Dartmouth Medical School Names Dean
Wiley "Chip" Souba, MD, ScD, MBA, an internationally recognized academic surgeon, has been appointed Dean of Dartmouth Medical School (DMS) and Vice President for Health Affairs of Dartmouth College. He succeeds William R. Green, PhD, who served as dean of DMS since January 2008. In his new role, Dr. Souba will also serve as a professor of surgery.
Prior to joining Dartmouth, Dr. Souba served as Dean of the College of Medicine and as Vice President and Executive Dean of Health Sciences at The Ohio State University since 2006. He is a leading surgical oncologist and researcher. His research focuses on the role of amino acid metabolism in the development of intestinal cancer and has been supported with funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Dr. Souba earned his undergraduate degree in chemistry from Muskingum College in Ohio. He completed his MD at the University of Texas in Houston, where he also completed surgical residency. He subsequently completed fellowships in Boston, MA at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. In 1984, Dr. Souba earned his doctor of science degree in nutritional biochemistry at Harvard University before returning to Houston to complete a fellowship in surgical oncology at MD Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute.
Dr. Souba's first faculty position was at the University of Florida, where he served as professor of Surgery. He subsequently accepted a post as professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School and as Chief of Surgical Oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital. In 1999, he was appointed Waldhausen Professor and Chair of the Department of Surgery at the Penn State College of Medicine and Surgeon-in-Chief at Hershey Medical Center, where he served until becoming dean of The Ohio State University College of Medicine.
Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine Appoints Interim Dean
Jeffrey Glassroth, MD, has been appointed as interim dean of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. His appointment became effective January 1. He succeeds J. Larry Jameson, MD, PhD, who has accepted the position of executive vice president and dean of the school of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Jameson will continue to serve as vice president for medical affairs and dean emeritus until assuming his new post at the beginning of July this year.
Dr. Glassroth first served at Northwestern in 1981, when he joined the faculty as an assistant professor of medicine. He was named Gilbert H. Marquardt Chair in Internal Medicine in 1988. In 1995, Dr. Glassroth left Northwestern to accept the post of Thomas J. Vischer Professor and Chair of the Department of Medicine at the MCP-Hahnemann Medical School (now known as Drexel University College of Medicine) in Philadelphia, PA. In 1998, he moved to Wisconsin to accept a post as George R. and Elaine Love Professor and Chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine. From 2005 until his return to Northwestern in 2007, Dr. Glassroth was vice dean and professor of medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine.
Dr. Glassroth earned his MD at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. He trained in internal medicine in Cincinnati and in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the Boston University School of Medicine before serving as a medical officer in the U.S. Public Health Service at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in the Tuberculosis Control Division, Research Branch. Dr. Glassroth's research is focused on the prevention, diagnosis and general epidemiology of tuberculosis and other lung infections, including those associated with HIV infection. He is co-editor of Baum's Textbook of Pulmonary Medicine, and has published extensively. He is a former president of the American Thoracic Society and of the Association of Professors of Medicine.
BCM Names Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Texas Children's Hospital
Michael A. Belfort, MD, PhD, has been named Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) and Obstetrician and Gynecologist-in-Chief at Texas Children's Hospital. Dr. Belfort is an internationally recognized expert in maternal-fetal medicine and fetal intervention. He succeeds Dr. Dale Brown, Jr., who served as interim chair at BCM and as Texas Children's first Obstetrician-in-Chief since 2006. Dr.Belfort's appointment became effective Jan. 1, 2011.
Prior to his appointment at BCM, Dr. Belfort most recently served as Director of Perinatal Research, Fetal Therapy and Obstetric Telemedicine at Maternal-Fetal Services of Utah, an affiliate of St. Mark's Hospital and facility of HCA Healthcare in Nashville, TN. He also served as a professor in the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Utah School of Medicine. Dr. Belfort will continue his research on maternal and fetal medicine at BCM.
A native of South Africa, Dr. Belfort earned his medical degree (MBBCH) at the University of Witwaterstand Medical School in Johannesburg and completed his postgraduate Doctor of Medicine degree at the University of Cape Town. He earned his PhD from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. He completed residencies in obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Cape Town Medical School and in the United States at BCM in Houston, TX, and also completed a fellowship at Baylor in maternal-fetal medicine. From 1994 through 1997, Dr. Belfort served as director of labor and delivery and as director of obstetric intensive care at Ben Taub General Hospital, and was an associate professor in the divisions of maternal-fetal medicine, hypertension and anesthesiology at BCM.
Dr. Belfort is board certified in obstetrics and gynecology and maternal-fetal medicine by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology. He has received numerous professional awards for his clinical, research and academic contributions to medicine and is a member of numerous national and international professional societies. He is a highly-regarded author and has published and edited numerous abstracts, articles and texts.
Medical College of Georgia Names MD/PhD Program Director
Jennifer Pollock, PhD, has been appointed director of the MD/PhD Program at the Medical College of Georgia (MCG). Dr. Pollock, a biochemist, serves as Weiss Professor at the MCG Vascular Biology Center. She directed the Vascular Biology Graduate Program from 1999-2005, and has served on the MD/PhD Program Advisory and Recruitment Committee since 1999.
As a member of MCG's Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program Curriculum and Advancement Committee, Dr. Pollock developed and directs the Modern Drug Discovery course for advanced graduate students. She also serves as a mentor to medical and graduate students. Her research is focused on the function of nitric oxide and the regulation of nitric oxide synthase in blood vessels and the kidneys.
Dr. Pollock is a fellow of the American Heart Association (AHA) and Council for High Blood Pressure Research. She is a member of the AHA Research Committee and of the Nominating Committee of the AHA High Blood Pressure Research Council and was a member of the American Physiological Society Education Committee from 2006-09. In 2010, she was honored as the recipient of the MCG School of Graduate Studies Distinguished Teacher Award. Dr. Pollock earned her PhD at the University of North Carolina in 1987.
Creighton Names Chairman of Neurology
Sanjay Singh, MD, has been appointed as chairman of the Department of Neurology at Creighton University School of Medicine. In his new role, Dr. Singh will serve as medical director of neurologic services at Creighton University Medical Center, as a neurologist with Creighton Medical Associates, and as a professor of neurology with the School of Medicine. A nationally recognized expert in the care of patients with seizures and epilepsy, he will also work to develop the Creighton Epilepsy Center, a regional center focused on providing comprehensive care to epilepsy patients.
Dr. Singh joined the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) faculty in 2002 and has served as program director of the joint Creighton-UNMC neurology residency program since 2008. He is founder of the Nebraska Epilepsy Center and former vice chairman of education for UNMC's Department of Neurological Sciences. Among the numerous awards he has received, Dr. Singh holds the distinction of being named teacher of the year more often than any other faculty member in the history of the residency program. He received the Chancellor's Gold U Award/Kudos Award from the University of Nebraska Board of Regents in 2007 and, in 2009, was awarded the American Academy of Neurology's A.B. Baker Teacher Recognition Award.
Dr. Singh earned his MD from Moti Lal Nehru (MLN) Medical College in India and completed residency and served as chief resident at George Washington University Medical Center (GWUMC) in Washington, DC. He completed fellowship training at Yale University School of Medicine as the Gilbert Glaser Fellow. Dr. Singh is board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and is a member of the American Academy of Neurology and the American Epilepsy Society. He is a frequent lecturer and author of the neurology textbook, Locatelli and Singh's Handbook of Neurology.
UTSW Names Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery Department Chair
Michael Jessen, MD, has been named as Chair of the Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery at UT Southwestern (UTSW). He holds the Robert Tucker Hayes Foundation Distinguished Chair in Cardiothoracic Surgery and the Frank M. Ryburn, Jr. Distinguished Chair in Cardiothoracic Surgery & Transplantation. Dr. Jessen previously served as the Vice-Chair of the Department and has been a member of the faculty at UTSW since 1990. In addition to other institutional administrative duties, Dr. Jessen has served as residency Program Director since 1998 and has been an active member of the Promotions and Tenure Committee. He has also served as Chief of the UTSW Cardiothoracic Surgery program at the Dallas VA Medical Center and site director for a number of clinical studies focusing on coronary artery revascularization.
An expert cardiac surgeon, Dr. Jesson&'s specific interests include clinical outcomes, cardiac metabolism, cardiopulmonary bypass and resident education. His basic research program is focused on myocardial metabolism, the effects of cardiopulmonary bypass and strategies for long-term cardiac preservation for transplantation. His clinical practice is focused on cardiac surgery, surgical electrophysiology, aortic surgery, and cardiac transplantation.
Dr. Jessen is native of Canada. He graduated from medical school at the University of Manitoba, where he also completed a surgical residency. He received additional training in Thoracic Surgery and Surgical Research at Duke University before joining UTSW. He has been recognized for his research accomplishments with the American Heart Association's Lyndon Baines Johnson Research Award and has received funding from the National Institutes of Health, the American Heart Association, and the Texas Advanced Technology Program.