Research Enterprise Newsletter - May 2008: Faculty News
Gabbe to step down as Medical School dean
Steven Gabbe, M.D., will leave after seven years as Dean of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine to become the Senior Vice President for Health Sciences and the Chief Executive Officer of the Medical Center at Ohio State University. Gabbe will remain at the School of Medicine until the end of the academic year, then will assume his new duties at Ohio State. Gabbe came to Vanderbilt in March 2001. Under his leadership, the School of Medicine jumped from 21st place in 2001 to 10th place in 2007 in National Institutes of Health research funding. VUSM also rose in the U.S. News and World Report medical school rankings, from 18th to 16th place. During Gabbe's seven years at the School's helm, the number of faculty went up 66 percent, to more than 1800.
Mass Spec gets new associate director
Dr. W. Hayes McDonald has accepted an offer to join the Mass Spectrometry Research Center as an Associate Director of Proteomics. McDonald did graduate work at Vanderbilt in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology with Dr. Kathy Gould. He then went to The Scripps Research Institute in 1999 to do postdoctoral work with Dr. John R. Yates before joining the faculty at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. McDonald will begin work at Vanderbilt on June 1.
Blakely offers slots in Neurogenomics Training Grant
Randy Blakely, PhD, director of the Center of Neuroscience, has slots open on his Postdoctoral Neurogenomics Training Grant. Applications are due May 9 and should be sent to Dr. Blakely via Beth Sims, 8140 MRBIII or via email. Applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents and must be conducting research of a molecular/genomic/genetic topic relevant to mental health.
Hudson honored as "powerful leader" in medical discovery
Billy Hudson, PhD, director of the Center for Matrix Biology, will be honored on June 6 by the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine. Hudson is one of six alumni of the school who have "transformed health care and become powerful leaders at the forefront of medicine and medical discovery."
Kennedy Center, Meharry, and Mass General to collaborate
The Simons Foundation has given funding to the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center (VKC) to establish a collaborative network on the genetic and environmental factors that increase risk for autism and associated medical complications. The team is comprised of clinical researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) who treat children with autism and gastrointestinal disorders (GI), scientists at Meharry Medical College who study the influence of environmental toxins on brain development, and the human genetics and clinical team at Vanderbilt led by Drs. Pat Levitt, James Sutcliffe, Susan McGrew and Daniel Campbell. Children with autism and co-occurring medical conditions, such as GI or immune disorders, will be studied through autism medical clinics at VUMC and MGH. This research program will lead to better means for diagnosing and treating subgroups of patients with autism, and determine how gene-environment may play a role in increasing autism risk.
ITS seeks purchasers for GraphPad Prism Site License
The Vanderbilt ITS Software Store has received requests from the research community to add GraphPad Prism to its product catalog. GraphPad Prism offers biostatistics, curve fitting and scientific graphing functionality and may be used to analyze, graph, and present scientific data. The Software Store is investigating if there is enough demand across the campus to ensure cost recovery for the annual $25,000 site license fee. Since the Software Store does not have a budget for sponsoring site licenses, the cost must be recovered before the site license can be purchased. If you wish to participate in a GraphPad site license, please fax an 1180 to ITS at 2-4720 for $150 per computer by May 30. On June 2, the Software Store will total the amount that has been submitted. If it exceeds $25,000, the license fee will be reduced accordingly and the site license will be purchased. If it is less than $25,000, the Software Store will not process the 1180s and will advise each department to purchase the software directly from the supplier.
