Vassilios Papadopoulos, DPharm, PhD, DSc (hon)

Biography

Vassilios Papadopoulos is the dean of the USC Alfred E. Mann School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, a position he has held since 2016. He holds the John Stauffer Decanal Chair in Pharmaceutical Sciences and is a professor of pharmacology and pharmaceutical sciences and medicine at the University of Southern California.

A noted scientist and innovative leader, Papadopoulos has published more than 400 papers, holds numerous patents, and serves on many national and international advisory committees. He is an elected foreign member of the National Academies of Medicine and Pharmacy in France, and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists, the Royal Society of Canada and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. In 2025, he received the American Pharmacists Association Outstanding Dean Award.

Since coming to USC, Papadopoulos has been a prominent national voice on the topic of re-envisioning the future of pharmacy education for the 21st century and expanding the role of the pharmacist on the health care team. Under his leadership, the school launched numerous new degree programs, recruited outstanding new faculty, and expanded the school’s state-of-the-art research and educational facilities. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the school and its students, staff, faculty and alumni played a key role in mass vaccination efforts in the city of Los Angeles. In 2022, the school received a $50 million endowment—the largest naming donation for a school of pharmacy in California—and was renamed in honor of the inventor and physicist Alfred E. Mann.

For nearly a decade, Papadopoulos led initiatives at McGill University Health Centre’s research arm, which resulted in more than $300 million in federal and provincial grants to build a state-of-the-art facility for clinical and biomedical research. He established the Desjardins Centre for Advanced Training to foster the development of future scientists and clinicians, and a business development office to facilitate knowledge transfer and assist in the commercialization of technologies. Under his leadership, the Research Institute launched numerous international collaborations. In addition to his leadership roles, he was professor of medicine at McGill University, holding the Canada Research Chair in biochemical pharmacology and the Phil Gold Chair in medicine.

A School of Pharmacy graduate of the University of Athens in Greece, Papadopoulos holds a PhD in health and life science from the Université Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris, and he worked as a postdoctoral researcher in France and Australia. In 1988, he joined the faculty of Georgetown University School of Medicine, rising to become professor and chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. In 2004, he was appointed associate vice president for research and then director of the Biomedical Graduate Research Organization (Dean of Research) at Georgetown University Medical Center. He moved to McGill in 2007.

Dr. Papadopoulos’ research focuses on the pathophysiology and treatment of diseases related to altered steroid hormone synthesis, including endocrine pathologies, male reproductive disorders, liver diseases, neurological diseases, and cancer. His research has led to a deeper understanding of the pathways involved in steroid hormone synthesis, the pharmacology of steroid formation in the periphery and brain, the identification of new molecules targeting key elements in diseases where steroids play a crucial role, and the development of diagnostics for these diseases. Grants and contracts from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Defense, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, private foundations, and the pharmaceutical industry supported this work.