Andrew Griffith, MD, PhD, has been named the senior associate dean of Research for the University of Tennessee Health Science Center’s College of Medicine. He will begin his new role at UTHSC in July.
Dr. Griffith has served in multiple roles at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for the last 14 years, primarily in the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD). These include multiple roles at NIDCD’s Division of Intramural Research, including as a senior investigator, the chief of the Molecular Biology and Genetics Section, the chief of the Otolaryngology Branch, and the scientific director. In his role as scientific director, he served as the scientific and administrative leader of the NIDCD Intramural Research Program on the NIH campus. He has also been serving in the NIH Office of the Director as the deputy director for Intramural Clinical Research across the entire NIH Intramural Research Program.
Dr. Griffith has also served as an adjunct professor of neuroscience and cognitive science at the University of Maryland for 11 years and as an adjunct professor in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine for the last seven years.
“I am thrilled to be joining the College of Medicine at UTHSC. It is a perfect fit for my hopes and goals to help build their research enterprise in a way that advances the mission of the college, as well as the health and well-being of the people and communities of Memphis, Tennessee, and surrounding areas,” Dr. Griffith said. “The best part of any job is the people one works with, and I am so eager to meet and work with people across the college and the community it serves. We will achieve great things together.”
In his new role, Dr. Griffith will oversee and coordinate the growth of the research enterprise between departments and across campuses, serving as the executive dean’s partner in articulating and implementing a vision of the College of Medicine to maintain and build a research enterprise.
“I am so delighted to have Dr. Andrew Griffith joining our team as the senior associate dean of Research in the College of Medicine,” said Executive Dean Scott Strome, MD. “Dr. Griffith is one of the world’s thought leaders in the area of genetic disorders of hearing and balance and has led many of the intramural programs at the NIH. His scientific acumen in combination with his vast leadership experience will allow him to help us continue on our path toward becoming an elite research institution.”
Dr. Griffith received his medical degree and Doctor of Philosophy degree in molecular biophysics and biochemistry from Yale University. He completed his internship in general surgery and his residency in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Michigan School of Medicine.
Dr. Griffith’s research interests, focusing on identifying genes and molecular mechanisms underlying disorders that affect hearing and balance, have been supported by multiple research grants over the last 25 years. He was recently awarded the NIH Director’s Award and was elected a Fellow of the Association of American Physicians.