Yale Bulletin and Calendar

May 7, 2004|Volume 32, Number 29|Two-Week Issue

Dr. Robert Alpern (right), dean-elect of the School of Medicine, speaks to members of the medical school community on April 30, as Provost Susan Hockfield and President Richard C. Levin look on.

Alpern named as new medical school dean

Dr. Robert Alpern, dean of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, has been appointed as the 16th dean of Yale School of Medicine, announced President Richard C. Levin.

"Bob has been an extraordinary catch," Levin told members of the medical school community at a gathering on April 30. "He is a person who not only has a distinguished record of accomplishment at UT Southwestern and before that as chief of nephrology at Southwestern, but has all the human qualities it takes to make an outstanding leader."

He added: "Dr. Alpern has a most impressive record of leadership at Southwestern in research, education and patient care. He has the intelligence, clarity, openness and integrity to be a superb dean of the School of Medicine."

Alpern, who will assume the deanship at Yale on June 1, is the Ruth W. and Milton P. Levy Sr. Chair in Molecular Nephrology at Southwestern. He joined Southwestern as chief of nephrology in 1987 and became dean in 1998.

"There are nephrologists here everywhere," Alpern said of Yale's medical school. "If you work in my area, you wonder if there are any schools other than Yale."

He said that he had already met with many faculty and administrators at Yale, and looks forward to working with them to take the School of Medicine to an even higher level of excellence.

"I am so excited by the idea of taking a school as great as Yale and taking it forward," Alpern said. "You can't take it forward by yourself. You need the enthusiasm of the faculty and students and you need the resources from the university."

Alpern served his internship and residency in internal medicine at Columbia University and held a postdoctoral fellowship in nephrology and renal physiology at the Cardiovascular Research Institute at the University of California, San Francisco, where he also was assistant professor of medicine 1982-1987. He received his undergraduate degree from Northwestern University in 1972 and his M.D. from the University of Chicago in 1976.

Alpern's research has focused on the regulation of kidney transport proteins. His early work helped to define the mechanisms by which the kidney transports acid. Subsequently his research has focused on the mechanisms by which kidney cells sense excess acid and initiate a signaling cascade that alters the expression, cellular location and function of many proteins in the cell, resulting in enhanced acid transport and urinary excretion.

The dean-elect has also been honored for his teaching, both at the University of California, San Francisco, and at the University of Texas Southwestern. At Southwestern, he received the Internal Medicine House Staff Outstanding Teaching Award in 1990.

Alpern served as chair of the Southwestern admissions committee 1996-1998 -- during which time, the Hopwood court decision, prohibiting the use of race and ethnicity in admissions, became law in the state of Texas. Alpern developed a race-neutral admissions policy that maintained and expanded diversity in the medical school class.

As Southwestern's dean, Alpern has been hailed for developing the scientific strength of the faculty while improving the educational program and increasing the quality and volume of clinical services.

Nationally, Alpern has been elected to the American Society of Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians, and now serves on the Advisory Council of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. He was on the Council of the American Society of Nephrology from 1995 to 2002 and served as its president in 2001. He has served as editor and been on editorial boards of numerous journals, including the Journal of Clinical Investigation, the American Journal of Physiology and the Annual Review of Physiology.

Alpern is married to Patricia Preisig, a professor of internal medicine at Southwestern Medical Center. They have two children, Rachelle and Kyle.

Levin thanks acting dean, search committee

In announcing the new School of Medicine dean, Levin thanked Acting Dean Dr. Dennis Spencer, the chair of neurosurgery, for his service in the past year.

"In addition to keeping a host of existing projects and programs on track, he has launched initiatives to stimulate clinical research, including a seed fund for translational research projects and a faculty committee on clinical investigation. The attention, care, commitment and passion that he has always brought to the practice of medicine were amply reflected in his role as steward of the school," Levin said.

Levin also thanked the medical school community for their advice and counsel during the search. In particular, he thanked the search committee -- Dr. Peter Aronson, Dr. Kim Bottomly, Dr. Benjamin S. Bunney, Dr. David Coleman, Dr. James Comer, Dr. Pietro De Camilli, Dr. Daniel DiMaio, Dr. Richard Flavell, Catherine Gilliss, Dr. Peter Glazer, Dr. Margaret Hostetter, Dr. Michael Merson, Joan Steitz and Dr. Robert Udelsman.

Dr. Stephanie Spangler, deputy provost for medicine, was coordinator of the search and recruitment activities. "The entire committee and all the candidates we considered would attest to the indispensability of her tireless effort," Levin said of Spangler.

T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

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Yale Books in Brief

Campus Notes