Nancy Zahniser

Nancy Rutledge Zahniser (October 26, 1948 – May 5, 2016) was an American pharmacologist, best known for her work involving the mechanism of dopaminergic pathways and chemical modifications of them. Although born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Zahniser grew up in Chillicothe, Ohio and subsequently enrolled at the College of Wooster, where she obtained a degree in chemistry. After completing her degree, Zahniser spent some time in India where she met her first husband Mark Zahniser; she later returned to the United States to attend the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy, where she earned her PhD in pharmacology in 1977. Zahniser went on to complete her post-doctoral training at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center's Department of Pharmacology and then became a part of the faculty there. In 2007, she became associate dean for research education. She played a role in advancing the careers of many post-doctoral students in her lab. In addition to her work as a professor, Zahniser was also a member of several boards, committees, review panels, and professional societies related to pharmacology, neuroscience, and addiction. She led several national research meetings from 1995 to 2002.

Education Zahniser obtained a bachelor's degree in chemistry at the College of Wooster in 1970. She obtained her PhD in pharmacology in 1977 at the University of Pittsburgh, with Israel Hanin as her adviser. Her doctoral dissertation was on the mechanisms of brain acetylcholine production in mice and rats. The University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy would later present her with their Distinguished Alumna Award in 2009. She taught in three programs: pharmacology, neuroscience, and medical student training. Their work revealed that the addition of guanine, such as in the molecule guanosine triphosphate, to dopamine binding sites could increase the binding affinity of the D4 dopamine receptor while decreasing the binding affinity of the D2 dopamine receptor. Rats treated with cocaine eight times in one 24-hour period showed increased responsiveness and a temporary artificial elevation of D2 receptors in the nucleus accumbens over a 7-day period.

Meetings Zahniser was an organizer for the Gordon Research Conferences on catecholamines in 1995 and 1997.

Personal life and death Zahniser was born October 26, 1948, in Ann Arbor, Michigan and grew up in Chillicothe, Ohio, graduating high school in 1966. They divorced. In 1979 she and Tom Dunwiddie became companions and enjoyed a scientific and personal relationship until Tom’s tragic death in Yosemite in 2001. In 2006 she remarried with Chris Wing.

Zahniser died in May 2016 from neuroglioblastoma.