Dessauer named ASPET fellow
The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET) has named Carmen Dessauer, PhD, professor and chair ad interim in the Department of Integrative Biology and Pharmacology as a member of its 2022 class of Fellows.
Selections as a fellow of the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics is an honor bestowed on ASPET members who have demonstrated excellence via their overall contributions to pharmacology and the society. Fellows are recognized for their meritorious efforts to advance pharmacology, through their scientific achievements, mentorship, and service.
“I am truly honored to receive this recognition for our work on cyclic AMP signaling,” Dessauer said. “ASPET has been my home society since my early career, largely due to the impact of my mentor and postdoctoral adviser, Dr. Alfred G. Gilman, and the other leaders in pharmacology that went before me. I am grateful for those who nominated me for this accolade, and for the many trainees whose dedication and efforts drove our research.”
Dessauer’s research has identified novel scaffolding proteins that define subcellular organization of cyclic nucleotide signaling pathways. Her work has been instrumental in highlighting the concept of scaffolding of AC enzymes to drive cAMP compartmentalization and physiological function in biomedical research.
Dessauer’s research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health since 2000 and she also has received funding from the Mathers Foundation, American Heart Association, Craig Neilsen Foundation, and others. She is the 2022 recipient of the Paul Darlington Mentoring Award and the winner of the 2017 Women’s Faculty Forum Excellence in Basic Science Award.
Dessauer received her PhD in biochemistry from Louisiana State University and was a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Nobel laureate Alfred G. Gilman at the UT Southwestern Medical School. She joined the faculty in the Department of Integrative Biology and Pharmacology in 1998.
Dessauer has been a member of ASPET since 2010, previously serving as secretary and treasurer of the Molecular Pharmacology division in 2012 and chair of the division in 2022. She also served on the advisory council for the National Institute of General Medicine from 2014-18 and has chaired many NIH study sections.
The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics is a 4,000-member scientific society whose members conduct basic and clinical pharmacological research and work for academia, government, large pharmaceutical companies, small biotech companies, and non-profit organizations. Members work in a variety of different fields and include neuroscientists, toxicologists, chemical biologists, pharmacists, and cardiovascular scientists.