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 chair of the
department of pharmacology in the University of Nebraska Medical
Center’s College of Medicine. The appointment is effective Sept. 1,
2004, 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 Thomson-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 chair. “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 Dr. Samuel Cohen to whom he has reported for the past
ten 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, 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 two individuals. Samuel Cohen, M.D., Ph.D., chair of the Department
of Pathology and Microbiology, and William O. Berndt, Ph.D., interim
chair of Pharmacology.
“Dr. Cohen has provided outstanding leadership and guidance during the
years of tremendous growth of the CNND in terms of funding and
scientists. 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.”