Long Appointed Director of NIGMS Division

Dr. Rochelle Long is the new director of the NIGMS Division of Pharmacology, Physiology, and Biological Chemistry (PPBC). A pharmacologist, she has played leading roles in fostering research in pharmacogenomics through national and international collaborations.  

The division is broad in scope, funding research from basic studies in synthetic chemistry, enzymology, biotechnology, chemical biology and the glycosciences to clinical areas that include pharmacology, anesthesia, sepsis, traumatic injury and wound healing.

“Dr. Long’s skills are ideal for directing this wide-ranging division,” said NIGMS director Dr. Jon Lorsch. “She not only has a true passion for the science, she is also a proven leader who excels at promoting collaborations, facilitating communication and inspiring people.”

Long joined NIGMS in 1990 as a program director in PPBC and became chief of the division’s Pharmacological and Physiological Sciences Branch in 1998. She has served as acting director of PPBC since May 2015.

Long was instrumental in establishing and overseeing the trans-NIH Pharmacogenomics Research Network (PGRN), a nationwide team of scientists focused on understanding genetic contributions to individual drug response. She was also a catalyst for forming multiple PGRN partnerships, including the Global Alliance for Pharmacogenomics, a collaboration with the RIKEN Center for Genomic Medicine in Japan, and the Clinical Pharmacogenetics Implementation Consortium, an authority on using genetic information in medicine.    

Her honors include awards from the Office of the NIH Director for creating and leading the PGRN, organizing an NIH-FDA workshop on adverse drug reactions and coordinating a meeting and report on oral drug bioavailability with NIH, FDA and pharmaceutical industry participants.

Long received a B.S. in chemistry from Bucknell University then worked at the Chemical Industry Institute of Toxicology (now called the Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences) in Research Triangle Park, N.C. She returned to school to earn a Ph.D. in pharmacology from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. 

She conducted postdoctoral research in NHLBI’s Laboratory of Chemical Pharmacology through what was then the NIGMS Pharmacology Research Associate program, which she later co-directed. Prior to joining NIGMS, she served as a faculty member at the University of Maryland, Baltimore’s School of Pharmacy.

“I care deeply about NIGMS and look forward to leading the PPBC division,” said Long. “There are tremendous opportunities to build bridges across the scientific disciplines at the institute and NIH, and I want to work with colleagues and the broader scientific community to strengthen emerging fields and promote the cross-disciplinary research of the future.”