Alexander Bick, MD, PhD, a physician-scientist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center who is internationally known for his research on the genetics of blood disorders, has been named director of VUMC’s Division of Genetic Medicine, effective Oct. 1.
Bick will succeed Nancy Cox, PhD, the Mary Phillips Edmonds Gray Professor of Medicine, who has led Genetic Medicine since she was recruited to VUMC from the University of Chicago in 2015. Genetic Medicine is one of 13 divisions in the Department of Medicine.
Cox will continue in her role as founding director of the Vanderbilt Genetics Institute, which fosters scientific interactions in genomic and genetic research across Vanderbilt University.
Bick is an assistant professor of Medicine and directs the Genomics and Therapeutics Clinic. He and his colleagues have advanced the understanding of somatic (non-inherited) mutations in blood stem cells that can trigger an explosive, and potentially life-threatening, clonal growth of abnormal cells.
Since he joined the Vanderbilt faculty in 2020 from Massachusetts General Hospital and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Bick has contributed to more than 125 scientific publications and secured more than $25 million in external research funding.
“I was keeping my eye on him for this (position) from the time we were able to recruit him here,” Cox said, “and he still blew all of us away with what a star he has been here at Vanderbilt. (He is) the physician-scientist I had been looking for.”
“As Dr. Cox steps down from her position as division director of Genetic Medicine, we extend our heartfelt gratitude for her remarkable leadership and dedication,” said Jane Freedman, MD, the Gladys Parkinson Stahlman Professor of Cardiovascular Research and interim chair of the Department of Medicine.
“We are excited to welcome Dr. Alex Bick to the role,” Freedman said. “Dr. Bick’s commitment to integrating cutting-edge genetic technologies with a patient-centered approach will build on an already outstanding group and usher in a transformative era for the division.”
“I am deeply honored and humbled to follow in Dr. Cox’s footsteps,” Bick said. “Under her leadership, Vanderbilt has become a global leader in human genetics. I look forward to partnering with Dr. Freedman and clinical and scientific leaders across VUMC to use genetics to make health care personal.”
Throughout her career Cox has helped characterize the genetic contribution to common diseases such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Last year she received the American Society of Human Genetics Leadership Award in recognition of her research achievements and efforts to increase diversity in genomic studies.
Bick also has received wide recognition for his research, which includes the role genetics plays in chronic kidney disease and disparities in diabetes complications.
His honors include a Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award for Medical Scientists, NIH Director’s Early Independence Award, and Pew-Stewart Scholarship for Cancer Research. In 2021 Bick was named the first VUMC Discovery Scholar in Health and Medicine, which is supported in part by the Brock Family Directorship in Career Development Endowment.
Bick credited VUMC President and CEO Jeff Balser, MD, PhD, Jennifer Pietenpol, PhD, VUMC’s Chief Scientific and Strategy Officer, and Dan Roden, MD, Senior Vice President for Personalized Medicine, among other leaders, for positioning the Medical Center “unquestionably at the forefront of personalized medicine.”
“I am excited to work with clinicians and scientists from across the Department of Medicine to incorporate the tremendous discoveries made right here at VUMC into the care of our diverse patient population, while training the next generation of clinicians and scientists,” he said.
