Stephen Lanier
Office Address
Integrative Biosciences Center
6135 Woodward Avenue
Detroit, MI 48202
Department of Pharmacology
6374 Scott Hall
Wayne State University School of Medicine
540 E Canfield
Detroit, MI 48201
Office Phone
313-577-4442
Biography
Stephen M. Lanier (SML) received his doctorate in pharmacology from the University of Tennessee Center for Health Sciences and received postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School in the Cardiac Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital. SML has served on the faculty at Harvard Medical School, the Medical University of South Carolina, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, and Wayne State University in Detroit.
SML served as Chair of the Department of Pharmacology at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans (2001 – 2006), as the Chief Scientific Officer and the Associate Provost for Research at the Medical University of South Carolina (2006 – 2014), and as the Vice President for Research at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan (2014 – 2022).
Training
Fellow, (1983-1986) – Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, Cellular and Molecular Research Laboratory, Cardiac Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital. Mentors: Charles J. Homcy, M.D. and Robert M. Graham, M.D.
Visiting Scientist (1983) – Department of Pharmacology, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto Japan
Postdoctoral Fellow, (1983) – Department Department of Pharmacology, University of Tennessee Center for Health Sciences, Memphis, Tennessee. Mentor: K.U. Malik, Ph.D.
Education
Ph.D., Department of Pharmacology, University of Tennessee Center for Health Sciences, Memphis, Tennessee, 1982. Mentor: Kafait U. Malik, Ph.D.
B.S., Biology (High Distinction), Tennessee Technological University, Cookeville, Tennessee, 1978.
Areas of Expertise
In each of his institutional leadership roles, SML developed broad programmatic initiatives across multiple disciplines, strong community ties and significant inter-institutional collaborations and partnerships involving the public and private sector with broad impact. In his role as an institutional leader at Wayne State University, he nurtured a range of initiatives focused on the development of thematic, cross-disciplinary programs that connect with challenges facing the city of Detroit and other evolving urban environments.
As a research scientist, his effort was anchored in mechanisms of drug action and the biology of cell and system regulation in health and disease. Work in the laboratory led to the development of new concepts in the field of cell signaling and has resulted in the generation of a number of tools and resources that are widely used in the research community. The research laboratory team provided the first evidence for structural heterogeneity of a2-adrenergic receptors and was among the first to clone a2-ARs and has made many contributions regarding the factors that determine signaling specificity through such systems. The lab subsequently discovered the family of Activators of G-protein signaling introducing unexpected aspects of G-protein mediated cell signaling that have had and continue to have broad implications for basic cellular function and the therapeutic management of the dysfunction of signaling systems observed in various diseases.
Over the past year, SML has focused on the potential use of recently developed human genomic and related -omics platforms to dissect and explore targeted signal transduction networks (e.g. Activators of G-protein signaling and related signal processing dynamics) for the development of new therapeutic and diagnostic modalities.
Research training and faculty development:
Throughout the course of his career, SML has mentored and trained multiple students (high school, undergraduate, graduate, professional disciplines), fellows and junior faculty from a broad range of diverse backgrounds. His work in this area includes NIH- funded program and center management, faculty recruitment, and the development/leadership of a number of research training, mentoring and career advancement programs including the following:
- National Institutes of Health - T32 HL07260-22 "Training to Improve Cardiovascular Drug Therapy", 7/1/97 - 6/30/01 Program Director - Stephen M. Lanier
- Louisiana Board of Regents, Graduate Training Grant “Graduate Training in Integrative Pharmacological Sciences” (2003-2008)Co-Principal Investigators – Stephen M. Lanier, Ph.D. (Chair) and Emel Songu-Mize, Ph.D.
- National Institutes of Health - P20 RR018766 “Mentoring in Cardiovascular Biology” 10/1/03 – 9/30/08 Principal Investigator: Stephen M. Lanier, Ph.D. (Junior faculty development program)
- National Institutes of Health - P20 RR18766 “South Carolina COBRE for Oral Health Research”, 7/1/07 – 6/30/12 Program Director: Stephen M. Lanier, Ph.D. (Junior faculty development program)
- National Institutes of Health - T32 GM139807-01 “IMSD – Initiative to Maximize Student Development at Wayne State University”
02/01/2021 – 01/31/26 Multiple Program Director (MPD) leadership
Christine Chow (MPD), Michele Cote (MPD) and Stephen M. Lanier (Corresponding/Contact Program Director)
Awards and Honors
- 1977 Biology Scholarship Award - Tennessee Technological University, Cookeville Tennessee
- 1978 Bartoo Memorial Scholarship Award - Tennessee Technological University, Cookeville Tennessee
- 1978 Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society- Tennessee Technological University, Cookeville Tennessee
- 1980 National Student Research Forum (Galveston, Texas) First Place - Cardiovascular Research; Honorable Mention - Overall Competition
- 1981 Sigma Xi Annual Research Recognition Awards - Second Place, University of Tennessee Center for Health Sciences, Memphis, Tennessee
- 1981-82 Advanced Predoctoral Fellow - Pharmaceutical Manufacturer's Research Association
- 1985 Research Fellowship - Massachusetts Affiliate of American Heart Association
- 1985-87 National Research Service Award - National Institutes of Health
- 1986 Louis N. Katz Prize for Young Investigators (American Heart Association) - Finalist
- 1993 Mentor: Ryo Kataoka, M.D., Ph.D. - Louis N. Katz Prize for Young Investigators (American Heart Association), Finalist
- 1995 Developing Scholars Award - Health Sciences Foundation, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina
- 1995 Guest Lecturer: Annual Meeting of Catecholamines and Cardiovascular System, Tokyo, Japan
- 1995 Visiting Professor - Universite Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France
- 1999-00 Chair - Division of Molecular Pharmacology, American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
- 2000-03 Pharmacology Study Section – National Institutes of Health
- 2000, 2001 Nominated for 2000 Health Sciences Foundation Teaching Excellence Award – Educator/Mentor, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC
- 2001 Appointed as Lederle Laboratories/David R. Bethune Professor of Pharmacology, LSU Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, Louisiana
- 2002 Fellow – American Heart Association - Council for High Blood Pressure Research
- 2002, 2003 Yamanouchi Research Scholar Award
- 2003 Co-Chair - Gordon Conference on Second Messengers and Protein Phosphorylation, Kimball Union Academy, New Hampshire
- 2001-06 Hypertension and Microcirculation Study Section – National Institutes of Health
- 2004 Chair – Integrative and Organ Systems Pharmacology Special Emphasis Panel, National Institutes of General Medical Sciences, National Institutes of Health, USA
- 2005 Invited Reviewer – GLUE Grants study section, National Institute of General Medical Sciences, National Institutes of Health, USA
- 2006 External Reviewer for Board of Scientific Counselors – Laboratory of Signal Transduction and Laboratory of Molecular Toxicology, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health - USA
- 2007 Invited Speaker and Chair – Division of Molecular Pharmacology Postdoctoral Award Session, American Society of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Experimental Biology 2007
- 2007 External Reviewer for Board of Scientific Counselors – Section on Neurotransmitter Receptor Biology, National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institutes of Health, USA
- 2008 Chair – Integrative and Organ Systems Pharmacology Special Emphasis Panel, National Institutes of General Medical Sciences, National Institutes of Health, USA
- 2009 Knowledge Economist Award – South Carolina Research Authority
- 2010- Member - Molecular and Integrative Signal Transduction Study Section – National Institutes of Health
- 2010 COBRE Phase III Study Section, National Center for Research Resources, USA
- 2010 External Reviewer for Board of Scientific Counselors – Section on Neurotransmitter Receptor Biology, National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institutes of Health, USA
- 2010-13 Council - American Society of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
- 2018 Invited participant –Opening of the Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering in Health Systems, Okayama University
Grants
SML’s laboratory and research program was continuously supported by extramural funding awards from multiple sponsors since 1980 and by the National Institutes of Health from 1985 – 2014. SML has also developed and led a number of extramurally funded research training, mentoring and career advancement programs for students, fellows and faculty.
National Institutes of Health T32 GM139807-01 02/01/2021 – 01/31/26
“IMSD – Initiative to Maximize Student Development - at Wayne State University”
Multiple Program Director (MPD) leadership
Corresponding/Contact Program Director – Stephen M. Lanier
Christine Chow (MPD), Michele Cote (MPD)
SML's role as MPI was tranferred to Amanda Bryant-Friedrich, Ph.D. (Dean of the Graduate School) in September 2022 as SML began his leave/sabbatical.
Prior Appointments
Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, Michigan
Professor – Department of Pharmacology
Dates of Appointment: 2014 to present
Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan
Vice President for Research
Dates of Appointment: 2014 to 2022
(October 1, 2022 – September 30, 2023: leave/sabbatical)
Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina
Associate Provost and Chief Scientific Officer
Dates of Appointment: 2006 to 2014
Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina
Professor, Cell and Molecular Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
Dates of Appointment: 2006 to 2014
Louisiana State University Medical Center, New Orleans, Louisiana
Associate Director, LSUHSC Center of Excellence for Cardiovascular Research
Dates of Appointment: 2003 to 2006
Louisiana State University Medical Center, New Orleans, Louisiana
Chair - Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
Dates of Appointment: 2001 to 2006
Louisiana State University Medical Center, New Orleans, Louisiana
Lederle Laboratories/David R. Bethune Professor of Pharmacology, Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
Dates of Appointment: 2001 to 2006
Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina
Professor, Cell and Molecular Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
Dates of Appointment: 1999 to 2001
Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina
Associate Professor, Cell and Molecular Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
Dates of Appointment: 1994 to 1999
Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina
Faculty, Molecular and Cellular Biology Graduate Program
Dates of Appointment: 1992 to 2001
Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina
Assistant Professor, Cell and Molecular Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
Dates of Appointment: 1991 to 1994
Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine (Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology)
Cardiac Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital
Dates of Appointment: 1989 to 1991
Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts
Assistant in Pharmacology
Dates of Appointment: 1987 to 1991
Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
Instructor, Department of Medicine (Pharmacology)
Cardiac Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital
Dates of Appointment: 1987 to 1989