Lance R. McMahon, Ph.D., serves as the Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. In his position, Dr. McMahon will serve as chair of the Research Council. Additionally, he has a faculty appointment in the Jerry H. Hodge School of Pharmacy. Dr. McMahon will help set visionary and strategic priorities in research across the TTUHSC enterprise. Through his leadership, he will promote TTUHSC Values, mentor faculty, grow and advance research priorities, and lead TTUHSC toward the vision to transform health care through innovation and collaboration.
Dr. McMahon brings experiences from his former position as professor and chair of the Department of Pharmacodynamics at the University of Florida College of Pharmacy and a consistent record of successful research funding during his career. As demonstrated in his previous work, he has a firm commitment to building strategic research partnerships and will achieve excellence at TTUHSC through fostering collegial spirit, a shared vision, and strategic investment of university funds, equipment, and space.
Dr. McMahon’s experience extends to the classroom, where he has taught pharmacology, neuroscience, and pharmaceutical sciences curricula to Ph.D., medical, pharmacy, dental, physician assistant, and physical therapy students. His faculty service includes key roles on several college and university committees, and national service includes regular memberships on several NIH study sections and leadership positions within top scientific organizations.
Before joining the University of Florida, Dr. McMahon was a tenured associate professor of pharmacology at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. He obtained a Ph.D. in behavioral neuroscience from Texas A&M University and was a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston.
Dr. McMahon is a native Texan with deep roots in San Antonio, where he met his wife of 25 years, Brenda McMahon, M.D. She is an assistant professor in the University of Florida Department of Community Health and Family Medicine. They have three children: Leah, a clinical psychology Ph.D. student at the University of Texas at Austin; Jacob, a computer engineering undergraduate at Florida State University; and Julia, a high school senior.