P. JEFFREY CONN, PHD ('81)

After graduating from Lee with a B.S. in Psychology, Jeff Conn attended Vanderbilt University where he completed his PhD in Pharmacology before entering Yale for his postdoctoral work. In 1988 he joined the faculty at Emory University where he was promoted to full professor while researching the relationship between neurotransmitter receptors and neurological disorders. In 2000 Dr. Conn joined Merck and Company as the Senior Director of neuroscience before returning to Vanderbilt in 2003 as the founding Director of the Vanderbilt Program in Translational Neuropharmacology and the Director of the Vanderbilt Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery. Dr. Conn serves on numerous editorial boards and provides scientific oversight to several national organizations including the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s research. He is recognized as a pioneer for his innovative approach to drug discovery which calls for collaboration between research universities and drug companies in order to produce superior medical solutions. Dr. Conn is the Lee E. Limbird Professor of Pharmacology. Jeff was the 2008 Alumnus of the Year. He and his wife, Dr. Anita Ball Conn (‘81), have three children and live in the Nashville area.