Two department chairs have been appointed in the ETSU College of Pharmacy bringing the leadership team near completion.
Dr. Ralph Lugo will chair the Department of Pharmacy Practice, and Dr. David Roane is the chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
The announcement was made by ETSU Dean of Pharmacy Dr. Larry Calhoun, who said the remaining leadership post-an Assistant Dean for Experiential Learning – will be filled at a later date.
“I couldn’t be more pleased by the caliber of applicants we received for these positions,” Calhoun said. “Dr. Lugo and Dr. Roane bring exceptional credentials to ETSU and will be invaluable to our College of Pharmacy, particularly during these upcoming months as we finalize our application for accreditation.”
Lugo comes to ETSU from Salt Lake City where he has served as Vice-Chair and Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmacotherapy at the University of Utah College of Pharmacy.
As a faculty member at Utah since 1993, he has taught and researched pediatric pharmacy. Lugo holds a Bachelor of Science in pharmacy from Rutgers University a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He also completed a postdoctoral research fellowship in 1993 in experimental therapeutics.
Lugo has been very active nationally in pediatric pharmacy and pharmacology and has published numerous works on the use of drugs in children.
Along with his future administrative responsibilities as ETSU’s Chair of Pharmacy Practice, Lugo says he is looking forward to his role in teaching and research while also working closely with the Department of Pediatrics in the Quillen College of Medicine to expand pediatric clinical research throughout the region.
Roane was the chairman of the Department of Biology and was also appointment as the K. Degree Endowed Professor of Biology at the University of Louisiana, Monroe.
Roane has claimed numerous honors, including the College of Pharmacy Teacher of the Year, ULM Alumni Association Outstanding Professor in the College of Pharmacy, CentruyTel Accent on Excellence Award, Pharmacy Student Council Outstanding Teacher of the Year, Rho Chi Society Professor of the Year, and Mortar Board Professor of the Year.
After receiving his B.A. from Drake University, Des Moines, Roane completed additional training in chemical dependency counseling at Iowa Methodist Medical Center and later earned a B.S. degree in zoology, followed by a Ph.D. in physiology and a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Georgia.
Roane’s primary research interest is molecular basis of neuronal nutrient sensing in the regulation of energy balance.Institutions that have supported his work include: National Institutes of Health, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Diabetes Trust Fund, Louisiana Biomedical Research Network, and the U.S. Department of Defense.
Lugo and Roane will join Dr. Charles Collins, and Loni Garcia associate deans for academic affairs and student affairs respectively, and Calhoun on the senior leadership team for the ETSU College of Pharmacy.
Interviews for the first spring 2007 class, will begin in April.

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