April 2, 2009
A conversation with Dean Thomas Baillie
Dr. Thomas A. Baillie became dean of the UW School of Pharmacy this past October. Here, Baillie, who hails from Scotland, talks about his background and his interests. He also shares how things are going six months into the job and what he envisions for the School of Pharmacy’s future.
Q. Where in Scotland were you raised?
A. I was born on the Hebridean island of Islay [pronounced “eye-la”], where my father was manager of Bowmore Distillery, one of several malt whisky distilleries on the island. When I was 5, my family relocated to Glasgow where I attended school and college, ultimately graduating from the University of Glasgow with B.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in chemistry.
Q. How did you become interested in science and specifically in medicinal chemistry?
A. My interest in science was kindled, as is often the case, by an excellent science teacher in high school who, in retrospect, had a profound influence on the course of my higher education. Many years later, during a period of postdoctoral research at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, I became interested in the metabolic fate of both steroid hormones and drugs in humans. With my formal training in organic chemistry, this led naturally to an interest in the field of medicinal chemistry.
Q. What brought you to the United States originally?
A. In 1978, I moved to the United States to take up a faculty appointment at the University of California, San Francisco. This was my first position in a school of pharmacy, and it was instrumental in shaping my subsequent academic and industrial careers.
Q. What are your favorite memories from working at the UW previously? [Baillie was a professor of medicinal chemistry in the School of Pharmacy from 1981 to ‘94]
A. My years at the UW School of Pharmacy were some of the most enjoyable of my professional career. I had an excellent research group with many talented graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. I truly appreciated the highly collegial and supportive environment provided by the School and its faculty.
Q. What are you most proud of accomplishing in your professional life?
A. One of the reasons I left UW to join Merck in 1994 was because I felt a unique opportunity had arisen to more fully integrate the capabilities of drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics (DMPK) into the drug-discovery process — in particular through establishing a close working relationship between DMPK scientists and their colleagues in medicinal chemistry and biology.
DMPK is now considered an indispensable component of the drug-development process at Merck. I am proud of the role I was able to play in accomplishing this objective because drug candidates with optimized DMPK properties have a higher probability of success in reaching the marketplace and providing benefit to patients. I should add that this accomplishment was made possible through the knowledge I had gained through my academic research — and thus underscores the importance of a close interaction between industry and academia.
Q. How has your experience working in industry shaped your approach as the dean?
A. In retrospect, my management experience in industry was invaluable in terms of addressing many of the challenges I’ve encountered since returning to the UW as dean. In addition to gaining a sound working knowledge of business practices in general and a familiarity with the processes involved in running a large, complex industrial organization, I learned much about leadership during periods of change. We certainly are facing the prospect of considerable change in the coming months and beyond at the UW. I feel certain that my industry experience will prove to be most helpful as we deal with budget cuts and program realignments while simultaneously planning for a future upswing in the national and global economies.
Q. What are you enjoying most about being back at the University of Washington?
A. Being back on a university campus, with all its diverse activities, is very invigorating. In particular, being around students who are constantly challenging accepted concepts certainly keeps you on your toes! And, of course, I’m enjoying the location — Seattle is hard to beat as a place to live.
Q. What are your current priorities?
A. I have several priorities. First, I am working to gain a more complete understanding of the operations of the University as a whole and the health sciences schools in particular. I’d like to maximize the impact of the School of Pharmacy in research and teaching activities on campus and externally. Second, I am attempting to get to know our faculty and staff better, and to understand their aspirations and concerns, particularly in light of the budget issues we face in entering the new biennium. Third, I am taking advantage of opportunities to connect with alumni who manage community pharmacies in the Seattle area to further strengthen our ties with this important group of stakeholders. Last but not least, I am getting acquainted with the students in our professional and graduate programs who are the lifeblood of the School.
Q. What are your long-term goals for the School of Pharmacy?
A. In 2008, U.S. News & World Report ranked the UW School of Pharmacy No. 5 in the nation. In terms of research, our faculty ranked No. 2 among pharmacy schools in National Institutes of Health grant dollars per full time faculty. Further, our faculty and students continue to win awards for scholarly excellence and contributions to society. In that regard, we have much about which to be proud.
However, we must work diligently to maintain the high quality of our programs amid the current budget constraints. Further, there is always room for improvement. Our strategic plan outlines new directions in research and teaching that we hope will position us as one of the preeminent schools of pharmacy in the country. For example, two areas of research that we plan to build are pharmacometrics [a mathematical approach to modeling and simulation in clinical trial design] and metabolomics [the application of analytical methodology to study the effects of foreign compounds on normal metabolic processes]. We believe that focusing on these and other research initiatives will keep the School at the forefront of our discipline.
Q. I understand that you’ve got your pilot’s license. What prompted that?
A. I have been interested in aviation ever since I can remember. My father was a pilot in the Royal Air Force in World War II, and I grew up listening to flying stories. Were it not for a serious accident to my right eye at age 5, I probably would have pursued a career in military or civil aviation. As it turned out, I have been able to combine my love of flying with my passion for science. I now hold a commercial pilot’s license and instrument rating. For me, flying is a total escape from daily life. It provides much enjoyment and an opportunity to experience the country from a different perspective.
Q. What are some things about you that people might be surprised to learn?
A. I am reasonably fluent in Swedish — a consequence of having lived for three years in Stockholm. Also, despite my Scottish heritage, I have never learned to play golf. I do, however, enjoy Scotch whisky!
Q. Is there anything else you’d like to add?
A. I view my appointment at the UW not just as a wonderful professional opportunity, but as a great honor. I have worked closely with the past two deans, Sid Nelson and the late Milo Gibaldi, and I have great respect for both of these distinguished scientists. Their legacy is one of the strongest Schools of Pharmacy in the country with a faculty and staff that is second to none and didactic programs to match. I could not ask for a better platform upon which to build an even stronger institution at the UW.
