Rate My Professor Anna-Marie Babey

Dr. Anna-Marie Babey is Senior Lecturer in Pharmacy in the School of Science and Technology at the University of New England. She obtained her PhD from McGill University in Montreal, where her research under Prof. Roberta Palmour examined the time-dependent development of cellular tolerance to methylxanthines, including theophylline and caffeine. Following her doctorate, Babey conducted postdoctoral research at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City with Prof. Gavril Pasternak, investigating the role of nitric oxide synthase inhibitors in preventing analgesic tolerance to morphine. She then held a research position in Minneapolis with Prof. Ping-Yee Law, exploring contributions of different opioid receptor regions to agonist efficacy. Prior to joining the University of New England, she worked at James Cook University in the Discipline of Physiology & Pharmacology in Townsville, Queensland, contributing to the development of new degree programs in medicine, veterinary science, dentistry, and distance-mode nursing. There, she taught pharmacology, pathophysiology, physiology, and neuroscience to students in pharmacy, medicine, nursing, biomedical science, veterinary medicine, physiotherapy, and dentistry. At the University of New England, Babey contributed to establishing Australia's first national mixed-mode Pharmacy program and has transitioned into the School of Science & Technology. She also serves as co-lead for the Science & Scholarship Theme in the UNE/University of Newcastle Joint Medical Program.

Babey's primary research areas encompass neuropharmacology, genetics, and the scholarship of teaching and learning. Her interests include signal transduction changes underlying tolerance to opioid analgesics and caffeine, Lesch-Nyhan syndrome—an X-linked genetic deficiency of hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase—drug discovery screening for novel anti-tumour compounds, and pharmacology education research. She is a member of the International Union of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology Education Section Core Concepts of Pharmacology Project Research Team and the Australian Physiological Society Core Concepts of Physiology Task Force. Babey teaches pharmacology, genetics, and physiology in units such as Introduction to Genetics, Integrated Physiology Skills, and Pharmacology for Research, as well as in the Joint Medical Program. In 2025, she received the ASCEPT Elizabeth Davis Teaching Excellence Award. Key publications include "Synthesis of the mechanisms of opioid tolerance: do we still say NO?" (Cell Mol Neurobiol, 2021), "Identifying the core concepts of pharmacology education" (Pharmacol Res Perspect, 2021), "Defining and unpacking the core concepts of pharmacology: a global initiative" (Br J Pharmacol, 2024), "Developing an international concept-based curriculum for pharmacology education" (Br J Clin Pharmacol, 2023), and "Nitric oxide and opioid tolerance" (Neuropharmacology, 1994). She holds roles such as Councillor for the IUPHAR Education Section, Co-Chair of the IUPHAR-Ed Online Meeting Steering Group, and Executive member of the ASCEPT Education Forum.