A native of Philadelphia, Lee Limbird obtained her B.A. degree in Chemistry in 1970 from the College of Wooster and her Ph.D. in biochemistry in 1973 from the University of North Carolina. After postdoctoral research at Duke University, she joined the Department of Pharmacology at Vanderbilt University in 1979, where she served as the Chair of the Department of Pharmacology from 1991-1998.

Video: Lee M. Limbird Interview (15 Minutes)

From 1998-2003, Dr. Limbird served as Vanderbilt Medical Center’s first Associate Vice Chancellor for research. In this capacity, she also represented Vanderbilt on the Governor’s Task Force on Technology, the Tennessee Technology Development Corporation, and as a member of the Steering Committee for the Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance. In 2005, she joined Meharry Medical College as Vice President for Research, and now serves as teacher and mentor there.

From 1979 until 2004, Dr. Limbird led a research laboratory focusing on the bases for the actions of epinephrine and norepinephrine, using strategies that range from the molecular to those in whole organisms, including genetically engineered mice. The work of Dr. Limbird and her colleagues led to possible novel therapeutic strategies to treat ADHD and prevent depression. In recognition of her research throughout her career, Dr. Limbird and her colleagues received numerous national awards.

She is the author of the textbook Cell Surface Receptors: A Short Course in Theory and Methods (three editions) and is Co-Editor, with Joel G. Hardman, of Goodman and Gilman's Pharmacological Basis for Therapeutics, 9th and 10th editions, printed in seven languages.

Dr. Limbird has served biomedical sciences nationally as an editor and editorial board member of several journals and as a Chair or member of advisory committees for the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, Searle Scholar Advisory Board and the Burroughs Wellcome Foundation National Advisory Committee.

In Nashville, Lee Limbird serves on the Nashville Alliance for Public Education, is an alumna of Leadership Nashville, and with her family enjoys local and global outreach, in partnership with members of the Hillsboro Presbyterian Church.