After an extensive national search, Jessica Snowden, MD, MS, FAAP, MHPTT, a nationally recognized pediatric infectious disease specialist and researcher, has been named the new vice chancellor for Research at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, effective September 1. She will also serve as a professor in the College of Medicine in the Department of Pediatrics.
Currently the vice dean for Research and chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), Dr. Snowden is known as a dedicated mentor and a leader in integrating clinical, research, and academic efforts to advance the understanding of health and disease. Additionally, Dr. Snowden brings expertise in transparent and collaborative leadership that unites both science and advocacy for institutions, their faculty and trainees, and the health needs of those they serve.
“My own perspective, informed by my background as someone from a rural area disproportionately impacted by poverty and from an underrepresented group in biomedical research with Native American ancestry, provides valuable framing of my role in research and in particular research communication and advocacy,” Dr. Snowden said. “The human stories of how research impacts all of us, when packed skillfully with data and recommendations, can significantly advance policy and practice, and we will do so collaboratively in Tennessee.”
Dr. Snowden exemplifies an impressive career trajectory of extensive federally funded research, as evidenced by earlier career loan repayment and development awards, an R01 independent investigator career award, and now multiple institutional collaborative federal grants that amount to a current portfolio of more than $63 million in collaborative extramural funding from the National Institutes of Health.
Read more at our UTHSC news site.