Bill Snyder, senior science writer in the Office of News and Communications and veteran newsman, has been appointed to a new position at Vanderbilt University Medical Center — manager of research communications.
Snyder will continue to write for VUMC publications including the Reporter, and he remains editor of the Medical Center's research magazine, Lens, which will post its first electronic-only edition in March.
Bill Snyder
The new position was created by Associate Vice Chancellor for Research Susan Wente, Ph.D., to help her implement strategies for communicating the Medical Center's Research Enterprise.
“Bill's work with our faculty over the past eight years has demonstrated his true talent for translating discoveries in research into powerful communication messages,” said Wente, “and I looking forward to working with him on a number of new communication initiatives.
“Some of these were called for by the recent Basic Science Refreshing of the VUMC Research Enterprise Strategic Plan and will have broad impact.”
“Our research effort has been growing rapidly, and so has the need to communicate what our scientists are doing to the local community and around the world,” said Bill Hance, assistant vice chancellor for Medical Center News and Communications. “I'm glad that Bill has agreed to assist with this important task.”
As manager of research communications, Snyder will:
• Work with the Office of Research and the Office of Biomedical Research Education and Training (BRET) to update the Office of Research Web site;
• Work with faculty to design a new Research Enterprise Web site for scientists that provides easily accessible research tools, funding sources and opportunities for collaboration;
• In partnership with the Marketing Department and Medical Center Development, explore innovative ways to communicate and promote the Research Enterprise; and
• Work with the Division of Public Affairs, under the leadership of Vice Chancellor Beth Fortune, to help develop and implement University-wide research communication strategies.
Snyder has been at Vanderbilt for eight years and is the founding editor of Lens (www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/lens), an award-winning research magazine that launched in 2003.
A former health reporter for the Nashville Banner and The Tennessean, he has more than 30 years of experience writing about biomedical research and health care for the general public.