IUPUI School of Science Names Chair

The School of Science at IUPUI has named Theodore Cummins a professor of biology and chair of the Department of Biology. An internationally recognized researcher and educator, he joins the school from the IU School of Medicine, where he was a professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology. Previous academic appointments include director of Pain Basic Science Research Group at the Stark Neuroscience Research Institute and assistant professor in the Department of Neurology at Yale University School of Medicine. Cummins’ research on the role of ion channels in disorders of excitability has been published in top journals, such as Nature Communications, Science, Journal of Clinical Investigation, PNAS, Pain and Journal of Neuroscience, and has been highly cited. His research program has received grant funding from the National Institute of Health, private foundations and pharmaceutical companies. As chair, Cummins envisions his primary charge to effectively and efficiently advise and teach undergraduates in the classroom and laboratory settings. He
earned his Ph.D. and master’s degree in neuroscience from Yale University. Cummins also earned a master’s degree in biomedical engineering from the Hartford Graduate Center. His bachelor’s degree in chemistry was awarded by Swarthmore College.