Daniel Lodge, PhD, has been appointed chairman of the Department of Pharmacology at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. The appointment, which took effect April 15, 2023, was announced by Robert Hromas, MD, dean of the health science center’s Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine.
Lodge was born and raised in Melbourne, Australia. He completed his graduate studies in the Department of Pharmacology at Monash University in Australia. After graduation, he relocated to the United States to pursue postdoctoral training at the University of Pittsburgh, where he focused on the neuronal systems associated with psychosis.
In 2009, Lodge joined the faculty at UT Health San Antonio, where he has received continuous National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding to explore potential innovative treatments for disorders such as schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder and Alzheimer’s disease.
Lodge’s research uses preclinical models to investigate the involvement of the hippocampus and thalamus in the regulation of dopamine neuron activity, both in normal and pathological conditions. Lodge has devised pharmacological, surgical and cell-based strategies that hold promise for treating psychosis.
In addition to his research, Lodge is deeply committed to mentorship, as demonstrated by his participation on the executive committee of the Mentoring Academy, his role as assistant director for the neuroscience discipline, and his leadership of the Neuroscience Student Oversight Committee. Since September 2022, he had served as the interim chairman of pharmacology. He has a compelling vision for advancing preclinical and translational research at UT Health Science Center San Antonio.
Among his other interests, Lodge is a race car enthusiast who enjoys driving cars on F1 tracks.