Angela K. Birnbaum, Ph.D.

Professor 

Phone: (612) 624-3158, Fax: (612) 626-0148 

Email: birnb002@umn.edu 

Angela Birnbaum has a broad background that includes both basic sciences and clinical research. She has a BS in Medical Technology (chemistry minor) and a BS in Biology at Ohio Northern University. She worked as a laboratory scientist in hospital laboratories measuring routine chemistry, hematology samples, and arterial blood gases (Charleston Area Medical Center, WVA, Duke University, NC) followed by work in a drug reference laboratory (MedTox Laboratories). She then completed a Ph.D. in pharmacology (neuroscience minor) at the University of Minnesota, Medical School where she studied the expression of a2-adrenergic and d-opioid receptors in the Xenopus oocytes to examine spinal neurotransmission of pain. 

She completed training in clinical research as a 2-year post-doctoral trainee in clinical neuropharmacology in the College of Pharmacy where she established and directed the first formal working research laboratory for the Epilepsy Research and Education Program. Her clinical research experience includes development of stable labeled compounds for investigational pharmacokinetic studies in humans and involved the filing of ten IND’s as well as stability testing of experimental compounds with one compound (intravenous carbamazepine) being developed for commercial use (NDA filed). 

Susan Marino, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Phone: (612) 624-2964

Email: marin007@umn.edu

Dr. Susan Marino received her PhD in neurobiology and behavior at the University of Pennsylvania. She is an associate professor in the Department of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology and director of the Center for Clinical and Cognitive Neuropharmacology at the University of Minnesota. Using an interdisciplinary approach, her research focuses on the effects of drugs on cognition.

Ilo Leppik, M.D.

Professor

Email: leppi001@umn.edu

Dr. Ilo E. Leppik is an epilepsy specialist at UMP Epilepsy Care Minneapolis and Professor of Pharmacy and Neurology at the University of Minnesota.He has been practicing in the area for 40 years. He has done extensive research regarding epilepsy in the elderly funded by the NIH. This has included studying how epilepsy medicines change as one gets older. Research has also involved studying epilepsy in nursing homes.

Dr. Leppik is the past President of the American Epilepsy Society was on the Board of Directors of the Epilepsy Foundation of America and chaired its professional advisory board. He has given many lectures in the USA and internationally. Dr. Leppik’s research is widely published with over 240 peer reviewed articles and more than 250 abstracts. He has coauthored numerous books and authored Contemporary Diagnosis and Management of the Patient with Epilepsy which has 650,000 copies in print and Epilepsy: A Guide to Balance Your Life, sponsored by the American Academy of Neurology as part of their educational series for patients and families. 

Current research includes using naturally occurring canine status epilepticus as a translational platform for new drugs and Minnesota cannabis for epilepsy.

Rory Remmel, Ph.D.

Professor

Phone: (612) 624-0472, Fax: (612) 626-3114

Email: remme001@umn.edu

Rory Remmel is well known as a collaborative investigator in drug metabolism research, with an emphasis on glucuronidation. His research has included studies in basic enzymology, work with hepatocytes, animal studies, and clinical studies in AIDS patients, in patients with epilepsy, and in patients with tuberculosis. 

He has received multiple teaching awards (including highest teaching award given at the University of Minnesota), especially for teaching antimicrobial agents to pharmacy students.

Jennifer Brown, Ph.D., MLS

Assistant Professor

Phone: (612) 625-6964 

Email: brown200@umn.edu

Jennifer Brown is an Assistant Professor at the University of Minnesota Medical Laboratory Sciences Program. She has a Ph.D. in Molecular, Cellular, Developmental Biology, and Genetics, with 30 years of experience in research and medical laboratories. Dr. Brown’s primary focus is clinical toxicology and chemistry, particularly utilizing mass spectrometry for drug analysis, medication monitoring, and automated chemistry workflows. Special interests include using technology to work more efficiently, health informatics, and promoting the value of the medical laboratory profession.