years as a Branch Chief at the NIH, and was appointed Chair of the Department of Pharmacology in 2020. He is recognized for his foundational work revealing the key role of G proteins and G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) in cancer, including cancer initiation, metastasis, immune evasion, and therapy resistance, and for his discovery that the PI3K-mTOR and Hippo signaling networks are the most frequently dysregulated signaling mechanisms in head and neck cancer. As a team science driver, he leads multidisciplinary translational research programs and multi-institutional clinical trials exploiting emerging insights into dysregulated signaling circuits to develop novel precision cancer-targeted and immunotherapies. His laboratory has published more than 600 manuscripts. He is an elected fellow of ASPET and ASBMB, and a member of the NCI Board of Scientific Counselors. He has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine (2019), Chair, Division of Molecular Pharmacology, ASPET (2019), and American Cancer Society Research Professor (2024), and was recently honored with the ASPET Susan B. Horwitz Award in Cancer Pharmacology. Dr. Gutkind is a dedicated educator, having trained and mentored numerous outstanding students and research scholars, who are now holding leadership roles in multiple institutions throughout the United States and abroad.

Dr. Anne McLaren Dorrance is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at Michigan State University. She earned her undergraduate degree in pharmacology from the University of Edinburgh and her PhD from the University of Glasgow. Her research focuses on the vascular mechanisms underlying hypertension, stroke, and cognitive impairment, with particular attention to how hormonal and metabolic factors influence cerebrovascular function. Her work has been supported by the National Institutes of Health, the American Heart Association, and the American Diabetes Association. She has shown a long-standing commitment to education, mentorship, and service. She has taught across undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs, directed graduate training programs, and mentored numerous trainees who have gone on to careers in academia, clinical practice, and industry. Throughout her career, she has emphasized collaboration, thoughtful leadership, and the development of future scientists and educators. Dr. Dorrance has been the Chair of Pharmacology and Toxicology at Michigan State University since 2021. She is also the co-director of an NIGMS-funded T32 program in Integrative Pharmacological Sciences; in this role, she leads mentor training and development.

Patrick A. Forcelli, Ph.D. is Professor and Chair of Pharmacology & Physiology at Georgetown University Medical Center, where he holds the Jerome H. Fleisch & Marlene L. Cohen Endowed Professorship and directs the Ph.D. program in Pharmacology & Physiology. He is also Principal Investigator of Georgetown’s NIGMS-funded Pharmacological Sciences Training Program (PSTP) T32. Dr. Forcelli’s research lies at the intersection of neuropharmacology and systems neuroscience, examining how modulation of neural circuits shapes seizure initiation, propagation, and behavioral state control. His work focuses on basal ganglia and brainstem networks as therapeutic targets, integrating pharmacology, electrophysiology, and translational models to identify and validate new treatments. His laboratory also investigates cellular senescence as a target to prevent epileptogenesis and studies age- and sex-dependent responses to anti-seizure medications, with an emphasis on optimizing therapy for vulnerable populations. As Chair, he has led initiatives to strengthen graduate training, enhance rigor and reproducibility, and support faculty development. He is an active participant in AMSPC and is committed to advancing its mission to support pharmacology departments in research, education, and advocacy.