Dr. James Cloyd is Professor and Lawrence C. Weaver Endowed Chair in Orphan Drug Development and Director of the Center for Orphan Drug Research at the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy.  Dr. Cloyd received a BS in pharmacy from Purdue University, a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Kentucky, completed a three-year hospital pharmacy residency at the University of Kentucky Medical Center, and a post-doctoral fellowship in pharmacokinetics at the University of Washington.  His research focuses on the clinical pharmacology of antiepileptic drugs and the development of orphan drugs to treat rare, pediatric neurological disorders.  He has published more than a 100 papers and book chapters on various aspects of neuropharmacotherapy. Dr. Cloyd’s research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration, foundations, and the pharmaceutical industry.  Dr. Cloyd has trained 17 PhD and post-doctoral trainees, many of whom have pursued a career in clinical pharmacology.  He is actively involved in several international and national organizations including the International Conference on Rare Diseases and Orphan Drugs and the American Epilepsy Society, where he serves on the Board of Directors. He is a member of several National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) data and safety monitoring boards, has served on NINDS study sections and is a grant reviewer for several foundations. He is a member of the editorial board of epilepsy.com and an ad-hoc reviewer for many journals in the areas of neurology, pharmacology, and epilepsy.