Magnuson named to lead Biomedical Sciences office
Dr. Mark Magnuson has been named director of the Office of Biomedical Sciences. (Photo by Anne Rayner)
Dr. Mark A. Magnuson, professor of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics and Medicine and a member of the Vanderbilt University Medical Center faculty for 12 years, has been appointed director of the Office of Biomedical Sciences.
In his new role, Magnuson will oversee the continued development and implementation of the medical center's expanding research enterprise. It is estimated that the National Institutes of Health will double its funding to U.S. research institutes over the course of the next decade.
"Mark comes extraordinarily well-prepared for this challenge," said Lee E. Limbird, Ph.D., associate vice chancellor for Research. "As a professor in both the departments of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics and Medicine, he brings a perspective from both the clinical and basic science arenas."
The Office of Biomedical Sciences is responsible for oversight of issues related to sponsored research, grants management, animal care, and the institutional review board.
"While strengthening our nationally acclaimed basic science efforts, Mark¹s office will also be increasingly important in encouraging clinical and practical research projects to come out of our basic science discoveries," said Limbird.
Bringing more discoveries from bench to bedside will require the Office of Biomedical Sciences to coordinate bridging awards, pilot and feasibility studies, and intramural funding programs for interdisciplinary research. Magnuson said he hopes to coordinate the development of interdisciplinary institutional resources that will benefit individual researchers.
"This is quite an honor for me to be chosen for this position," said Magnuson. "One of the goals of the Office of Biomedical Sciences will be to make it more responsive to the needs of all investigators at VUMC."
Magnuson received his undergraduate degree from Luther College, in Iowa, before receiving his medical degree from the University of Iowa in 1979. He completed his internship and residency at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, N.Y.
Magnuson came to VUMC in 1985 both as a clinical fellow in Endocrinology and a research fellow in Molecular Physiology and Biophysics before joining the faculty in 1987.
He is the director of the transgenic mouse/ES cell resource facility and is currently the principal investigator on two NIH grants exploring the molecular control of pancreatic islet cells.
Magnuson is a member of the NIH Endocrinology Study Section, the American Society of Clinical Investigation, the Endocrine Society, and the American Diabetes Association. He also serves on the editorial boards of the American Journal of Physiology, Endocrinology and Metabolism and the Journal of Biological Chemistry.