Mercer elected to AACP leadership role
Kim Chaudoin | 615.966.6494 |
Susan Mercer, associate professor of pharmaceutical sciences in Lipscomb University’s College of Pharmacy, has been elected chair-elect of the Chemistry Section of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP). AACP membership includes 141 institutions from across the country. The mission of the AACP is to advance pharmacy education, research, scholarship, practice and service, in partnership with members and stakeholders, to improve health for all.
In this role Mercer will serve as the chair of the Chemistry Section Program Committee for the annual AACP meetings. She will also oversee the Chemistry Section New Investigator Award application, review and selection process. Additionally, she will serve as a member of the AACP’s coordinating committee. The appointment is a three-year term.
“This is a great opportunity for Lipscomb University and the College of Pharmacy to have increased visibility and recognition among our peer institutions and to be a leader in this arena,” said Mercer. “I look forward to the opportunities this endeavor will provide for me personally and for Lipscomb’s program.”
Mercer joined the founding faculty of the Lipscomb University College of Pharmacy in the Fall 2008. She teaches Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry, CNS pharmacology, Drugs of Abuse and Addiction and in the Integrated Biomedical Sciences Laboratory. Her research interests include the design and synthesis of novel opioid analgesics with reduced side effects. She is also an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Pharmacology at Vanderbilt University and is a member of the Vanderbilt Institute of Chemical Biology.
She strives to encourage and support student interest in the basic and pharmaceutical sciences by actively engaging undergraduate and professional students in her research laboratory. Mercer currently serves as a mentor for two AFPE Gateway Scholars and the Pharmaceutical Sciences Summer Research Program at Lipscomb. She has also served as a faculty mentor for AACP Walmart Scholars in 2011 and 2014.
Mercer has served the AACP Chemistry Section as chair of the Resolutions Committee (2016-2017), and previously as a member of the Nominations and Awards Committee (2015-2016), Strategic Planning Task Force (2014-2015), Rules and Bylaws Review Committee (2012-2013) and the Mission and Vision Task Force (2010-2012). She was an AACP Faculty Delegate (2012-2014) and an AACP ARFP Fellow (2014-2015).
Mercer has received various awards including an AACP New Investigator Award (2012), a Leadership Development Award from the ACS Younger Chemists Committee (2008) and has been recognized by Seton Hill University as a Distinguished Recent Alumni (2009). She is also actively involved with the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS). She has served the Drug Design and Discovery (DDDI) Section matriculating through the chair roles (2013-2016) and Secretary/Treasurer (2009-2012). Additionally she has served on the AAPS Finance Committee (2011-2014) and Awards Committee (2016-2017) amongst other leadership positions.
Mercer received her B.S. in chemistry from Seton Hill University, and a Ph.D. in pharmaceutical sciences from the University of Maryland. Her graduate training provided experience in every phase of classical drug discovery that included organic synthesis, medicinal chemistry, pharmacology, drug metabolism, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics.
Founded in 2007, Lipscomb University’s College of Pharmacy is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education and offers a four-year program leading to the Doctor of Pharmacy degree. Its graduates have a 100 percent pass rate on the MPJE exam and a 96.10 percent pass rate on the NAPLEX exam. In addition, its graduates have a 100 percent job placement rate. For more information, visit pharmacy.lipscomb.edu.