Meet Our Faculty

Professor Craig Lindsley is an innovative scientist, project leader, director, inventor and editor with over 25 years-experience in drug discovery and development in both industry (Eli Lilly, Merck) and academia (Vanderbilt, Warren Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery). He has a proven track record of delivering results; he has been involved in the discovery of over 15 preclinical candidates - with 6 successfully entering clinical trials and several still in various stages of clinical development. At Merck, Professor Lindsley oversaw 22 medicinal chemists and delivered 6 preclinical candidates for CNS and oncology programs. Professor Lindsley currently serves as the Executive Director of the Warren Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery (WCNDD) at Vanderbilt. The WCNDD is an innovative drug discovery and development center researching pharmaceutical treatments to improve the quality of life for those suffering with central nervous system diseases/disorders such as Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease and schizophrenia – to name a few. At the WCNDD, Professor Lindsley has delivered 15 clinical candidates (with 2 more currently in the pipeline), been issued 115 US Patents, authored over 580 scientific publications and has been an invited speaker for over 100 international conferences. In addition, he was the founding Editor-in-Chief of ACS Chemical Neuroscience (2009-2020), served as the interim Editor-in-Chief of ACS Pharmacology & Translational Science (2020-2021) and is the current Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry (2021-current). Professor Lindsley has been the recipient of many scientific awards and achievements - such as: inductee into the ACS MEDI Hall of Fame (2021), Fellow of the Royal Society for Chemistry, ASPET, National Academy of Inventors and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Dr. Gilliland earned her Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry at the University of Colorado, Boulder. She later served as an Associate Professor of Chemistry at Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo. During her time at Cal Poly (19 years), she taught Organic Chemistry, Neurochemistry and the Chemistry of Drugs and Poisons. Dr. Gilliland joined the Warren Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery at Vanderbilt University (2018) to research new pharmaceutical treatments for schizophrenia - as part of a sabbatical.  During this same year, Dr. Gilliland delivered a TEDx presentation titled Rewiring Revolution: Neuroplasticity’s Impact on Wellbeing in 2018. After her sabbatical ended, Dr. Gilliland stayed at the Warren Center to continue her research efforts in drug discovery and begin a new career path as the Director of Outreach and Advocacy Programs. In her new role at the Warren Center, she developed an educational documentary and outreach program for adolescent-aged children. The documentary and outreach program focuses on empowering youth with knowledge about their developing brain, neuroplasticity, the structural and functional changes that occur in the brain when under repeated stress and anxiety, the impacts of substance use on the developing brain, the neurobiology of addiction and the dangers and prevalence of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids. The award-winning documentary, titled “Speaking Through Me”, was released in August of 2023 and can be found on the WCNDD outreach website.

Aaron M. Bender earned his Ph.D. in medicinal chemistry from the University of Michigan in 2016 and subsequently joined the Warren Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery (WCNDD) at Vanderbilt University as a postdoctoral scholar. Upon completion of his postdoctoral training, Dr. Bender remained at Vanderbilt and is currently an Assistant Director of Medicinal Chemistry at the WCNDD. His research interests are in medicinal chemistry, particularly the development of therapeutics targeting G protein-coupled receptors and organic methodology. Dr. Bender has worked with multiple drug discovery teams which have advanced molecules to the clinic for a range of central nervous system disorders and is currently part of additional programs at the preclinical development stage. He is an author on over 30 research and review publications and has contributed to numerous patent applications.

Dr. Colleen Niswender is an Associate Professor of Pharmacology and the Warren and Senior Director of Molecular Pharmacology for the Warren Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery (WCNDD) at Vanderbilt University. She received her Ph.D. in pharmacology at Vanderbilt and completed her postdoctoral training at the University of Washington. Dr. Niswender has worked with WCNDD, a team-based scientific drug discovery group, since 2004 and has extensive experience with molecular pharmacology, cell signaling and drug discovery. She is the author of 265 publications, has contributed to numerous patents and has been involved in multiple drug discovery teams to advance small molecules for Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and schizophrenia. One candidate is currently progressing to Phase II clinical testing and several others are in the final stages preclinical development before moving to Phase I. Dr. Niswender has been involved with numerous WCNDD partnerships, including those with the Michael J. Fox Foundation, Astrazeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Boehringer Ingelheim, Ancora Innovation, Acadia and Neumora. She has also assembled a team of scientists focused on drug development and target validation for neurodevelopmental disorders, including Rett syndrome, Pitt Hopkins syndrome and Neurofibromatosis Type 1. Dr. Niswender was recently awarded the 2022 Scientific Achievement Award in Drug Discovery and Development from the American Society of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET). She currently serves as the President of the Academic Drug Discovery Consortium and is a member of the Executive Committee of the Drug Discovery and Development Division at ASPET.

Dr. Rachel Crouch received her Pharm.D. from Lipscomb University College of Pharmacy in 2012 and her Ph.D. in Pharmacology from Vanderbilt University in 2016 as graduate of the Lipscomb-Vanderbilt Pharm.D./Ph.D. Dual Degree Partnership Program. Her Ph.D. and postdoctoral training both took place within the WCNDD, where her research focused on drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics associated with the drug-metabolizing enzyme aldehyde oxidase. Following her postdoctoral training, Dr. Crouch joined the Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences faculty at Lipscomb University College of Pharmacy in 2017. Dr. Crouch now mentors Pharm.D. and Pharmaceutical Sciences master's students on drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics research at Lipscomb, and she teaches in various courses included in the Pharmaceutical Sciences curriculum of both the Pharm.D. and master's programs.