Shelley Hooks is the Vice Chancellor for Research at the University of Kansas, where she leads KU’s research enterprise on the Lawrence and Edwards campuses and oversees research administration. She is also a professor in the Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology. In addition to leading the KU Office of Research, Hooks advocates for research on and off campus, implements research integrity requirements, and through the KU Center for Research (KUCR), oversees the administration of research grants and contracts. Hooks also shares oversight of activities related to technology commercialization and business and industry outreach.

Hooks came to KU in 2024 from the University of Georgia, where she served as associate vice president for research. She was also a professor of pharmaceutical & biomedical sciences in UGA’s College of Pharmacy, where she previously served as interim department head and interim director of the UGA Center for Drug Discovery. Beyond her service at UGA, Hooks has served as an executive committee member for the Molecular Pharmacology division of the American Society for Pharmacology & Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET), grant reviewer for the Marsha Rivkin Center for Ovarian Cancer and an editorial board member for ASPET’s peer-reviewed journal, Molecular Pharmacology. Hooks has published more than 80 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters and abstracts.

As an independent investigator, Hooks focuses on signaling mechanisms and novel therapeutic strategies for cancer and neurological disease. Her research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and the Marsha Rivkin Center for Ovarian Cancer Research. She also has supervised a number of graduate and undergraduate students with a focus on mentorship of underrepresented trainees.

Hooks earned her bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Clemson University and her doctorate in biochemistry from the University of Virginia. She completed her postdoctoral research at the University of North Carolina’s Department of Pharmacology in the School of Medicine.