Prof. Emily Scott Named F.F. Blicke Collegiate Professor of Pharmacy

Emily E. Scott’s, PhD, appointment as the F.F. Blicke Collegiate Professor of Pharmacy has been approved by the Regents of the University of Michigan. Her term is effective Jan. 1, 2021, through Dec. 31, 2025.

The F.F. Blicke Collegiate Professorship was established in 2008 to honor Prof. Fredrick Franklin (F.F.) Blicke, whose research and educational contributions had a considerable impact on the field of Medicinal Chemistry.  Prof. Blicke, who was on faculty at the College of Pharmacy from 1926-1961, became a nationally recognized leader in synthetic organic pharmaceutical chemistry and successfully established the first Doctoral Study program in Medicinal Chemistry in the United States.

“Prof. Emily Scott is an excellent scientist who uses a variety of biophysical techniques to probe the structure and function of cytochrome P450s,” says Heather A. Carlson, PhD, Chair of Medicinal Chemistry and Director of the Interdepartmental Program in Medicinal Chemistry. “The National Institute of General Medical Sciences supports her research at the maximum allowed level because they recognize the importance of her work to explain drug metabolism, steroidal biosynthesis, and other biochemical processes.  In addition to her outstanding research, Prof. Scott performs a great deal of service to the Department, College, University, and the wider international scientific community.”

Prof. Scott joined the University of Michigan in 2016 after twelve years at the University of Kansas. She earned her PhD in biochemistry and cell biology from Rice University in 1998. She went on to complete two postdoctoral fellowships, within the department of biochemistry and cell biology at Rice University and the department of pharmacology and toxicology at the University of Texas Medical Branch.

Prof.  Scott became fascinated with heme proteins during undergraduate field research on brittle stars with hemoglobin. “This early research experience led me to study myoglobin structure/function at Rice University and cytochrome P450 enzymes as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Texas Medical Branch,” explains Prof. Scott.  

First at the University of Kansas and now at the University of Michigan, the primary focus of Prof. Scott’s research has been the structure/function relationships of human cytochrome P450 enzymes. The Scott lab uses structural biology and biochemical techniques to understand drug metabolism and how to target specific P450 enzymes in disease pathways.  Her laboratory is perhaps best known for X-ray structures of human P450 enzymes involved in xenobiotic metabolism (CYP1A1, CYP2A6, CYP2A13, CYP2E1) and steroidogenesis (CYP17A1 and CYP11B1), most of which were the first structures available.  Prof. Scott’s work has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health since 2004 and received a MERIT award in 2015. 

In recognition of her contributions to the scientific community, Prof. Scott was named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2020. Other notable awards include the 2012 ISSX North American New Investigator Award in honor of James R. Gillette and the 2011 Early Career Achievement Award from the Drug Metabolism Division of The American Society of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.  Dr. Scott also currently serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, Drug Metabolism Reviews, and Drug Metabolism and Disposition.