Steve J. Schwab, MD, chancellor at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC), has named Steven R. Goodman, PhD, vice chancellor for Research.
Dr. Goodman arrives at UTHSC from the SUNY (State University of New York) Upstate Medical University where he was the former vice president for Research, dean of the College of Graduate Studies, and professor in both the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and the Department of Pediatrics. As the vice chancellor for Research, Dr. Goodman will report directly to the chancellor and his impact will extend throughout UTHSC and all its statewide campuses. He plans to assume his new responsibilities on or before August 3, working from UTHSC’s main campus in Memphis.
“We are pleased to welcome Dr. Goodman to our campus. He will play a central role in managing, maximizing and expanding our institution’s research portfolio,” said Chancellor Schwab. “Each year our faculty and staff receive, on average, nearly $100 million in research funding from federal institutions and private foundations. Through vision, collaboration and innovation, we anticipate Dr. Goodman will increase that funding to significantly higher levels.”
The vice chancellor for Research is charged with building strong teams of scientists who will accelerate the growth of research in all UTHSC colleges and at all major locations. He will direct the development and implementation of UTHSC’s comprehensive research strategy in keeping with its mission to move into the ranks of the top biomedical research institutions.
Additionally, Dr. Goodman will be responsible for the research infrastructure, ensuring the operational and performance effectiveness of the centrally funded support units. Dr. Goodman will advise the chancellor on matters of university research policy, vision, strategic planning and long-range budgeting. He will work closely and collaboratively with the university’s deans to integrate the research and educational missions of UTHSC. He will also work with the University of Tennessee Research Foundation (UTRF) to facilitate the discovery, protection and commercialization of intellectual property.
“We wish to thank Dr. Larry Pfeffer for taking on the role as vice chancellor for Research on an interim basis,” Chancellor Schwab said. “He has performed with admirable diligence and tenacity as we searched for the right leader to accept this pivotal, strategic position.” Lawrence M. Pfeffer, PhD, Muirhead Professor of Pathology and director of the UTHSC Center for Cancer Research, served as interim vice chancellor for Research since his appointment in April 2013.
Dr. Goodman joined the SUNY system in 2008, serving in a variety of senior-level administrative positions. While at SUNY Upstate Medical University, Dr. Goodman helped create and served as director of research collaborations at the local level, such as The Hill Collaboration in Environmental Medicine; throughout New York state, including SUNY REACH (Research Excellence in Academic Health); and nationally and internationally through the International Institute of Biomedical Sciences and Technology. For five years, Dr. Goodman served as vice president for Research and dean, College of Graduate Studies, SUNY Upstate Medical University. Previously, he spent seven years with the University of Texas at Dallas where he served as the C. L. and Amelia A. Lundell Professor of Life Sciences; professor and head of the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology; director of the Institute of Biomedical Sciences and Technology, and director of the Sickle Cell Disease Research Center. He was also an adjunct professor in the Department of Cell Biology at UT Southwestern Medical Center, and worked with Dr. George Buchanan and colleagues there to bring the first NIH-funded Sickle Cell Center to Texas.
Prior to his positions in Dallas, Dr. Goodman was chair of the Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, and director of the NIH Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine. His earlier academic career includes positions of increasing responsibility at The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine.
He has been elected president of the Association of Anatomy, Cell Biology and Neurobiology Chairs; selected as a Distinguished Scientist of the American Heart Association; and served as a member of the International Business and Scientific Advisory Board for the Britton Chance Center for Biomedical Photonics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan China.
Dr. Goodman is respected worldwide for three decades of research into the structure and function of cell structures called membrane skeletons. His related research into sickle cell disease, an inherited blood disorder affecting mostly people of African descent, led to defining the molecular basis of the irreversibly sickled cell and his recent proteomic studies led to potential biomarkers for sickle cell severity. Dr. Goodman received the Society of Experimental Biology and Medicine Distinguished Scientist Award in 2011.
He has served as a consultant, invited speaker and presenter on more than 200 occasions; been the principal investigator or co-investigator on approximately $20 million in extramural grant funding; and has written three books, 11 book chapters, and published more than 280 primary research articles, review articles, editorials and abstracts. He has been editor-in-chief of Experimental Biology and Medicine (EBM) since July 2006.
Dr. Goodman holds a BS in chemistry from SUNY at Stony Brook and a PhD in biochemistry from Saint Louis University Medical School. He also completed research fellowships at The Sidney Farber Cancer Center (now Dana Farber Cancer Center) at Harvard Medical School and in the Biological Laboratories at Harvard University.