Walter Chazin, Chancellor’s Chair in Medicine and professor of biochemistry and chemistry, has been named senior associate dean of biomedical research education and training. Kathleen Gould, Louise B. McGavock Chair, is stepping down from the role after 14 years with the BRET Office to return her focus to her research program in the department of cell and developmental biology.
Having served as director of graduate studies for cell and developmental biology starting in 2006 and created and directed the Vanderbilt International Scholar Program from 2010–2016, Professor Gould was appointed associate dean of BRET in 2012 and senior associate dean in 2021. She was responsible for leading the development and implementation of the ASPIRE career and professional development program, the revision of the first-year curriculum of the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program, the partnership with the offices of faculty development within the School of Medicine to institute faculty mentor training, and multiple other initiatives aimed at improving the training environment for our students and postdocs. We are grateful to Professor Gould’s leadership and stewardship of BRET.
Aside from their recruitment efforts, BRET provides support and resources for Vanderbilt biomedical graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and the faculty who train them.
“I am grateful to Professor Gould for her leadership and dedication to Vanderbilt’s graduate students and postdoctoral fellows,” Kuriyan said. “I look forward to continuing to work with her in her faculty position.”
Since joining Vanderbilt in 1999, Chazin has brought Vanderbilt to the forefront of integrative structural biology, growing our research community to more than 150 scientists. Chazin is the founding director of the Center for Structural Biology, the director of the chemical and physical biology Ph.D. program, and the molecular biophysics training program. The MBTP is sponsored by the CSB and an NIH T32 training grant.
“Graduate students are the lifeblood of the scientific enterprise and biomedical training continues to be the cornerstone of our work,” said John Kuriyan, dean of the School of Medicine Basic Sciences. “I am continuously impressed by the BRET team’s recruitment and support of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows and am confident that Professor Chazin will not only maintain but also accelerate this trajectory.”
To learn more about BRET visit: https://medschool.vanderbilt.edu/bret/