Dhiren Thakker, PhD, is the Howard Q. Ferguson Distinguished Professor in the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy and associate dean for economic development and global engagement. He is also a researcher focusing on drug absorption and metabolism, as well as a start-up entrepreneur.

Thakker joined the faculty at the School in 1996 after stints in research at the National Institutes of Health and in drug discovery at Glaxo Inc. (now GlaxoSmithKline). He has also worked at the FDA. Thakker has a PhD in biochemistry from the University of Kansas and a master’s in pharmaceutical chemistry from Columbia University. He came to the United States after earning his undergraduate degree in pharmacy at Bombay University in Bombay, India (now Mumbai).

Just two years after coming to UNC, Thakker assume the role of associate dean of graduate and research programs. He is also a scientific founder and member of the board for Qualyst, Inc., a venture capital–backed business venture that spun out of his research on drug metabolism.

Research Interests

Mechanisms of drug transport; structure-transport relationships; prodrug strategies for tumor-targeting; metabolism of drugs and xenobiotics; delivery and disposition of macromolecules