Faculty News
Brian Knoll, Ph.D., associate professor and assistant dean, is presented with a plaque in recognition of more than two decades at UHCOP by college Dean F. Lamar Pritchard, Ph.D., R.Ph., at Knoll's retirement celebration in December.
Pharmacology Ph.D. alumna Varsha Iyer, one of Knoll's first graduate student mentees at UHCOP, congratulations Knoll at his retirement celebration in December.
Pharmacology Ph.D. alumna Vaidehi Thanawala, who was one of Knoll's last graduate student mentees, was among Knoll's well-wishers at his retirement celebration in December.
Melissa Nieto, who worked alongside Knoll for more than six years in the Graduate Programs Office until her recent departure, congratulates Knoll on his retirement.
Brian Knoll Retires from UHCOP After 23 Years of Teaching, Research and Service
Jan. 9 — After 23 years of teaching, research and service, Brian J. Knoll, Ph.D., retired Dec. 31 from the University of Houston College of Pharmacy (UHCOP).
In addition to his faculty position in the UHCOP Department of Pharmacological and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Knoll also served as the UHCOP's assistant dean of graduate programs for the past decade and director of graduate education in PPS for the prior eight years. Before joining UH in 2000, Knoll held faculty and research positions at Baylor College of Medicine, the University of Texas Health Science Center Houston (UTHealth), and the Houston Veterans Affairs Medical Center. In total, Knoll's teaching and research career among the institutions spanned four decades.
Pharmacology Research
Knoll's primary research focus was in the development of new therapeutics designed to reduce airway inflammation by modifying beta 2-adrenergic receptor (β2AR) signaling in airway epithelium. He also performed studies on the cell biology of receptor trafficking. Knoll served as principal investigator or co-investigator on research grant projects totaling more than $4 million from the National Institutes of Health, the American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association.
He authored or coauthored more than 50 book chapters and peer-reviewed journal articles in such publications as Proceedings of the National Academies of Science (PNAS), the European Journal of Pharmacology, the Journal of Biological Chemistry, PLOS One and the British Journal of Pharmacology. In addition to serving on the editorial boards of the latter two journals, Knoll served as a journal referee on more than a dozen publications.
Knoll also presented dozens of abstracts at leading national and international scientific meetings, including Experimental Biology, the International Union of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology, and the British Pharmacological Society.
Student, Trainee Education
From student rotations to co-chairing dissertation committees, Knoll was involved in the training development and progression of more than 50 graduate and undergraduate students as well as postdoctoral fellows over the course of his career. Knoll taught in several graduate courses, including Molecular Pharmacology, Cellular Pharmacology, and Scientific Writing and, in the professional program, coordinated Cellular Life Sciences II/Immunology classes and the Immunology/Rhuematology modules as well as lectured in the Respiratory module.
His institutional and external service activities included committees and task forces at the college and university level; student poster/platform presentation judge for the American Medical Association and the National Student Research Forum; and on review panels for such organizations as the National Science Foundation and the American Heart Association.