FAMU President Appoints K. Ken Redda as Acting Vice President for Research

Florida A&M University (FAMU) President James H. Ammons has appointed Kinfe Ken Redda, Ph.D., a professor in the College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (COPPS), as acting vice president for the Division of Research. Redda once served as an associate vice president for Research from 2004 to 2005.

“I’m confident that Dr. Redda will provide the leadership to guide the Division of Research during this transitional period,” said FAMU President James H. Ammons. “He is an outstanding professor, researcher and administrator with a long history of securing research grants. He has consistently been honored by his peers.”

The university will conduct a national search for the position of vice president of Research.

Redda began employment at FAMU on January 1, 1985 as an associate professor of medicinal chemistry in the COPPS. During his tenure at FAMU, Redda has generated more than $30.1 million from research and training grant awards.

“It’s an honor and a privilege to serve FAMU in any capacity,” said Redda. “I’m truly looking forward to a very productive engagement. I am so grateful to our illustrious president for his faith in me. I will work diligently to help ensure FAMU and the Division of Research are continually promoted, expanded and strengthened.”

On administrative leave as a professor and funded principal investigator from COPPS, Redda also will serve as an activity leader in the Drug Discovery Core Facility (DDCF), a component of the Research Center in Minority Institutions (RCMI) Program.

A prolific grantsman, Redda graduated from the faculty of pharmacy, University of Albert (Canada) with a Ph.D. degree in Medicinal Chemistry in 1978. He completed a two-year postdoctoral research fellowship in synthetic medicinal chemistry a Dalhousie University, Canada. He served as an assistant professor of medicinal chemistry at the College of Pharmacy, University of Puerto Rico in San Juan from 1980 to 1984.

In 1998, former FAMU President Frederick S. Humphries appointed Redda to serve as the director of the NIH funded Minority Biomedical Research Support (MBRS) Program at FAMU. He was promoted to a full professor level in 1989. Redda excelled in expanding and strengthening biomedical research on campus and generated millions of dollars for FAMU from NIH during his tenure as the MBRS director for 17 years. He was also the principal investigator and program director of the highly successful NASA funded and FAMU administered Space Life Sciences Training Program (SLSTP), a summer program for about 40 college students that were recruited nationally from1987-1995. The training of these high achieving students, who had passion for space life sciences, was held at the Kennedy Space Center.

Among his numerous achievement awards, Redda was the recipient of both the prestigious Teaching Incentive Program (TIP) Award for outstanding teaching and research contribution in 1996 and the Professorial Excellence Program (PEP) Award for longevity of service to the University and demonstrated excellence in teaching, research and service in 1999.

Redda has an active and productive research team of research associates, postdoctoral fellows, graduate and undergraduate students in his laboratory. His research involves the design and synthesis of nitrogen heterocycles as anti-inflammatory and anticancer agents. Many of his former research students have successfully completed their M.S., Pharm.D., M.D. and Ph.D. degrees and pursued professional and/or biomedical research careers.

Redda is the author of “Cocaine, Marijuana, Designer Drugs: Chemistry, Pharmacology and Behavior.” He has also authored about 50 scientific peer-reviewed and indexed papers. His research findings were presented in more than 80 national and international scientific meetings, including all over USA, Africa, Canada, Switzerland, United Kingdom, China, Germany, Russia, Austria, Italy, and Dubai (UAE).

Redda is a member of numerous state and national professional and scientific associations. In this capacity, he is a regular manuscript reviewer of articles submitted for publication to major scientific journals.