November 22, 2000

BIRMINGHAM, AL — Richard B. Marchase, Ph.D., has been named Associate Dean for Biomedical Research at the School of Medicine at UAB. His duties will include strategic and space planning and oversight of overall research activities at the school.

"Dr. Marchase is a respected professor and researcher," says Dr. William B. Deal, medical school dean. "His exceptional experience, knowledge and leadership will continue to be an invaluable asset for the University in his new role. I am pleased that he has agreed to accept the position and the important responsibility that it carries."

Before assuming the position as Associate Dean, Marchase was chairman of the department of cell biology at UAB. He will continue to serve as a professor of cell biology and will also continue his research, which is funded by the National Institutes of Health, The Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, and The American Diabetes Association.

"I am very pleased to have this opportunity to contribute to UAB's research mission," Marchase says. "We are poised to recruit outstanding new faculty and to vigorously pursue our goal of attaining a top ten ranking in research funding by 2010."

Marchase received his bachelor's degree in engineering physics from Cornell University and was the recipient of the Hamilton Award as their outstanding graduate in science and engineering. He received his doctorate with distinction in biophysics from Johns Hopkins University and completed his postdoctoral training at Duke University. He was named as an initial recipient of the NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award. He joined the faculty at Duke and then moved to UAB in 1986.

Marchase is a past-president of the Association of Anatomy, Cell Biology, and Neurobiology Chairpersons and a member of the National Caucus of Basic Biomedical Science Chairs. He serves on several editorial boards and as a delegate to the AAMC Council of Academic Societies and the FASEB Federal Funding Consensus Conference.