By Lorena Infante Lara
The academic landscape can seem like an unmoving entity, but it’s the people within it that make it tick and grow to new frontiers. No outlook on our School of Medicine Basic Sciences is complete without recognizing significant faculty transitions, including well-deserved promotions, exciting new appointments, and bittersweet departures as esteemed colleagues embark on new journeys at other institutions.
Faculty departures
Alyssa Hasty
Hasty, who graduated from Vanderbilt with a Ph.D. in pathology in 1998, spent over 20 years on the faculty at Vanderbilt, achieving the status of full professor in 2015 and becoming the senior associate dean for faculty in Basic Sciences in 2023. Hasty accepted a position as vice provost and senior associate dean for faculty affairs and career development at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center this summer.
Dr. Vito Quaranta
Quaranta, former co-director of the Quantitative and Chemical Biology program and director of the Quantitative Systems Biology Center, has been appointed professor emeritus of biochemistry and pharmacology. He has also started a new position as a strategic advisor to the provost at the Institute for Experiential AI at Northeastern University.
Danny Winder
Winder, former director of the Center for Addiction Research and professor of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, joined the ranks of the UMass Chan Medical School as their new chair of the Department of Neurobiology.
David Wasserman
Annie Mary Lyle Professor and professor of molecular physiology and biophysics, died June 20 in Nashville due to health issues. He was 66.
Promotions
The following people have been promoted so far during 2024. Congratulations!
Biochemistry:
- Wade Calcutt, W. Hayes McDonald, Michelle Reyzer, Kristie Rose, and Ansari Aleem were promoted to research associate professors.
Cell and Developmental Biology:
- Angela Kruse was promoted to research associate professor.
- Marija Žanić was promoted to professor.
Molecular Physiology and Biophysics:
- Erkan Karakas was promoted to associate professor.
- Wenbiao Chen was promoted to professor.
- Dale Edgerton was promoted to research professor.
Pharmacology
- Pankaj Sharma was promoted to research assistant professor.
New leadership:
- Erin Calipari was appointed as director of the Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research.
- Walter Chazin was appointed as senior associate dean of Biomedical Research, Education and Training.
New faculty
So far this 2024 we have brought on five new faculty into our departments. Here are the new recruits!
Biochemistry:
- Anna Edmondson and Katrin Karbstein were appointed as professors.
- Rahul Bhowmick and Sezen Meydan were appointed as assistant professors.
- Jinhui Dong and James Marks were appointed as research assistant professors.
Cell and Developmental Biology
- Madeline Colley was appointed as a research instructor.
- Dr. Erin Plosa received a secondary appointment as an associate professor.
Molecular Physiology and Biophysics:
- Karin Bosma, Katie Coate, and Stephenie Wankowicz were appointed as assistant professors.
- Alejandra Paola Torres Manzo and Zer Vue were appointed as research instructors.
Pharmacology:
- Ben Brown, Valentina Cigliola, Shan Meltzer, and Quynh Anh Nguyen were appointed as assistant professors.
- Aaron Bender and Kristen Gilliland were appointed as research assistant professors.
- Salvatore Incontro, Snigdha Mukerjee, and Suzanne Nolan-Strle were appointed as research instructors.