Gregory L. Kearns, Pharm.D., Ph.D.
Marion Merrell Dow/Missouri Chair in Pediatric Pharmacology
Professor of Pharmacology and Pediatrics, University of Missouri–Kansas City
Chief, Division of Pediatric Pharmacology and Medical Toxicology
Director, Pediatric Pharmacology Research Unit
Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics, Kansas City, MO

Dr. Kearns holds the Marion Merrell Dow/Missouri Chair in Pediatric Pharmacology at the University of Missouri-Kansas City where he holds professorial appointments in Pharmacology (Pharmacy) and Pediatrics (Medicine).  Additionally, he is the Chief of the Division of Pediatric Pharmacology and Medical Toxicology and Director of the Pediatric Pharmacology Research Unit at Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics.

Dr. Kearns’ service to the discipline of Clinical Pharmacology includes membership on the American Board of Clinical Pharmacology (1995-2000; chair of Examination Committee, 1997-2000), presidency of the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (2003-04) and two terms as a member of the Board of Regents of the American College of Clinical Pharmacology.  He also serves as the Section Editor for the Pediatric Series in the Journal of Clinical Pharmacology (since 1996) and as the North American Editor for Paediatric and Perinatal Drug Therapy.  Dr. Kearns serves as a consultant to the Food and Drug Administration, the NIH and to various pharmaceutical companies.  He has worked with members of Congress and testified before several congressional subcommittees concerning legislation to require the inclusion of children in clinical drug trials.  Most recently, Dr. Kearns has served as a consultant to the Royal College of Paediatrics in the United Kingdom to develop a pediatric clinical pharmacology research network in the UK.

Prior to moving to Kansas City, Dr. Kearns served as a faculty member in the departments of Pediatrics and Pharmaceutics at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences where he developed and directed a program in Pediatric Clinical Pharmacology at the Arkansas Children’s Hospital.  

Dr. Kearns’ research has focused in the discipline of pediatric clinical pharmacology with a special emphasis on developmental regulation of pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics, the evaluation of mechanisms underlying adverse drug reactions in pediatrics and most recently, the integration of pharmacogenetics into Phase I-II clinical trials in children.  He has authored/co-authored more than 240 peer-reviewed publications which include the 6th edition of the Handbook of Basic Pharmacokinetics.  Dr. Kearns holds a B.S. Pharm. from the St. Louis College of Pharmacy; Pharm.D degree from the University of Cincinnati; Ph.D. degree in Clinical Pharmacology from the Erasmus University School of Medicine in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.