• Skip to Content
  • Skip to Main Navigation
  • Skip to Search

Indiana University Indiana University IU

Open Search
  • About
    • History
    • Stories
  • Awards
    • University
      • Honorary Degrees
      • University Medal
      • Bicentennial Medal
    • Presidential
      • President’s Medal for Excellence
      • Thomas Hart Benton Mural Medallion
      • Distinguished Service Medal
    • Research & Creative Activity
      • Nobel Prize
      • National Academies
      • International Academies
      • MacArthur Fellowship
      • Pulitzer Prize
      • Guggenheim Fellowship
      • Fulbright Award
      • Andrew Carnegie Fellowship
      • Distinguished Professors
      • Titled Professors
      • Wylie Innovation Catalyst Medal
      • The Humboldt Fellowship for Experienced Researchers
    • Artistic & Performance
      • Emmy
      • Grammy
      • Oscar
      • Tony
    • Teaching
      • Frederic Bachman Lieber Memorial Award
      • Herman Frederic Lieber Memorial Award
      • President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching
      • Sylvia E. Bowman Award
      • Thomas Ehrlich Civically Engaged Faculty Award
      • President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching and Learning Technology
      • Part-Time Teaching Award
      • Lieber Memorial Associate Instructor Award
    • Service
      • Chancellor and Provost Medallion
      • Distinguished International Service Award
      • John W. Ryan Award for Distinguished Contributions to International Programs and Studies
      • E. Ross Bartley Award
      • W. George Pinnell Award for Outstanding Service
    • Historical
      • Bridging the Visibility Gap Initiative
      • IU Historical Marker Program
    • Student
      • Rhodes Scholarship
      • Marshall Scholarship
      • Mitchell Scholarship
      • Churchill Scholarship
      • Gates Cambridge Scholarship
      • Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad
      • Fulbright IIE
      • Goldwater Scholarship
      • Truman Scholarship
      • Boren Scholarship and Fellowship
      • Beinecke Scholarship
      • Udall Scholarship
      • Wells Senior Recognition Award
      • Stahr Distinguished Senior Award
      • Kate Hevner Mueller Outstanding Senior Award
    • Athletic
      • Olympians
      • IU Bloomington Athletics Hall of Fame
      • IUPUI Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame
      • Z.G. Clevenger Award
      • Leanne Grotke Award
      • Bill Orwig Award
    • Alumni
      • University Alumni Awards
      • Campus Alumni Awards
      • School Alumni Awards
    • Philanthropy
      • Partners in Philanthropy Award
      • Presidents Circle Laurel Pin
      • Indiana University Indianapolis Spirit of Philanthropy Award
      • IU Foundation President’s Medallion
  • Nominations
    • Teaching Awards
    • Service Awards
      • John W. Ryan Award
      • W. George Pinnell Award
    • Research and Creative Activity Awards
  • Events
    • Distinguished Professors Symposium
    • National Academies Events
    • Guggenheim Fellowship Events
    • Celebration of Teaching and Service Events
  • Search Awards
  • Contact Us

University Honors & Awards

  • Home
  • About
    • History
    • Stories
  • Awards
    • University
    • Presidential
    • Research & Creative Activity
    • Artistic & Performance
    • Teaching
    • Service
    • Historical
    • Student
    • Athletic
    • Alumni
    • Philanthropy
  • Nominations
    • Teaching Awards
    • Service Awards
    • Research and Creative Activity Awards
  • Events
    • Distinguished Professors Symposium
    • National Academies Events
    • Guggenheim Fellowship Events
    • Celebration of Teaching and Service Events
  • Search
  • Search Awards
  • Contact Us
  • Home
  • Awards

Kenneth P. Mackie

Kenneth P. Mackie

Awards

Bicentennial Medal - 2020
Distinguished Professor - 2019
National Academies - 2016
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Titled Professor - 2007
Linda and Jack Gill Chair of Neuroscience

About Kenneth P. Mackie

Kenneth Mackie earned a BS in engineering from Brown University in 1980, an MD from Yale University in 1984, completed postdoctoral studies at Rockefeller University, internship at Yale, and residency at the University of Washington. He held faculty appointments at the University of Washington Medical School from 1992 until 2007, when he joined Indiana University as the Linda and Jack Gill Chair in Neuroscience, Director of the Gill Center for Biomolecular Science, and professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences.

Mackie is "one of the very elite leaders in the cannabinoid field," and his research began at a time when the effect of cannabinoids "was relatively unknown to neurobiologists" and has "opened the way for our current view of cannabinoids as modulators of electrical signaling and of the input-output relations in neurons." There are endogenous signaling systems in the brain and peripheral tissues that are the molecular targets through which the psychoactive components of marijuana, primarily Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), exert their strong behavioral and medicinal effects. Mackie's significant findings include: (1) CB2 cannabinoid receptor signaling pathways, (2) mechanisms underlying the development of CB1 receptor desensitization, (3) the neurophysiological roles of cannabinoid receptors, for example in neurodevelopment, synaptic plasticity and pain, (4) the ability of some cannabinoids to target non CB1/CB2 receptors such as the orphan receptor, GPR55, and (5) potential therapeutic strategies for exploiting "autoprotective" effects of the endocannabinoid system to treat certain disorders. Considered "among the top two or three investigators in this field," Mackie's studies show how the process of receptor desensitization takes place at the cellular and molecular levels through regulated internalization and recycling of the receptor protein. In a "key contribution to this field," he has charted the unexpectedly large effects of the endocannabinoid signaling system in embryonic development of the brain, with clear implications for marijuana use during pregnancy. Finally, he has made major contributions to the pharmacology of endocannabinoids by finding new receptor agonists in natural products, such as 'spice.' Endocannabinoids are much in the public eye because of increased use of medical marijuana and legalization of recreational marijuana use in many states. "Mackie's careful, rigorous, and groundbreaking work on the mechanisms through which endocannabinoids influence synaptic function in the brain places him as an international leader on this important scientific topic and a key thought leader in communicating this research area to the public."

In 2008, he was the recipient of the International Cannabinoid Research Society's Mechoulam Award for lifetime achievement in cannabinoid research, an award typically reserved for those later in their careers. His more than 150 invited lectures and over 310 published papers with citations greater than 29,000 and an h-index of 82, have led to his designation as one of the top 1% of cited researchers by the ISI in 2014. He was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2016. Professor Mackie has also been a member of the NIH National Advisory Council on Drug Abuse, the NIDA Cannabis Research Priorities Task Group, and is on the editorial board of several top academic journals in his field.

Mackie received the IU Bicentennial Medal in September 2020 in recognition of his distinguished contributions to Indiana University.

  • University
  • Presidential
  • Research & Creative Activity
  • Artistic & Performance
  • Teaching
  • Service
  • Historical
  • Student
  • Athletic
  • Alumni
  • Philanthropy
  • Office of the President

Indiana University

Accessibility | College Scorecard | Privacy Notice | Copyright © 2025 The Trustees of Indiana University