Dr. Steven Swanson

Biography

Steven Swanson is the Dean of the School of Pharmacy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He earned his doctorate in Pharmacognosy from the University of Illinois at Chicago. His graduate work examined how retinoids modulate carcinogen metabolism and their binding to nuclear macromolecules such as DNA. Dr. Swanson has a robust background in tumor biology and hormonal modulation, having worked at the Satyabrata Nandi Cancer Research Laboratory at UC Berkeley. His career includes serving on the faculty at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where he focused on elucidating the cellular mechanisms by which dietary substances affect carcinogenesis through animal model systems. In 1998, he returned to UIC as an assistant professor with a research emphasis on discovering anticancer drugs from natural sources and understanding the role of hormones, especially growth hormone, in cancer progression. Over the past 25 years, Dr. Swanson's research has received federal funding, leading to the publication of more than 135 peer-reviewed papers, review articles, and book chapters. He has held various academic leadership positions, including Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Education and Acting Dean at UIC. Moreover, he has contributed to the National Institutes of Health Chemo-Dietary Prevention Study Section and served as a scientific reviewer for the Department of Defense. Dr. Swanson became Dean of the School of Pharmacy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in July 2014.

Research Interests