Daniela Salvemini, Ph.D.

Daniela Salvemini, Ph.D., is William Beaumont Professor and chair of the Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience and founding director of the Institute for Translational Science at Saint Louis University. 

Salvemini received her B.Sc. in pharmacology from Kings College, London, and her Ph.D. in pharmacology from the University of London under the mentorship of the late Nobel Laureate Professor Sir John Vane. She pursued postdoctoral studies at the William Harvey Research Institute in London and Monsanto in the department of discovery pharmacology in St. Louis. 

Before joining Saint Louis University, Salvemini spent 15 years in the private sector where she led drug discovery and development efforts on novel analgesics and anti-inflammatory drugs. Salvemini’s research interests are in understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in neuropathic pain states and the discovery of non-opioid therapeutics. She serves on numerous committees including NIH Study Sections (National Institute on Drug Abuse; National Cancer Institute; and National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke) and the NIH/NINDS External Consultant Board for the Preclinical Screening Platform for Pain and boards including the United States Association for the Study of Pain.  

She is founder of BioIntervene Inc, that is developing A3 adenosine receptor agonists for neuropathic pain and neuroinflammatory diseases, founder of Vincion Inc that is developing novel therapies for pain and cancer and founder of the St Louis Translational Pain Research Forum. 

She has published over 250 peer-reviewed articles has been honored with several awards including the Novartis Award in Pharmacology, the Outstanding Scientist Award from the Saint Louis Academy of Science, the Pharmacia-ASPET Award in Experimental Therapeutics and the Mitchell B. Max Award for Neuropathic Pain from the American Academy of Neurology. Salvemini is a fellow of the Saint Louis Academy of Science, fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, fellow of Saint Louis University Research Institute, and fellow of the American Society of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. She has been continuously funded by the National Institute of Health, the Department of Defence, foundations and the private sector.