Nicholas Denton, PhD

Dr. Denton earned his PhD and BS in biomedical science from The Ohio State University, accumulating nearly a decade of experience investigating oncolytic virus therapy, tumor angiogenesis, and cancer immunology at Ohio State and Nationwide Children's Hospital before joining the teaching faculty. He directs the Pharmaceutical Sciences Teaching Laboratory and the lab courses offered at the College of Pharmacy in addition to instructing survey courses in pharmaceutical science research and cancer research. Dr. Denton advocacy for undergraduate research experiences extends beyond didactic teaching to administrating undergraduate research fellowships, serving under the research programs committee, judging research forums, and advising undergraduate research apprenticeships. As a Senior Affiliate to the Drake Institute of Teaching and Learning, Dr. Denton provides professional development to faculty and trainees on education research and evidence-based teaching practices. Dr. Denton is nationally recognized by the American Society of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics for early career contributions to pharmacology education (2023) and from Hypothes.is as an innovator in social annotation for health science education (2023). 

Dr. Denton's teaching practice is primarily in the Bachelors of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences program. In directing the pharmaceutical sciences training laboratory, he develops authentic course-based research experiences to develop metacognition, inquiry, and teamwork skills in addition to pharmaceutical science content. As an advocate for undergraduate research, Dr. Denton teaches research survey courses in pharmaceutical science research and cancer research to elucidate the research process to students and develop students' scientist identity through research literacy and career exposure. Dr. Denton's non-didactic teaching practice includes facilitating workshops for interprofessional experiences, DEI professional development, new faculty orientation and communities of practice such as the Teaching as Research cohort. 

Dr. Denton's research interests in discipline-based education research and the scholarship of teaching and learning reflects his teaching philosophy to empower student innovation and advance inclusive teaching practices. This includes regular talks at national conferences on subjects ranging from educational technology applications, to metacognitive coaching, to inquiry-team-based learning, to curricular learning analytics, to student wellness, and cultural competency. Dr. Denton's service on the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy also includes scholarship committees investigating social determinants of health educational tools, DEI curricular mapping, and other climate surveys.