Natalie D. Eddington, PhD, FAAPS, FCP, is former dean and professor of pharmaceutical sciences of the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy (UMSOP).
Dr. Eddington earned a BS in pharmacy from Howard University and a PhD in pharmaceutical sciences from UMSOP. After completion of her PhD, Dr. Eddington was appointed as the clinical director of new drug development at Pfizer, Inc. After three years at Pfizer, Dr. Eddington began her academic career at UMSOP as an assistant professor, where she also served as chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and director of the Pharmacokinetics-Biopharmaceutics Laboratory.
Dr. Eddington is a nationally known expert in drug delivery and pharmacokinetics. Her research focuses on various medications used in the treatment of cancer, epilepsy, arthritis, and drugs of abuse, and on understanding the role of biopharmaceutics and pharmacokinetics in elucidating the underlying mechanisms important in optimizing drug therapy. Her research has been supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIDA, NIBIB, NIMH, NCI), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Department of Defense, and the pharmaceutical industry. Dr. Eddington is the author of more than 125 publications and has given more than 150 presentations and 100 invited lectures on topics related to pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, transporter processes, and academic pharmacy.
Dr. Eddington’s research served as the basis for numerous regulatory guidances implemented by the FDA. Specifically, the School of Pharmacy’s research in support of the Scale Up and Post Approval Changes (SUPAC) guidances has directly saved the pharmaceutical industry more than $1.5 billion and has saved the FDA timeless hours of review through reductions in regulatory burden. This research was supported by an $11 million grant from the FDA.
Under Dr. Eddington’s leadership, the School of Pharmacy established a number of centers and programs including the Center for Innovative Pharmacy Solutions; the Patients, Pharmacists, Partnerships (P3) Program; the Patient-centered Involvement in Evaluating the effectiveness of Treatment (PATIENTS) Program; the Bio- and Nano-technology Center, the Center for Translational Medicine, the Mass Spectrometry Center, and the FDA-supported Maryland Center of Excellence in Regulatory Science and Innovation (M-CERSI), which is a collaborative agreement with the FDA to promote innovation in support of the development and evaluation of safe and effective products. Dr. Eddington has designed numerous international regulatory courses for clinicians and scientists from South Korea, Argentina, Brazil, the United States, and Japan on the United States’ drug development process and the FDA regulatory infrastructure surrounding medication and device development. Most recently, under Dr. Eddington’s leadership, the School has launched a transformational pharmapreneurism initiative, which seeks to position the School’s world class faculty, its wonderful students, and exceptional staff to achieve their career aspirations and address our nation’s health care, research, policy, and societal needs.
Dr. Eddington has served as co-chair of the University of Maryland, Baltimore’s Middle States Accreditation Committee and as chair of the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Technology and Education, a non-profit, sixteen-member university consortium conducting research and education on the science of pharmaceutical technology manufacturing and regulatory sciences.
Dr. Eddington has been very active within the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP), serving as chair of its Council of Deans (COD) Diversity Task Force, as the COD Administrative Board representative, and as dean facilitator and mentor in its Academic Leadership Fellows program. She is past chair of AACP’s COD and is completing her service as chair of the association’s Research and Graduate Affairs Committee. She has also served on the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists’ Council on Workforce and Education, and as chair of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists’ (AAPS) Program Coordinating Committee and its Annual Meeting Programming Committee.
Dr. Eddington is a fellow of AAPS and of the American College of Clinical Pharmacology.