The Robert L. McNeil, Jr. Professorship of Translational Medicine and Therapeutics

Robert L. McNeilEstablished in 2007 by an anonymous gift, the Professorship honors chemist, pharmaceutical industry executive, and philanthropist Robert L. McNeil, Jr. (1915–2010).

Mr. McNeil was the Chairman of McNeil Laboratories, which had been founded by his grandfather. During Robert L. McNeil’s tenure, the company first introduced Tylenol® and became an industry leader.

Many Philadelphia science, art, and educational institutions have benefited from the McNeil family’s philanthropy. At Penn, the Center for Early American Studies has been renamed for Robert L. McNeil, Jr. to honor his generosity. At the Perelman School of Medicine, the McNeil family has endowed several professorships and supported scholarships and many other medical education initiatives.

 

Garret A. FitzGeraldCurrent Chairholder
Garret A. FitzGerald, MD, FRS

Garret A. FitzGerald, MD, FRS is the McNeil Professor in Translational Medicine and Therapeutics and Associate Dean for Translational Research. Dr. FitzGerald’s research has been characterized by an integrative approach to elucidating the mechanisms of drug action, drawing on work in cells, model organisms, and humans. His work contributed fundamentally to the development of low-dose aspirin for cardioprotection. Dr. FitzGerald’s group was the first to predict and then mechanistically explain the cardiovascular hazard of NSAIDs. He has also discovered many products of lipid peroxidation and established their utility as indices of oxidant stress in vivo. His laboratory was the first to discover a molecular clock in the cardiovascular system and has studied the importance of peripheral clocks in the regulation of cardiovascular and metabolic function. He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine, a Fellow of the American Academy of the Arts and Sciences and of the Royal Society, and an honorary member of the Royal Irish Academy.