Pharmaceutical Scientist Appointed Associate Dean for Research

Leadership role provides oversight for grant and contract submissions and identification of funding sources and initiates collaborative and translational research programs.

By Becky Ceraul
April 3, 2025

Fengtian Xue, PhD, associate professor of pharmaceutical sciences (PSC), has been appointed by Dean Sarah L.J. Michel, PhD, the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy’s new associate dean for research.

Xue has been a faculty member at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy since 2011. His research focuses on pre-clinical development of small molecule therapeutics for bacterial infections, alcohol use disorders, neurodegenerative diseases, and cancer. His work is funded by the National Institutes of Health, Maryland Industrial Partnerships, the National Science Foundation, and the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation, among other sources.

Xue is a mentor to dozens of PhD, MS, and PharmD students and has been a member of numerous School committees, such as Curriculum Committee, Student Affairs Committee, and the Faculty Affairs Committee. He is currently president of the School’s Faculty Assembly. Xue also serves as director of the School’s High-Throughput Core Facility and NMR Core Facility and is co-director of our Metallotherapeutics Research Center and vice chair of academic affairs in PSC.

In 2023, Xue was the School of Pharmacy’s Faculty Preceptor of the Year and in 2017, he was the School’s American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Teacher of the Year. He serves on the editorial boards of several journals, including Pharmaceutics, Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, and Frontiers in Drug Discovery – Cardiovascular and Hematologic Drugs.

Xue received his PhD in chemistry from Brown University, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship in medicinal chemistry at Northwestern University.

“Dr. Xue’s multi-disciplinary research program, his outstanding scholarly achievements, and his successes in obtaining funding from a wide range of areas have prepared him well to take on this important role,” says Michel, who is also a professor in PSC. “I look forward to working with him as he brings his vision and expertise to this role.”

As associate dean for research, Xue will oversee the School of Pharmacy’s Office of Research in supporting research grant submissions, identifying funding opportunities and requests for applications, and managing and supporting project budgets for funded grants. He will initiate and promote new collaborative and translational research programs, both internally and externally and will develop five-year grants and contracts projections for the campus, along with other campus required projections. Xue will analyze success in research grant and contract submissions and will work with faculty to increase grant proposal success rates. He will also chair the School of Pharmacy’s Research and Pharmapreneurship Committee and will serve on the School’s Executive Committee and the Dean’s Leadership Council.

“I am excited to be named associate dean for research and to support the career development of individual faculty, students, and trainees, and to enhance the School of Pharmacy’s exposure at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, in Maryland, and nationwide,” says Xue.

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