Professor Dr. Barbara Slusher

Biography

Barbara Slusher is a Professor in the Solomon H Snyder Department of Neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University, serving as the Director of the Johns Hopkins Drug Discovery and Vice Director of the Pederson Brain Science Institute. With over 18 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, including a role as Senior Vice President of Research and Translational Development, she has contributed to the successful development and marketing of several branded medicines. At Johns Hopkins, Dr. Slusher leads a large integrated drug discovery program, engaging a veteran team of medicinal chemists, assay developers, pharmacologists, and toxicologists to translate faculty research into novel drug therapies. She has published over 170 scientific articles and holds 75 patent applications. An invited speaker at numerous national and international meetings, she has served on the boards of several biotechnology companies. Dr. Slusher is a co-founder of Cerecor, a CNS-focused biopharma company, and Dracen Pharmaceuticals, which emphasizes immuno-metabolism. She also founded the first-ever International Consortium for Academic Drug Discovery, comprising 140 university-led translational centers and 1500 members to enhance academic drug discovery efforts.

Research Interests

Experience