Howard Gendelman, M.D., David T. Purtilo Distinguished Chair of Pathology and Microbiology and director of the Center for Neurovirology and Neurodegenerative Diseases (CNND), has been named chairman of the department of pharmacology in the UNMC’s College of Medicine. The appointment is effective Sept. 1, according to John Gollan, M.D. Ph.D., College of Medicine dean.
“Dr. Gendelman is an internationally recognized, highly sought-after researcher, clinician and teacher, and I am delighted that he has accepted this new leadership opportunity at UNMC,” Dr. Gollan said. “He is one of the key researchers who have helped UNMC achieve the phenomenal research growth that it has seen during the past six years.”
According to Dr. Gollan, Dr. Gendelman is one of four UNMC scientists who are listed by the ISI as the top 0.5% of the most cited scientists in the world. Being acknowledged by Thomson-ISI as a highly cited researcher means that an individual is among the 250 most cited researchers for their published articles within a specific time-period, Dr. Gollan said.
Dr. Gollan also praised Dr. Gendelman’s accomplishments as a teacher and mentor and indicated that those traits were also key in his selection as chairman. “Dr. Gendelman has been very successful in mentoring and training junior investigators who are now funded researchers with successful careers of their own,” Dr. Gollan said.
Dr. Gendelman joined UNMC in 1993 as professor of medicine and of pathology/microbiology. He was named director of the CNND in 1997 and was instrumental in its formation. The center, which has reported to the department of pathology and microbiology, would report to the department of pharmacology.
Under Dr. Gendelman’s leadership, CNND has seen tremendous growth both in terms of employees and funding. Today, the CNND has 63 members, including scientists, graduate students, fellows and support staff, annualized funding of $4.8 million for fiscal 2003-04 and total external grant support of $18.4 million.
“I am excited about the opportunity to lead this department,” Dr. Gendelman said. “The department of pharmacology and the CNND each have an extremely talented team of scientists. I look forward to the synergy that will occur as the CNND researchers and pharmacology researchers collaborate.”
According to Dr. Gendelman, both groups are already allied around the study of neurosciences. “There are a lot of neurology-related health issues facing Nebraska and America’s aging population,” he said. “To combat such diseases most effectively, interdisciplinary approaches to basic research are key. By joining these groups, we are creating something that will be much more than the sum of its parts.”
According to William O. Berndt, Ph.D., interim chair of the department of pharmacology, the addition of CNND to the department of pharmacology will be a good move. “While the focus of the two research groups is different, the areas of research are complementary,” Dr. Berndt said. “In fact, the recent research by the CNND on a vaccine for Parkinson’s disease provides new areas of collaboration for the research groups.”
Pharmacologists study the mechanisms of drug actions and the interactions of drugs and natural chemicals with biological systems. Research in pharmacology includes studies ranging from gene regulation and the molecular biology of nerve cell communication to human toxicology and clinical evaluation of gene-specific therapies.
The CNND research focuses on inflammatory activities implicated in a number of neurodegenerative disorders including, but not limited to, HIV-1-associated dementia (HAD), Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. The CNND scientists believe that the interplay between the immune system and the brain may be harnessed to counter the death of brain cells due to viral infection or during neurodegenerative processes. It is this balance between immune activities that may underlie the process of dementia and a number of motor abnormalities associated with the aging process.
Daniel Monaghan, Ph.D., professor of pharmacology, looks forward to the combined department.
“Pharmacology’s strength is in neurobiology and cell signaling,” Dr. Monaghan said. “The department already has internationally recognized experts in the understanding of how neurons and other cells communicate and regulate each other. Together with the CNND, the new pharmacology department will cover much of the neuroscience spectrum and will represent the largest concentration of both pharmacologists and neuroscientists in the state. This collaboration will significantly expand the scope of basic science available to both the pharmacology department and the CNND.”
As he looks forward to his new position, Dr. Gendelman said he wanted to pay tribute to Samuel Cohen, M.D., Ph.D., chairman of the UNMC Department of Pathology and Microbiology, to whom he has reported for the past 10 years. “I am indebted to Dr. Cohen for the support, mentorship, leadership and vision he has provided over the past decade,” Dr. Gendelman said.
Dr. Gendelman received his undergraduate degree in 1975 from Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pa. He received his M.D. degree from Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine in 1979, completed his residency in internal medicine at the Montefiore Hospital Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 1982 and served as a clinical and research fellow in the departments of neurology and internal medicine (infectious diseases) at the Johns Hopkins University Hospital from 1982 to 1985. He joined The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine as assistant professor of medicine (division of infectious diseases) in 1985. He also held positions at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, and the Walter Reed Army Medical Center prior to joining UNMC in 1993.
In addition to spearheading the growth of the CNND, Dr. Gendelman has garnered a series of professional honors. They include the Leo M. Davidoff Society Award for Distinction in Medical Student Teaching, the Henry L. Moses Award in Basic Science, the Carter-Wallace Fellow Distinction in AIDS Research, the UNMC Outstanding Achievement Award, the UNMC Internal Medicine Career Investigator Award and the UNMC Internal Medicine Research Career Excellence Award. He was named the American Men and Women of Science Distinguished Scientist in 1994, the David T. Purtilo Distinguished Professor of Pathology and Microbiology in 1998, and the Pennsylvania State University Distinguished Alumnus in 1999. From September to December of 2000, he served as adjunct professor of neurobiology and J. William Fulbright Research Scholar at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovol, Israel. He received the Jacob Javits Neuroscience Research Award in 2001.
He has training grants with UNL and the University of Puerto Rico and serves as adjunct professor of microbiology and zoology and the University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus.
Dr. Gendelman has edited several textbooks, serves on four editorial boards and has served as editor of professional biomedical journals. He has had numerous professional teaching and committee appointments, has lectured nationally and internationally, has served as a consultant and has published more than 450 publications and abstracts during his career.
As this transition takes place, Dr. Gollan said special thanks are due to Drs. Cohen and Berndt.
“Dr. Cohen has provided outstanding leadership and guidance during the years of tremendous growth of the CNND in terms of funding and scientists,” Dr. Gollan said. “He has been a major source of encouragement and support for this work.”
“Dr. Berndt has done a tremendous job as interim chair of the department. He has served in that post since August 2003 and, thanks to his scientific expertise and leadership skills, has kept that department moving forward as I have searched for a chair. He has agreed to take an additional assignment as assistant to the dean so that I can continue to tap his expertise. He will help the transition as CNND moves to pharmacology,” Dr. Gollan said.