07-07-95 Former NIH Head Bernadine Healy to be Dean of Medicine FORMER NIH HEAD BERNADINE HEALY TO BE DEAN OF MEDICINE COLUMBUS -- Bernadine P. Healy, former head of the National Institutes of Health and currently a physician at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, has been named dean of the College of Medicine at The Ohio State University. The appointment, approved Friday (7/7) by the university's Board of Trustees, is effective Sept. 25. "We are very fortunate to have an individual as distinguished as Bernadine Healy to be our dean of medicine," said Manuel Tzagournis, vice president for health sciences. "As director of NIH, she held one of the most important research positions in America. That experience, combined with her strong background in academic medicine, gives her outstanding credentials. I look forward to working with her as she brings her leadership skills and vision to our medical program." Healy will succeed Tzagournis, who has been dean of the College of Medicine since 1980 as well as vice president for health services since 1985. In June 1994, as part of the university's ongoing restructuring, Tzagournis was given the renamed title of vice president for health sciences with additional responsibilities for academic and fiscal leadership for the colleges of Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing, Optometry, Pharmacy and Veterinary Medicine. He agreed to continue to serve as dean of medicine while a search was undertaken for his successor in that position. "Strong academic medical centers are crucial to the present and future of American medicine," Healy said. "I am deeply honored to have the opportunity to join a strong team of academic leaders at Ohio State and, with them, participate in the challenges of enriching medical practice, research and teaching in Ohio." Healy, 50, is a native of New York City. She earned her bachelor's degree summa cum laude from Vassar College in 1965 and her medical degree cum laude from Harvard School of Medicine in 1970. She completed postgraduate training in internal medicine and cardiology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. From 1976 to 1984, Healy was a member of the Hopkins faculty, rising to the position of professor of medicine and serving as director of the coronary care unit and as assistant dean for postdoctoral programs and faculty development. In 1984, President Reagan named her deputy director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. She served as a member of several White House advisory groups in this capacity. From 1985 to 1991, she was chair of the Research Institute of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, where she directed the research programs of nine departments, including efforts in cardiovascular diseases, neurobiology, immunology, cancer, artificial organs and molecular biology. President Bush named Healy as director of the National Institutes of Health in January 1991. This federal agency supports the work of 4,000 scientists at its headquarters in Bethesda, Md., and is the major funder of biomedical research at universities and hospitals nationwide. It has more than 16,000 employees and an annual budget of over $11 billion. Shortly after her appointment, Healy launched the NIH Women's Health Initiative, a $625 million effort to study the causes, prevention and cures of diseases that affect women. She initiated NIH's first strategic planning effort, established a major intramural laboratory for the Human Genome Project, and oversaw the elevation of nursing research to institute status. After leaving the NIH directorship in the change of presidential administrations in 1993, she returned to the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, where she is a member of the staff and director of health and science policy. Among her many professional affiliations, she has been president of the American Heart Association and is a member of the American Board of Internal Medicine. She is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. Currently, she serves on the boards of trustees of the Battelle Memorial Institute, the Hudson Institute, the Brookings Institution, and the Center for Strategic and International Studies. She is a past member of the Board of Trustees of Vassar College and the Board of Overseers of Harvard University. At Ohio State, she was a member of the University Hospitals Board from 1990-91 and a member of the advisory committee to the School of Natural Resources, also in 1990-91. She gave the June 1992 commencement address at the university. She served in 1987-88 on the Ohio Board of Regents' advisory panel on the Ohio Eminent Scholars Award and chaired the Regents' Ohio Council on Research and Economic Development in 1989-91. Healy serves on the editorial boards of numerous scholarly journals and is editor in chief of the Journal of Women's Health. In September, Viking will publish her book, A New Prescription for Women's Health, which deals broadly with issues of primary importance to women across their lifespans. "Dr. Healy is widely regarded as one of the pre-eminent medical researchers in the United States," said Richard Sisson, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost. "Her understanding and insights of the teaching and research opportunities of our faculty and students will help to strengthen our position among the finest medical schools in the country." President E. Gordon Gee added: "We are very proud that Dr. Healy will serve as dean of Ohio State's College of Medicine. >From her service as a professor of medicine and assistant dean of the School of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University and as chairman of the Research Institute of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation to her directorship of the National Institutes of Health, she is a leader in medical practice and biomedical sciences. We look forward to her distinguished service to Ohio State." Ohio State's College of Medicine consistently has been ranked as one of the nation's best comprehensive medical schools, with highly regarded programs in research and physician training. There are about 850 students enrolled in the M.D. program, as well as some 570 students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate programs in the college's School of Allied Medical Professions. # Contact: Manuel Tzagournis, (614) 292-0926. [Submitted by: Von Reid-Vargas (ereid@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu) Fri, 7 Jul 1995 16:54:27 -0400] All documents are the responsibility of their originator.