Bruce Carter, Lisa Monteggia, Richard O’Brien, Andrea Page-McCaw, and Kevin Schey, five faculty members spanning all Basic Sciences departments, have been named to the university’s 2024 endowed chair cohort. An endowed chair is the highest academic award that the university can give to a faculty member.
“Donor-funded endowed chairs honor world-class faculty and ensure that high-quality programs continue to flourish. The inclusion of professors Carter, Monteggia, O’Brien, Page-McCaw, and Schey to the 2024 cohort recognizes their very valuable contributions to their departments and fields of study and highlights the strength of basic sciences research and training at Vanderbilt,” said John Kuriyan, dean of the School of Medicine Basic Sciences, Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry, and Mary Geddes Stahlman Chair.
Bruce Carter, Natalie Overall Warren Chair in Biochemistry
Carter is a prolific researcher, unraveling the molecular intricacies of brain signaling that regulate cell differentiation and neuron clearance, leading to impactful discoveries now informing therapeutic developments for debilitating diseases like Charcot Marie Tooth disease. Beyond research, his outstanding impact extends to extensive service activities, notably in leadership roles at the Vanderbilt Brain Institute, where he contributes significantly to education, training, and the promotion of diversity, equity, and inclusivity.
Lisa Monteggia, Lee E. Limbird Chair in Pharmacology
Monteggia, professor of pharmacology, psychology, and psychiatry and behavioral sciences and Barlow Family Director of the Vanderbilt Brain Institute, is world renowned for her work on determining the mechanisms by which ketamine has an antidepressant effect. She has numerous awards and recognitions, including being elected to the National Academy of Medicine. Her efforts as director of the VBI have resulted in an increased number of outstanding faculty in the neurosciences at Vanderbilt and a more inclusive environment for faculty, staff, and trainees.
Richard O’Brien, Stevenson Chair
O’Brien’s research program has greatly pushed forward our understanding of the regulation of enzymes and transporters that play rate-limiting roles in gluconeogenesis, the mechanisms by which they carry out their functions, and their involvement in diabetes. He has been the director of the NIH/NIDDK Multidisciplinary Training in Molecular Endocrinology training grant for more than 20 years, a position in which he has served with the extraordinary dedication and unwavering professionalism with which he approaches all his academic endeavors.
Andrea Page-McCaw, Stevenson Chair
Page-McCaw is an eminent professor of cell and developmental biology and director of graduate studies for her department’s graduate program. She has made groundbreaking contributions to our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of wound healing and of the role of basement membranes in embryonic development.
Kevin Schey, Stevenson Chair
Schey is at the forefront of advances to molecular imaging used to discover the causes of age-related eye diseases. Over a decade of leadership as the director of three shared resources at the Mass Spectrometry Research Center has fostered numerous transformative biomedical discoveries across the university and medical center.
An investiture ceremony recognizing and celebrating all endowed chairs will be hosted by the university in the spring of 2025.
These chairs are supported by donor funded endowments that will continue in perpetuity. For more information on establishing an endowed chair at the School of Medicine Basic Sciences, contact Taylor Wood, assistant vice chancellor of Development and Alumni Relations.