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Pharmacy Practice & Science Dept.
Location
Healthy Kentucky Research Building, Room 540
Phone
859-323-4978
Email
Jill.Kolesar@uky.edu

Dr. Jill Kolesar is University Research Professor of Pharmacy at the University of Kentucky and holds administrative positions at the Markey Cancer Center as the Director of the Precision Medicine Center, Co-Chair of the Molecular Tumor Board, and the Co-Leader of the Translational Oncology Program. She is a member of the Graduate Faculty in the College of Pharmacy, a member of the Markey Cancer Center and holds a joint appointment in the Division of Gynecologic Oncology in the College of Medicine.

Dr. Kolesar contributes substantial and sustained professional service to both the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and several pharmacy organizations.  Serving on both the Early Phase and Cancer Prevention Central IRBs (CIRBs), multiple NCI study sections, the Cancer Therapy and Evaluation Program (CTEP) Pharmacology task force, and the Investigational Drug Steering Committee. Jill is a Board Certified Pharmacotherapy Specialist and is a past President of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP).   

Dr. Kolesar’s research focuses on the drug development of anticancer agents with an emphasis on targeted therapies and biomarkers. She has authored more than 300 abstracts, research articles, and book chapters, and as a principal investigator she has received more than $5 million in research funding from the NCI, American Cancer Society and other sources.

PUBLICATIONS

Expertise

  • Cancer
  • Precision medicine
  • Pharmacy Practice
  • Genetic Epidemiology

Positions

  • College Faculty
  • Co-Leader, Translational Oncology Research Program
  • Director, Markey Cancer Center Precision Medicine Program
  • Co-Director, Molecular Tumor Board

Education

  • Bachelor of Science, University of Wisconsin
  • Doctor of Pharmacy, University of Texas Health Science Center
  • Master of Science in Genetic Epidemiology, University of Wisconsin

We wish to remember and honor those who inhabited this Commonwealth before the arrival of the Europeans. Briefly occupying these lands were the Osage, Wyndott tribe, and Miami peoples. The Adena and Hopewell peoples, who are recognized by the naming of the time period in which they resided here, were here more permanently. Some of their mounds remain in the Lexington area, including at UK’s Adena Park.

In more recent years, the Cherokee occupied southeast Kentucky, the Yuchi southwest Kentucky, the Chickasaw extreme western Kentucky and the Shawnee central Kentucky including what is now the city of Lexington. The Shawnee left when colonization pushed through the Appalachian Mountains. Lower Shawnee Town ceremonial grounds are still visible in Greenup County.

We honor the first inhabitants who were here, respect their culture, and acknowledge the presence of their descendants who are here today in all walks of life including fellow pharmacists and healthcare professionals.