Dr. Hein serves as Peter K. Knoefel Endowed Chair of Pharmacology, Professor and Chairman of the Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology, and Distinguished University Scholar at the University of Louisville.  From 2009-2017 he served as Associate Provost for Strategic Planning and Vice Provost for Academic Strategy.  Numerous students have completed thesis and dissertation research training in his laboratory and he contributes towards instruction of undergraduate, graduate and health professional students.  Dr. Hein serves on several international expert panels related to N-acetyltransferase 2 (NAT2) gene nomenclature, NAT2 allele function, and implementation of pharmacogenomic-guided drug therapy for drugs metabolized by NAT2.  Prior to recruitment to the University of Louisville, Dr. Hein served as  founding director of the National Institutes of Health-funded Minority Biomedical Research Support Program at Morehouse School of Medicine, chair of the Departments of Pharmacology & Toxicology at Morehouse School of Medicine and the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences.  He has served as reviewer of grant proposals for the National Institutes of Health and other funding agencies and a consultant to numerous companies across the USA and the world.

Research

Dr. Hein’s research program incorporates precision environmental health and precision medicine.  This includes research in personalized medicine and individual susceptibility to environmental diseases. Research in molecular epidemiology identifies individuals genetically susceptible to the development of cancer and other diseases from environmental and occupational chemicals to focus treatment and prevention public health strategies on those at greatest risk. Research in pharmacogenetics/genomics and personalized/precision medicine improves our understanding of the genetic causes for drug failure and/or drug toxicity in order to optimize clinical drug therapy for each individual patient. Research in functional genomics improves understanding of the mechanistic and clinical consequences of genetic variation in the biotransformation of environmental chemicals, carcinogens and drugs. The research program has been funded continuously since 1983 by grants and contracts from the National Institutes of Health and other federal and private foundations and industry. He has coauthored over 275 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters, 75 gene sequences, and over 700 abstracts with over 17,000 citations (h-index=67) in the scientific literature.  He has presented 150 invited research seminars in Australia, Austria, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and across the USA. Additional information available at: Orchid ID: orcid.org/0000-0003-3261-9775 or https://research.com/u/david-w-hein  and  https://scholargps.com/scholars/94172117249108/david-w-hein. 

Honors

Dr. Hein was appointed as Chester Fritz Distinguished Professor at the University of North Dakota, has received outstanding teaching awards awarded by the medical school class at both Morehouse School of Medicine and the University of North Dakota, the President's Faculty Achievement Award at Morehouse School of Medicine, the Thomas J. Clifford Faculty Achievement Award for Excellence in Research and the Burlington Northern Faculty Achievement Award for Excellence in Teaching, Research, and Creative Activity both from the University of North Dakota, an Outstanding Alumnus Award from the University of Michigan, the President's Award from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, and President's Outstanding Scholarship, Research and Creative Activity Awards in Basic/Applied Sciences (2003) and Career Achievement (2014)  from the University of Louisville. He presented the Astor Visiting Lectureship at the University of Oxford (UK) and served as a Visiting Professor at the University of Paris Diderot. He has been elected as a fellow in the Academy of Pharmacology Educators of the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.  As King David described in his prayer, honors are provided by the grace of our God.