Board of Trustees Names Mary-Ann Bjornsti Waters Chair

The University of Alabama Board of Trustees named Mary-Ann Bjornsti, Ph.D., the Newman H. Waters Chair of Clinical Pharmacology in the School of Medicine at its meeting February 6.

February 6, 2009

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The University of Alabama Board of Trustees named Mary-Ann Bjornsti, Ph.D., the Newman H. Waters Chair of Clinical Pharmacology in the School of Medicine at its meeting February 6.

Bjornsti recently joined the faculty at UAB as Professor and Chair of the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology. Her research focuses on how to disrupt the function of the enzyme DNA topoisomerase I using the anti-tumor agent camptothecin. The enzyme allows a tumor cell to unfold its DNA so that it can replicate, and she investigates how camptothecin can prevent this unfolding.

Bjornsti chairs one of the National Cancer Institute's initial review group subcommittees. She has served as a member for the editorial board for The Journal of Biological Chemistry and is a board member of the Cancer Molecular Therapeutics Research Association.