Dr. Billy Ray Martin of Richmond, Virginia died Sunday, June 8, 2008. He was 65 years old.

Billy R. Martin earned his Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,  and completed post-doctoral work at Uppsala University in Sweden and Oxford University in England. He joined the faculty at Virginia Commonwealth University as an Assistant Professor in 1976, and rose through the ranks to becoming the Louis and Ruth Harris Professor and Chair of the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology.  

Billy Martin's research interests have centered on cannabinoid pharmacology and the biological basis of drug addiction and tolerance.  Dr. Martin's laboratory has characterized a plethora of compounds synthesized by his many collaborators, using the tetrad assay in mice to characterize cannabinoid activity.  He has lead his department to maintain a NIDA Center on Drug Abuse Research and a program project grant. Billy Martin's contributions to the field are enormous, as evidenced by the hundreds of research papers that his laboratory has published. 

Billy is survived by his wife, Jean Y. Martin; his son, Zachary Lee Martin; his daughter, Lindsay Brooke Martin; his brother, Donald Lee Martin; and his stepbrother, Elmer Mabe Jr. His family will receive friends 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Bliley's - Chippenham, 6900 Hull Street Rd., where a funeral service will be held 2 p.m. Wednesday. Interment will be private.

Billy was the founding president of the International Cannabinoid Research Society, and received the ICRS Mechoulam Award for outstanding contributions to cannabinoid research.  He was awarded the VCU Outstanding Scholar Award, the Virginia Outstanding Scientist Award, and the VCU's Distinguished Inventor Award. Billy Martin will certainly be missed by all members of the ICRS. 

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Massey Cancer Center, P.O. Box 980037, Richmond, Va. 23298-0037 or The Foundation of Pharmacology, P.O. Box 980613, MCV Station, Richmond, Va. 23298.