Skip to main content
Vice Chancellor for Health Sciences VCHS
  1. VCHS
  2. About
  3. Leadership
  4. Joann Trejo

Joann Trejo, Ph.D., M.B.A.

Assistant Vice Chancellor, Health Sciences Faculty Affairs

trejo-joann.jpgJoAnn Trejo, PhD, MBA, is assistant vice chancellor for health sciences faculty affairs at UC San Diego. Dr. Trejo is responsible for developing and implementing strategies, initiatives and programs that enhance the success, recruitment and retention of an engaged and diverse faculty within Health Sciences. This includes the oversight, strategic direction and implementation of comprehensive faculty development programs within Health Sciences.

A professor of pharmacology, Dr. Trejo joined the faculty in the UC San Diego School Medicine in 2008, where she quickly rose through the ranks. In 2014 she was appointed vice chair of the Department of Pharmacology and was named associate dean for health sciences faculty affairs in 2015, and assistant vice chancellor for health sciences faculty affairs in 2019.

Dr. Trejo is a basic science researcher with expertise in cell signaling. As a basic scientist, she is best known for her discoveries that reveal how cellular responses are regulated by G protein-coupled receptors in the context of vascular inflammation and cancer.  She has published widely on these topics. Her research has been continuously funded by the NIH, including a recent NIH R35 Outstanding Investigator Award. She was the recipient of the prestigious American Heart Association Established Investigator Award and the American Society for Cell Biology EE Just Award for outstanding scientific achievement.

Dr. Trejo is also an accomplished educator, mentor and leader actively engaged in initiatives to enhance the inclusive excellence of UC San Diego. She is the principal investigator of an NIH K12 postdoctoral training program in the biomedical sciences and a summer undergraduate program in pharmacology. Both programs promote the career development and success of women and underrepresented minorities. In 2014, Dr. Trejo received the UC San Diego Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Postdoctoral Scholar Mentoring and received the UC San Diego Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action and Diversity Award in 2016.

Dr. Trejo earned her PhD and MBA at UC San Diego. She completed her postdoctoral fellowship at UC San Francisco. She was elected to serve on leadership for the Council for the American Society for Cell Biology and Council for the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Dr. Trejo has also served on multiple NIH and HHMI Study Sections and currently serves on the NCI Board of Scientific Counselors for Basic Sciences.