Ryan received B.S. in chemistry from Wake Forest University in 1997 and subsequently joined Glaxo Wellcome in Research Triangle Park as an analytical scientist. In 1999 he enrolled in the School of Pharmacy, UNC-Chapel Hill, as a part time graduate student and member of Dr. Thakker’s lab. He remained a full time employee at GlaxoSmithKline where he transferred to a Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics department to better align his career with his graduate research interests. He is currently employed at GSK and in his final year of graduate school. Ryan lives in Raleigh with his wife Kelly and enjoys playing golf and soccer.