Dean of Vanderbilt Basic Sciences, Larry Marnett, announced the appointment of three outstanding colleagues to the leadership team of the VU Basic Sciences of the School of Medicine effective January 1, 2017.
Linda Sealy will serve as Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Linda has been on the faculty of the Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics since 1986 and since 2006, has had a joint appointment in Cancer Biology. Her research focuses on the relationship between cell signaling and transcription in the control of cancer cell growth. Since 2007, Linda has served as Co-Director, then Director, of the Initiative for Maximizing Student Diversity (IMSD), an NIH-sponsored grant for the graduate training of underrepresented minorities. Under her leadership, the IMSD program has propelled Vanderbilt to the top echelon of institutions training minority Ph.D.’s. In fact, Vanderbilt was recently identified as the top producer of African-American Ph.D.’s in the US in biological and biomedical sciences. Her advocacy for holistic admission in graduate recruiting has been recognized nationally as a critical advance in expanding the pipeline of graduate students to include underrepresented minorities. Linda has won numerous awards for her contributions to diversity in graduate education, including the Levi Watkins Jr. Faculty Award for Promoting Diversity and the inaugural Bishop Joseph A. Johnson Jr. Distinguished Leadership Professor Award.
Alyssa Hasty will serve as Associate Dean for Faculty Development. Alyssa has been a member of the faculty in the Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics since 2003 and since 2014, she has been an investigator of the Tennessee Valley Veteran’s Administration Research Institute. She is an active member of the Vanderbilt Diabetes Center and the Digestive Diseases Research Center. Alyssa’s research interests are in diabetes and obesity, most recently focusing on the role of macrophages in promoting inflammation and insulin resistance in obesity. Alyssa has been very active in mentoring students as Director of Graduate Studies in MPB and faculty as Director of Career Development of the DDRC and Chair of the Women on Track Steering Committee. She is also Faculty Head of House of Murray House. Alyssa is currently participating in the Hedwingam van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine Program at Drexel University.
Charles (Chuck) Sanders will serve as Associate Dean for Research. Chuck has been on the faculty of the Biochemistry Department since 2002 and is an active member of the Center for Structural Biology. Chuck’s research interests focus on the role of membrane proteins, especially with flexible or unfolded structures, in the pathophysiology of cardiovascular and neurologic disorders. Chuck has won many awards for his research including the Hans Neurath Award of the Protein Society and the Stanley Cohen Award of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. He has been a very active participant on research committees at Vanderbilt (e.g., Co-chair of TIPs Review Panel) and has served on multiple NIH study sections. He was Associate Editor of the journal, Biochemistry, from 2004-2015 and was interim Editor-in-Chief from 2015 to 2016.